Arsenal have poached a key behind-the-scenes figure from Premier League rivals Liverpool, signing their former Vice President of Commercial Growth & Development – one Andrew Sheridan. With the Gunners, he will assume the role of Head of Partnerships – Strategy & Commercial Ventures.
It is not the highest-ranked job in the department, which is held by Chief Commercial Officer Juliet Slot, but this move comes as a message to their rivals that Arsenal are unwilling to lose out on their opponents when it comes to commercial growth. Sheridan announced the move himself, posting on LinkedIn along with a heartfelt message. It read,
“After seven wonderful years I will be moving on from LFC. Liverpool is a very special club and I have loved being part of it. I couldn’t have hoped for a more exciting time to be at LFC, I got to see and be part of so many incredible moments and I lost count of the number of times I thought to myself, ‘I can’t believe how lucky I am to be here’.
“The thing that consistently struck me, from my first day until my last, was the kind and generous nature of the people I worked with at every level of the hierarchy and across the wider Fenway family. It is an uncommonly nice group of people and they always made me feel supported, valued and trusted.
“It has been a magical period in my life and I will be forever grateful for the myriad ways that the club as a whole, and many wonderful individuals, made my working life so joyous.
“YNWA.”
Sheridan is expected to start off in his new role later this month.
Can Arsenal return to being one of the top English clubs commercially?
Sheridan’s former and new employers have something big in common. Both Liverpool and Arsenal, along with Manchester United, have been three of England’s top clubs commercially for the last several decades. So much that each of them has had long spells without winning the Premier League, but have still not suffered too much financially.
Now, with a new hierarchy in place at the Emirates Stadium, the club is looking to give a new direction to their ambitions with the acquisition of key figures at board-level. While they have matched, and arguably surpassed rivals at pitch level, they have been held back by their commercial figures.
For instance, Arsenal’s annual revenue statistic last season was £464m. That figure is dwarfed by Chelsea, who earned £40m more, Tottenham, who earned £50m more, and Liverpool and Manchester United, who are at a different level altogether.
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Revenue is an important parameter at the club as their self-sustaining model under Stan Kroenke alone is not enough to compete financially. They will need to make more money to be able to spend more in transfers and other key investment areas.
The Gunners will hope new-hire Sheridan will help them achieve their goals.
