CHELSEA fans could play a key role in blocking any plans to play Prem games outside the UK.
Fifa last week paved the way for domestic matches being played “out of territory”.
World chiefs agreed to set up a working group charged with establishing criteria for league and cup games to be played anywhere.
While Prem bosses insist there are “no plans” to even consider playing matches in the US or anywhere else, there is now a majority of top flight clubs with significant American-based financial stakes.
But although Chelsea fans have frequently been on the wrong end of stick by rival supporters, the Blues’ most fervent base may be the saviours of the national game.
And it is all down to… Ken Bates.
Back in 1993, after winning a drawn-out legal battle for control of the Stamford Bridge site from developers Marler Estates, Bates came up with a plan.
It saw him establish Chelsea Pitch Owners, issuing shares in the club’s playing surface.
Priced at £100 per share, and a maximum individual allocation of 100 shares, it allowed Blues fans to own a small but highly significant stake in the club’s present – and future.
As part of the Bates model – which was aimed at ensuring private developers could never get their hands on the Bridge – the CPO was also given ownership of the name Chelsea Football Club Limited.
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HERE we go again.
Just when some positivity was building around the place and an optimistic eye was being cast to the future, Clearlake Capital go hurtling full pelt back to the drawing board, write SunSport’s Tom Sheen.
Mauricio Pochettino leaving will make it six different managers in less than two years when next season rolls around, a record that would make Roman Abramovich blush.
But while the oligarch was keeping Chelsea’s HR department busy by regularly handing out P45s, he was also regularly delivering world class players in the hope of delivering instant silverware.
There was no ‘Vision 2030’, talk of players as financial assets or ridiculous eight-year contracts that potentially hamstring the club.
Hiring and firing worked under the previous regime because Chelsea had a spine of world class talent that they were always looking to improve upon – not a group of players who look light years away from the top teams in the land.
One thing is for sure, though. If Clearlake carry on down this road they’ll need a rebrand to Vision 2060.
Click here to read Tom’s damning verdict in full…
That was licensed back to the club on the condition that ALL first team matches are played at Stamford Bridge.
It also ensures that if the club does move to another stadium in the future, it can only use the name Chelsea FC with permission of 75 per cent of CPO shareholders.
Opposition from the CPO thwarted former owner Roman Abramovich when he attempted to buy back the freehold in 2011 – as part of a plan to potentially sell the site to fund a move to a new stadium.
And it means that even if Prem club chiefs were to vote in favour of playing games in other countries, the CPO – Blues legend and former skipper John Terry is the current President – would be able to prevent Chelsea from being one of the clubs that “lost” a home match.
