Chelsea’s chief executive believes that the club will be less dependent on Roman Abramovich next year. The plan is to gradually let go of the lifeline provided by their Russian owner, although how these good intentions work out remains to be seen. However, no money will be made available in the January transfer window for big new signings unless there is a real emergency on the pitch. Plans to move away from the cramped ground at Stamford Bridge have also been put on hold, even though a larger stadium would generate more gate money on the Old Trafford model.
Chelsea’s chief executive believes that the club will be less dependent on Roman Abramovich next year. The plan is to gradually let go of the lifeline provided by their Russian owner, although how these good intentions work out remains to be seen. However, no money will be made available in the January transfer window for big new signings unless there is a real emergency on the pitch. Plans to move away from the cramped ground at Stamford Bridge have also been put on hold, even though a larger stadium would generate more gate money on the Old Trafford model. Chelsea believe that they are on target to make a profit in two to three years time and that within a year they will be self-financing. These announcements have been greeted with a measure of scepticism among football analysts, given that Abramovich has pumped more than £550m of his personal fortune into the club in the form of interest-free loans.
Admittedly, the fashionable West London club does have a plausible strategic plan. The long term target is to turn Chelsea into a global brand like Manchester United where Kenyon was once chief executive. Within the last five years Chelsea has emerged as one of Europe’s leading clubs, exemplified by their appearance in last year’s Champions League final. This has led to increased ticket and television income, although the former is constrained by the size of the ground. The next set of accounts for the 2007-8 season are likely to show Chelsea smashing the £200m barrier. With the emergence of Manchester City as (potentially) the world’s richest club, Chelsea no longer have that monkey on their banks. However, today’s home defeat by Liverpool showed that the best laid and supported plans can go wrong on the pitch. It is so long since Chelsea lost at home that it is believed that the King’s Road was plagued by dragons and the last dinosaurs were living in a swamp near Putney.