So, in the end, the Roman Empire in Chelsea lasted nearly 19 years, much longer than many thought when he bought the club in the summer of 2003, but until the last cataclysmic geopolitical events, less than I expected given his clear love for the club and continued success on the field.
Many seem to forget that in the six years before Roman Abramovich bought the club, Chelsea won two FA Cups, the League Cup and the European Cup Winners’ Cup, so it is hardly a mess. What he did was quickly take Chelsea to the rare next step, allowing world-class managers (such as Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and Antonio Conte) and players to join, introducing two decades laden with trophies, each new owner will find it very difficult to reproduce. He became a very effective destroyer, upsetting the cozy world at the top of English and European football, and was clearly outraged by this.
Two Champions Leagues. Two Europa Leagues. Five Premier League titles. Countless homemade cups. So many memories of me. Watching us win the league in Bolton and West Bromwich Albion. To be in Munich, Amsterdam, Baku and Porto to see how European trophies are lifted. Watching world-class signatures abroad such as Arjen Robben, Claude Makelele, Didier Drogba, Michael Balak, Eden Hazard and Thiago Silva wear a Chelsea shirt. Player quality and a selection of trophies and memories unthinkable for those of us who watch from the sidelines in the canine days of Division Two from 1979-83.
Watching international world-class signatures such as Didier Drogba and Arjen Robben, who celebrate a goal in 2005, was a pleasure for Chelsea fans. Photo: Tom Jenkins / GuardianThe sentimental and ruthless dismissal of managers was sometimes embarrassing for many supporters, but it is difficult to say in retrospect that these decisions were not justified, with the possible exception of Ancelotti. The dismissal of Frank Lampard was condemned by many, but the appointment of Thomas Tuchel was a masterpiece that led to the glory of the Champions League months later.
Abramovich was very much in the background, very rarely giving interviews and giving satisfaction to allow his leaders to run the club on a daily basis, although he was obviously interfering in key strategic issues. Those who thought he would get bored or use the club as a public toy were wrong. My opinion is that he really loves the club, but that he did the right thing and is really the only plausible course of action given the current circumstances, signaling his clear intention to sell. I have no idea if he has close ties to the Putin regime – he says no – but his statement, his gesture to write off the club’s huge loans and his commitment to use the proceeds from the sale “for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine.” they send me a very strong message.
His legacy, in addition to wonderful memories, includes two world-class managers (Tuchel and Emma Hayes), a bunch of world-class players in the men’s and women’s teams and a well-run academy producing high-quality stars of the future on a regular basis. My reading is that the vast majority of supporters appreciate everything he has done for the club and are extremely grateful for the 19 years of unparalleled (in relation to Chelsea) success.
There must be some trepidation among supporters about the future. The idea of the owners taking on and accumulating debt to the club in the style of Glaser or Hicks and Gillette is not happy. Will Tuhel want a new regime? Will he want to hang around? Creating a fully functioning new club hierarchy, potentially from scratch, is far from easy, as other clubs have found.
The club tried and spectacularly failed to buy back the shares of Chelsea Pitch Owners in 2011 and if a new owner tries again, then they can expect a new battle with the supporters. Delayed plans to build a 60,000-seat superstation could likely be resumed, but given that it will require a three- to four-year move away from Stamford Bridge during construction, it will inevitably be a difficult process.
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The great goodwill Abramovich has built with Chelsea supporters since 2003 will have to be won by new owners, and it will certainly not be as easy as Amanda Staveley’s team found in Newcastle. Abramovich’s investment has turned Chelsea into a real world-class club, as evidenced by the recent success of the Club World Cup. Whoever takes over will have a really hard time consolidating and building on that.
Tim Rawls first watched Chelsea in 1967 and contributed cfcuk fenzin.