'I was axed from Arsenal in three-minute meeting - my phone was cut off before I got to my car'

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David Dein believes "jealousy and fear" played a significant role in his sudden departure from Arsenal back in 2007. The former co-owner and vice-chairman was a pivotal figure in the establishment of the Premier League in 1992 and was also present during the club's legendary Invincible campaign throughout the 2003/04 season.

Yet despite his involvement with the Gunners stretching back to 1983, Dein's time in north London was brought to an abrupt end in a three-minute meeting with just three other individuals.

Speaking on the High Performance podcast , the 82-year-old recounted the moment he was shown the door at his beloved club.

Dein said: "I'd known nothing about that meeting. I was just told literally on April 18, 2007 to leave the club. No [meeting with the board], not at all. When I analyse it, I think it was a combination of jealousy and fear.

"Perhaps because I was seen as the face of the club. Perhaps that I had ideas about bringing in outside investment which perhaps the rest of the board didn't like."

Underlining his ambition to drive the club forwards, Dein added: "They wanted to keep a bit of a cartel going there amongst themselves. And meanwhile, I felt the game was moving at such a pace with Man City, with Chelsea , we had to compete and we couldn't."

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Highlighting his desire to push the club forward, Dein added: "None of our board members had the sort of financial muscle that could take us to the next level. And I was literally looking around to see, 'Well, who else is there out there that can pump the tires up?'"

Describing just how swiftly he was ousted from Arsenal, the former co-owner said: "Believe it or not, there was never ever a meaningful debate about me leaving. It was complete shock to me. And I repeat, I think it was the fact that I was high-profile and maybe I was going in another direction which they were worried about, but I felt it was the right thing to do.

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"The chairman at the time, Pete Hillwood, one of his colleagues and a lawyer [were in the meeting]. It was all over in about three minutes. The board unanimously decided that you should leave now.' And that was it.

"And then when I got into my car, my mobile phone wasn't working. It was my own personal number, it was taken from me.

"So I had to drive home without having a mobile phone or to talk to anybody. It wasn't easy. I remember that. I'll never forget it. It was tough."

Dein added: "Firstly, I felt for the club. My first concern was that Arsene [Wenger] and I had a very precious relationship. We still had a lot of work to do.

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"So that bothered me. We were already talking about bringing new players in for the summer. This was in April now. Personally, I was obviously very hurt, very wounded. I felt it was brutal and I was literally cut limb by limb."

Red and White Securities purchased Dein's shares upon his exit, before Stan Kroenke became the club's biggest shareholder in 2011.

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