Arsenal board braced for battle after Dein exit

LONDON, Apr 20 (Reuters) Arsenal are bracing for a possible takeover battle after a boardroom split prompted the exit of vice-chairman David Dein, the man credited with much of the club's success over the past decade.

The split surfaced after the purchase of an 11 percent stake in the Premier League team by US billionaire Stan Kroenke and a widely-held belief he is planning to buy the north London club -- with Dein potentially having a role in the takeover.

Club chairman Peter Hill-Wood made clear the board's opposition to any such move by Kroenke, telling the Daily Express today: ''Call me old fashioned, but we don't need his money and we don't want his sort.

''Our objective is to keep Arsenal English -- albeit with a lot of foreign players.'' ''I don't know for certain if Kroenke will mount a hostile takeover, but we shall resist it with all our might.'' Hill-Wood, whose club are a byword for England's footballing establishment, also dismissed the idea of a new buyer spending heavily in the transfer market.

Referring to the US ownership of Premier League rivals Manchester United, Liverpool and Aston Villa, he said: ''We are all being seduced that the Americans will ride into town with pots of cash for new players.

''It simply isn't the case.

''He would have to spend a fortune to buy the club, he has already spent millions on acquiring shares, so who thinks he is then going to spend fortunes on players?'' FESTERING RIFT Hill-Wood said the rift with Dein, who has a 14.5 per cent stake, had been ''festering for some time'' before his departure on Wednesday.

''We had an idea that he was in league with Kroenke and the board did not know what was going on... We suspected that he knew Kroenke far more than he was letting on.'' As for the future, Hill-Wood said: ''I know it is suspected that Dein will be back, but that is very unlikely I would say.

''Kroenke would need to reach 50 percent of the shareholding and that would be a risky strategy if there are 45 percent of the shares held on the board by people who will resist his overtures.'' Though Hill-Wood's opposition is shared by three other main shareholders -- Danny Fiszman, Nina Bracewell-Smith and the Carr family -- Arsenal have been weakened by Dein's departure.

He famously hired a French coach in 1996 who was then little known in England, Arsene Wenger, and the pair went on to build a team that has won three league titles and four FA Cups. They have also moved to a new 60,000 capacity Emirates Stadium.

Wenger clearly regretted Dein's exit, telling the club's official Web site (www.arsenal.com) it was ''a sad day'' and a ''huge disappointment because we worked very closely together.

''Red and white are the colours of his heart,'' Wenger added.

As for his own position, Wenger limited himself to saying: ''I am linked with the club very strongly.

''The relationship with the rest (of the board) has always been very good and we try always to have a good understanding.'' More worrying is the view of former Arsenal favourite Ian Wright, who told radio station TalkSport that the players were unhappy about Dein's exit.

''I know this for a fact that the manager and the players are 100 percent behind David Dein and I can see real repercussions coming off the back of this,'' he said.

REUTERS TB RAI1817