Chelsea Women’s meeting with Roman Abramovich proof his actions speak louder than words, say England stars

Abramovich remains a man of few words but after spending time with the Chelsea Women team in Jerusalem to show they are ‘really valued’, Millie Bright and Carly Telford admit it really does mean a lot to feel supported

Glenn Moore
Thursday 29 August 2019 11:33 BST
Comments
Who is Roman Abramovich?

Meeting Roman Abramovich, the club’s owner, for the first time sent a “huge message” that they were “really valued”, say the players of Chelsea Women.

Abramovich has not watched the men’s team play for more than a year and now spends much of his time in Israel after encountering difficulties renewing his UK visa. This has prompted some speculation that his interest in the club is waning, but this month he co-sponsored, with the Israeli FA, a friendly between the women’s team and the Israeli national side in Tel Aviv.

The Russian-born billionaire attended the match and met the players in Jerusalem the day before the game. England centre-half Millie Bright said: “We know the club supports us, we know that the men are behind us, we know that the bosses are behind us, but then to be invited out there, and to be treated the way we were was unreal. And then to meet [Abramovich], and for him to come to the game, you feel even more valued as a women's team at Chelsea.

“It backs up everything that they've been saying. Which is good, because saying it is easy, but then doing it is another thing. For him to be there to meet and connect with everyone we felt like we were taking a new direction at the club and really pushing on.”

Chelsea’s England goalkeeper Carly Telford was also on the trip and she said of the meeting: “The message it sends is huge. You do not want to just be a ticked box at a club as that they feel they have to have a women’s team. You want to feel the club cares about you and [chairman] Bruce Buck spent more than enough time with us. Abramovich was a little more reserved, he came a couple of times. The guys around him, they spent two or three days with us, absolutely loved us, called us by our names, nicknames, and it is so nice to see there is an actually interest from them and it is not just a token gesture.

“[Abramovich] was very quiet, very reserved. Speaking to his assistant, he said [Abramovich] is quite a shy guy. He said a few words and how honoured he was to be there. He came and watched our game with Bruce.”

Abramovich bought Chelsea in 2003, a year before the women’s team came under the club’s umbrella. Since investment in the women’s team was stepped up in 2013 Chelsea have won two Women’s Super League titles and two Women’s FA Cups.

Telford added: “He invests a lot of money in us and I do not think we realised how much he gives and does not take back. He does it for the love of the club and the love of the women’s game. I think he sees his club being the biggest and the strongest in the world, and he wants to do that across all formats.

“You have to take your hat off to him. Yes, he is one of the wealthiest men in the world, but he does not have to do what he does.”

The trip was in part to promote the women’s game in Israel and the match drew a record 8,500 crowd. Israel are ranked 64 in the world and Chelsea, though still in the middle of pre-season, won 3-1.

Roman Abramovich poses for a picture with Chelsea Women manager Emma Hayes in Jerusalem

“It was more than just going out there for a pre-season tour,” added Bright, “it was raising awareness out there. I think with the big crowds hopefully we've pushed that boundary and we've opened up more people to go and support the Israel team and the clubs there and get more people involved.”

“We were just going to coach and be an inspiration to kids,” said Telford. “You forget how powerful a badge is. It is such a powerful message when you go somewhere like that and coach the kids, especially some of them who would never meet because politically they do not mix. But they come together when you put a football in front of them and suddenly everyone is the same.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in