FRANK LAMPARD has revealed Chelsea stars were being kicked off training grounds in favour of university students before the Roman Abramovich takeover.

The Blues were in deep financial trouble before the Russian swooped in to buy the club in 2003 and turn their fortunes around.

Before his arrival Chelsea were a plucky mid-table Premier League side that often punched above their weight in cup competitions.

But off the pitch the situation was dire with the club days away from administration and not having a training ground or club doctor under owner Ken Bates.

Chelsea legend Lampard, who is now back as their caretaker manager, revealed in a documentary how the desperate situation left stars like him, John Terry and others struggling to find a place to train.

He said on Paramount+ documentary Fever Pitch: “We were training at this facility that was at a university ground. We got kicked out every Wednesday when the university teams came in to train.

“Players like Marcel Desailly and Gianfranco Zola, huge world names, were kicked out so university players could come in. It was surreal at the time.

“We were in a bad place, a difficult place. Words like ‘administration’ were bandied about. I was going to potentially be sold because of the reduction in the wage bill that the club needed.”

After briefly weighing up going for Tottenham instead, Abramovich did eventually buy the Blues and brought fans the two most successful decades of their history.

His era ended last year after government sanctions due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine made his position as Chelsea owner untenable.

He was replaced American businessman Todd Boehly, Behdad Eghbali and the Clearlake Capital group.

Although money is still no issue, Chelsea fans may be left with a sinking feeling similar to what they had pre-Abramovich in 2003.

Boehly’s first season at the helm has seen him sanction £600m in player transfers but the London have gone backwards, sacked two managers and are now on a six game losing streak.

SOURCE: thesun.co.uk