Arsenal: Chelsea plan is 'fantasy'

Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood has ridiculed the aim of crisis-hit English Premier League rivals Chelsea to dominate world football.

The Stamford Bridge outfit want to become the world's leading football brand by 2014 according to chief executive Peter Kenyon, but are struggling this season.

Manager Jose Mourinho has departed after a poor start at home and in Europe, where just 25,000 fans turned out for the 1-1 draw with Norway's Rosenborg in the Champions League last week.

His replacement Avram Grant presided over a 2-0 defeat away to title rivals Manchester United on Sunday which left Chelsea five points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal.

Hill-Wood told the UK Press Association. "I don't want to run Chelsea down, but one has to concede Manchester United and Liverpool are probably the biggest names in UK football and probably throughout the world.

"For Chelsea to think they are suddenly going to dominate United and Liverpool is fantasy. It's not going to happen. I found it very surprising Chelsea only had 25,000 for a Champions League game.

"Our fan-base probably started in the 1930s and it's been handed down from father to son and so forth. It takes 100 years to build and about 100 minutes to destroy. Money is irrelevant to history and how big your club is."

Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov has recently increased his stake at the Emirates Stadium, as has American investor Stan Kroenke.

But Hill-Wood believes Arsenal's fiscal policy, which has seen profits up nearly £30 million (US$60 million) has justified the club's decision not to follow the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United in accepting foreign takeovers.

"I don't think that (Chelsea owner) Roman Abramovich has helped the Russian cause," he told PA. "The board is completely united and have no intention of not remaining so. The idea of us selling out to whoever is simply not on the agenda."

He added: "I like to feel that we are a stable business run by reasonably civilized people who live in England - for the most part, although (largest single shareholder and Swiss resident) Danny Fiszman doesn't all the time." E-mail to a friend

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