Sonstiges von der Insel

[Jay Gooner]

Explained: Why Roman Abramovich has handed over the ‘care’ of Chelsea – and what it really means

Spoiler

Roman Abramovich shocked English football with a brief, two-paragraph statement on Saturday outlining his intention to place Chelsea into the “stewardship and care” of the trustees of the club’s charitable foundation.

On the eve of a League Cup final that could deliver a 19th major trophy to Stamford Bridge since his momentous takeover in July 2003, it was an announcement that raised far more questions than it answered about the present and future of Chelsea and Abramovich’s ownership.

The Athletic attempts to shed some light on the key issues.

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What did the statement say?

The statement published on Saturday evening consisted of just 110 words.

It read: “During my nearly 20-year ownership of Chelsea FC, I have always viewed my role as a custodian of the club, whose job it is ensuring that we are as successful as we can be today, as well as build for the future, while also playing a positive role in our communities. I have always taken decisions with the club’s best interest at heart. I remain committed to these values. That is why I am today giving trustees of Chelsea’s charitable foundation the stewardship and care of Chelsea FC.

“I believe that currently they are in the best position to look after the interests of the club, players, staff, and fans.”

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Is this for good? Who owns Chelsea now?

Let us deal with the second question first, as it is the easiest to answer because it is the same answer as yesterday and every day since June 2003: Roman Abramovich. The 55-year-old Russian still owns 100 per cent of Chelsea via a UK-based holding company called Fordstam Limited.

The statement about giving “stewardship and care” of the club to its charitable foundation does nothing to change this fact. No shares have been handed over, no Premier League approval for a change of control has been sought and Fordstam — and therefore Abramovich — remains the “person with significant control”, i.e. the boss.

Now, why might a phenomenally rich Russian, who had — at the very least — business links to the Russian state in the 1990s want to create the impression of distance between himself and his most high-profile, non-Russian asset?

Hold that thought.

In the meantime, let us remind ourselves that Abramovich was not sanctioned by the American, British or any other government after Russia’s invasion of Crimea in 2014.

And he was also not sanctioned after the Russian secret service tried to murder former Russian agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury in 2018, although that is an easy mistake to make, as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson can confirm. No, the billionaire just lost the right to live here, prompting him to take up citizenship in Israel and then Portugal.

 

We should also remember that Abramovich, Chelsea and his lawyers have always denied he is close to the Kremlin or there is any reason why he would be sanctioned. He is, as they regularly point out, sometimes on headed notepaper, just a successful businessman who happens to be Russian.

It is an argument that many of the individuals on the UK’s growing list of sanctioned Russians have made in the past and it is, no doubt, what some added to that list in the coming days and weeks will say, too. For what it is worth, most of the Russians on the UK list have been there since 2014.

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So, how long will the Chelsea Foundation, a charity that oversees the club’s anti-Semitism campaign, grassroots projects and other good causes, have “stewardship and care” of the club?

The honest answer is nobody knows — because nobody knows if he will be sanctioned or not.

If Abramovich is hit with sanctions, the charity becomes a stopgap to a very urgent and real change of ownership.

If he is not, who cares? Abramovich will still own the club, people he has trusted for years will still run it for him and should he ever choose to sell up he will pocket the proceeds. Given all that, does it really matter how long this lasts?

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What happens if Abramovich is sanctioned?

There are some — who may or may not have just spoken to the club — who believe that if the unthinkable happens and Abramovich is sanctioned, Chelsea will be completely fine.

That is because a) they are a UK-registered company that has nothing to do with Russia b) they are a business that earned more than £400 million last season, with cash in the bank and more coming in every month from broadcasters, commercial partners and the turnstiles and c) they are now run by a charity. So what on earth could go wrong? 

But then there are others — who may or may not have studied the UK’s sanctions laws — who wonder how a company wholly owned by a sanctioned individual could possibly function. They point out, for example, that the company’s British bank accounts would be frozen, which means no money in or out, and no British firm would be able to do business with the club. How does a football club without access to a bank account pay its staff or bills?

That then begs the question: would the British government really let one of this country’s most successful and popular football clubs go bankrupt?

It almost certainly would not want to let that happen. But then what is the point of sanctioning Abramovich, or anyone else who happens to own something British people care about, if you do not actually mean it?

So, maybe the shares could be transferred to the foundation so its trustees can run an orderly sales process. Perhaps the company could be placed in a form of administration to expedite a sale. Maybe it is temporarily nationalised and run by Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary.

Because here is the thing, the UK’s sanctions laws are pretty new and they have never had to deal with an individual like Abramovich or an asset like Chelsea before.

If Abramovich is sanctioned, nobody can be sure of anything, which is how Ukrainians must feel now that Russia has invaded.

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What does this mean legally?

In truth, not very much at all. Only one sentence in Abramovich’s statement actually refers to an action he intends to take. This is where he says he is “giving trustees of Chelsea’s charitable Foundation the stewardship and care of Chelsea FC.” The question, however, is what this actually means in practice.

The sports lawyer Stuart Hatcher, who is a Corporate Partner at Forsters LLP, has told The Athletic that the word “stewardship” does not have a legal meaning.

To pass over “stewardship and care” to the trustees is, therefore, extremely different to the situation that would have occurred if Abramovich had given “ownership” to the trustees.

Hatcher explains: “While a statement on the Chelsea website says he has handed stewardship to the Chelsea Foundation trustees, it does not say what he has given up. A majority shareholder can, theoretically, give shares over or transfer the power of attorney to other individuals until a certain date. This statement, therefore, is light on detail, as it does not state that he has handed shares over and therefore matters of control, voting and decision-making remain unclear.”

As Abramovich has given stewardship to the trustees, rather than ownership, he appears to remain a Person of Significant Control (PSC) at Chelsea.

A PSC refers generally to somebody who holds more than 25 per cent of shares or voting rights in a company, has the right to appoint or remove the majority of the board of directors or otherwise exercises significant influence or control. The Athletic understands that Abramovich has not transferred shares or voting rights away from himself or from Fordstam Limited, which is the parent company of Chelsea, and Abramovich is the ultimate controlling party.

Hatcher concludes: “If this is not the case, then nothing would have appeared to have materially changed in terms of the control of the club, other than offering the outward appearance of distance between the club and Roman Abramovich at a time where MPs in the British Parliament have called for sanctions against the businessman.”

Chelsea have suggested that decisions Abramovich would usually make will now be deferred to the trustees of the charitable foundation. When asked by The Athletic to explain the legal basis of this transfer of decision making or whether there has been a contractual transfer of control, however, Chelsea were unable to clarify or comment.

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Who are the trustees?

There are six trustees of Chelsea’s charitable foundation, of which the most recognisable are club chairman Bruce Buck — the lawyer who helped broker Abramovich’s takeover in July 2003 and has been the public face of the club hierarchy ever since — and Chelsea Women manager Emma Hayes.

 

The final two trustees are lawyer John Devine and Chelsea director of finance Paul Ramos.

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When did the Chelsea players find out and what do they know?

It is understood that Chelsea’s players found out about Abramovich’s decision when everyone else did. The statement went live on the club’s official website as the first-team squad sat down for dinner at their hotel near Wembley stadium on Saturday evening, and several players immediately enquired as to what it meant.

The mood relaxed as it became clear that nothing will functionally change in terms of the day-to-day running of the club, and the players quickly went back to focusing on the one thing they can control — their readiness for the League Cup final against Liverpool at Wembley on Sunday.

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Where does this leave Thomas Tuchel after his Friday press conference?

Tuchel’s position as head coach has arguably been strengthened, considering that he was more candid than anyone might reasonably have expected when asked about how the situation in Ukraine and the possibility of sanctions against Abramovich had affected him and his players in his scheduled press conference on Friday.

Abramovich has now given his head coach what he had asked for, arguably providing a measure of clarity with this public pronouncement and at least attempting to remove the potential distraction of his presence at the top of Chelsea.

Little else will change for Tuchel. He remains accountable to Marina Granovskaia, who still runs the club’s day-to-day football operations on the owner’s behalf, and he is still tasked with delivering silverware to Stamford Bridge on Sunday and beyond.

 

[Jay Gooner]

 

[Jay Gooner]

wiedermal herrlich on point (draufklicken zwecks leserlichkeit)

 

bearbeitet 8. März 2022 von Jay Gooner

[Kante]

 

 

[Kante]

I frag mi ja wie a Mannschaft mit Leuten wie Capoue, Lo Celso, Foyth, Aurier, Coquelin - trainiert von Emery - so erfolgreich sein kann. Is ja quasi eine Nordlondon-Auswahl.

[GianfrancoZola]

Mike Dean hoert mit Saisonende auf. 

[themanwhowasntthere]

GianfrancoZola schrieb vor einer Stunde:

Mike Dean hoert mit Saisonende auf. 

da ist ein Herz zu wenig. 

[Jay Gooner]

GianfrancoZola schrieb vor 6 Stunden:

Mike Dean hoert mit Saisonende auf. 

halleluja

jetzt wirds eng für spurs 

[GianfrancoZola]

 

Falls wer Groundhopping Inspiration fuer seinen naechsten London Ausflug braucht....

Arsenal, Wingate & Finchley, Sporting Bengal – the highest-placed club in London’s 32 boroughs

Michael Cox Mar 26, 2022 127 

London is the greatest footballing city on earth.

It boasts six top-flight clubs — Arsenal, Brentford, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United, and is near-guaranteed to have at least one more, Fulham, next season. It is home to the European champions and hosted the European Championship final last summer.

But what really sets London apart is its strength in depth throughout the football pyramid. In all, there are 13 clubs in the top four divisions, which increases to 20 in the top six tiers.

Even below that level, support at semi-professional levels is remarkable throughout English football. In the capital, Enfield Town average 500 fans in the seventh tier, Tooting & Mitcham get 250 in the eighth. Go down to the ninth tier and you will usually find an impressive level of football, a decent ground, and a good number of supporters.

And all this is relevant for this weekend, which features Non-League Day, a yearly event encouraging supporters to attend a local game on a Saturday without Premier League or Championship football, because of the international break.

It was set up in 2010 by James Doe — the man behind the excellent The London Football Guide blog, which showcases the best games — professional and semi-professional —around the capital each week. That might help you to find a nearby game this weekend.

But regardless of whether they are in the Premier League or the Essex Senior League, and regardless of whether they are home or away this weekend, who is your local club? London is split into 32 boroughs, and examining them to work out the best football club produces interesting results.

From Arsenal to the Honourable Artillery Company, from West Ham United to Welling United, here is the football club highest in the men’s football pyramid, that plays their home games within each borough.

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Havering

A simple one to start with. Hornchurch play in the seventh-tier Isthmian Premier, at the Hornchurch Stadium — a slightly creaking ground with a running track around it, near Upminster Bridge tube station, the penultimate stop on the District Line heading east.

 

Barking and Dagenham

National League side Dagenham & Redbridge are the only London football club whose name suggests they belong in two different London boroughs — but it is in Barking and Dagenham where their home ground, Victoria Road, lies, as that was the home of Dagenham FC until their 1992 merger with Redbridge Forest (who were themselves formed from a merger of three clubs: Leytonstone, Walthamstow Avenue and Ilford).

Redbridge

A new version of Ilford popped up in 1987, and they play in the ninth-tier Essex Senior League — although it is the club who takes the name of the borough, Redbridge FC who are higher in the table.

Redbridge were known as Ford United, the football club of the Ford Motors factory, up until 2004 — when they changed their name to attract support from around the borough.

Waltham Forest

League Two Leyton Orient are the biggest club in Waltham Forest by a distance. But it’s a bit more complex than that.

The club was once known as simply Orient, then became Clapton Orient because they then played in Clapton, which is in the borough of Hackney.

After moving to Leyton in 1937, they changed their name to Leyton Orient, although they reverted to Orient in 1966 — as it happens, because the Borough of Leyton was absorbed into the Borough of Waltham Forest. They again changed to Leyton Orient in 1987.

Hackney

Hackney Marshes is the spiritual home of amateur football in London — but Hackney is badly lacking a serious club. Hackney Wick FC play in the tenth tier, but are located miles away in the Essex town of Witham, which is closer to Suffolk than it is to Hackney.

Newham

They moved from the Boleyn Ground (also known as Upton Park) to the London Stadium (also known as the Olympic Stadium) in 2016, but West Ham United remained in the borough of Newham.

 

West Ham moved to the London Stadium but stayed in their original borough (Photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Tower Hamlets

Ninth-tier Tower Hamlets play south of the river in Bexley — so the borough’s premier football club is Sporting Bengal United, who play at the same level as Tower Hamlets but in a different region, the aforementioned Essex Senior League.

Sporting Bengal were set up in 1996 to tackle the underrepresentation of Asian players in football, and now are the biggest club in one of London’s most diverse boroughs.

Haringey

The biggest club in the borough, by a distance, are Tottenham Hotspur. But the club that takes the name of the borough, seventh-tier Haringey Borough, play at Coles Park Stadium — situated on White Hart Lane — and therefore when Tottenham played at Wembley for 18 months while they rebuilt their home ground, it was Haringey who were the biggest club in the borough.

Enfield

Enfield Town were formed in 2001 as a fan-led breakaway from Enfield FC — who now groundshare with Bishop’s Stortford, up in Hertfordshire. They play at the Queen Elizabeth II ground, an old athletics stadium that had fallen into disuse, on the outskirts of the town.

 

Enfield’s ground hosted matches for the CONIFA World Cup, a tournament for non-FIFA nations (Photo: Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images)

Camden

Little to speak of here — Camden doesn’t offer any teams in the top 10 tiers of English football, and despite plenty of green spaces like Hampstead Heath and Primrose Hill, is rather lacking in 11-a-side pitches too.

Islington

Previously known as Woolwich Arsenal, the club played south of the river in what is now the borough of Greenwich until 1913, before their then-controversial move north to Islington.

City of London

First, the City of London isn’t technically a London borough.

Second, there’s only a single football pitch in the square mile — just south of Old Street. That means the best football team to play in the City is likely the Honourable Artillery Company, who play in the Premier Division of the Amateur Football Combination.

Westminster

Nothing to speak of in the football pyramid. The most significant game played in Westminster in recent times was probably Polytechnic FC’s 2-1 victory over Civil Service FC in the Southern Amateur League back in 2013 — because the game was played at Buckingham Palace.

Kensington and Chelsea

Chelsea are not based in Kensington and Chelsea, which leaves the borough badly lacking a football club. Stamford Bridge is actually in Fulham, although in fairness, only about 10 metres outside the boundary of Chelsea.

Hammersmith and Fulham

The proudest footballing borough in the capital. Hammersmith boasts three major clubs: European champions Chelsea, plus Fulham and Queens Park Rangers, playing in three historic English football grounds, Stamford Bridge, Craven Cottage and Loftus Road.

 

Chelsea are European champions (Photo: Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)

Fulham were the best club in the borough back in 1962-63, when Chelsea were in the second tier. QPR last took that honour in 1994-95, when they finished five places ahead of Chelsea in the Premier League. QPR, incidentally, have largely played at Loftus Road since 1917, although their first ground was in the Queen’s Park itself, in the borough of Brent…

Brent

…and Brent is home to the biggest football ground in the country, Wembley — and therefore for 18 months had a Premier League club, Tottenham. Their biggest club, however, is seventh-tier Hendon, who returned to the borough in 2016, having previously ground-shared at Harrow Borough…

Harrow

…and seventh-tier Harrow Borough used to be, as the name would suggest, the biggest club in the borough of Harrow. They are located a short train ride from Wembley, so for Non-League Day, they have brought forward this weekend’s kick-off for their home match against Welsh side Merthyr Town to 2pm to attract fans heading to England vs Switzerland.

But Barnet’s move to The Hive in 2013 means the National League side are now the biggest in a London borough, just not the London Borough of Barnet…

Barnet

So who is the biggest club in the London Borough of Barnet, now they no longer play at Underhill, with its famous sloping pitch?

It is Wingate & Finchley, an Isthmian Premier club, who are the biggest in the borough. The result of a merger in 1991, Finchley is the name of a town in the borough, but “Wingate” has an interesting backstory.

It comes from Orde Wingate, a British Army officer who trained the Israeli Defence Forces in the 1940s, because the club was set up in 1946 to create a Jewish club and fight anti-Semitism. The club struggles for crowds, with its few hardcore supporters proudly displaying flags that read, “More Flags Than Fans”.

Hillingdon

Wealdstone are surely the only London club who have a supporter more famous than any ex-player or manager, thanks to the Wealdstone Raider. They play in the National League and are therefore higher in the pyramid than Hayes & Yeading, who played at that level a decade ago, but are now two tiers below.

 

Gordon Hill, known as the “Wealdstone Raider”, watches his side take on Colchester in the FA Cup first round in 2015 (Photo: Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

Ealing

Ealing has the somewhat mediocre distinction of being the only London borough whose primary club plays in the eighth tier of English football.

Hanwell Town were formed in 1920 by a group of exiled Newcastle fans — sure enough, they play in black-and-white stripes, and their nickname is The Geordies. They play in Perivale rather than Hanwell these days, but both are in the borough of Ealing.

Hounslow

Brentford’s short move from the historic Griffin Park to the Brentford Community Stadium in 2020 has not affected the fact they play in the borough of Hounslow.

No other London club has enjoyed such a rise in fortunes in recent years — having been in League Two as recently as 2009, they are now enjoying their first top-flight season since 1946-47.

Richmond

The only London borough to straddle the Thames has long been represented by Hampton & Richmond Borough — who play at the Beveree.

But it was only in 1999 that Hampton FC added “& Richmond Borough” to its name to attract more supporters from across the borough, and across the river.

Kingston

Perhaps the most complex one.

Kingstonian were the borough’s primary football team throughout the 20th century. In 2002 they entered into a ground-sharing agreement with the newly formed AFC Wimbledon, and Ks’ financial problems meant in 2003 they sold their Kingsmeadow ground to Wimbledon.

Two years later, Wimbledon leapfrogged Kingstonian in the pyramid and were the borough’s main football club, until they made their long-awaited move back to the borough of Merton in 2020.

Kingstonian are now ground-sharing with Corinthian-Casuals, also in the borough of Kingston, although this summer they will move to the home of Tooting & Mitcham (somewhat ironically, in the borough of Merton and therefore in the shadow of Wimbledon again).

That will leave Corinthian-Casuals as the borough’s primary football team, although throughout much of their history Casuals have led a nomadic existence, playing in the boroughs of Hounslow, Lambeth, Southwark, Merton and even down in Surrey, before moving to Tolworth in 1988.

But among all this, the borough’s main football team is now Women’s Super League champions Chelsea Women, the third club to make Kingsmeadow their own.

 

Merton

Wimbledon were the biggest team in the borough until 1991, when they left Plough Lane Park. The new club, AFC Wimbledon, moved to Plough Lane in 2020.

In those 29 years between, the borough’s main club was generally Tooting & Mitcham, although in 2017-18 and 2018-19, Dulwich Hamlet — higher in the pyramid — ground-shared there….

Southwark

…but Dulwich Hamlet are now back where they belong at Champion Hill, generally in front of excellent crowds thanks to effective social media marketing, helping the club rise two levels from the eighth tier and into the National League South.

 

Dulwich Hamlet regularly draw big crowds to Champion Hill (Photo: Sam Mellish / In Pictures via Getty Images Image

Croydon

The answer here is obviously Crystal Palace, as Selhurst Park is in the borough of Croydon.

But there is a specific point in the geographical area of Crystal Palace which is the only place that is a border of four London boroughs — Croydon, Bromley, Lambeth and Southwark.

It is also worth mentioning that, throughout the 1990s, the old Wimbledon FC ground-shared at Selhurst Park and therefore were the borough’s highest-placed side.

Sutton

Sutton United have played at Gander Green Lane since 1912. The 2021-22 season is their first campaign in the Football League.

Wandsworth

Wandsworth lack a club in the football pyramid, with Balham playing outside the borough, in Croydon. The purely amateur Wandsworth Borough play in the Premier Division of the Amateur Football Combination, while the Bank of England play in the Southern Amateur Football League, with their home ground in Roehampton.

Lambeth

Lambeth, too, is badly lacking in this respect. The borough has a good footballing pedigree — The Oval, the home of Surrey County Cricket Club, hosted the first FA Cup final in 1872, while on weekend mornings Clapham Common turns into a mini version of Hackney Marshes.

But it feels odd that there’s no proper football club in the borough — which is maybe why Streatham Rovers, a social media parody of a non-league football club, has proved so convincing.

Lewisham

They may have originally been formed north of the river on the Isle of Dogs, but for more than a century, Millwall have been based in Lewisham.

Their 1993 switch from The Old Den to The New Den moved them a quarter of a mile down the road, and almost onto the border with Southwark — but they remain, just about, in Lewisham.

Greenwich

League One Charlton Athletic first played at The Valley in 1919, although during the 1980s the ground was closed because of safety concerns after the Bradford fire, with Charlton ground-sharing at Selhurst Park and later Upton Park.

Charlton returned to The Valley in 1992 — helped by the fact single-issue Valley Party, who pledged to bring Charlton home, captured 11 per cent of the vote in the 1990 Greenwich Borough Council elections.

Bexley

Welling United, of the National League South, have played at Park View Road since 1977 — although the ground has stood since the 1920s, and was previously the home of the defunct Bexley United.

Bromley

London’s largest borough is the simplest to work out — National League Bromley are based in the town of Bromley, in the London Borough of Bromley.

[soccerfreak89]

Die Premier League Klubs haben sich wieder auf die Möglichkeit von 5 Einwechselspielern geeinigt.

 

[Kante]

 

 

[GianfrancoZola]

https://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/sponsorship-money-paid-for-by-the-state-a-2ad5b586-1d82-4a21-8065-f3c081cd91a4

[Westsider]

GianfrancoZola schrieb vor 11 Stunden:

https://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/sponsorship-money-paid-for-by-the-state-a-2ad5b586-1d82-4a21-8065-f3c081cd91a4

City wird sich im Fall des Falles aus allen Anschuldigungen rauswinden/rauskaufen. Die sind außerdem mittlerweile (durch ihre Verstöße) so groß, dass sie als europäischer Fußball-Gigant sowieso "unantastbar" sind. Financial Fairplay ist dazu da, eine Kommunikationsmaßnahme zu haben, dass Fußball eh fair ist und alle heiligen Zeiten wird ein "Bauernopfer" geschlachtet, damit man zeigt, dass es eh durchgezogen wird.

Das wirklich absurde ist ja, dass City mit ihrem Staatsgeld, ein riesen Team an Anwälten zahlt, die dafür da sind das unrechtmäßige Vorgehen zu verschleiern bzw. zu relativieren. Nach dem Motto "Ich zahle Leute mit Schwarzgeld, damit sie beiweisen, dass mein Schwarzgeld kein Schwarzgeld ist"

Meine Hoffnung, dass City für ihr vorgehen irgendwann den Preis zahlen muss ist seit dem CAS Urteil vorbei, da kann noch so viel ans Tageslicht kommen...

[Maulinho]

Westsider schrieb vor einer Stunde:

City wird sich im Fall des Falles aus allen Anschuldigungen rauswinden/rauskaufen. Die sind außerdem mittlerweile (durch ihre Verstöße) so groß, dass sie als europäischer Fußball-Gigant sowieso "unantastbar" sind. Financial Fairplay ist dazu da, eine Kommunikationsmaßnahme zu haben, dass Fußball eh fair ist und alle heiligen Zeiten wird ein "Bauernopfer" geschlachtet, damit man zeigt, dass es eh durchgezogen wird.

Das wirklich absurde ist ja, dass City mit ihrem Staatsgeld, ein riesen Team an Anwälten zahlt, die dafür da sind das unrechtmäßige Vorgehen zu verschleiern bzw. zu relativieren. Nach dem Motto "Ich zahle Leute mit Schwarzgeld, damit sie beiweisen, dass mein Schwarzgeld kein Schwarzgeld ist"

Meine Hoffnung, dass City für ihr vorgehen irgendwann den Preis zahlen muss ist seit dem CAS Urteil vorbei, da kann noch so viel ans Tageslicht kommen...

Dabei würden sie ja wenn wir uns ehrlich sind keinem Menschen abgehen.

[GianfrancoZola]

1 hour ago, Westsider said:

dass sie als europäischer Fußball-Gigant

naja ein Cup Winners Cup Anfang der 70er macht noch lange keinen europaeischen Giganten, aber ich weiss natuerlich was du meinst.