David Dein - Role at Arsenal

Role At Arsenal

He was Vice-Chairman of Arsenal between 1983 and 2007. He was appointed when he bought a 16.6% share of the club for £292,000 (he later sold a significant proportion to co-director Danny Fiszman) At the time of Dein's purchase of the shares in Arsenal back in 1983, Peter Hill Wood Arsenal's Chairman described Dein as "crazy" to invest his money in the club stating that "to all intents and purposes it's dead money". Dein built up his shares until he owned 42% of the club in 1991. During his time at the club, he was responsible for football matters taking an active role in the transfer of players and contract negotiations where he was able to use his extensive network of football contacts. Dein was behind the appointment of the then little known Arsène Wenger to the manager's job in 1996; under Wenger Arsenal have won the FA Premier League three times and the FA Cup four times, and Dein strongly backed him and his transfer wishes throughout.

David Dein was also influential in the transformation of Highbury into an all-seater stadium. Following the Hillsborough disaster a report by Lord Justice Taylor called on all Premier League clubs to introduce all-seater stadiums. Dein was behind the introduction of a bond scheme to finance the redevlopment of Highbury's North Bank and Clock End terraces into all-seater stands.

Dein also helped obtain Arsenal's entry into the G-14 group of major European football clubs in 2002, and became President of the G-14 in October 2006. A keen promoter of women's football, he was also President of Arsenal Ladies Football Club, the most successful English women's football team, while Arsenal vice-chairman.

David Dein was responsible for bringing Arsene Wenger to the club. Following the dismissal of George Graham in February 1995 he tried to convince his fellow-board members to appoint Arsene Wenger as manager. They seemed reluctant to bring on board an unknown Frenchman managing in Japan and opted instead for Bruce Rioch. Following the dismissal of Rioch a year later, Dein again suggested that Arsene Wenger should be appointed as manager. His efforts proved successful 2nd time round and Arsene Wenger was appointed manager of Arsenal in October 1996. It was David Dein who introduced Arsene Wenger to his fellow board members and convinced them to appoint him as manager. No one denies that without Dein, Wenger would never have been appointed manger.

David Dein's success in recruiting Arsene Wenger as manager in September 1996 is enough to ensure his legacy in the history of Arsenal. Together they spent the next decade transforming the club and helping it join the elite clubs of European football.

Dein believed that English football was falling behind other European leagues and was not embracing a forward-looking plan to improve. He saw Arsene Wenger as the man to help push Arsenal forward embracing new methods to achieve this. Dein also believed that Arsene Wenger would change Arsenal's style of play which was seen as dogmatic and one-dimensional to one based on technique and speed more attuned with the approach adopted by teams from the continent.

Dein was instrumental in convincing some of the world’s biggest talents to join the club.

In September 1991 he helped Arsenal sign Ian Wright from Crystal Palace for £2.5 million

In June 1995 Dein flew to Milan “and returned with the signature of, for the first time in Arsenal’s history, a true international superstar” Arsenal bought Dutch International Dennis Bergkamp for £7.5 million from Internazionale.

Over the following years, Dein was also responsible for recruiting players such as Patrick Vieira, Emmanuel Petit, Marc Overmars, Thierry Henry, Davor Suker, Robert Pires, Sol Campbell, Gilberto, Gael Clichy, Kolo Toure, Cesc Fabregas and Robin Van Persie. All were to contribute heavily to the success of Arsenal.

On 18 April 2007 it was revealed by Arsenal that he had left the club with immediate effect after "irreconcilable differences" between himself and the rest of the board. It is thought that he was in favour of a possible takeover of Arsenal by an external benefactor seeking to invest money into the club. Arsenal had invested heavily in the development of their new stadium which forced the club to take on heavy debts which meant the club was in need of new revenue. The other members of the board were said to have signed a contractual agreement that they would not sell their shares for a year, and they jointly expressed their intention to retain their shares in the longer term. Dein was replaced as G-14 chairman by Olympique Lyonnais chairman Jean-Michel Aulas the following month.