--- title: "Ken Friar, Arsenal’s life president and architect of the Emirates move, dies aged 92 " canonical: "https://readarsenal.com/2026/10/14/ken-friar-dies-aged-92/" type: "post" language: "en-GB" author: "Lucie Turner" section: "Arsenal News" published: "2026-10-14T08:41:38Z" modified: "2026-10-14T09:34:36Z" --- # Ken Friar, Arsenal’s life president and architect of the Emirates move, dies aged 92 Arsenal are in mourning after the death of life president [Ken Friar](https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/50173301/arsenal-life-president-ken-friar-dies-aged-92). He rose from matchday messenger to managing director and helped steer the club from Highbury to the Emirates Stadium. He was 92. The club announced his death on Tuesday, claiming no one had ever influenced Arsenal quite like ‘Mr Friar’. They said his life’s work would be a legacy unlikely ever to be surpassed. Players wore black armbands for that evening’s Champions League match at home to Lille, which Arsenal won 3-0. Further tributes will follow when Everton visit on Saturday 24 October. ## **From matchday messenger to managing director** Friar’s story is part of the club’s folklore. He was born in Islington in 1934 and was playing football outside Highbury when a tennis ball came rolling under the car of the then-manager George Allison. He told him to return the following day. Friar was taken on as a runner for the box office, reputedly for a half a crown a week. He joined the permanent staff in 1950. Turning down an offer to go into stockbroking that would have doubled his wages. He advanced to the position of box office manager prior to becoming club secretary in 1973, succeeding Bob Wall. A decade later he became managing director, managing the club on a daily basis for a span of 17 years. He was instrumental in the negotiation of player and managerial contracts and maintained close links with fans and the local community. He also had a pivotal role in the organisation of the 1966 world title fight between Muhammad Ali and Henry Cooper at Highbury. An event that he frequently cited as a career highlight. ## **The move to the Emirates** He began the most famous of his projects, working on yet another stadium project with his trusted colleague Danny Fiszman, the result of which was opened in 2006. During his night out from work talk, published in the anthology from Arseblog, So Paddy Got Up, he stated that during the project development he worked for more than 80 hours a week. Giving the explanation that he works because he loves the place and the people. The honours followed. He received an OBE for services to football in 2000 and the Freedom of the Borough of Islington in 2004. A statue even depicts him as a boy playing football in 1945. It stands at the end of the bridge that bears his name. The club renamed the bridge in his honour in 2011. ## **Life president and tributes** Having stood down from the board in September 2020, aged 86, he became life president. He had spent seven decades at the club. At the time, he said all his working days had been spent at ‘this great club’. He had cherished every one of them. He always arrived early for matches to deal with club matters. Around that time, he also lost his beloved wife, Gwen, after more than 60 years together. The comments beneath Arseblog’s tribute were filled with messages from supporters who described him as the epitome of the club. Many took comfort in knowing he lived long enough to see Arsenal win the league last season. One reader, a teacher who once lived above the Emirates concourse, recalled how morning nods with Friar on the bridge became friendly greetings. Friar’s career spanned the transformation of Arsenal from a club with a handful of staff in the 1970s to one employing some 1,850 people today. He is survived by his family, to whom the club has offered its thoughts and condolences, as do we, at Read Arsenal.