Capping off a typically tumultuous month for Chelsea, breaking news from the club this afternoon (helpfully released just as we were all out to lunch): Peter Kenyon has left his role as Chief Executive.
Kenyon, who joined Chelsea back in 2003 from Manchester United, will for the time being remain at the Blues as non-executive director (meaning he will still have a role representing Chelsea on various European committees). The announcement was made in a typically pleasant and diplomatic style for this type of story in the last hour on the Chelsea website, but the information we’ve been given so far poses more questions than answers.
It’s tempting to believe that Kenyon was asked to leave – perhaps he has paid the price for Kakuta-gate and the various other public relations disasters that have followed the club over the past few years. Rumours have also suggested that Kenyon didn’t have Abramovich’s faith following the hiring of Scolari in 2008, who was supposedly the Chief Executive’s choice. It has also been suggested that Abramovich personally intervened to dismiss the Brazilian last February, neatly bypassing Kenyon who was on holiday at the time.
All that said, rumours of Kenyon’s departure first surfaced two or three months ago, which could suggest this was more of a mutual agreement. We may never know (I’m sure the papers will be full of speculation tomorrow). But looking forward, there are two more pressing questions to answer:
- Who will replace Kenyon as Chief Executive? Will Abramovich choose an external appointment to ensure someone with experience of the football industry joins the club, or will he opt to promote someone already at the club who he knows and trusts? Internet forums are already rife with speculation that Karen Brady could be on her way.
- What will Kenyon’s next move be? He says he’s got one more challenge left in him and people are already speculating that he’ll move to Man City. If he stays in football, surely he’ll have to resign is non-exec role as it would be a conflict of interest? Furthermore, what knowledge of Chelsea (eg. transfer targets, business plans, skeletons in the cupboard etc) will he take with him?
Look out for a forthcoming posts reviewing Kenyon’s time at Chelsea and what we can expect from the new CEO. In the meantime, what are your first reactions to the news of his departure?
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