The world is united in its condemnation against Russia and its near-universal support for poor Ukraine. ‘Near’ universal? Nearrrrr???? Yes, only near. Because there’s a little corner at Stamford Bridge football ground where the otherwise universality falters. A little zone in which there are other considerations in the matter, other than the ‘mere’ slaughter of innocents, invasion of sovereign territory, ignoring ‘humanitarian corridors’, murdering children, other than any considerations under the umbrella ‘morality’. There’s football. And the cost of disloyalty to Roman Abramovich in the eyes of a ‘certain type of Chelsea fan’ (that ‘type’ being the ones who wear blue scarves) is worth more than their seen to be jumping onto the bandwagon of global indignation and blanket support for Ukraine. There is a corner of every foreign field, that is forever… Russia.

And I totally get it. You just have to put yourself in the shoes of the average Chelsea fan. The shoes aren’t that comfortable but the empathy gained is worth a blister. And its back in 2003 and Ken Bates has your football club on the verge of insolvency. Massive debt, poor deals, its the culmination of a decade of mismanagement and a total descent into abject mediocrity, where ‘our’ (empathy, remember?) football team has languished pretty much forever. The odd FA cup win, but realistically, its all shit. Go to the pub, shag the wife’s sister in the car park, beat up a tosser cos he looked at me ‘funny’, go home, take it out on the kids and throw up in the bed. And then, when all seemed doomed, bankruptcy, relegation, humiliation, there comes a reprieve of positively Biblical proportions. In the guise of a man we’ve never heard of. A 36 year old Russian ‘Oligarch’. He’s going to buy Chelsea, pay off all the debts and create a billionaire’s wonderland in the Premier League. I looked up ‘oligarch’ and it means ‘shedloads of cash’. I didn’t read the rest of it, I’m a Chelsea fan, we don’t do ‘readin’. So I missed the ‘tainted’ bit and never questioned how one so young could possibly have accumulated such vast wealth so quickly. What I didn’t miss was the 15 trophies in the following 18 years. Everything. Champions Leagues, Premier Titles, UEFA Cups, the lot. All down to one man and his money. I looked up the word ‘oligarch’ and it said, basically, in league with Putin. Not the premier league, different one.

So whilst the rest of the world, including now vast numbers in Russia itself, is totally opposed to Putin’s actions in Ukraine, he has but one area of support, one place where he, and his team of hyper rich scum, are welcomed, loved, revered. Where the murders are secondary to a nice shiny cup.

Love you Roman, love you Vlad.

Happy Monday

A xxxx