Kroenke Sports Enterprises always said they wanted to deliver the Premier League trophy. For years, many Arsenal supporters struggled to take them seriously; nobody took them literally. And yet on Sunday, Stan Kroenke and his son Josh carried the long-coveted silverware across Selhurst Park to where coach Mikel Arteta, his staff and around 3,000 fans waited to celebrate.
Those final steps were the shortest, but perhaps the sweetest for a family whose ownership was so detested at one stage that frequent protests were held outside Emirates Stadium. And worse.
"When they were hanging us from lampposts?" said Josh Kroenke, in reference to the fallout from Arsenal's involvement in the failed 2021 European Super League project, stirring up long-standing ill feeling toward the club's American owners after years of disappointing results.
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The journey from those effigies and jeers to the cheers that greeted their names at Crystal Palace on Sunday is a transformation few owners ever experience. KSE first bought a minority stake in 2007 but only assumed full control in 2018. Eight years later, Arsenal are Premier League champions for the first time in 22 years.
"To make that walk across the field and across the pitch with my father was something I'll never forget," said Kroenke, speaking to a small group of reporters at the Sobha Realty Training Centre in the days leading up to Saturday's UEFA Champions League final.
"It was a moment that I wanted to ask if we could have together. And if it wasn't both of us, I wanted it to be him [Stan] carrying it out because of everything that we've been through over here.
"And, you know, there's moments in life that can't be re-created, and that was definitely one of them for me, for sure."
Josh Kroenke, left, and his father, Stan, right, withstood plenty of setbacks on the pitch and criticism off of it on their journey to bringing the Premier League title back to Arsenal. Michael Regan/Getty Images For Premier League The success was probably still sinking in. Josh has been an increasingly prominent presence around Arsenal in recent years as co-chair, but the demands on his time are great as KSE owns six professional teams: NFL side Los Angeles Rams, the Denver Nuggets of the NBA, NHL's Colorado Avalanche, the Colorado Rapids in Major League Soccer and National Lacrosse League team Colorado Mammoth. According to Forbes, KSE is the most valuable sports empire in the world at a combined worth of $21.17 billion.