Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich had a few choices when he bought Chelsea. What if he had never bought the club or worse, bought another?
Surely the most common what if fans and non fans alike think of with Chelsea involves Roman Abramovich not buying the club. When he first became interested in the notion, he had several clubs to pick from before he ultimately landed on the Blues.
Make no mistake; Chelsea has been and remains lucky to have Abramovich as an owner. This will not be one of those silly articles saying it is time for him to sell. Instead, it should be a reminder of where Chelsea was then and where they could have gone instead of where they did.
2003 rolls around and Abramovich decides not to buy a football club. Rumor had it he was interested in Chelsea and Tottenham, but the former was unable to come to a deal with him and the latter was simply a bad business decision.
The Blues remain under the ownership of Ken Bates and the management of Claudio Ranieri. Due to the club’s financial struggles, there is no massive spending spree that sees Glen Johnson, Wayne Bridge, Damien Duff, and Joe Cole arrive at the club. Chelsea instead has to make do with the players they have for another season.
But what is often forgotten in the Abramovich years (by opposition fans) is that Chelsea was not a bad club before the Russian became the owner. They had finished fourth the season before and sixth the two seasons before that. Even with Abramovich’s spending spree, the Blues only pushed up to second.
So an Abramovichless 2003/2004 season still sees Chelsea finish in a Championship spot with the help of John Terry and Frank Lampard. They do not make it nearly as far in their current Champions League campaign as they did in real life, but the hope is there.
Without Abramovich’s spending sprees, the market stays pretty steady throughout the world with prices staying low. The Blues are still struggling financially and needs a new owner, but without Abramovich it proves a hard prospect. The following years stay pretty much the same. Chelsea struggles for signings, but maintains their place towards the top of the league.
That is, until, other entities decide they want a piece of the football pie. The Abu Dhabi United Group opts to buy the club and quickly sets about blowing up the market in 2008. It takes years, but Chelsea eventually turns into a Premier League winning club on the backs of their billions. A new stadium is built, but a certain connection to the fans has seemingly gone out of the club. Money bought the club success, but without Abramovich it was unable to keep the fans old and new together.
What is often forgotten in the Abramovich story is that he did not just pump the club full of cash. He took a semi-successful club with a dedicated fan base, kept that fire burning, and gave them the tools to turn into something special. Abramovich remains just as committed to the club, albeit in different ways, and Chelsea simply would not be the same without him.