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Post by stokecityscott on Dec 21, 2007 15:58:00 GMT
CHELSEA fans will be choking on their cappuccinos today when they discover they are no longer the country’s richest club.
In fact, they are not even the wealthiest in West London any more.
That honour now goes to unfashionable neighbours Queens Park Rangers after Lakshmi Mittal — the fifth most minted man on the planet — bought a 20 per cent stakeholding.
And with the Rangers board already boasting F1 tycoons Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, it means the Championship’s bottom club have a fortune of more than £22BILLION — even bigger than Real Madrid.
Indian steel magnate Mittal topped last year’s Sunday Times Rich List with a near £20bn fortune — almost double that of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.
F1 supremo Ecclestone is worth £2.5bn, while Renault chief Briatore has a cool £60m.
Chequebook
The three wealthy directors have pledged to splash the cash to turn Rangers into the game’s next big force.
And boss Luigi de Canio will be given an open chequebook to strengthen his squad during next month’s transfer window.
Mittal will be represented on the board by son-in-law Amit Bhatia.
He said: “The family is excited about becoming involved with QPR. As a family, we love sport and particularly enjoy English football.
“Alongside Bernie and Flavio, we hope we can improve the club’s performance, with the ultimate ambition of a Premier League place.”
Rangers were on the brink of going back into administration before Ecclestone and Briatore bought the club for £14m in September.
Paul Finney, of the Independent R’s supporters group, said: “Santa must be wearing blue and white hoops.
“It’s been a crazy season and now it looks set to be even more surreal.”
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Post by Top Stopper on Dec 21, 2007 18:30:56 GMT
wankers
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Post by stone6 on Dec 21, 2007 21:04:56 GMT
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Post by knype on Dec 21, 2007 21:05:37 GMT
Fair play to them....
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Post by Vodkab1ock on Dec 21, 2007 21:07:06 GMT
you'd expect them to be promotion favourites next season and if they buy a new team in january they could easily get to the playoffs also. sucks really as i dont like them much  |
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Post by stokecityscott on Dec 21, 2007 21:07:16 GMT
Do one bag head
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Post by Stick It On Cort's Head on Dec 21, 2007 21:28:13 GMT
who cares? weve got our 3 points off them
they still wont be able to attract brillliant players because at the end of the day their at the bottom of the champo!
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Post by Vadiation_Ribe on Dec 21, 2007 23:20:42 GMT
They could get promoted like Sunderland did last year after lingering at the bottom before spending millions...
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