Fan’s view: Abramovich was resented for upsetting football’s cosy world

So in the end the Roman empire at Chelsea has lasted nearly 19 years, a lot longer than many thought when he bought the club in summer 2003, but, until recent cataclysmic geopolitical events, less than I expected given his clear love of the club and continued on-field success.

Many seem to forget that in the six years before Roman Abramovich bought the club Chelsea won two FA Cups, a League Cup and the European Cup Winners’ Cup so were hardly the mess some portray. What he did do was quickly take Chelsea to the rarefied next step, allowing world-class managers (such as José Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and Antonio Conte) and players to join, ushering in a trophy-laden two decades any new owner will find it very hard to replicate. He became a very effective disruptor, upsetting the cosy world at the top of English and European football, and was clearly resented because of this.

Two Champions Leagues. Two Europa Leagues. Five Premier League titles. Myriad domestic cups. So many memories for me. Watching us win the league at Bolton and West Bromwich. Being in Munich, Amsterdam, Baku and Porto to see European trophies being lifted. Watching world-class overseas signings such as Arjen Robben, Claude Makelele, Didier Drogba, Michael Ballack, Eden Hazard and Tiago Silva wear a Chelsea shirt. A quality of player and a selection of trophies and memories unthinkable to those of us watching the side in the Division Two dog days of 1979-83.

The unsentimental and ruthless firing of managers was sometimes uncomfortable for many supporters but it is hard to argue, in retrospect, that those decisions were not justified, with the possible exception of Ancelotti. The sacking of Frank Lampard was decried by many but the appointment of Thomas