The Arsenal Supporters' Trust have written to majority shareholder Stan Kroenke demanding he lays out his future vision for the club at Thursday's Annual General Meeting.
The letter, sent last Thursday and seen by Standard Sport, urges the American businessman to honour a commitment made upon taking over the club in 2011.
“You made the following commitment in the formal Takeover document,” it read. “’Mr Kroenke has made it a priority to meet with supporters and fan groups in formal and informal settings. He recognises that fans are at the heart of the club.
“Their opinions and involvement are important to him. Mr Kroenke fully expects himself, the Arsenal directors and club executives to continue to engage with supporters for the long-term good of the club.’
“Sadly, it is a commitment that has not been effectively fulfilled even once. Addressing shareholders at the meeting, many of whom are custodian supporters, would be a positive step. Should you decide to not address the meeting, then we would request as a priority a meeting after the AGM where you can convey your current approach and priorities for the club.”
Kroenke usually speaks at the meeting but only to offer his support to manager Arsene Wenger and reinforce his commitment to the club without providing any detail as to its future direction.
The AST are urging their members to oppose the re-election to the board of chairman Sir Chips Keswick and Kroenke’s son, Josh – even though their motion will almost certainly fail as Kroenke Sr holds a 67 per cent stake .
However, the AST want a symbolic protest against what they describe as “significant corporate governance failings”.
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An AST statement read: “We will vote against the resolutions at the AGM to re-appoint Sir Chips Keswick and Josh Kroenke to the board of directors.
“The AST urges all of its members who are individual shareholders, and other shareholders, to do the same.
“The reason for this course of action is to demonstrate dissatisfaction at the current ownership and governance arrangements at Arsenal.
“In particular we feel that the present directors are not acting with sufficient independence, or representing the interests of the small shareholders, or the future custodianship of the Club.
“In 2013, the AST commissioned an independent review of corporate governance at Arsenal. This report, and the failings it identified, have been well-publicised.
“In particular it identified an ageing board lacking in diversity without the breadth of skills required to run a modern professional football club. All of the non-executive directors have been in office for far too long and are not regarded as independent under the corporate governance code. There is therefore no independence from the controlling shareholder, no one free of conflict of interest, and not enough diversity on the board or people with relevant professional skills, such as football expertise.
“Our action and vote is a statement that we believe significant corporate governance change is needed. Whatever the outcome of tomorrow’s AGM we call upon the directors at Arsenal to address these significant corporate governance failings.”
Wenger is also due to speak on Thursday along with chief executive Ivan Gazidis before the board faces a series of pre-approved questions from individual shareholders. Around 100-150 people have attended in recent years but the number of shareholders has dwindled of late as many have sold at the current going rate of around £28,000 per share.