At a time where world football is littered with owners trying to buy their way into the game and make a quick buck, we must take a moment to appreciate just how well Roman Abramovich runs and has ran Chelsea Football Club, from a financial point of view.
On Thursday Chelsea announced their new long-term sponsorship deal with Nike after terminating their contract with Adidas six years early, it will see the club earn £60million a year, double what they were earning from the Adidas deal.
The new sponsorship deal may not mean much to some fans, but it will help Chelsea maintain their ability to compete with the very best teams around the world financially, without having to break Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules, something the club have tried so hard to endure to since it was brought into the game.
With Nike, Yokohama and Carabao, Chelsea will now get £110m per year from shirt deals alone.
Every single penny will go to building squad.
— Jake Cohen (@JakeFCohen) October 13, 2016
It’s not only the sponsorship deal that will help Chelsea’s cash flow over the next few years, it’s the stadium expansion that will see Stamford Bridge fit around 60,000 fans in every week.
Take note Arsenal and West Ham fans, this is a stadium expansion, not a new ground. Moving homes is something that has held Arsenal back over the last decade and they’re only recently starting to recover from the financial strain that was placed upon them.
West Ham have recently moved to the London Stadium and it’s been nothing short of controversial, be that because of fan violence, policing, lack of atmosphere or a bunch of kids breaking in and climbing to the roof of the stadium in the middle of the night, the list goes on!
For a club like Chelsea, having a 42,000 capacity stadium isn’t enough from a financial point of view, everybody knows that. Something had to give, but it’s a very dangerous step to make if you don’t do it the right way.
But, instead of moving to a new stadium and losing the history and the memories that Stamford Bridge holds for so many fans, Abramovich has managed to fund and plan a new exquisite design that will raise the capacity to upwards of 60,000.
The extra seats will provide crucial funds to help push the club on in the not too distant future, without jeopardising the fan’s love for Chelsea.
Abramovich brought the club with the ambition of making it one of the best in the world and some could argue that he has achieved that, or is well on the route too if not. Through his investment and love for the club, he’s put Chelsea on the map, globally.
And when all is said and done, he’s a Chelsea fan at heart. It’s a rarity these days to see club owners who care so much for the business they’ve invested in, and let’s face it, we have to see this as a business.
But either way, not many owners will attend nearly all, if not all home games where possible. He feels every kick of the game with the cameras constantly panning up to his seat and checking on his movements. He must be a nightmare to sit around during the games, he never sits still! That’s the way it should be, though.
Some would argue, is it right for the owner or main investor to be so emotionally attached to the club? Yes, it is. It may have led to some rash decisions on the football side of the club in years gone by, but he’s brought into everything that Chelsea is about.
Chelsea are often criticised for the way that they’ve ‘brought the Premier League’ or have plastic fans, etc, you’ve heard it all before I’m sure. However, they were merely just the first club to break the norm of the Premier League back when Abramovich first took over the club.
So much gets said and written about the bad owners, who are looking to change club’s names or kit colours. Abramovich doesn’t often get anywhere near enough credit for his actions off the pitch.
Yes, we’ve got to take the good with the bad. Not every decision he made was right or made sense financially, but more often than not, they’re good, let’s respect that for what it is.
