Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Football London
Football London
Sport
Daniel Childs

Roman Abramovich 'shock' and 'dread' leaves Chelsea numb as takeover bids engulf Stamford Bridge

No one person can speak for a whole group of supporters. Particularly a group as big as those who follow Chelsea, not only one of England's biggest football clubs but now an internationally followed one.

You throw that thought into the blender of emotions that have been common for those connected to the club over the past couple of days and the task becomes even harder.

From Roman Abramovich's statement to sell the club on the 2nd of March to this past Thursday when the UK Government announced it would be sanctioning Abramovich, freezing his assets and plunging the future of Chelsea into more uncertainty, you cannot be surprised when supporters' minds are a bit frazzled.

How they are supposed to react to Abramovich's sanctions, reflecting on his 19-years of ownership and their part in it? Plus the very real fear of how these sanctions will impact Chelsea's existence, with hope a new owner can save a historic club from financial armageddon.

In response to this CareFreeChelsea approached four supporters of different ages, backgrounds and geographical locations to get their take on what has happened, and their feelings on what the future holds for the club they love.

"It remains a shock." Mark Worrall, a respected Chelsea author, has been following the club since the early 1980s says.

Worrall in 2007 founded Gate 17, a publishing company named after the entrance he uses at Stamford Bridge. Gate 17 has gone on to publish over 40 titles from several Chelsea writers. He is also a writer for the CFCUK fanzine sold outside the ground on matchdays.

Seeing the club through different eras, he is naturally fearful over what comes next.

"Even though there was a creeping sense of dread about what might happen to Chelsea FC given the government's hardening stance on Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the likelihood that Roman Abramovich might be sanctioned - when it happened, the speed at which everything changed at the club forever was something nobody was prepared for.

"My thoughts are first and foremost with the Ukrainian people. Chelsea will continue eventually, but you can't bring innocent casualties of war back from the dead. There are also many people whose livelihoods have been directly affected by the club not being able to continue its regular business, my thoughts are with them also.

"As for me, I believe there will always be a Chelsea. I know that new owners will be found, it's the most valuable club in the world in terms of real estate assets. I hope they have the interest of genuine supporters at heart and if they don't I wouldn't be averse to the idea of starting again. Jumpers for goalposts on Eel Brook Common. 11 players, my mates. Come On You Blues."

One of Gate 17's authors is Chris Wright, a board member of the Chelsea Supporters Trust. Wright has been a supporter since the 1980s, a season ticket holder and the owner of the Chelsea Rewind blog and Instagram account that celebrates the club's history. Wright also contributes to the CFCUK fanzine.

Wright wanted to reiterate the Trust's unified stance over the future of Chelsea stating: "The government must implement the recommendations of the Fan Led Review – including ensuring Chelsea fans are given a golden share by the new owners of the club.

"The CPO (Chelsea Pitch Owners) must be protected in all circumstances. Roman Abramovich's tenure at Chelsea is almost certain to end, and our focus must be on what comes next and ensuring a sustainable future for the club."

Chelsea continue to feel the effects after Roman Abramovich was sanctioned. (Photo by Martin Rose/Getty Images)

As mentioned at the beginning of this piece, Chelsea's wide-reaching influence has garnered a global fanbase, one that has allowed connections to be made between supporters from Putney to Perth.

Ross-John Bonaccorsi –known to most online as 'RJ' – has followed the club from Sydney, Australia for 20 years and has a growing presence in the online community. Contributing to fan-led websites like Talk Chelsea and The Chelsea Social, RJ also co-hosts his own Chelsea podcast "The Balanced Blue".

"The past few weeks have been a whirlwind. We've gone from being crowned world champions and completing football, to having our owner put us up for sale before being sanctioned by the UK government.

"This bizarre sequence of events is beyond even the most gifted of Hollywood writers. While I've spent the past 20-plus years waking up at 1, 3 or 5am each week to watch our club, including enjoying many highs and enduring many lows, this period is certainly the most challenging given the uncertainty surrounding our future.

"Although I'm a natural optimist, I would be lying if I said these recent events haven't caused me stress and anxiety. Although I could accept us going through a rebuilding phase if necessary as I've been privileged to witness my club win it all, not having certainty about our ownership situation and the associated downstream impacts is what truly concerns me.

"And, while I fully sympathise with the victims of what's happening in Ukraine and in other places around the world, I also feel sorry for those within Chelsea that have been impacted by these sanctions. I hope for a swift and positive outcome for our club, both in the short term and perhaps, more importantly, the medium-long term."

Finally, we'll hear from a CareFreeChelsea alumni in Jai Mcintosh. Jai is a close friend of mine and someone I started up my own podcast with last year to cover the club.

Jai has been a supporter all of his life, coming from a family of Chelsea fans and enjoying the success of the past 20 years. Like myself, he has only experienced the Abramovich era due to our age and barely knew what football was when the Russian bought the club in 2003.

Before taking up his new role as editor of the Fashion site Essential Journal and doing social media work for Adidas, Jai had extensive experience creating content around the club. Being one of the founders of The Chelsea Social, plus hosting multiple streams on its YouTube channel and appearing on major media outlets to speak about Chelsea.

Jai has never held back his personal unease at Abramovich's ownership at the club but understands why fellow supporters are appreciative over what the billionaire's wealth has done for it.

"It feels somewhat trivial to be concerned about a football club when currently there are far greater issues affecting millions of people. Nonetheless, we have to comment on the state of Chelsea, what has happened and what we feel," he said.

"It seemed inevitable that Roman Abramovich would be sanctioned. However, the reaction surrounding the sanctions, and the subsequent chaos as to who can buy Chelsea has created a polarising situation amongst one of football's most polarised fan bases.

"In order to protect my sanity, I am choosing to focus on the field rather than all the issues off the pitch. The impact of this chapter in the thriller drama that is Chelsea is that the club is unable to extend contracts, sell players, or sign players.

"Look at the state of Chelsea’s defensive contract situation, with Andreas Christensen leaving for Barcelona with Cesar Azpilicueta potentially following. Then you have Antonio Rudiger, one of the very best in the world who could leave for free.

"Failing to secure and strengthen the Chelsea squad will have a negative impact on their attempts to compete for the Premier League.

"Lastly, the clamour from certain subsections of the fanbase looking for the most money regardless of where it comes from is symptomatic of the 'superclub' culture.

"I think Chelsea will be okay, and a new buyer will be found. Let’s just hope they have the club's best intentions at heart."

Make sure you have subscribed to CareFreeChelsea on YouTube! The Fan Brands team along with plenty of your football.london favourites will be producing daily Chelsea content for you to enjoy including match reactions, podcasts, football fun and interviews. You can follow Daniel Childs from the CareFreeChelsea team to keep up to date with his work. If you enjoyed reading this then give my other articles a read below.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.