Brian Moore: Peter Kenyon's vision of breaking even still distant for Chelsea

16 September 2009 18:02
He reduced debt, increased income and according to those limited criteria, benefited Chelsea; but his rash promise of breaking even in five years was and is a distant dream and unlikely to be achieved any time soon. Kenyon reduced debt,increased income and according to those limited criteria, benefited Chelsea; but his rash promise of breaking even in five years was and is a distant dream andunlikely to be achieved any time soon. Related Articles * Chelsea 1 Porto 0 * Kenyon leaves Chelsea * Ancelotti content to win ugly * Joe Cole in line for return * John Terry pleased with win after being knocked out * Carlo Ancelotti's Chelsea must box clever The real difficulty is that it is almost impossible to assess whether the sponsorship and other commercial deals closed by Kenyon were attributable to him or whether the product that is now Chelsea sold itself and similar deals could have been achieved by any competent operator. Similarly, was it him or the huge salaries he could offer that he brought players to Stamford Bridge? On the corporate image side Kenyon has improved methods of communication via the club’s website and television station. Chelsea are administrativelywell run and Stamford Bridge as a whole is a smart venue. However, although Kenyon was an improvement on former chairman Ken Bates in PR terms, he did little that altered the club’s caricature as nouveau riche and tacky. Even leaving aside the aspects of jealousy and biased criticism from those seeking to elevate their club by knocking Chelsea whenever possible, Kenyon did little to change that image. Kenyon’s departure at the beginning of the season suggests there may be more to come on this one.

Source: Telegraph