Kroenke: Poised for takeover bid
Stan Kroenke has moved a step closer to launching a takeover of Arsenal after increasing his stake in the club to 29.9 per cent.
The American business tycoon had raised his stake to 29.6 per cent earlier this week and now he has further raised his holding, leaving him just short of the 29.99 per cent threshold beyond which he would be forced to make an offer for the remaining shares.
Kroenke acquired another 200 shares in the club's parent holding company to move to the latest figure, with 100 of the shares being bought from Gunners chairman Peter Hill-Wood.
It seems inevitable Mr Kroenke, who owns the NBA's Denver Nuggets and Colorado Rapids MLS football team, will now launch a formal takeover of Arsenal.
Kroenke has preferred to remain quiet on his intentions for Arsenal, but Hill-Wood has recently announced that he would have no problem with Kroenke making a bid for the club.

Fulham 3-0 Burnley - Hodgson
Fulham 3-0 Burnley - Laws
Man City 2-0 Bolton - Johnson and Vieira
Portsmouth 1-1 Sunderland - Bruce
Wigan 1-1 Stoke - Martinez
Portsmouth 1-1 Sunderland - James
Portsmouth 1-1 Sunderland - Grant
Wigan 1-1 Stoke - Scharner
| Time | Fixture |
|---|---|
| Wednesday 10th February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 19:45 | Arsenal vs Liverpool |
| 19:45 | Aston Villa vs Man Utd |
| 19:45 | West Ham vs Birmingham |
| 19:45 | Wolverhampton vs Tottenham |
| 20:00 | Blackburn vs Hull |
| 20:00 | Everton vs Chelsea |
| Tuesday 16th February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 19:45 | Stoke vs Man City |
| Wednesday 17th February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 20:00 | Wigan vs Bolton |
| Saturday 20th February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 12:45 | Everton vs Man Utd |
| 15:00 | Arsenal vs Sunderland |
| 15:00 | West Ham vs Hull |
| 15:00 | Wolverhampton vs Chelsea |
| 17:30 | Portsmouth vs Stoke |
| Sunday 21st February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 14:00 | Aston Villa vs Burnley |
| 15:00 | Fulham vs Birmingham |
| 15:00 | Man City vs Liverpool |
| 16:15 | Wigan vs Tottenham |
| Monday 22nd February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 20:00 | Blackburn vs Bolton |
| Tuesday 23rd February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 20:00 | Man Utd vs West Ham |
| Saturday 27th February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 12:45 | Chelsea vs Man City |
| Time | Result |
|---|---|
| Tuesday 9th February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Man City 2 - 0 Bolton | |
| Wigan 1 - 1 Stoke | |
| Portsmouth 1 - 1 Sunderland | |
| Fulham 3 - 0 Burnley | |
| Sunday 7th February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Birmingham 2 - 1 Wolverhampton | |
| Chelsea 2 - 0 Arsenal | |
| Saturday 6th February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Liverpool 1 - 0 Everton | |
| Hull 2 - 1 Man City | |
| Stoke 3 - 0 Blackburn | |
| Bolton 0 - 0 Fulham | |
| Sunderland 1 - 1 Wigan | |
| Man Utd 5 - 0 Portsmouth | |
| Burnley 2 - 1 West Ham | |
| Tottenham 0 - 0 Aston Villa | |
| Wednesday 3rd February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Fulham 1 - 0 Portsmouth | |
| Tuesday 2nd February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Hull 1 - 1 Chelsea | |
| Monday 1st February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Sunderland 0 - 0 Stoke | |
| Sunday 31st January | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Man City 2 - 0 Portsmouth | |
| Arsenal 1 - 3 Man Utd | |
| Saturday 30th January | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Birmingham 1 - 1 Tottenham | |
| Pos | Team | P | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chelsea | 25 | 58 |
| 2 | Manchester United | 25 | 56 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 25 | 49 |
| 4 | Liverpool | 25 | 44 |
| 5 | Manchester City | 24 | 44 |
| 6 | Tottenham Hotspur | 25 | 43 |
| 7 | Aston Villa | 24 | 41 |
| 8 | Birmingham City | 24 | 37 |
| 9 | Fulham | 26 | 34 |
| 10 | Everton | 24 | 32 |
| 11 | Stoke City | 24 | 30 |
| 12 | Blackburn Rovers | 25 | 28 |
| 13 | Sunderland | 25 | 26 |
| 14 | Wigan Athletic | 24 | 24 |
| 15 | Hull City | 25 | 24 |
| 16 | Burnley | 25 | 23 |
| 17 | Bolton Wanderers | 24 | 22 |
| 18 | West Ham United | 24 | 21 |
| 19 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 24 | 21 |
| 20 | Portsmouth | 25 | 16 |
Barca had two men sent off, Robbie Keane scored for Celtic while FC Twente finally lost in Holland.
The Insider thinks Mansfield Town's novel idea could boost crowds higher up the football ladder.
A naive Arsenal slipped further out of the title race while Liverpool enjoyed a positive weekend.
Manchester City overcame Bolton, Portsmouth salvaged a late draw against Sunderland, Fulham saw off Burnley and Stoke held Wigan.
Avram Grant said his dismissal against Sunderland was a product of him 'having enough' of the club's difficulties.
Aruna Dindane salvaged a priceless point for troubled Portsmouth as they drew 1-1 with Sunderland.
Carlos Tevez and Emmanuel Adebayor grabbed a goal apiece as Man City overcame Bolton at Eastlands.
Fulham claim a comfortable 3-0 victory and extend Burney's woeful away run at Craven Cottage.
Comments (7)
Kyle Forrester (Arsenal fan) says...
I think it will do the club good to have kreonke take over, the arsenal board have been too stubborn and put us in more debt with highbury square. By april next year we will have big problems as that debt is due to be paid. Kreonke for Arsenal!
Posted 12:16 5th November 2009
Rees Mason (Arsenal fan) says...
Yeah its should be fine if he keeps similar line ups as wenger then dont change nothing really but wenger has been in it for ages with arsenal good manager
Posted 12:15 5th November 2009
Alex M (Aston Villa fan) says...
Look, the problem is not money, the problem is Wenger. Even if Kroenke pumps bazillions into the team Arsene will not spend it, we'd have all the downsides to a new owner (debt, tension with the manager, ludicrous tie-ins with his American franchises, an owner who cares about nothing but money) with none of the upsides. While Wenger is in charge (and its going well now so this may explain Kroenke's caution) Arsenal will NEVER spend massive fees on players, so why do we need this takeover? Only if Arsene was leaving would this make sense, a Mourinho-esque manager would sweep in and replace half our first team with top-class buys and we'd be winning things again. But neither of these things will happen. I love Arsene to bits but we will never win another trophy under him, and this takeover is pointless till a manager willing to spend (and demonstrate ambition to the rest of the team such as Fabregas) is in place.
Posted 12:09 5th November 2009
James Pomeroy (Arsenal fan) says...
this was bound to happen aslong as wenger has conrol of football aspect of the club i can see this working the board will have to make a desicion soon i mean look at man utd the glazers have stuck to there promises ans so can kroenke.
Posted 12:09 5th November 2009
Ashley Parker (Manchester United fan) says...
I completely agree with Marks comments above. It should be 100% benificial to the Arsenal team especially if you can find new funds to better the team as well as support Arsene in his beliefs. What we dont want is yet another club (like man u ) to be instantly crippled with debt overnight but i dont think this will happen with Arsenal as hes gradually bought shares with his own money so far and hasnt needed any sort of loans. The premier league is a tough place to be now and i feel that if clubs dont have GOOD foreign investment then they will surely fall down the league.
Posted 11:32 5th November 2009
Debbie Giles says...
IM A BIT WORRIED,IN THAT WE HAVE SOLD OUR SOUL
Posted 11:12 5th November 2009
Mark Wilkinson (Arsenal fan) says...
This was always going to happen. Being an Arsenal supporter, I am all for it as long as things remain the same in respect to wenger and what he does. He might be able to help pay off our debt or invest in new players? As long as he doesn't saddle us with more debt then things should be all good. People have been saying what kind of effect this would have on the team and the way I see it, this shouldn't be a problem for the team, it is the boards problems
Posted 09:48 5th November 2009