Arsenal director promises to fight Russian takeover

FORMER Arsenal director Nina Bracewell-Smith, who was deposed in a boardroom coup, today launched a stinging attack on the men who run the club.

But Lady Bracewell-Smith said she had no intention of selling her 15.9 per cent stake in Arsenal despite her "appalling" treatment.

There has been speculation that her departure from the board makes the club vulnerable to a takeover by Alisher Usmanov, the Russian tycoon who already has a 24 per cent stake.

Lady Bracewell-Smith was forced off the board in a coup on Wednesday, said to have been masterminded by the club's most powerful director Danny Fiszman.

The directors had signed a "lockdown", agreeing not to sell their shares before 2012, designed to prevent Mr Usmanov obtaining control. He may now make an approach to buy Lady Bracewell-Smith's stake.

Lady Bracewell-Smith, breaking her silence, said today: "I'm in total shock and very upset about the appalling way I have been treated. The board have no manners whatsoever and my views were ignored on many occasions.

"I can't understand why I have been removed in such a ruthless fashion. I had no intention of selling my shares and was no threat to the lockdown agreement. I have had no explanation. It is very difficult to accept, especially after what my family has done for Arsenal for so many years.

"I've never had a thought of selling my Arsenal shares, and I still don't."

Lady Bracewell-Smith, as reported in yesterday's Standard, had become increasingly isolated in the boardroom and was almost ignored by her fellow directors even on match days as she took up her seat in the directors' box. The final straw was the removal of Richard Carr, her brother-in-law who owns 4.6 per cent of the club, from the plc board. It paved the way for the directors to vote Lady Bracewell-Smith off the board.

Quite why Lady Bracewell-Smith has so infuriated Mr Fiszman and the other directors is not clear. Since they oppose an Usmanov takeover, they risk the very manoeuvre they are dead against. One argument is said to have been over the appointment of Arsenal's new chief executive Ivan Gazidis, which Lady Bracewell-Smith is said to have opposed.

Much attention will turn to Sunday's match against Liverpool at the Emirates. It is suggested Mr Usmanov's advisers may choose to seek out Lady Bracewell-Smith and sound her out over selling her shares.

Mr Usmanov's investment firm Red and White Holdings has refused to say if it will buy Lady Bracewell-Smith's stake. In doing so it would trigger a takeover bid because it would push Mr Usmanov's shareholding over the 30 per cent threshold.

A theory is the directors would like Lady Bracewell-Smith to sell to Stan Kroenke, an American with a 12.4 per cent stake. Lady Bracewell-Smith was given her shares by her husband Sir Charles Bracewell-Smith, whose family have been involved in the club for more than 70 years.