Let's All Go To The Emirates Stadium - 10/10/2004

Arsenal fans will be making their way to the Emirates Stadium when the club leaves Highbury for Ashburton Grove in 2006. The club has secured a long-term £90m deal for its new stadium and future shirts with airline Emirates who currently have their name on the front of Chelsea's shirts. Ironically, Chelsea seem not to have wanted to renew their deal because they felt they needed a global brand. The club's new ground will be known as the Emirates Stadium until the 2020-21 season and the airline will also sponsor the club's shirts when the current deal expires at the end of the 2005-6 season. The new name may not exactly trip off the tongue, but may reassure fans who were concerned about the financing of the new stadium project. The moment Arsenal occupy the new stadium they will incur annual interest on a £260 million loan of 7 per cent, or roughly £18 million a year, plus capital repayments. It was the highly leveraged nature of this loan that worried some fans given that the club's debts totalled £142.7m at the end of May. The new deal will provide the club with a safety net that will leave it more room for manoeuvre on the transfer market.