Everybody knows the story of Roman Abramovich, the Russian billionaire who bought Chelsea and turned the under-achieving London side into Premier League champion.
But few people outside Blackburn and Wigan know much about Dave Whelan, the leftback best known for breaking his leg in the 1960 FA Cup final. His success story may be just as impressive.
The two wealthy owners go head-to-head for the first time Sunday when Whelan's Wigan Athletic, promoted to the top flight for the first time in its history, hosts the defending champion Blues on the opening weekend of the season.
While Abramovich used his fortune to wipe out Chelsea's crippling debts of ?80 million (116 million euros) and buy ?200 million (290 million euros) worth of new players, Whelan has turned Wigan from a soccer minnow to a Premier League club.
Whelan made headlines for the wrong reasons at the 1960 cup final at Wembley when he challenged Wolves' winger Norman Deeley for the ball and broke his own left shinbone. He was carried off the field, his career effectively over at age 23.
Whelan went into business, owning discount and sports stores before taking over the ownership of little known Wigan Athletic, which was in the lowest division of the Football League and seemingly going nowhere.
With his businesses booming, Whelan, whose fortune is now estimated at ?75 million (108.75 million euros), guided the club through a series of promotions culminating in its arrival among the English powerhouses.
"It goes down in history as something special," Whelan said. "A club like Wigan that's only in the Football League 25 years and were in the old fourth division qualifies for the Premiership. It says to every team in the land it is possible, it can be done."
Whelan's cash has allowed manager Paul Jewell to strengthen the squad with the arrival of experienced Swiss international defender Stephane Henchoz and Norwich midfielder Damien Francis.
But Wigan runs out at its JJB Stadium -- named after Whelan's sports business -- against a Chelsea lineup teeming with stars. Jewell's team appears to have little chance of becoming just the second club since Manchester City Oct. 16 to beat the Blues in a league game.
Whelan said that the Premier League appeared to be split into three sections -- the title contenders, the relegation candidates and those in between.
"If we can get in the middle division we'll be very happy," he said.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho says he has so much talent available he could field two complete lineups and doesn't know which would be better.
England defender John Terry says the Chelsea players, who won the title by 12 points last season, want to win every game this term. The Blues lost only one league game last season.
"We will try and improve on last season and that is why we want to go the whole season unbeaten," the center back said. "That is the mentality of the manager and the players now. We are not happy going into games and just drawing them. We want to win all of them."
Frank Lampard, Terry's teammate with Chelsea and England, said the Blues cannot afford to slip up against Wigan.
"I think we have to make sure that we're on top of our game," the midfielder said. "And if the atmosphere is very big and their players are very active, we have to start playing our football very early in the game."
Lampard also said that Chelsea thrived on criticism that the club could not survive without the wealth of Abramovich.
"You get to the stage where every little bit of criticism that comes to you, you use to make you stronger," Lampard said. "We get it from a lot of angles now and we hope to answer it by success."
While Chelsea should start the campaign with a victory at Wigan, its rivals have far trickier games.
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