Arsenal Supporters' Trust

Arsenal's official supporters' trust, founded in 2003 to give fans a say in how the club is owned.

The Arsenal Supporters' Trust (AST) is the official supporters' trust of Arsenal Football Club, as recognised by Supporters Direct. Founded in 2003 and registered as an Industrial and Provident Society, it is owned equally by its members, each with one vote, and works to strengthen supporters' influence over the club through democratic fan ownership. It holds regular dialogue with Arsenal but is wholly independent of the club and its owners.

Quick Facts

Formation: 2003
Purpose: Football fans' advocacy
Membership: Over 750
Main organ: Tim Payton
Affiliations: Supporters Direct

Facts from the source article.

Background

With roughly 1,000 members, the AST is one of the smaller supporters' trusts in the United Kingdom. Its members include small shareholders, and the Trust itself holds three of the club's 62,217 shares, including the so-called 'orphan share' the club donated in 2007. In the 2007–09 takeover contest between Stan Kroenke and Alisher Usmanov, the Trust treated Usmanov's bid as hostile and in November 2007 joined the board's lockdown agreement against a full takeover; in May 2008 it came out in favour of Kroenke as the more supportive long-term investor and went on to act as a go-between for him and the board.