£1bn reasons to be fearful at Chelsea
THERE is £1billion worth of pressure on Chelsea’s new commercial director Chris Townsend when he starts work soon at Stamford Bridge.
Townsend is replacing former Liverpool managing director Christian Purslow, whose team brought in deals worth well over that billion pound mark in two fruitful years before his abrupt departure in February after a fall-out with some members of the club’s board.
On Purslow’s watch, Chelsea signed or renewed deals with Nike, Yokohama, Hublot, Delta, Carabao, Beats, Hotel Tonight and Wipro for numbers on a par with commercial kings Manchester United during that period.
Townsend can match Purslow’s record having brought in a similar amount of sponsorship money for London 2012 — but he will be hard-pressed to have the same immediate impact at Chelsea with major long-term deals in place, apart from a naming rights agreement.
Both Purslow and Townsend are built in the same abrasive mould and are always keen to be given full credit for their achievements. So it will be intriguing how Townsend settles in at Chelsea, who preferred to praise Marina Granovskaia, owner Roman Abramovich’s closest aide, for bringing in the £900million Nike deal. A NUMBER of rugby notables were bemused to receive an invitation to celebrate arch blazer John Spencer’s upcoming presidency of the RFU and being tour manager of the British and Irish Lions — and having to pay £80 a head for the privilege of attending the bash. However, all proceeds from Spencer’s vanity tribute night at Wharfedale Rugby Club in Yorkshire on August 25 are going to the host rugby club and Cardiac Risk in the Young. The four-times-married Spencer will be joined by rugby cronies Bill Beaumont, Andy Irvine, John Jeffrey and Derek Quinnell. The RFU have given their support to the event.
WATFORD have become the second Premier League club after Manchester City to agree a sleeve deal for next season. Watford have switched bookmaker shirt sponsors 138.com to the sleeve in a four-year deal and found another lead shirt sponsor in city traders FxPro.