Sports Pete » Peter Kenyon

Peter Kenyon (born 1954) is the chief executive of Chelsea Football Club, of the FA Premier League in England, and probably the highest profile sports executive in the United Kingdom.

He is the former production director and chief executive of sportswear firm Umbro. His first job at a football club was at Manchester United, but he was head hunted by Chelsea shortly after the Roman Abramovich takeover. After a spell of gardening leave he officially joined Chelsea in January 2004. This was met with widespread controversy because Kenyon had consistently professed to be a life-long supporter of the Old Trafford club.[citation needed]

Kenyon is the main spokesman for the non-footballing side of Chelsea as Roman Abramovich doesn't give interviews or attend press conferences and Chelsea's chairman Bruce Buck keeps a low profile. Kenyon's background is in marketing, and he was recruited by Chelsea to increase the club's commercial income. While still at Manchester United he was the prime mover in the failed signing of the then up-and-coming Ronaldinho from Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) when it was seen by many[attribution needed] on-lookers as a done deal. Ronaldinho soon moved to Barcelona and became world player of the year.

Since joining Chelsea, Kenyon has been involved in high profile controversies including an attempt to persuade the manager of the England national team Sven-Göran Eriksson to become manager of Chelsea, and an alleged tapping-up of Arsenal and England left-back Ashley Cole. His very business-minded emphasis on selling football clubs as "brands" alienates many supporters.