Arsenal supporters were celebrating a victory over majority shareholder Stan Kroenke after the club’s latest set of accounts revealed the club is no longer paying a £3million advisory fee to the American.
The payment to Kroenke Sports & Entertainment had been the subject of fierce criticism at successive annual general meetings after it was deemed necessary in recognition of “strategic and advisory services” the firm had provided.
However, the fee was missing from this year’s accounts which revealed a small pre-tax profit of £2.9m and a rise of £9m in turnover to £353.6m.
Kroenke is expected to attend Arsenal’s 2016 AGM later this month.
The financial results show Arsenal Holdings PLC remains free from short term debt and reported a cash balance of £191.1m, a figure only slightly lower than the previous year ahead of a season in which Arsene Wenger spent around £90m on new players, bringing in Granit Xhaka, Shkodran Mustafi and Lucas Perez among others.
Profits from player sales were notably lower in a year where Arsenal’s transfer activity was limited to the signing of Petr Cech and Mohamed Elneny, with no significant departures from Wenger’s first-team squad.
Chief executive Ivan Gazidis had said of the figures: “We are in a strong position to continue moving forward at every level of the club. On the pitch we have an outstanding squad.
"Off the pitch we have developed our infrastructure across all aspects of our operations to ensure we have the right assets and skills to progress.
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“I am confident this progress, coupled with strong underlying values, will bring the success we all seek.
"Our ultimate ambition is clear: to win major trophies and make Arsenal fans at home and around the world proud of this great club: proud of our values, proud of the way we act and proud of our team.”
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