Chelsea FC’s recent successes have masked what has been a concerning and growing disconnect between the club and its supporters.
Why do we support a club? Why do we acquiesce to high ticket prices, kits that cost more than a week’s groceries and kick off times that rankle significant others who are just wanting to spend a nice Saturday at the park, or lake, or wherever it is people who don’t watch football go on Saturdays?
It’s not just about success. Sure, that helps, but unless you support Barcelona or Bayern Munich and watch your team play in a league seemingly customized to ensure them some degree of glory each campaign, you’re going to witness a barren run every now and then. Sometimes that run is a short jog down the street to grab a cup of coffee, and other times it’s a grueling marathon (I’m looking at you Portsmouth).
Chelsea, at least in the Roman Abramovich era, have been fortunate enough to have poor performances kept to a minimum. The foul taste of the worst ever Premier League finish in this era was washed down with the chaser of a Champions League trophy. Not a bad consolation.
The enjoyment of success on the pitch has helped obscure a deteriorating of Chelsea’s identity off the field. John Terry revealing his contract would not be extended beyond this season would be the latest in a series of club decisions that seem to have been made in a vacuum where no fan input could possibly have been heard to influence proceedings.
These decisions are becoming less palatable (and facing more scrutiny) with more than half the Premier League propped up above Chelsea’s name on the league table. Rafael Benitez’s unfortunate tenure as manager at least had a European trophy (albeit the lesser one) to exist as the cherry on top of the dog food sundae that was ownership/fan relations that season.
As Jose Mourinho’s time at Stamford Bridge was nearing its conclusion, fans were singing his name not so much in appreciation, but more in a plea to Chelsea’s board not to cut ties with the man responsible for so many of the club’s greatest moments. It was the sound of a fan base fighting to be heard above the depersonalized corporate rattle that is the modern game.
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But the encroaching threat of relegation, and its disastrous financial implications, was more than the board could stomach. Football is a business, and business owners have business interests that don’t always exist in harmony with those of the fans. Chelsea are not alone in this. Any Arsenal fan who’s had the desire for a reasonably priced lunch of fish and chips at the Emirates is well aware too.
John Terry, for the better part of his time with the club, has been synonymous with the identity of Chelsea. Many of the board’s decisions have prodded at that identity, and the apparent decision not to renew Terry’s contract may just full on punch it in the face.
Identity is important. It’s what keeps people spending too much money on tickets every weekend, even when the team is bad. People like putting on a shirt that says not just what team they support, but (perhaps unreasonably) also something about the kind of person they are.
As we age, we have fewer and fewer bits of cultural ephemera we can use for self-identity. The worn down Joy Division shirt that used to signal your allegiance to a counterculture defined by discerning taste, now mainly just signals that you’re old. Interest in sports is a constant in society, and a Chelsea kit should have a more extended relevancy than a band t-shirt. Ideally, and maybe impossibly, it should also represent something more than a billionaire’s hobby.
The board (perhaps not unreasonably) thinks it unwise to extend the contract of a 35-year-old defender who is probably incapable of playing in the high-pressing system that has been the owner’s desire. The fans (also not unreasonably) see a club legend who is still unquestionably the leader of the team and still capable of magnificent performances, being brushed aside in a cold, business-like manner.
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This disconnect is significant. Chelsea is a business, but it’s also something more (like all clubs are), and what it means beyond spreadsheets and bottom lines is what makes people care. After all, there aren’t too many people who spend their Saturdays cheering on a department store to sell more shirts.