Chelsea before the money...

[Inigo Montoya]

Who was going to say no to him?

A hit man?

 

[Grinner]

Everton had a lot of money back then too. That impresario/inventer bloke.

 

[ZolaWasMagic]

We were a decent side, always did well against Utd still in the league, if my memory serves me right. Think we did the double over you in 94. Hoddle was the turning point for the 90s, from 95/96 onwards is when the golden era began. Gullit incredible player. Vialli one of europes best strikers. And once the worlds most expensive player, £12m in 1992. Zola, Di Matteo, Sparky, Desailly, Leboeuf, Le Saux, Ferrer, Petrescu. Brian Laudrup for one season (played about 10 games but did well in all of them ). Casiraghi was outstanding in Serie A, often considered the best number 9 in the division, thought he'd have been great once settled but his knee got blown to shit.

We had some very good players in that era.

 

[Ludens the Red]

Chelsea were a good solid top 4/6 side pre Roman to be fair. I hated playing them, I remember getting overly excited over a 1-1 away draw with them in 2001. In the game earlier that season in Ranieris first game they came back from 3-1 down to draw with us. There was also the 5-0

City post oil money well, I read a stat today that shocked me. City scored 10 home league goals in the 2006/2007 season which sums up the state of them pre takeover.

 

[Dancfc]

I've read that post a few times, and other than Ken Bates being very much still alive, i can't find a single thing wrong with it.

Roman didn't buy the club for a quid and we weren't heading to oblivion. Our financial outlook wasn't pretty granted but we were still negotiating deals for Joe Cole and Scott Parker.

 

[FootballHQ]

I know they were a decent side. I was just wondering why they were such a decent side.I remember us being the best and biggest, but our official line was that we couldn’t attract top foreign players. In fact, the league as a whole in the 90s was a bit skint in comparison, and foreign stars typically didn’t come to England. On reflection, I can’t work out Desailly at his prime was playing for them for example. He was a player who would be playing for the very top teams in Europe now, at the same stage of his career, yet he basically signed for Everton or Wolves.

I remember at the time Man. United wanted Patrick Kluivert and Salas. Ended up with neither and got Dwight Yorke (which ended up o.k in the end). In the mid to late 90s I think there was still stigma from some of the top players in the game in their mid 20s about playing in England especially if it wasn't a London side.

Chelsea went for more players in their 30s (think they signed Zola when he was 30) who just wanted a last big wage before they packed it in but obviously many of them like Vialli could still play at a good level.

 

[11101]

Roman didn't buy the club for a quid and we weren't heading to oblivion. Our financial outlook wasn't pretty granted but we were still negotiating deals for Joe Cole and Scott Parker.

When Abramovich bought the club they had about month left before debt was due that they couldn't pay. They were fecked.

 

[ROFLUTION]

I’m not sure what their finances were like, but they were not title contenders at all I remember that much, yet they had World Cup winners, Balloon winners etc, and not just when they were like 35 and finished either. United were the top dogs and Leeds, Arsenal, Newcastle and co were in and around us - but we never got players of that calibre.

I once won a balloon at a Tivoli. Twas a smurf-faced one.

 

[Vidyoyo]

They were a little bit like this

 

[Fiskey]

Not read every post so apologies if already mentioned but Ken Bates, (Roman’s predecessor) in his desperate drive to make them relevant, overspent and nearly put the club into liquidation. Such were their debt levels, the club was worthless and was heading into insolvency until a dodgy Russian saw an opportunity to reinvent himself, came along and took on the debt. Paid a quid for the club and the rest is history. They really deserved the same fate as Leeds, which, oddly enough, is whom old Kenny Bates inflicted himself upon next. Then he died.

They had Matthew Harding alongside Ken Bates who dies in a helicopter crash. I think he was the proper money man.

 

[Fiskey]

It's odd how Matthew Harding is the forgotten man of Chelsea. He came along and almost overnight pumped a fortune into them. Before the Russian money there was Harding money. If he hadn't died Roman would probably have bought Arsenal.

At least his Stand still remains despite Ken Bates efforts to scrub his name from the club. He hated Harding and his money even though it was him who put out the appeal for investment.

Missed this, yeah, was my memory.

 

[kouroux]

Except they won stuff.

So nothing like them ?