Chelsea next for the naming rights...

[Lee_Kinda]

http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNew ... 24,00.html

New Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay has revealed that the club would consider naming rights for Stamford Bridge.
During an exclusive interview with Chelsea TV tonight, his first since succeeding Peter Kenyon, Gourlay made it clear that such a deal would be possible on the proviso the name Stamford Bridge was retained in any agreement with a suitable blue-chip company.
'Retaining the heritage of the stadium is paramount to considering such a move but we think that is achievable and on that basis we would enter into discussions over naming rights with the right partner for Chelsea,' said Gourlay.
'We understand that this is a sensitive issue for our fans and that is why we would keep the name Stamford Bridge in any deal.

'What we are not prepared to happen, and I am sure our fans will appreciate this, is allow our rival clubs in England and Europe to gain a competitive advantage over us in terms of the revenue they can generate through either expanding the capacity of their existing stadia or moving to a new stadium and then invest that upside in their team or the club.
'Those possibilities are not open to Chelsea for the foreseeable future because of the restrictions in expanding our stadium and the issues around finding a new site, so that means we have to be creative and look at our sponsorship architecture and see if we can create new value and new opportunities that keeps us competitive.
'Our stadium does very well at the moment in competing with the bigger, and in some cases newer, stadia of our rivals. But they have more possibilities in the long run than we do. We cannot sell any more tickets to Chelsea fans as we sell out virtually every match within our limited capacity.
'The match day experience at Stamford Bridge and the relationship with our fans has improved greatly through initiatives such as our flexible ticketing policy for all cup matches, the freezing of non-hospitality ticket prices for the last four seasons for Premier League matches and subsidised or free travel to a significant number of away games.
'But we need to keep evolving and move the business forward to support the football side and the club generally. This is a potentially realistic way of doing that.'

[salford city]

Kind of flies in the face of their 'small-fry' comment against us doesn't it? Can't afford to move ground and cannot develop any further in the current location.

Short-sightedness on their part and a world away from where we are going with our owners. Add to this the complacancy of the Liverpool owners and their reliance on the 'almost gauranteed' windfall of appearing in the knockout stages of the CL & you begin to realise that we are in safe hands.

[Hazy]

I dont know, David Bernstein could have had coms renamed the FCUK Arena.

[Bingo Lewis]

I dont know, David Bernstein could have had coms renamed the FCUK Arena.

Does Bernstein own FCUK?

Never knew that.

[salford city]

I dont know, David Bernstein could have had coms renamed the FCUK Arena.

Does Bernstein own FCUK?

Never knew that.

yeah he was French Connection. Tell you who I didn't know was a Blue, the head honcho of Timpson's though I'd have thought he'd have been a Northampton fan.....

[Hazy]

I dont know, David Bernstein could have had coms renamed the FCUK Arena.

Does Bernstein own FCUK?

Never knew that.

Chairman or was. did you get PM ?.

[Bingo Lewis]

I dont know, David Bernstein could have had coms renamed the FCUK Arena.

Does Bernstein own FCUK?

Never knew that.

Chairman or was. did you get PM ?.

Yeah, cheers matey.

[sky_blue_stew]

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/138 ... g-spenders

CHELSEA insist they are the top dogs in the transfer market, having branded Manchester City too small to compete with them.
The Blues are preparing for a £50million January spending spree if FIFA temporarily lift their transfer ban. And they laughed off claims they feel threatened by the financial muscle of Mark Hughes’s side. New chief executive Ron Gourlay said: “Manchester City, a threat?
“With the players they have, they’re certainly going to try to push their way into the top five. Commercially, it’s not that easy. They’re very much a Manchester-centric club. To break into the big world and start developing your business in Asia and in the US, you need to really start winning some trophies, and not just one Premier League.
“They can attain it with consistency over the next few years. But there are one or two other clubs out there who may have something to say about that.” Chelsea have requested a suspension of the transfer ban imposed by FIFA for the Gael Kakuta affair while their appeal is heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and should receive the decision within the next fortnight.

Carlo Ancelotti has made it clear he will need reinforcements in order to maintain their title challenge when Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, John Obi Mikel and Salomon Kalou leave for the African Nations Cup in the new year. And Gourlay says the funds will be found if necessary. “We have the money if we want to spend it but the right player has got to be available,” he said.
The Blues are plotting moves for Benfica’s brilliant £30m winger Angel Di Maria, Sergio Aguero of Atletico Madrid, who scored twice against them on Tuesday, and long-time target David Villa of Valencia, and are considering bringing Patrick Vieira back to the Premier League from Inter Milan.
In his first major interview since succeeding Peter Kenyon, Gourlay admitted the club will fail to meet Kenyon’s deadline of the end of this season to become self-sufficient but insisted it is possible – along with another ambition of winning the European Cup twice in the next five years.
Self-sufficiency is still the goal. Is it going to happen this year? No. It won’t happen soon
Ron Gourlay
“In the 10-year plan there were two Champions Leagues and we’ve been very unlucky,” said Gourlay. “Over the next five years we can win the Champions League twice. That might sound aggressive, but we can do it.
“Self-sufficiency is still the goal. Is it going to happen this year? No. It won’t happen soon.”
To help them achieve it Gourlay is planning to sell the naming rights to Stamford Bridge. He said: “We understand this is a sensitive issue for our fans and that is why we would keep the name Stamford Bridge in any deal.”
Unable to expand the Bridge beyond its 42,000 capacity, Chelsea are aware that they fall miles behind Manchester United and Arsenal on matchday revenue.

Astonishing arrogance. How big a club were Chelsea before they're take over? No one had heard of them outside the UK. Now they reckon they're going to win the CL twice in 5 years, yet the only thing that sets them apart from us is they were taken over a few years before. Yet with bigger backing, we're not a threat? Smacks of desperate mind games to me.

[Vhero]

I really hope there transfer ban sticks as they fucking deserve what they got. If it gets overturned it just shows the whole thing is a joke in the first place. The original decision was obviously not an easy one to make so they obviously broke a rule so what's to fight? It would make a mockery of the FA's decisions if they got away with it.