Emirates Stadium name change update as Arsenal expansion plans grow beyond Islington
An aerial view of the Emirates Stadium, home to Arsenal Football Club in North London(Image: Yunus Dalgic/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Around a year ago, Arsenal were making major changes to their board with the introduction of Otto Maly and David Steiner, both of whom having major experience in real estate. They joined the club headed up by Stan and Josh Kroenke, who themselves have already built the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles for the Rams.
Since then, Arsenal have renewed their partnership with Emirates, and as a result, the potential for the Emirates Stadium changing its name has been shut down, at least until the next time an extension of the deal closes in. Yet, the chance for expansion and redevelopment of the stadium remains high on the club’s agenda.
football.london sat down with Josh Kroenke in May alongside other reporters in the wake of the Premier League victory. The son of the club’s owner and co-chairman explained that plans were in motion for renovations of the stadium and confirmed the involvement of the new board members, just as suggested in 2025.
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“[Richard] Garlick is leading those conversations on our end right now,” Josh confirmed. “We have several new members of the board that are plugged into that, that do those operations for us in the States.
“They’re putting together a plan right now to renovate the Emirates. I can’t believe it’s been 20 years. My only regret [about] being in my position at Arsenal right now is that I never got to experience Highbury.”
On the note of the former home of the club, Josh also noted that the inspiration for how the stadium would be renovated would come from Highbury. In addition, involvement from the supporter base was also something he is keen to see encouraged.
“That’s still to be determined,” he said. “I had different comments from people over the years about the walls of Highbury, the character of what that building was. The Emirates is obviously a totally different animal, but I’ve made that comment to a few people, and they’ve asked me that same question.
“And I say I want to leave it up to our supporters and people that have experienced that to really tell me what that means. So we’re still sifting through that but I do want Arsenal fans to know this is a very modern facility but also have a character.
“Try to figure out a way to bring and preserve some of the character of old English style football as well.”
Yet since these plans were discussed, the club has also been revealed to be considering expansion beyond just the Emirates. Arseblog News exclusively reported that the club are drawing up plans to improve its Sobha Realty Training Centre.
Plans are for now at an early stage, but a new purpose-built hub for the men’s team is part of the proposals. While the men’s and women’s teams use the same areas, this could see the teams separated, with the women’s team inheriting exclusive use of the existing facilities.
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