Chelsea face blank shirt repeat as search for sponsor drags on
Chelsea’s issues around finding a front-of-shirt sponsor are set to resurface with no deal so far announced for next season, which sources say means they have missed the deadline for kit manufacturers Nike to include a new brand on the shirt.
The club did not have a shirt sponsor for the first two months of the season while the Premier League assessed an offer from Infinite Athlete, a sports data company, under its fair market value rules.
The Infinite Athlete deal for this season was eventually approved under associated party transaction rules at the end of September, as the sponsor has investment links to Chelsea’s owners Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly.
Chelsea’s previous deal with the telecommunications company Three was worth £40million a season. The value of the Infinite Athlete deal has not been made public, but was only confirmed to last only until the end of this season. It is thought it will become a sleeve sponsor next season.
Chelsea were without a front-of-shirt sponsor for nearly two months to start this season
The club’s continuing absence from the Champions League will not have helped the search for commercial partners. Companies see a lot of value in the club they are involved with being among Europe’s elite, highlighted by the fact that Manchester United’s kit manufacturer Adidas will pay the club £10million less for each season they are out of the competition.
Taylor to take charge of cup final – in Albania
The leading referee Anthony Taylor will have another feather in his cap after it was announced he has been selected to take charge of the cup final in Albania.
The Albanian FA said in a statement that Taylor, who is also one of the English Euro 2024 officials along with Michael Oliver, will be in charge of the grand final of the Albanian Super League on May 26. Taylor will use the match as preparation for the Euros.
Taylor also refereed the first leg of the Champions League semi-final between Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund
The use of foreign officials in countries such as Albania and Greece has grown in recent years to remove claims of bias and corruption from clubs there, and Taylor’s appointment has been run by Uefa.
A new Day at FA as exec wages remain rosy
The FA’s new director of women’s football, Sue Day, is coming from the RFU, where she was paid a salary package including pension contributions of £506,000 according to its latest annual report.
It is assumed that Day has not taken a pay cut to come to the FA but the football governing body would not confirm her remuneration.
The FA’s annual report released this week shows its chief executive, Mark Bullingham, had a £31,000 pay rise to £850,000 a year. His RFU counterpart, Bill Sweeney, earned £684,000.
Nicholas holds firm on another Lord’s name change
The incoming MCC chairman, Mark Nicholas, has avoided being dragged into a cricket culture war unlike the incumbent Bruce Carnegie-Brown, who caused a storm last year for saying that the name of the Warner Stand at Lord’s would be kept “under review” owing to Sir Pelham Warner’s family’s historical links to the slave trade.
Nicholas, pictured in 2015, is set to begin his tenure as MCC chairman in October
At the club’s AGM this week Nicholas was asked if the Allen Stand, which is to be rebuilt, should be renamed on account of Gubby Allen’s much-criticised stance that Basil D’Oliveira should not be included in the England tour to apartheid South Africa in 1968. “He ruled Lord’s with an iron fist,” Nicholas said. “But I’m good with Gubby.”
So, even though Middlesex are contemplating moving away from Lord’s, four stands: Warner, Allen, Compton and Edrich will continue to be named after their cricketers.
Alarm and relief for Hasselbaink
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink appeared slightly alarmed to be greeted by a group of journalists at a smart west London hotel this week when he turned up for a business meeting.
The former Chelsea and Leeds United striker, who is part of Gareth Southgate’s England coaching squad, was amused to be told the hotel was also the venue for the meeting of Premier League clubs’ chairmen and chief executives to decide on a spending cap.
Wimbledon’s £238m seats
Wimbledon’s latest issue of debentures has been fully subscribed with 2,520 sold at a cost £116,000 per seat for five years from 2026.
They are the only Wimbledon tickets that the All England Club allows to be resold. It is the club’s main source of funding and the latest issue will raise £238 million net of VAT and expenses.