Reported by Ariajegbe Sylvia Esezobor
Arsenal, the reigning Premier League champions, have told staff they plan to cut around 60 jobs, a move that comes months after the club ended a 22-year wait for the league title and barely a week after manager Mikel Arteta signed a lucrative new contract.
The news was delivered on Wednesday morning during a call led by chief executive Richard Garlick, according to a British newspaper report that other outlets later matched. It arrived the morning after Arsenal beat Lille 3-0 in the Champions League, giving a night of celebration at the Emirates Stadium an uncomfortable sequel for employees. Some accounts say up to 60 posts are at risk, and a consultation is under way, which means the proposals could still change.
The redundancies are aimed at the non-football side of the business. Reports indicate that coaching staff, the performance and backroom teams for the men's and women's sides, the Arsenal Foundation, community operations and the security department will be spared, and Garlick confirmed the exemptions to staff during the call. Beyond that, detail is scarce. The club told staff the cuts would be spread across several departments, but reporting so far has not named which ones or when any changes would take effect. Some outlets have described the affected posts as administrative or office-based, a description that comes from secondary accounts.
The scale of the cuts depends on the size of the workforce, and estimates differ. One report suggested Arsenal employ more than 500 people, while another outlet said the club is believed to employ about 850 across football and corporate operations, which would put the cuts at roughly seven per cent. The reports reviewed did not settle the question.
The plan appears to follow a review of the business by Boston Consulting Group, one of the world's largest management consultancies. Staff had known for some time that outside advisers were examining how the club operates, and some employees voiced concern about possible job losses in September when news of the review surfaced. Arsenal has made changes elsewhere this year as well, with departures reported in its medical and performance departments and adjustments to commercial leadership over the summer.
Pressure on costs has been building. Accounts published earlier this year showed the club close to breaking even as revenues hit new highs, though it continues to operate at a loss, and one report noted that losses have been recorded in each of the last seven years. Wages remain its biggest annual expense, totalling £346.8 million in the results to May 2025, while operating costs of around £200 million last year were £126.7 million higher than three years earlier, according to figures cited by analysts. Another report said Arsenal remain close to the limit of football's financial rules and did not spend as much as they were prepared to in the summer transfer window.
The wider industry faces similar strain. The Independent Football Regulator's draft State of the Game report, published on Tuesday, found that 94 per cent of clubs across England's top five divisions were loss-making last season, despite combined revenues of around £9 billion. It pointed to rising costs and heavy reliance on owner funding.
The timing, nonetheless, has drawn sharp attention. Arsenal lifted the Premier League trophy in May, their first league title since the unbeaten Invincibles season of 2003-04 under Arsène Wenger, securing substantial broadcasting and prize revenue, and last week announced that Arteta had agreed a four-year extension reported to be worth around £20 million a year, or roughly £80 million in total, keeping him at the club until 2030. Critics have seized on the contrast between that investment and the prospect of redundancies among office staff. Others have noted that football clubs, like any large business, review their costs regularly. Reaction among supporters online has been divided: some accused the club of insensitivity given its revenues, while others argued that football is a business and cannot be immune from review.
The episode revives memories from 2020, when Arsenal announced 55 redundancies in August during the coronavirus pandemic. In a joint statement then, head of football Raul Sanllehi and managing director Vinai Venkatesham pointed to steep falls in broadcast, matchday and commercial revenue, and the club entered a 30-day consultation period. The statement also assured supporters that investment in the team would continue. Arsenal had finished eighth in the league that season and had already restructured their stadium loan, and the cuts fell on some football departments as well as commercial and administrative roles. That decision came only months after first-team players and coaches had agreed to a temporary 12.5 per cent wage cut, and the departure of Jerry Quy, the man behind the Gunnersaurus mascot, became a particularly unpopular symbol of the cuts. The current round is the second large-scale redundancy programme since Kroenke Sports and Entertainment took full ownership of the club, although the circumstances are very different.
Whereas the 2020 cuts were presented as a response to a sudden collapse in income, the present plan comes at a time of record revenue and sporting success. How the club will justify the choice of roles has not been laid out in detail publicly, and the reports reviewed carried no extended statement from Arsenal explaining the decision.
For the employees involved, the immediate concern is clarity. A formal consultation gives staff a chance to respond to the proposals before final decisions are made, and the outcome may differ from the opening figure. Which roles are ultimately affected will become clearer only as that process runs its course.
The numbers frame the debate. About 60 jobs are proposed for removal, set against a league title won after 22 years, a manager's contract reported at £20 million a year over four years, a wage bill of £346.8 million, and an industry in which 94 per cent of top clubs lose money.
Meanwhile, the football goes on. Arsenal remain engaged in the Premier League and Europe after a campaign that restored the club to the summit of English football.
📩 Stone Reporters News | 🌍 stonereportersnews.com
✉️ info@stonereportersnews.com | 📘 Facebook: Stone Reporters News | 🐦 X (Twitter): @StoneReportNew | 📸 Instagram: @stonereportersnews
Add comment
Comments