Editor’s Note: This article was written shortly after the Super League announcement by Chelsea and other clubs. It is entirely likely that, by the time this piece is published, that things will have changed or become clearer. We are choosing to release this article as it is to reflect the integrity of the moment it was written.
I became a Chelsea fan after the 2006 World Cup. I was 15 when it happened, followed the US until they got knocked out and then followed Italy because they wore blue. After the World Cup, I wanted to watch more, and a few months later I saw a team in blue playing a red team. I backed the blue team, and I have ever since.
Some people come to Chelsea because their family has been Chelsea fans since 1905. Some followed their national team players like Michael Essien or Didier Drogba. Chelsea fans in the last two decades may get the bandwagon moniker, but I’ve spoken to any Chelsea fan that followed the club because they were successful. There has always been something innocent to it.
The idea of a Super League spits in the face of Chelsea fans. It’s a disgusting, abhorrent, money grab done when the world is stuck at home. It is done at a time when money is tight for billionaires and they feel personally attacked by that. Maybe more than anything else, it’s cowardly.
Chelsea has struggled to qualify for Champions Leagues in recent years. Even this year, it is not a guarantee with a month of the season left. But rather than earn their way back to their previous pedestal, the club sees fit to pay their way into a nearly closed league.
The league is nearly closed as it will contain 15 permanent members and five other lucky clubs that get to cycle in and out for a few pennies. That is, of course, if FIFA, UEFA, and the FA don’t go through with threats about expulsion for any club in the super league. Is Chelsea really willing to risk what they have in the Premier League for the idea of the Super League? Are the players willing to risk it for them?
Because that is what it’ll come down to. If any of these bans go through, these players will only be able to play in the Super League. No World Cup, no Euros, no Premier League. And there is even talk of the expulsion being immediate, as in this season. How are the powers that be going to explain to these Chelsea players they won’t be in the Champions League semifinal or the FA Cup final? What about if the Super League fails and these clubs have to come back into their pyramids where ever a spot is found for them?
There is an old idea about having an ax. The ax head breaks, you replace the ax head. The handle breaks. You replace the handle. Is it still the same ax? That will be the case for Chelsea and every other Super League team.
If you replace the fans, the players, the history, the culture, the merit, the competition, the soul, and so much more for more money, is it still Chelsea? Or is it just a club wearing the colors of the club and pretending to care about the fans and the players?
What the club is doing is abhorrent. It’s up to you to decide whether or not Chelsea in the Super League is the club you picked because they wore blue, or something else entirely that shares their name. I don’t have the answer, and I probably won’t for some time yet.