Ken Friar, Arsenal’s life president and a central figure in the club’s history, has died at the age of 92.
Friar began working for Arsenal as a 12-year-old in 1946 and went on to serve as club secretary and managing director. He later helped oversee the move from Highbury to the Emirates alongside Danny Fiszman, before retiring from the board in September 2020 after 74 years of service.
Born in Islington on 13 August 1934, his association with Arsenal began when a tennis ball he was playing with rolled beneath manager George Allison’s car outside Highbury. Allison spotted him retrieving it and told him to return the following day.
He was subsequently offered a job running messages from the box office for half a crown a week, and the rest is history. In 1950, he joined the permanent staff on an annual salary of £78, having considered an offer from a stockbroking firm that would have doubled his wages.
Friar became club secretary in 1973, succeeding Bob Wall, and was appointed managing director by Peter Hill-Wood in 1983. He held that position until 2000, handling player and managerial contracts while maintaining links with supporters and the local community.
After stepping down as managing director, Friar focused on the move from Highbury. His partnership with Fiszman was instrumental in delivering the Emirates, which opened in 2006, and securing the club’s long-term future.
In an interview with journalist Nick Ames, published in the Arseblog Anthology ‘So Paddy Got Up’, Friar recalled regularly working more than 80 hours a week during the development. Asked about his workload after the move, he replied: “Well I’ve cut back now; it’s just sixty hours a week!”
He was equally clear about the importance of preserving Arsenal’s identity through such a significant change.
“It’s the people that make the Club,” he told Ames. “The fans make it, the manager makes it and all the people that work for it make it.”
“I suppose if I’m to take credit for anything it’s for playing a part in continuing those traditions.”
Friar was awarded an OBE for services to football in 2000 and received the freedom of Islington in 2004. The bridge linking the Emirates with the surrounding streets was named in his honour, while a statue depicts him playing football as a boy outside Highbury.
He became life president upon his retirement from the board, bringing his working career at Arsenal to a close more than seven decades after that first encounter with Allison.
For all the responsibilities he held, Friar’s explanation for his lifelong commitment to Arsenal remained straightforward.
“But look, I work because I love the place and the people.”
Everyone at Arseblog sends their condolences to his family, friends and colleagues at Arsenal.