Chelsea may have an outstanding recent domestic win ratio, a team packed with great players who can play open attacking soccer and be one of the richest clubs in world soccer, but the owner Roman Abramovich still has one large problem to fix. Debt is the spectre which follows Chelsea at the end of every season and despite Mr Abramovich’s generosity in writing off large chunks of the clubs debt, resolving this will be the key issue for Roman Abramovich.
A team may be able to make large sums of money from club and kit sponsorship deals, the sale of soccer merchandise, the transfer of players and prize money winnings, if they are good enough, but for Chelsea the high costs of maintaining their squad is still a big drain on the clubs resources. UEFA’s adoption of tough new rules regarding the eligibility of teams entering their competitions with reference to being financially profitable, means that Chelsea have a somewhat pressing need to find a long-term answer to their debt.
The process of reducing the clubs debt started last summer when several high-earning first team players were permitted to leave the club for new pastures. Michael Ballack left for Leverkusen, Deco and Juliano Belletti joined Fluminense, Joe Cole moved North to Liverpool and Ricardo Carvalho rejoined former manager Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid. These player drops certainly minimised the annual wage bill, but other measures may still need to be taken in order to reduce the debts still further.
The startup spending made by owner Abramovich was aimed at giving Chelsea a fast-track to becoming the most known club not only in English soccer, but also European Leagues and world soccer. Depending on your opinion, this title is currently held by either of the La Liga giants Real Madrid or Barcelona, or Chelsea’s Premier League rivals Manchester United, and the reason why Chelsea have been unable to match these three giants of the beautiful game is due to two key factors:
- The entry fees generated by the relatively small Stamford Bridge stadium.
- The clubs worldwide merchandising appeal.
The most obvious issue to correct; the size of the local stadium and the revenue it generates, could well resolved sooner than expected. Speculation has it that Stamford Bridge may soon be only part of Chelsea’s history, rather than the building point of their future. While no specific details have been confirmed by any sources at Chelsea, speculation has been rife that Mr Abramovich has been considering moving the club into a brand new stadium, of at least 60,000 capacity, and such a move is required if Chelsea are realistically hoping to achieve the title of the world’s biggest club.
The switch to the new and improved ground would have great and immediate effects on improving Chelsea’s financial standing. A higher capacity, if the fans can fill it, will mean Chelsea turning over far more a year from spectators. The extra revenue from a new stadium will be incredibly beneficial in helping the club adhere to the new guidelines UEFA wants imposed in time for the beginning of the 2012 season. Another bonus financially is that Chelsea could choose to sell the naming rights to their biggest sponsor, as other teams such as Arsenal did with their new Emirates stadium.
Merchandising sales could also be positively enhanced by a new stadium, more seating means more fans and this will have a continuing effect in other overseas markets, hopefully those in East Asia and North America.
If Chelsea is to be successful on their long term aspirations, the right time is now to spend their owners cash on the club’s lack of infrastructure, rather than on player wages and huge transfer fees. Making the next step towards becoming the world’s biggest club is obvious; Chelsea must design and build a new stadium that matches the sky-high goals of their owner and fans and only then will they truly be considered amongst the world’s elite soccer teams.