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The Los Angeles Rams UK supporters group has explained to Mirror Football why Arsenal should not hold their breath for similar honours under the ownership of Stan Kroenke
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“Let Him Hear Us” – Arsenal fans’ message for Stan Kroenke
Stan Kroenke’s name has sparked bitterness and backlash among Arsenal fans for some time.
Therefore, it is little surprise that the sight of the Missouri-born billionaire proudly holding aloft the the Vince Lombardi trophy after the Los Angeles Rams’ Super Bowl win triggered some envious reactions from members of the Gunners faithful.
For Kroenke, the trophy marked the ultimate reward for years of hard work and investment.
The showpiece event was played inside the $4bn SoFi Stadium, an arena that would have been near-impossible to provide for the Rams had it not been for the pockets of ‘Silent Stan’, widely regarded as the driving force behind the switch from St Louis back to Los Angeles in 2016.
But that ‘Silent Stan’ nickname is commonly used by disgruntled Arsenal fans enraged by their owner’s radio silence at times when they’ve believe it would be helpful to hear from the man thought to be running things.
Mirror Football spoke to Antony Wallis from LA Rams UK to determine how one of the most wealthy men in America is perceived by an entirely separate fanbase.
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“Before Sean McVay arrived, we had 10 losing seasons,” said Wallis. “The move in 2016 from St Louis back to LA was all Stan Kroenke. It was a commercial decision, all down to Kroenke.”
When pressed on whether Kroenke’s stock is considerably higher among the Rams supporters, Wallis added: “It is hard to tell – he is always known as Silent Stan, he’s not a frontman by any means.”
The most divisive topic of all is the perception that Kroenke views his American franchises, specifically the Rams, as the “golden child” of his sporting portfolio and Arsenal are little more than an afterthought.
That is a theory undoubtedly supported by the contrasting amount of money invested in each, but the injection of cash into the Rams was something the franchise was crying out for according to Wallis.
“It’s really difficult because obviously he has invested a lot in the Rams but he needed to build the brand and the team.
“It’s Hollywood, it’s Los Angeles, the second biggest media market in the US, they need a winning team to be able to get the fans and the sponsors on board and sell out SoFi.
“You generate revenue by being successful, if you have a successful team it’s easy to generate revenue.
“But Kroenke is a businessman and he’ll want a return.
“We can see that with the Rams, the revenue is so far in now – the naming rights, the number of fans coming through, hosting Super Bowls and the area coming together around it – Arsenal can’t replicate that whole project.”
In terms on-field recruitment, there is one glaringly similar decision made by Kroenke Sports Entertainment linking both the Rams and Arsenal.
The Gunners are spearheaded by the youngest manager in the Premier League in Mikel Arteta, while Sean McVay became the youngest manager to win the Super Bowl last Sunday.
Just three years separate them with Arteta the older at 39, but the pair boasted similar credentials going into their respective roles.
“He [McVay] was seen as a bit of a wonderkid, been through a few different roles and I think Arteta had done something similar – it’s not quite the same coaching in the NFL as it is in the Premier League obviously but I think you can see some similarities,” Wallis explained.
“Whether Mikel Arteta has been brought in to be the poster boy is difficult to say, I think he was brought in on his credentials. Sean McVay wasn’t a head coach either so in that respect there are some similarities.”
McVay arguably has the advantage of being further up Kroenke’s list of priorities, as LA Rams UK representative Wallis alluded to.
“I think his [Kroenke] focus has been on the Los Angeles Rams and making them a success.
“Five years under Sean McVay since we came back to Los Angeles, we’ve won our division three times out of five and been successful in the play-offs, went to one Super Bowl and lost it, we’ve just been to another one and won it.
“I think Kroenke can and does build successful sporting franchises, it’s not just something he likes to play with.”
More recently Stan’s son Josh has been seen taking a more active role in the running of Arsenal and is a slightly more popular presence at the club than his father.
His comments surrounding the passion of Gunners fans and the wider European football community are likely to have only enhanced his reputation at the Emirates.
“I think that one of the messages that I said to our supporters and I do listen to our supporters over there, I listen to our fans here [in America] with our teams but the level of passion that is involved in European football, and support that goes into these clubs – I don’t want to say it’s deeper than anything we have over here – but it’s way deeper than anything we have over here,” Josh told Road Trippin’s YouTube.
“It’s hard to truly relate as an American or a foreigner heading into the UK the passion that really goes on from the people that support these clubs.”
His remarks come at the perfect time given the red half of north London are currently green with envy as “Silent Stan” toasts his Super Bowl success with his favourite franchise.
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