Peter Kenyon: Saint or Sinner?
Peter Kenyon is a man of divided opinion: You either don’t like him… or you hate him. But the truth is, for as often as he sticks his foot in his mouth, Kenyon does get an awful lot right – as millions of Lampard shirts sold and a cabinet full of silverware can attest. Here are some of the highlights and lowlights of his tenure as Chelsea’s Chief Executive:
The Good, the Bad and the Kenyon
The Lows:
Tapping up Sven: Shortly after Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea in 2003, Kenyon began looking for a replacement for manager Claudio Ranieri. But the problem was that Kenyon made little attempt to hide his search from either the public or Ranieri himself. The ultimate embarrassment came when Kenyon was photographed by The Sun welcoming Sven Goran Eriksson into his London flat – when the Swede was at the time coach of the England national side.
Players’ Wages: Salary negotiations were never Kenyon’s strong suit. Granted, it’s hard to sit down with a player and tell him what the club can and cannot afford when your paymaster has his own fleet of jumbo jets. Nevertheless, by offering gold-plated contracts to Michael Ballack, Frank Lampard, John Terry and many others, Kenyon amassed the biggest wage bill in the Premier League.
2008 Champions League Final: After a crushing defeat on penalties, it was Kenyon who volunteered to lead the team up to collect their consolation medals. With Manchester United, in contrast, picking club legend Sir Bobby Charlton, Kenyon’s presence was an egregious affront to football purists who fear that “the suits” have taken over the game.
The Highs:
Jose Mourinho: Kenyon was instrumental in appointing Jose Mourinho as manager, who led the club to two Premiership titles and was as successful a marketing tool as the club might ever find. And when Mourinho’s ego became too big for Abramovich’s liking, it was Kenyon who desperately did everything he could to hold together their relationship.
Cobham: Chelsea have still not figured out how to expand Stamford Bridge, but under Kenyon, the club did build what is perhaps the plushest football training facility in the world. Besides the physio rooms, cafeterias, training pitches and media rooms, it also boasts biometric finger print recognition technology for entrance to the players’ area.
Doubling Club Revenues: Kenyon’s business acumen was top notch. In five years he doubled the club’s revenues by negotiating long-term, lucrative sponsorship deals with both Adidas and Samsung. He also spearheaded Chelsea’s efforts to increase their fan base in Asia and North America . The club’s sellouts during their recent preseason tour in the United States were proof of that success.
3 Responses to “Peter Kenyon: Saint or Sinner?”
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Congratulations on being the only website that has anything nice to say about Kenyon. Are you thinking of the same person?????????????
Here’s a good one: he got rid of that ugly badge that Ken Bates came up with
As a Chelsea fan, I’m happy he’s off. He was an embarassment to the club on far too many ocassions.
Come on Chelsea!!