FFP and Chelsea – a conspiracy theory.
By Inside Right
Following Tony’s piece on FFP within the EPL there seemed to be some confusion as to why Chelsea should want to support it – other than for reasons of the common good to all clubs.
Try this theory for size.
In Chelsea’s original business plan, outlined in the London Evening Standard by their then Chief Executive Peter Kenyon (who left the Club sometime later to spend more time with his ego) it was stated that by 2010 Chelsea would be ‘financially self sufficient’ mainly thanks to moving to a much bigger stadium which they would sell out for every game (at top dollar prices) because they were going to win everything in sight.
On two very public occasions Chelsea have failed to buy a relatively nearby piece of land on which to build that new stadium and, because of those failures, also failed to persuade the Chelsea Pitch Owners to sell the Stamford Bridge pitch back to the Club so that they could redevelop the land for other purposes.
The other piece of ‘vacant’ property which might suit Chelsea sits in West London – at White City – currently hosting redundant BBC buildings. Unfortunately this is very adjacent to QPR and the rules (as Tottenham found out to their cost) state that one club can’t move into another’s territory. Ironically, I dare say, Tottenham insisted on that following their (now) 100 year old grievance related to Arsenal’s move from Plumstead.
This leaves Chelsea needing QPR to either move to a new stadium somewhere else (perhaps as a ground share) or to go out of business completely.
Given that QPR’s survival at Loftus Road is best served by financial doping it becomes obvious that Chelsea’s support of FFP fits that particular long term aim.
Given that QPR are hardly likely to go out of business completely – even Portsmouth haven’t done that (yet) a ground share becomes the only option. Craven Cottage would be the obvious location – Fulham having ground shared at QPR some years ago while their ground was being ‘redeveloped’. But Fulham’s owner doesn’t support FFP because he knows that with it his ability to bankroll his Club is severely hampered.
So where could QPR go? The only other club that’s close enough for their fans to get to readily is Brentford but that is far too small and ramshackled for a Premiership club to consider, surely. Well it just so happens that the aforesaid Brentford (where Chelsea play some of their reserve games and with whom they presumably have a good relationship) are now trying to move to a bigger and much swankier ground. Not only is it a touch closer to Shepherds Bush (where QPR currently play) but it is also planned to have a capacity much closer to that of Loftus Rd. On the face of it this capacity is somewhat greater than Brentford are, maybe ever, likely to need.
Maybe I’m making two and two make nine but, having failed twice at Chelsea Barracks and at Battersea Power Station what else is left for Chelsea to do other than to support FFP, hobble Man City and perhaps open up the only opportunity they have left to deliver the business plan that otherwise looks in tatters?
Editorial Note: Quite often when Untold publishes an article that is primarily about a club other than Arsenal we receive a fair number of comments from supporters of that club telling us to mind our own business and only comment on Arsenal. The variation is that we are only commenting on the other club because Arsenal are so awful. The fact is, as our home page clearly says, we deal in “Football news from a positive Arsenal perspective”. That’s why we are here. Sorry if you don’t like it, but there it is.
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you’re right, there’s nothing else good (bar wilshire) to say about arsenal. up the blues.
OR, it could be as simple as that Roman is getting a bit sick and tired of putting his money into the club seeing no returns for years on end and he has put £1bn in. Maybe he is using this to get his money back or maybe even in later years as an excuse for an exit strategy leaving the club in a stagnated position and owing him a lot of money…………really hope this happens because they are a classless scummy team!
Ant – Could be worse, we could of bombed out of 6 competitions this season already (7 if you count the league title). Hush now little chav…..
The one major flaw in any unsustainable financial plan is that it can’t be sustained.
Maverick,
maybe you are right you know.
He wanted to win things. And he wanted to win the CL. So he bought these titles with the money he had.
But as with every toy once you have achieved your goals….you get tired of it. There is no real new challenge for him any more. so maybe he is looking for a way to get his money back.
Or at least to not force him to invest that much of his own money any more.
It’s near impossible to know what Abramovich thinks, and what his ‘long-term’ (it’s all relative what is considered long-term) aims are. But an interesting theory and a fun game of connect the dots nonetheless. Thank you for that.
I think Theo is something good to say about Arsenal, Ant. Oh, and the stadium which I quite enjoy. Oh, and the fact we are in the European Champions League. Oh and the fact that we are in Next Gen. Oh and the fact that Wilshere came through Arsenal from the age of nine… I never deny that I would be sooooo happy if we could win something, but I keep supporting Arsenal, because that’s what supporters do.
Interesting read
@insideright tell them,some people always don’t want to know the truth@Tony most so called supporters forget that we are still in the biggest cup on planet earth.I also wonder why some whore-list forget that also!!
Wonder if they do research.
not a bad theory actually.
ant@3.11 – nice 🙂
its a nice feeling having already built a stadium almost paid for knowing that we can concentrate more so now on honors.
Re “football news from an Arsenal perspective”, Tony, what about a report on a supporter’s trip to Sunderland , together with catering experience, this coming weekend?
It was all very well for Abramovich when he was the only rich kid on the block.
With the arrival of Shitty and the rise of other oligarch and state backed clubs in France and Eastern Europe to add to the already existing Spanish duopoly, he is running up the white flag, as there is only a limited number of trophies to share among them, at huge cost.
Perhaps political pressure is being put on him to fund a Russian club instead of Chelsea, with the arrival of the World Cup in Russia in the not too distant future?
Who knows what Chelsea are up to , but whatever it is, being Chelsea, we can be certain that it will positively ooze class
It does seem to me that Abramovich is no longer the force he used to be, remember he had to go cap in hand to Gazprom for a sponsoship deal to make the books look healthier as he cannot keep pumping his own wealth in to chelsea.Plus no information on how much Gazprom sponsor Chelsea? So we have a state owned company that owns Zenit St Petersburg that also sponsor Chelsea.
So one could state that the Russian government have given Abramovich& Chelsea a get out of jail free card as far as FFP goes.
That boy is most definately back in the Kremlins good books after selling them his old company Sibneft now Gazpromneft.
You really couldn’t make it up.
Chelsea and Gazprom?
I have just twigged that connection links them to AFC…
…via Usmanov
How strange
Welcome to my world Matt.
The real twist in this one will be and the end of next season when I fully expect Chelsea to end their shirt sponsorship with Samsung (worth £18 million a year) and it be replaced by Gazprom.It probably would have happened this year if Samsung hadnt taken up the two year option they had.
Gazprom not only own Zenit but they also sposnsor Schalke to the tune of about £20 million a year.
There are deals already in place at Man U of £50 million at and Liverpool already are paid way over the £20 million mark I would expect therefore that any deal of around £30-£40 million at Chelsea wont even be given a second look by UEFA.
RA is a smart mover he must be to have survived so long.
Finally I am not sure that the Battersea deal is dead the offer of a land swap may be very attractive to the owners of the site and also keep you eyes on Earls Court proposed developmemnt as again I am not sure that there wont be an option there either.Both the two development companies may well find RAs wealth and therefore his ability to inject cheap cash to attractive to resist.
Adam,
Was Peter Hill-Wood not linked to a firm that did its private prospecting in Russian oil fields? Have a look. That research was posted as much hereabouts last year. So, does your world allow for even stranger competitions, or is one type of extraction angelic and the other diabolic. Just thought I’d raise the point for your further ruminations. Must run now. Cheers.
there is site in Harrow, where the Kodak factory is. rumour has it that QPR were looking at moving there. this is 2/3 yrs ago though.
Ha not so easy this new stadium business is it?
That’s why we are who we are, most successfull club from south with 13 and 10. If it was a fair playing field it would be different for sure but how much is question.
Gazprom…..don’t they now sponsor eufa, or the champions league? As for battersea, after the recent London tragedy involving the helicopter crash,, which in all honesty could easily have been far worse, doubt if they would get insurance, the heliport it was trying to land is very close to the battersea site…..unless that was just deemed an unfortunate one off…..or they move the heliport……
Wilshere came through Arsenal from the age of nine …
I like that Tony.
Hasn’t been much mentioned by the press in their glowing reports of his performance in the England – Brazil match.
“Oh and the fact that we are in Next Gen.”
tbh Tony, i dont think anybody really gives a damn about the nextgen series other than those playing it
bob, (with no capital), I answered that question last year when you asked. PHW wasn’t in the service (supposed or not) of the British Government when pillaging foreign fields invited or not. The mass web that I have a problem with is; All these links that take you back to the Russian government.
Time and again they have been asked to fully privatise their industries to no avail, they only seem to be expanding their control over more subsidiaries.
The amalgamation of large companies especially within the pharmaceutical, media & petrochemical industries have had disastrous effects on Europe and the world in our not so distant history, Caution and awareness should always be evident when a government is amalgamating its way to a dominant position.
At a time when we should be decentralising power the Russians seem to be centralising with no signs of stopping. Now for your information im not against Russian wealth, just cautious about how they (the government)are going about their business. I see similarities with history that should never be repeated.
Just as I was arguing on the league rules thread I think its unlikely that there is any conspiracy here.
Equally I cannot see Abramovich getting out of Chelsea any time soon. His enthusiasm (and willingness to interfere) seems undiminished. I also cannot imagine he has any expectation of getting a return on his investment any time soon if ever.
What I think it comes down to is that in the light if their failure to get the new stadium or get close to self-sustaining, Abramovich has just changed tack. He can see a bottomless pit in front of him if he wants to keep winning.
On a more smug note. Even though we are still feeling the repercussions of building the Emirates today, we certainly picked a good time to do it. It isn’t just Chelsea, or even the neighbours, but with Liverpool and Everton also trying to emulate us and crashing and burning it looks like we may be the last club with a shiny new stadium for quite a while.
What bugs me is that citeh got theirs for free.
HMM I always enjoy it when people tell me what I think. I give a damn about Next Gen and was very pleased we got through to the next round. And I know some other people who share this view.
Hmm,
IMO, that is a view shared only by the people who are not in it