Since Roman Abramovich bought the West London club in the early 2000’s, hatred and perhaps enviousness has been linked with his purchase thereafter. Some may say that other clubs wished he had pumped money into their sides or that nobody likes a new kid on the block, threatening to steal the limelight. Others will simply say that nobody likes a winner, as proven with MANCHESTER United.
Although Chelsea’s history supersedes them. Well before the times of success, they had been linked with fan violence, racism, and foul play. During the height of football hooliganism, they were amongst some of the most notoriously feared clubs, lead by the Chelsea Head Hunters firm. Going back a bit further they handed a lengthy career to arguably the dirtiest player in English football history – ‘Chopper Harris’.
So it is fair to say they have never been the apple of the public’s eye but their success has a brought a new level of hatred. It’s almost as if they were a disliked team before who never won anything, but now they are disliked team that does win things and has done so in a way that many don’t consider ‘organic’. Those things together make a toxic combination.
The fact is that people will always dislike what they believe is tainted glory. Many saw Abramovich’s influence as cheating or not fair. Even if it was perfectly within the rules. Also the fact is that they were the first club to be properly transformed by a rich oligarch coming in and pumping ridiculous sums of money hasn’t helped. The idea of this was fairly new to football fans at the time and was one they did not like one bit. Obviously now we are accustomed to such takeovers but Chelsea were the first to do so and people will always hate the pioneers of controversial matters. For instance, there isn’t the same apathy for Manchester City at all, a club which has probably relied on money more than the Blues. Thus proving my previous point.
Then there is Jose Mourinho. The man that first turned Roman’s money into trophies and who did so in a highly unlikeable fashion. He summed up everything to not like about the club. He was arrogant, cynical, undisciplined and nasty fro the off. With a man such as Mourinho at the heart of the show, you can see why they faced such disdain from the public.
His constant winding up of other fans and managers as well as determination that the world is against Chelsea, makes him unappealing to most neutrals. It’s almost as if there wasn’t an agenda against his team when he started claiming there was, but now due to those false allegation, there probably is.
It is obvious to see that there is now far more limelight on of his players misbehaving than others. Diego Costa got banned for a stamp on Emre Can, but the following weekend Robin Van Persie received no further punishment for a wayward elbow. A similar offence but not an equal punishment, this seemed a tad unfair. Although I will admit that most of the bias against Chelsea is concocted by the canny Mourinho. That is undebatable.
Although it is worth mentioning that Chelsea players do seem to break the rules more often than most. This has come in the form of Didier Drogba’s years of diving, constant surrounding of the referee and now with Diego Costa as their new front man, amongst other crimes. Mourinho has brought the dark arts into English football and his teams have always lead the way in executing them. This, as well as Mourinho’s delusional analyse of ‘the world being against them’, is why they do seems to get a tougher time than their fellow Premier League sides.
With a rich Russian oligarch, a history of fan violence, John Terry as captain, Ashley Cole a club legend and Mourinho as manager – you can see why people dislike Chelsea so much. The recent release of videos featuring disgusting racist abuse from fans, did nothing to improve the clubs tainted image either. As mentioned, Mourinho has played the largest part in this. Trying to force a wedge between the club and everybody else. It seems as if the Portuguese so used to winning, has succeeded once again.
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