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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Scott Murray

Chelsea, Roman Abramovich and old-school memories of the Bridge

Celebrating promotion among parked cars, 1989-style.
Celebrating promotion among parked cars, 1989-style. Photograph: David Cannon/Getty Images

1970s > 2020s: IT’S A NO-BRAINER

Winning five Premier League titles, five FA Cups, three League Cups, two Big Cups, two Big Vases, a Super Cup and a Club World Cup is all good and well, but some Chelsea fans of a certain vintage still yearn for how things were before Roman Abramovich pitched his tent in Москва-на-Темзе all those years ago. Life was more innocent back then, what with the electric cattle fence surrounding the pitch, the frequent run-ins with Millwall, betting the farm on a behemoth of a stand in the middle of an economy-jiggering oil crisis and going nine matches without a goal in the old Second Division. Say what you will about Chelsea, but one way or another, they’ve rarely been boring.

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