Arsenal's TV cash to finance new home

The television company Granada is to invest £47m in Arsenal, which will help pay for the Gunners' move to a new 60,000-capacity stadium just half a mile from Highbury. The Premiership club are hoping that the move will help them compete on a more level basis with Manchester United.

The television company Granada is to invest £47m in Arsenal, which will help pay for the Gunners' move to a new 60,000-capacity stadium just half a mile from Highbury. The Premiership club are hoping that the move will help them compete on a more level basis with Manchester United.

Granada will take an initial five per cent stake, which will rise to a 9.99 per cent holding - the maximum permitted under Premier League rules - if the club go ahead with their ground move.

Arsenal have been exploring the possibilities of moving to a new ground for several years. Highbury, which has a capacity of only 38,000, is full for almost every match and cannot be expanded because of planning constraints. Gate receipts are at least £500,000 per match less than Manchester United's following the expansion of Old Trafford to a capacity of 67,000.

* The referee Steve Lodge has been charged by the Football Association with a "technical irregularity" after failing to book Arsenal's Patrick Vieira and Silvinho when they removed their shirts while celebrating goals against Charlton Athletic at Highbury last month. Clubs were warned by the FA before the season that players who took off their shirts would be booked.