Chelsea on cusp of a generational shift amongst fans in Southeast Asia

Chelsea on cusp of a generational shift amongst fans in Southeast Asia

Amir Mirza, centre, Gerald Sim, left, and Zikry Azahar are among the new generation of Chelsea fans in Singapore.

Singaporeans Jayden Goh, 9, and Amir Mirza, 12, are young fans of the English Premier League. But they do not support Liverpool or Manchester United like their respective fathers. The duo have been passionate Chelsea supporters from the age of seven.
Jayden is an ardent admirer of playmaker Eden Hazard whom he wants to emulate when he grows up. Amir is still in awe of Frank Lampard, even though the veteran midfielder has since moved to Manchester City. And, with Chelsea on course for their fourth title this season, they are honing their skills at the Chelsea Soccer School in Singapore.
According to Ryz Martein Yacob, who runs the Singapore and Jakarta soccer schools for the Chelsea Foundation, the story of Jayden and Amer is shared by most of the young trainees.
"When the school started in 2013, the 35 pupils were evenly divided between western expats and locals," Ryz told ESPN FC. "However, we now we have 230 kids across all age groups and the ratio is 70:30 in favour of locals. Most local kids come to us because they support Chelsea."
On-field success, and the presence of exciting players such as Hazard, Diego Costa, Willian and Oscar, is behind the Southeast Asian shift to the blue side of West London.

Belgian playmaker Eden Hazard is a favourite among the younger generation of Chelsea fans in Southeast Asia.

"Chelsea will dominate the Premier League as long as Hazard and Costa are key players and there is no way I will be supporting my father's club or Liverpool as they aren't going to win the league for a long time," said Amir. Fifteen year old fellow pupils Gerald Sim and Zikry Azahar nodded in agreement as Amir spoke.
Adrian New, Chelsea's Asia managing director, sees a generational shift coming in the Premier League's support in Singapore and Malaysia.
"In Asia, fan following is purely dependent on silverware unlike in Europe, where club loyalties are determined to a large extent by social and geographical factors," New told ESPN FC.
"Chelsea have won more trophies than any other English team in the past 12 years and our fan following have seen a dramatic rise in all Southeast Asian countries. Under Mourinho and with the current squad, we expect this success and consequent surge in Asian fanbase to continue. Teams who have never won the EPL in recent times [such as Liverpool] will obviously not see the same type of increase in their numbers."
Jose Mourinho's Blues are in prime position to claim their fourth Premier League crown since Russia born billionaire Roman Abramovich bought the club in July 2003. Chelsea's four FA Cup and three League Cup wins during the period and the Champions League triumph of 2011-12 make them the most successful English club over the last dozen years.
To tap into the generational shift, the club have adopted a grassroots based model in Southeast Asia, with an emphasis on junior development - the Chelsea Foundation have entered into local partnerships to run branded soccer schools in Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu [Sabah], Bangkok and Jakarta, in addition to Singapore.
Brand activations, with local partnerships such as Adidas, Singha, BNI Bank, Bangkok Bank and Indosat, have also helped visibility across the region.
"In the non-Commonwealth parts of Southeast Asia, the generational shift has already started," said New. "The club have a bigger fan following in Thailand and Indonesia, where the fans are more passionate than in Singapore and Malaysia. The EPL has been broadcast in all of these markets for many years and fans have gravitated towards the most successful team over the previous decade."
The club's global shirt partnerships -- current and future -- with Asian headquartered companies, such as Samsung and Yokohama Rubber, have helped in enhanced visibility in the region.
"The new partnership with Yokohama will see significant activation in all Asian markets," said New. "This is really no different to the fantastic partnership that we had for nine years with Samsung which also saw numerous Asian promotions. The visibility of the club is extremely strong in all Asian markets as a result of our past decade of success."
There are talks of first team stopovers in Southeast Asia en-route to Japan once the Yokohama partnership starts from the 2015-16 season. Future participation in the Barclays Asia Trophy -- a tournament which Chelsea have won twice, most recently in 2011 in Hong Kong -- is also a possibility.
But, in the short term, all eyes in Singapore and Malaysia will be on the club's Premier League games against Manchester United and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on Apr. 18 and May 9, respectively. Wins in those matches could go a long way towards securing a fourth title and, more importantly, continuing the process of winning the hearts and minds of new fans on the other side of the world.