CPO – Grounds for Progress

January 27, 2017

The Chelsea Pitch Owners 2017 Annual General Meeting took place in the Drake Suite at Stamford Bridge stadium today, with a significant turnout of shareholders attending in person. This is perhaps unsurprising given the agenda included a crucial item of business at Resolution 9 which, if voted through, would enable the Directors to approach the owner and propose an extension of the current lease. Chairman Charles Rose declared the meeting…

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Behind the Scenes At The Museum

August 20, 2014

For most of the Stamford Bridge faithful, the real start of the season will come at the weekend, when Chelsea play Leicester in their first home Premier League game. For 4,000 lucky (and hardy) souls, the trip to Burnley on Monday night was made well worth their while by a sparkling 3-1 win, with the Master of Cesc winning plaudits from pundits and fans alike, and the big beast Costa…

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Premier League Predictions 2014-2015

August 14, 2014

Well, that wasn’t too bad.  Thanks to the World Cup and an early pre-season opportunity to watch the boys in blue, compared to other years the close season has positively fled.  And that can only mean one thing.  TheChels.Net’s resident Old Crone, Gypsy Rose Baby, looks into her crystal ball to predict the future and also looks back to last year’s predictions. Arsenal The spreadsheetists and latteistas have been bigging…

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The FA Chairman’s England Commission – Another Fine Mess

August 4, 2014

The FA Chairman’s England Commission Report was published in May amidst publicity and controversy.  It had been a difficult birth.  When it was set up, the Commission was accused of not being “diverse” enough, as it did not include any black players (Rio Ferdinand was subsequently invited to join the Commission), or women. The Premier League declined to participate completely. Copies of the report were provided to delegates at last…

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Picking Up Speed

July 31, 2014

We’re now heading towards the 2014/2015 football season with all the speed of Usain Bolt trying to get away from Glasgow.  The summer’s main sporting occasions are behind us, and pre-season friendlies are beginning to dominate the sport pages. And at TheChels.Net, we’ve been keeping up with not just pre-season matches, but supporter-orientated events taking place. Pre-season Travels With The Chels There was a rare opportunity for supporters to attend…

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Branded

July 18, 2014

One of the biggest issues in football in recent years has been the emergence of the “brand”.  Whether this applies to an individual, as in “Brand Beckham” (arguably the first brand of its kind), or a club, the brand, and potential damage thereto, is often cited at the first hint of trouble. When Luis Suarez was sent off for this third snack on an opponent, he was immediately dubbed “toxic”…

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Modern Sport Is Rubbish

June 29, 2014

I was doing the ironing last Sunday afternoon.  No, don’t laugh.  And whilst doing the ironing I was listening to Test Match Special, the perfect accompaniment.  During the tea-break, there was a segment called Ask Swanny, in which the former England spin bowler Graeme Swann answered questions submitted by listeners, many of which came via Twitter.  The session was such a success that it carried on into the evening session, and one…

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Out Of The Blue

June 18, 2014

A quiet Tuesday evening in June.  The nation awaits the next instalment of World Cup games later that night and the publication of the fixture list for next season the following day.   Then, out of the blue, a statement is published on the Chelsea FC website announcing that Roman Abramovich has commissioned a “study of the area from Fulham Broadway town centre to Stamford Bridge and beyond … This study will…

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No More Heroes

June 11, 2014

The last few years have seen an interesting shift in how footballers and managers are prepared to be openly critical in their feelings for certain clubs.  There was a time when you’d never see a footballer criticise another club in print, with the result that the press would magnify what was simply a polite answer such as “Barcelona are a fantastic club and have great players” into “PLAYER X SET…

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