Kenyon Tells Also Rans To Keep Up

Peter Kenyon risked a major backlash after he told clubs trying to break into the 'big four' next season to "get their houses in order".
Despite the big difference in turnover between the Premier League's elite and the rest, Kenyon says that it is a problem for those lower clubs to solve. "Other teams in England should be knocking on our door – teams like Tottenham, Newcastle, Villa, Everton," he said.
"It's more about them getting their houses in order rather than us coming down to their level." Since 2003, the only other top four club, apart from Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool has been Everton – and then only once. "If you look across Europe, other major leagues are dominated by one, two or three teams,'' Kenyon added. ''So it's too easy to say this is a Premier League issue. What's important is the way we distribute our TV revenues, which is very equitable."
Despite the money owner Roman Abramovich has invested, Chelsea can point to their success in boosting their turnover as evidence that a club can grow significantly in a commercial sense. According to Deloitte, they are now the world's fourth richest club, behind Real Madrid, United and Barcelona. Their next challenge is to win with style.
"The first objective was to improve the infrastructure and win trophies," said Kenyon before today's game against a Malaysia Select XI. "But football's about entertainment and we want to be a team that wins things in style."