Ken Friar, the former Arsenal director and one of the most important figures in the club’s history, has died at the age of 92.

“Mr Friar”, as he was known to all at the club, worked in various roles at Arsenal in a remarkable career that lasted more than 70 years.

Friar was named Arsenal’s “life president” in 2020 upon his decision to step down from the board and retire from his executive responsibilities.

In a statement, Arsenal said: “It is with profound sadness that we announce the death of Life President Ken Friar OBE.

“Since our formation in 1886, there have been many inspirational individuals who have driven our club forward, but no one has had an influence on Arsenal Football Club quite like ‘Mr Friar’ and he leaves an extraordinary life of service to the club as his legacy. One that will surely never be matched. Rest in peace.”

Arsenal’s players will wear black armbands in Tuesday’s Champions League match against Lille, and there will be further tributes at their Premier League home game against Everton on Saturday, October 24.

Friar was ‘Mr Arsenal’

No individual in Arsenal’s history has a better claim to the title of “Mr Arsenal” than Friar, whose extraordinary association with the club makes him a truly revered figure in north London.

There are many measures of Friar’s importance to Arsenal’s 140-year story. The Ken Friar Bridge outside the Emirates Stadium, along with a statue depicting him playing football near the old Highbury stadium as a boy, are physical representations of his legacy.

Friar, who was born in 1934, began his association with Arsenal in 1945. The tale is the stuff of Arsenal legend: he was playing football with his friends in front of Highbury when their ball became lodged under a parked car. As the smallest of the boys, Friar was asked to retrieve it.

The car, it turned out, belonged to George Allison, the Arsenal manager who happened to be leaving Highbury at that precise moment. Allison was so impressed by Friar’s enthusiasm that he told him to report to his office at 9am the next day. Friar did as he was instructed and his reward was a job offer: he became a messenger at the stadium on matchdays. He was paid 12 and a half pence per week.

It marked the beginning of a remarkable seven decades at Arsenal. Friar joined the ticket office as a full-time employee in 1950 (choosing the club instead of accepting an opportunity in a stockbroker’s office) and gradually progressed through the ranks, becoming the box office manager and then taking the role of club secretary in 1973.

Friar was part of an unusual board meeting with north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, when the two clubs explored the possibility of sharing a new stadium at Alexandra Palace in the 1970s. He kept a picture of that meeting, which is believed to be the club’s first and only joint-board meeting with the directors of Spurs.

From 1983 to 2000, he served as Arsenal’s managing director. At the start of the century, his role changed to be more focused on the project to build the Emirates Stadium, alongside fellow director Danny Fiszman. Friar was awarded an OBE in 2000 for services to football, and also received the Freedom of the Borough of Islington.

Friar decided in 2020, before the start of the Covid pandemic, to step down from Arsenal’s board. His decision was announced publicly in September 2020, when he was named as a life president of the club.

In an interview with The Telegraph in 2011, he said: “I have always felt that people like me are custodians of the heritage. I really believe that it has to be protected. It has taken 125 years to build what we have got but, if you mishandle it, you can ruin it in 10 minutes.”