Chelsea’s purchase by the billionaire Roman Abramovich is perhaps the most famous private investment in a football club and marks the beginning of a new era not just for Chelsea but for the sport. When Abramovich first bought Chelsea in 2003 the European press argued that the reason for this involvement was more of a hobby-type of activity then a business action. Many of the top English football clubs are currently in large debts and soon after Abramovich injected extremely large sums of money into Chelsea it was of popular belief that it would be very hard for the Russian investor to see financial statements breaking even and profiting.

Chelsea’s 2011/2012 season ended like no other before for the Blues. The fans of the club watched captain John Terry lift their first European trophy after an intense match against Bayern Munich in their home field. In less than one month from the reaching the highest place an European team can reach, the club released to the press their success outside the field. For the first time in the club’s new era the financial year ended with a 1.4 million pound profit.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/20270934

image: http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/manchester-united-boss-alex-ferguson-1155592