🇳🇱 How Roman Abramovich killed one of the Netherlands’ oldest clubs

Vitesse Arnhem - 'Chelsea B' - have been kicked out of Dutch football!

The joke was that if a player was ever sidelined at Chelsea they would soon end up at Vitesse Arnhem. ‘Chelsea B,’ they were dubbed.

These days Chelsea simply sell their unwanted players to Saudi Arabia, but back then the traffic to Vitesse was consistent. Indeed, the Stamford Bridge outfit sent no fewer than 22 players there on loan between 2011 and 2019.

Vitesse qualified for Europe during this period. They were top of the Eredivisie at the halfway point of the 2013/14 season. They won the KNVB Cup for the first time in their history in 2017. These were the glory days.

Now, though, Vitesse are facing extinction. They have been kicked out of the Dutch football pyramid and Roman Abramovich is to blame.