Ken Friar, who was appointed president-for-life of the club in September 2020, passed away 10 days ago on Tuesday 13 October. Flowers and wreaths were laid in commemoration, and Richard Garlick and Lord Harris made a short speech about all that Ken Friar had done for the club. Players wore armbands for the Champions League game against LOSC Lille and the WSL game against Birmingham City.
For the game against Everton there will be tributes paid by the club in Ken’s immediate family in attendance with former players and others paying their respects with the programme containing tributes. The message from Arsenal Independent Supporters Association is that “For those coming to the game, please do take a walk across his bridge if you can.”
For the Everton game the players will come onto the pitch a little earlier than usual to share a moment together at 14.57 with a moment of applause before the playing of North London Forever.
Ken Friar was born in Islington on 13 August 1934, and was educated at schools in Highbury. He started working at Arsenal part-time immediately after the second world war as a messenger boy.
He then moved on to work in the club’s box office. and replaced Bob Wall as company secretary in 1973. He was appointed managing director by chairman Peter Hill-Wood, and remained in the job until 2000, his work including negotiating manager and player contracts and developing links within the community, before focussing on the move from Highbury to the Emirates. He retired in 2020.
He was granted an OBE in 2000 for services to football and was awarded the freedom of the Borough of Islington in 2004. Then on 14 April 2011, The North Bridge, was renamed The Ken Friar Bridge. I had the honour of being the person who proposed to Arsenal that the process of identifying the then new ground more closely with Arsenal after the move from Highbury could be enhanced by the erection of a series of statues, and as part of the development of this idea the statue of a young Ken Friar playing football in front of Highbury was crafted.
Ken Friar retired in 2020 , and passed away on 13 October 2026, aged 92.
The notes above are by Tony Attwood.
