Abramovich wants history and he wants it now
Harry Pearson
Saturday September 13 2003
The Guardian


A few years back when Ken Bates stated his intention to make Chelsea "The
Manchester United of the South" football fans dismissed the notion on the
grounds that there already was a Manchester United of the South - Manchester
United. The Blues new owner Roman Abramovich is not a man to be put off by
such trivial realities, however.

   This week the Russian signalled his intentions by unveiling his latest
multi-million-pound signing, Old Trafford's sturdy financial pivot Peter
Kenyon. At United the balding dealmaker's strategy of buying shirts in one
south-east Asian country, selling them in another south-east Asian country
for three times as much, then using the profit to purchase players from one
club and flog them to another for half the original price was hailed as pure
entrepreneurial genius by several people who know about such things.

Kenyon is a big loss to United. And he will undoubtedly blossom at Stamford
Bridge, especially if, as is expected, he is handed the free role in the
centre of the club's bank account that many feel is his best position.

More worrying for United fans even than the defection of their chief
executive, however, is the recent claim that some time over the summer
Chelsea "tapped up" another key member of the United dream team - Old
Trafford.

According to a statement issued by United the stadium rejected the Russian's
approach out of hand saying, "I am part of the very woof and weave of this
famous old club. My fate is inextricably   linked with that of Manchester
United by an immutable bond of loyalty and large amounts of steel and
concrete."

  But those close to Old Trafford tell a different story. According to
people who know it well, the stadium was sorely tempted by Abramovich's
multi-million-pound offer. "Traffie sometimes feels it is in danger of
getting stale in Manchester and would have relished the fresh challenge in
fashionable west London," a friend of the ground said yesterday. According
to the same source the Home of Legends rejected the deal only because of
fears that, as soon as he owned the 67,000-seat Theatre of Dreams, the
Siberian intended to send it to Portsmouth on a year's loan.

  As the move for Old Trafford shows, Abramovich is acutely aware that it
takes more than just several dozen new players to make a football team into
a worldwide phenomenon. United's powerful global brand is based on the
club's rich history. Chelsea does not have United's illustrious past and
that is something Abramovich is working to rectify. The billionaire, though,
is too impatient to wait for the past to build up over the course of time in
the traditional, pedestrian manner. As one of his main advisers says, "Roman
wants a history and he wants it now."

  To this end reports suggest that within a few days of taking over at
Stamford Bridge the Russian had approached Arsenal about buying a section of
their past from 1934 to 1994 for a sum of money sufficient to cover the cost
of building the new Ashburton Grove stadium. According to the adviser,
"Roman was planning to recoup a considerable sum by selling off minor parts
of Arsenal's history to less successful clubs. He had already received a
firm offer for the 1987 League Cup final from Middlesbrough, with Newcastle
United - eager to add to   their European pedigree - locked in negotiations
for the penalty shoot-out defeat by Valencia in 1980."

   Arsenal's refusal to part with any of their double- winning seasons, or
Eddie Kelly's comical chicken-walk, eventually scuppered the deal but it is
thought that Chelsea have recently been approached by Celtic who have
offered to lease them the 1960s.
    The marketing benefits of becoming the first British side to win the
European Cup    are obvious for Chelsea but the deal also fits the Scots'
long-term strategy. Celtic believe that, if the Londoners take a decade of
the club's history, it will smooth the way for the Old Firm to join the
Premiership. "After all, if you already have a side in the English top
flight such as Chelsea who dominated Scottish football throughout that
fantastic 10-year period under the brilliant stewardship of Jock Stein, you
can hardly complain if a couple of other teams from north of   the border
join too, can you?" said a source close to Dermot Desmond.

  In Glasgow fans reacted angrily to news that their past might be about to
be sold to the Russian oil magnate. "I had been looking forward to telling
my grandchildren about watching the likes of Jimmy Johnstone," said one
disconsolate 50-year-old supporter, "and now it seems it all happened 400
miles away and I couldn't afford the train fare or the time off work. They
say I can   tell them about seeing Terry Venables and Bobby Tambling instead
but it's not the same. The moneymen have made me a stranger in my own life".
    A spokesman for Chelsea expressed sympathy for Celtic's supporters but
said that the deal would be a good one for both clubs and that many Blues
fans were already enjoying sitting in the pub reminiscing about Billy
McNeill's quiff. "They say you cannot put a price on memories, but we just
have."