Now the dust has settled and Tom Henning Ovrebo has escaped Britain without being lynched, one thing has become abundantly clear after last Wednesday Champions League semi-final; neutral football fans, almost to a man, were desperate to see Barcelona go through. Chelsea fans aside, no one has been that bothered by the referee’s woeful performance. This may have been because Barca play sublime football. It might have also been because people wanted the ‘Hollywood Final’ of Man Utd vs Barca. They may not have wanted a repeat of last years final. But it also could be down to what seems to be an almost universal hatred of Chelsea. So what are the reasons why people hate Chelsea so much? Here’s my top 10.
1 – Didier Drogba
The swearing, the diving, the constant tantrums and protestations that he feels unloved and underappreciated, Drogba scores great goals but he is essentially a flat track bully who falls over like a little girl in a playground at the slightest touch of a defender’s arm. With any luck he’ll finally leave this summer and we won’t have to put up with his antics week in week out.
2 – Roman’s Billions
Since his arrival at Chelsea in 2003 he has grossly distorted the British transfer market bringing players in seemingly at will and making an already uneven playing field almost unplayable. Broke the then British transfer record when he signed Shevchenko in May 2006 for 30 million pounds and as of May 2009 has spent well over 600 million pounds on the club.
3 – Fat Fwank and JT
From a Chelsea POV, ‘Lamps’ is England’s most talented midfielder, a constant goal threat from midfield and a player who bosses games in the centre of the park. JT is an inspirational leader who dominates strike-forces and is not afraid to put his head in where it hurts. To all other fans Fwank is massively overrated, lives off the hard work of Essien and specializes in deflected goals. JT is a ref baiting chav who has to make last ditch tackles and put his head in where it hurts because he constantly gets caught out of position.
4 – Big Team Reputation
Chelsea fans like to think of themselves as one Europe’s biggest clubs but the fact is that 20 years ago Chelsea weren’t even in the top division. In 1982-83 they were almost relegated to the old 3rd division. They weren’t part of the traditional big five of Man Utd, Everton, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham and they don’t have a rich history of playing good football. The arrival of Gullit in the mid 90s changed their fortunes and subsequently Abramovich has transformed them but bought success will never compete with earned greatness and deep down Chelsea fans know that it could all crumble if the Russian gets bored of his play thing.
5 – Peter Kenyon and Brand Chelsea
Representing the odious side of modern football, Kenyon comes from a marketing background and deals with all the commercial activities at Chelsea. He is responsible for promoting Chelsea as a brand to Asia and the rest of the world and is intent on making them a super club. However, his smug visage and slimy conduct are not conducive to promoting a trustworthy image. Likewise his involvement in the tapping up of Erikkson and Ashely Cole makes him distinctly unpalatable and he seems like a perfect fit for a club so easy to hate.
6 – Cashley Cole
Judged on footballing ability alone Cole is top notch. Judged on other attributes he is less likeable. He was famously derisory of a 55’000k per week contract offer from Arsenal. He abused Mike Riley (not too bad in itself) and turned his back on the official after a late lunge on Alan Hutton at White Hart Lane. He met with Kenyon and Mourinho while still an Arsenal player. He released an autobiography (My Defence) at just 25 years old. Hilariously this sold just 4000 copies in its first 6 weeks. Inexplicably he cheated on Cheryl Cole. He advertised the National Lottery dressed in a white suit and a medallion. Need I go on?
7 – Cuddly Ken Bates
Bought the club for 1 pound back in 1982 and stayed for 24 controversial years. He once suggested that the club install electric fences to keep its fans from the pitch and was involved in disputes with, amongst others, Matthew Harding, Peter Osgood and Martin O’Neill, even going so far as to call Harding an ‘evil man’ a year after Harding had died in a helicopter crash. Now chairman of Leeds, Bates went someway to redeeming himself in the eyes of Chelsea detractors by describing Abramovich and the Chelsea board as ‘a bunch of shysters from Siberia’.
8 – Celebrity Fans
Strange as it may sound, you can tell a lot about a club by its celebrity fans. Where Spurs followers include Peter Cook, Bob Marley, Warren Mitchell and Ray Liotta, some of Chelsea’s more famous fans are John Major, David Mellor and Tim Lovejoy. Incidentally Arsenal’s celebrity fan club numbers Jeremy Beadle, Rory McGrath and Dale Winton amongst its members while Man Utd have Terry Christian, Angus Deayton and Eamonn Holmes in their fan club.
9 – The Headhunters
Not seen so often these days, Chelsea have a rich history in one area of their club, that of fan violence. In the 1970s the infamous Headhunters had running battles with Leeds United fans and widespread racism was present within the group. A 1999 BBC documentary on them uncovered links to various white supremacist organizations such as the National Front. This is one part of Chelsea that won’t be included in any of Kenyon’s ‘Brand Chelsea’ material.
10 – Dennis Wise
Perhaps the man who kicked started the current generation of Chelsea haters, Alex Ferguson once said of Wise that ‘he could start a fight in an empty house’. Spent his formative years at Wimbledon but came into his own during his 11 years at Chelsea. He had disciplinary problems both on and off the field not least a 1995 conviction for assaulting a taxi driver. This resulted in being given a 3 month jail sentence which was later overturned but for many his nastiness personified Chelsea.
