Out Of The Blues: Peter Kenyon Stepping Down As Chelsea CEO

Kenyon Will Continue To Represent Chelsea On Various UEFA And Club Committees

EPL club Chelsea today announced that CEO Peter Kenyon is leaving the club in a full-time capacity, effective October 31. Kenyon will continue to serve as a non-executive director and will represent Chelsea on various UEFA and European Clubs Association committees.  Kenyon in a statement said, "I intend to take a little time off before considering what I do next but I am certain I have at least one major challenge left in me” (Chelsea). The London TELEGRAPH notes speculation that Kenyon would leave the club “began earlier this summer, and reports linked him with Manchester City following” Abu Dhabi United Group's takeover of the club (TELEGRAPH.co.uk, 9/16). BBC SPORT notes Kenyon “took charge of the business side” of Chelsea in ’04 with the “long-term aim of becoming one of the most profitable and best supported clubs in the world.” Kenyon “saw success but also controversy.” The team won EPL titles in ’04-05 and ’05-06 and the FA Cup in ’07. But in ’05, the club was fined US$329,954 for its “part in the tapping up affair which saw defender Ashley Cole move to Stamford Bridge from Arsenal” (BBCSPORT.com, 9/16). In London, Matt Hughes writes Kenyon “succeeded in increasing Chelsea’s turnover dramatically since joining the club five years ago, but will be remembered for the various controversies he courted, most notably the tapping-up of Ashley Cole.” Kenyon “will leave on his own terms, but is effectively paying the price for his decision to appoint Luiz Felipe Scolari as manager last summer in preference" to Owner Roman Abramovich’s "chosen candidate," current manager Carlo Ancelotti (TIMESONLINE.co.uk, 9/16). ESPNSOCCERNET notes in addition to “orchestrating some of the biggest transfers in British football history, … Kenyon also helped to usher the club through turbulent times, including the departure” of manager Jose Mourinho in September ’07 (ESPNSOCCERNET.com, 9/16).

FINANCIAL BACKING: EPL club Portsmouth Exec Chair Peter Storrie in an announcement on the club's Web site last night said that Owner Sulaiman al-Fahim "has been in America for the last couple of weeks and has in principle secured new finance which will come into the club over the next couple of months" (LONDON TIMES, 9/16). al-Fahim said that his "first task is to 'stabilize' the club," as Portsmouth "owes money to other Premier League clubs and tax payments to the U.K. government." BLOOMBERG NEWS' Panja & Kuriloff noted "other ambitions for the club include opening youth academies across Asia and the Middle East and building the team's brand overseas through the use of regional 'ambassadors.'" al-Fahim: "I want to show with this club you can make money ... You don't make money from the club itself. You make money from out of the football stadium, merchandising, branding and real estate" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 9/14).

COSTLY ENDEAVOR: In Manchester, Matt Scott reports EPL club Tottenham Hotspur Owner Joe Lewis and Chair Daniel Levy, the major shareholders in the club's parent company, Enic, are "likely to be forced to commit more than [US$165.0M] of their own cash in order to build the club's new stadium." That amount will "fuel speculation that once full planning permission is achieved, the pair will instead cash in and sell the club" (Manchester GUARDIAN, 9/16).