So, There is a Price for Championship Runs? Who Knew?
by AB on Monday, January 31st, 2005 at 10:40am
Surely Roman Abramovich didn’t become filthy stinking rich by running all his business ventures the way he has run Chelsea FC. Well, that’s a financial impossibility, since Chelsea has reported losses in the area of 88 million pounds for last year.
“Figures filed to British company registration centre Companies House show Chelsea having made record English soccer losses of ｣88 million ($166 million) in 2003-04, their first season under the ownership of Abramovich.
The sum easily outstrips the previous record loss of ｣49.5 million which Leeds returned in 2003.
But where Leeds’s debt all but crippled the Yorkshire giants who were forced to sell off their training ground, Elland Road stadium and almost all the squad which had reached the Champions League semi-finals in 2001, Chelsea’s figures barely register as a blip on the financial health or status of the club.”
Those who say that you can’t buy a championship might just have found out to the contrary. Chelsea holds a 10-point lead over second place in the division and is still fighting on all four fronts as they enter February.
The only question now is how much interest holds if Chelsea have a dominating year. Can the drive remain or will they be doomed to complacency? At least for now, it’s not a problem.