Chelsea's billionaire owner says he is building foundations to make the team the most successful football club in the world for a century to come
The Times October 21, 2005
Chelsea told that Roman empire will last 100 years
By Matt Hughes and Bill Edgar
The hand that feeds: Abramovich's vast wealth can fund his plan for global football domination (MARC ASPLAND)
MANY football fans are already fearful of Chelsea’s growing domination, so Roman Abramovich’s proclamation yesterday that he is building a club to last for 100 years will have sent a cold chill down many spines.
Words from the publicity-shy Chelsea owner are as rare as billionaires from Volga, his birthplace in southern Russian, so rivals would do well to take him seriously. In the foreword to a new book celebrating their centenary, Chelsea FC: The Official Biography, Abramovich has broken his silence to spell out his plans for a club he has transformed beyond all recognition, stating his ambition to make it the most successful club in the world. Platitudes maybe, but with a purpose — and with a personal fortune estimated at more than £12 billion perfectly within his reach.
“This book tells the story of the great history and tradition of Chelsea Football Club and this is something I have the utmost respect for,” Abramovich writes. “It represents the heart and soul of the club and the values it was built on.
“I hope to carry this forward in the true blue tradition of Chelsea but also to build even stronger foundations to last us for the next 100 years. In the long term our strategy is to build the most successful football club in the world.”
Chelsea have rarely been the most successful club in London, never mind the world, but in the 2½ years since his £140 million takeover, Abramovich has gone some way to reversing years of underachievement. After finishing second in the Barclays Premiership in his first season, Chelsea ended their 50-year wait for the title in their centenary year and such has been their startling start to this campaign, with victories in their first nine league matches, that a couple of bookmakers have already paid out on them retaining the title.
Abramovich admits to being surprised at the excitement engendered by owning a football club and it certainly seems to have affected him. The 38-year-old has clearly spent too much time in the company of footballers, describing Chelsea’s title triumph as “like a dream come true”, although how long he had harboured it remains a moot point.
Whatever his past, after an outlay of more than £600 million on the club, new players and wages, there is no doubting Abramovich’s commitment to Chelsea and his desire for a tangible return on his investment. “When I first became involved in Chelsea I had little idea of how much joy and excitement it would bring me and I can think of no more fitting tribute to our centenary season than to enter it as Premiership champions,” he writes. “Of course it’s 50 years since our last title and I know that everyone at the club will be working hard to ensure that we will not have to wait that long again.
“In future we hope to bring even more joy than you have experienced over the last 100 years. In order to do this many challenges lie ahead. We want to retain the Premiership title and, of course, challenge again in Europe. Maybe this year we can go one stage better and go to the Champions League final.”
Having brought in Peter Kenyon as chief executive, José Mourinho as manager and spent £306 million on new players alone, the next stage of Abramovich’s Russian revolution is for the club to start producing their own superstars. Hence this summer’s recruitment of Frank Arnesen as director of youth development.
Speaking for the first time since his controversial move from Tottenham Hotspur, Arnesen revealed yesterday that his ambition was to produce one outstanding youngster for the first team every season, with a special emphasis on honing domestic talent.
“When Abramovich came to the club, he wanted as quickly as possible to get to a certain level in England, that of Manchester United and Liverpool, so he invested a lot of money,” the Dane said. “But his plan was always to take the next step, which is to create an organisation which can get players to Chelsea before they are so expensive.
“If you are very good, you can get one player a year into the first team. It can be two players one year and none the next. But in two years’ time, the first has to have come through. England and the United Kingdom is my No 1 priority as it’s much less risky taking players from home.”
If the man who discovered Ronaldo and Ruud van Nistelrooy succeeds in adding the next generation of superstars to Chelsea’s team of all talents, their rivals are right to be worried, but Abramovich’s advisers should also counsel caution. As great dynasties such as Liverpool, Manchester United and even the Romans discovered, nothing lasts for ever.
Chelsea's squad.
Petr Cech
Carlo Cudicini
Wayne Bridge
Glen Johnson
Paulo Ferreira
John Terry
William Gallas
Robert Huth
Ricardo Carvalho
Asier Del Horno
Claude Makelele
Frank Lampard
Arjen Robben
Geremi
Michael Essien
Shaun Wright-Phillips
Joe Cole
Damien Duff
Eidur Gudjohnsen
Hernan Crespo
Carlton Cole
Didier Drogba
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