Chelsea recently celebrated 13 years of Roman Abramovich’s ownership of the West London club. It has been 13 trophy laden successful years and a period regarded as Chelsea’s most fruitful in their 108 year history. Abramovich’s vision of turning Chelsea Football Club into an elite European force on the pitch and world renowned brand off the pitch has certainly been ambitious, but one which has paid off, thanks to his unremitting investment.
Since his arrival in 2003, managerial appointments and firings have been aplenty, yet none more so than player acquisitions. There have been successes (Essien, Carvalho, Mata) as well as flops (Boulahrouz, Kezman and Shevchenko). However last season was something extraordinary as Chelsea recorded the worst title defense in the history of the Premier League, Abhramovich sacked his most successful coach Jose Mourinho mid way through the season, following Chelsea announced that Antonio Conte will be taking over at Stamford Bridge.
A lot of negative press is directed towards Roman Abramovich and the mistakes he has made whilst in charge at Chelsea. Here we compile a list of 5 best decisions made in Abramovich’s era.
Taking Over
The best decision of them all, in June 2003, Abramovich became the owner of the companies that control Chelsea Football Club in West London. Many fans who get frustrated with the Russians high handed approach to football, don’t realize that they would have been not here amongst the best in the world, if it weren’t for the investment made by the billionaire. He reportedly cleared somewhere between £50 and £150 million worth of debt within the first few years of his tenure in charge of the Blues.
Player Investment
Abramovich has been ruthless in the way he has gone about conducting transfer business at Stamford Bridge. He has never been one to shy away from spending money, when it’s for the benefit of the team. He spent over £100 million in the first year of his tenure, and since then he has made a number of record breaking deals at Chelsea, to get the likes of Eden Hazard and Didier Drogba, who have not only been instrumental in the Blues success over the past few years but have shaped the future of this club too.
Getting Jose Mourinho
The Portuguese will have always have a special place in the hearts of Chelsea fans. During his two tenures, he won every domestic title possible and also made Stamford Bridge into a fortress for other teams. It has been reported that Abhramovich wasn’t too happy at sacking his manager last year after a dismal start to the campaign, which left him very little choice. The two took Chelsea upwards and made them one of the most fearsome footballing teams in the country and in Europe.
Stability
Everyone football fan has been critical of Roman Abramovich’s hire and fire approach but it hasn’t deterred the commitment of the Russian one bit. During a time, when fans don’t take a second to lose patience with the owners, Abramovich has slowly cemented his place amongst the fans with continues success since he took over. He has given this club stability from the top at times when the base was completely rocky.
Keeping Di Matteo
One thing that eluded Abramovich in his first 10 years was a Champions League trophy. However it was a master move by the Russian to keep Di Matteo as the interim boss, when he could have easily gone out and brought in an experienced manager following the sacking of Andre Villas Boas. His persistence paid off as the former Italian international became the first and only Chelsea manager to win the Champions League