Soccer Fitness

Chelsea may have an excellent recent domestic win ratio, a squad filled with great players who play open attacking soccer and be one of the richest clubs in world soccer, but the owner Roman Abramovich has one major problem to fix. The main issue facing Abramovich is that despite his personal millions and his willingness to spend it at the club, each year Chelsea finish it is more than likely to see a balance sheet in the red.

A club may be able to make large sums of money from club and kit sponsorship deals, the sale of soccer merchandise, the sale of players to other teams and prize money won, if they are good enough, but for Chelsea the high costs of keeping their squad together is still a major drain on the clubs resources. With UEFA now having rules in place that means by 2012, all clubs entering their competitions have to pass strict financial controls, there is a growing need for Chelsea to find an answer to their increasing debt.

Addressing this thorny problem began last summer when several first team players were allowed to change clubs. Players like Michael Ballack, Joe Cole and Deco were not offered new contracts while Ricardo Carvalho was transfered to Real Madrid and manager Carlo Ancelotti did not replace them with renowned stars, instead promoting youngsters from within the club. This slashing of staff certainly had the effect of minimising the wage bill, but even these player cuts have not fully dealt with the issue of club debt.

The initial level of investment made by owner Abramovich was aimed at giving Chelsea a fast-track to becoming the most known club not only in the Premier League, but also European and world soccer. Currently either Real Madrid, Manchester United or Barcelona enjoy the status of the ’biggest’ club in the world, depending on how you wish to define the criteria for that title and there are two key reasons why Chelsea, despite Abramovich’s vast spending and a policy for paying huge wages, have been unable to compete with the standards set by the trio of soccer giants: The size of Stamford Bridge and the gate revenue the stadium generates and the clubs worldwide apparel in terms of merchandising.

The most obvious issue to address; the size of the stadium and the revenue it generates, could well be set to be addressed sooner than expected. Reports have suggested that Stamford Bridge may soon be replaced as the home of Chelsea Football Club. While no specific details have been confirmed by any sources at the club, rumours are circulating that Mr Abramovich is considering moving the club into a purpose built new stadium, with a capacity of atleast 60,000, and such a move is required if Chelsea are realistically hoping to achieve the status of the world’s biggest club.

The switch to a new ground would have marked and instant effects on resolving Chelsea’s financial standing. The increased income from the larger ticket sales would, assuming the club can fill the larger stadium, provide considerably more income for the club during each home game. This added revenue will put the club in a better position to follow to the new UEFA requirements, which are due to be begin in 2012, by rapidly increasing the amount of money the club generates in each of their home games throughout the season. Another plus financially is that Chelsea could choose to sell their stadium naming rights to the highest paying sponsor, as other teams such as Arsenal did when they named Emirates stadium.

A new stadium would also have the benefit of improving levels of merchandising sales that the club generates as the new ground would give the club increased exposure, particularly in the potentially large customer markets in Asia and the USA.

For Chelsea to achieve their long term aspirations, now is the right time to invest their owners cash on the club’s infrastructure, rather than on player wages and overpriced transfer fees. If Chelsea truly do harbor ambitions to become the world’s biggest soccer club, then developing their Stamford Bridge ground is perhaps the most important step they must take in order to achieve that.