As Sonia Bompastor introduced her young children to Serena Williams on the pitch Wembley, before the 23-time grand slam tennis champion headed into the Chelsea dressing room to celebrate with the newly-crowned, unbeaten treble winners, Manchester United manager Marc Skinner was being asked about someone who was creating a different sort of attention by his absence.
For the second year in a row, Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe was conspicuously missing from Wembley as his side appeared in the Women’s FA Cup final, and there wasn’t even the excuse of the men’s team playing at the same time to hide behind, either. United were still well represented at Wembley, with chief executive Omar Berrada and technical director Jason Wilcox, the figures Skinner interacts with on a day-to-day basis, both present.
But Ratcliffe’s absence from Wembley’s royal box stood in sharp contrast to Chelsea’s new headline-grabbing superstar investors, who had flown across the Atlantic to watch their coronation. Williams was pitch-side at Wembley as her husband, the Reddit co-founder and entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian spoke about his new £20m in the English champions. “The sky’s the limit,” Ohanian said on the BBC. “That is what we’re trying to build here, the best team in the world and at the forefront of women’s sport. This will be a billion-dollar franchise one day.”
Ohanian added that he wanted Chelsea to be “unapologetically ambitious” – a sentiment reflected by their history-making manager Bompastor. As the ticker tape fell on the pitch and the champagne was sprayed, Bompastor and her players were already telling themselves that they were not yet the best in Europe. “We are missing the Champions League,” Bompastor said. “So that’s who we are, that’s our goal. I want to make sure we are all able to achieve that goal, to win the Champions League with the club.”
Bompastor added that Chelsea “need to make sure we are going in the right direction” in Europe. But they are already the best in England, by some distance. In 30 matches in the Women’s Super League, the FA Cup and the League Cup, Chelsea won 27, drew three and lost none. Their 3-0 victory over Manchester United at Wembley was not a surprise, given Chelsea had finished two places and 16 points ahead of their opponents in the league table.
The gap is only getting bigger, too. Chelsea’s sixth title in a row was the first time they had not lost over 22 games. In all likelihood, Chelsea will get stronger in the summer, reflecting the moves they made in January, spending over £1.4m to sign the United States international defender Naomi Girma for a world-record fee and England’s Keira Walsh from Barcelona. It is their 8-2 defeat to Barcelona in the Women’s Champions League semi-finals, though, that will motivate their next moves in the market.
“Everyone is saying ‘maybe Chelsea will run away from the pack’ in the league in England, but our goal for us is to compete against the best teams in Europe,” Bompastor said. “So it’s nice to have this domestic treble but we want to make sure, in the future and hopefully next season, we are able to compete against the best teams in Europe.”
Chelsea believe other teams in England should be matching their ambition. If there are worries over competitive balance in the WSL, it is not Chelsea’s fault. Bompastor wants other clubs to be doing more. “We want to compete at our best and if you have that competition you can compete better,” Bompastor said. “We want to make sure we’re top of the league and bring everyone else with us – this is what we want to achieve. But we need the other teams to still invest and come with us.”
Meanwhile, Manchester United will enter the Champions League qualifying rounds next season. Skinner admitted they will struggle to compete across multiple fronts unless they add to their squad. Manchester City have found that out this season, suffering several injuries to crucial players at key times. Arsenal, who have reached the Champions League final, have been unable to sustain a title challenge. Chelsea’s depth, Skinner said, was key to their hunger and consistency, with multiple internationals competing for every position.
“We’re not going to spend multi-millions,” Skinner said. “You look at Chelsea’s winter window, it tells you the difference. We can’t wait [to build]. We’ve got to do it now. I’m trying to do that. I’ve been on calls with players, agents. We have to move the needle. Otherwise we will fail. Chelsea have that depth. If we want to be successful we have to go to that depth, but it’s not going to be as easy for me. I’ve got to find diamonds that can make us better.”
All the while, the billionaire co-owner, who has been counting pennies through cost-cutting measures since taking over at Old Trafford, was missing from Wembley. “In all honesty, I don’t know why Jim wasn’t here,” Skinner said. “But we were really well represented. Omar’s up there, we’ve got the Glazer family, and Jason as well. They’re the people who need to see for us to be able to look at what we need to be able to do to close a growing gap in finance that Chelsea have.”
Bompastor was enthused by the sight of Williams and Ohanian at Wembley. “They were here to show their support,” she said. “You can feel from the beginning they have the right mentality coming into Chelsea.”
It wasn’t just what Bompastor saw, but what it meant. The absence of Ratcliffe projected an image, too, as clearly as what unfolded on pitch.
“The reality is, it’s the investment in the team that needs to happen, it’s not whether you’re visible as long as our team is being invested in,” Skinner said.
“We also need to close that gap.”
