Let’s hear it for the Arsenal

Most fans think their football club is special but it may be time to acknowledge that, to bastardise George Orwell, one club is more special than all the others. In these difficult economic times only one Premier League club is resisting – indeed actively fighting off – the rush to embrace a rich foreign businessman in the hope that they can buy success, and more importantly provide a massive dividend for the existing owners. Let’s hear it for the Arsenal.

Arsenal’s reliance on foreign players under Arsene Wenger has been the source of much mockery for some time, but it is not only in their adherence to ancient grammar that the club put their rivals to shame when it comes up upholding other English traditions.

The board’s determination to keep the club controlled by the families who have been its custodians for generations is such that they risked alienating Wenger by forcing out his great ally, David Dein, as well as being actively hostile to Alisher Usmanov and Stan Kroenke, at least initially. Peter Hill-Wood, the chairman, may have finally decided that Kroenke is “our sort” after all, though the American’s acceptance of a seat on the board is little more than the public affirmation of a marriage of convenience. The day when he is allowed to take control remains a long way off.

Arsenal’s determination to remain what they have always been since their foundation as Dial Square in Woolwich in 1886 – a football club run primarily in the interests of their supporters – is refreshing because it provides such an obvious counterpoint to the prevailing mood of the times.

It may have become commonplace since Roman Abramovich’s era-changing purchase of Chelsea five years ago, but the desperation of many clubs to sell up to whichever foreign billionaire happens to be passing through town is still profoundly distasteful. Newcastle United and Liverpool are the most obvious examples, but the For Sale signs are also flying high alongside the club crests on the front of stadiums at Tottenham Hotspur, Everton and Portsmouth. Newcastle demonstrate the dangers of buying or selling in haste, with chastened owner Mike Ashley forced to repent in leisurewear.

Arsenal’s stance is all the more noble as they pursue it despite mounting evidence that it is damaging their self interest, certainly in terms of player recruitment and therefore trophies won, but their defiance does bring some advantages.

While many clubs wax lyrical about their own traditions in many instances it amounts to little more than hot air, whereas Arsenal have established their own unique way of doing things. Wenger has established a system based on identifying the best young talent around the world and teaching them to play in the manner of the first team, as well as fitting in with the refined old Etonian traditions that still run through the club.

Even if Arsenal fail to win a trophy for a fourth successive trophy season their way of doing things will not change, which goes someway to explaining why Wenger will never come under pressure no matter how long he goes without providing silverware. In the modern game that is something special indeed.