Marina Vladimirovna Granovskaia (Russian: Марина Владимировна Грановская; born 13 January 1975)[1][2] is a Russian-Canadian business executive who served as the director of Chelsea from 2014 to 2022.[3] She has also served as chief assistant to Roman Abramovich for over ten years.

Professional career

Granovskaia studied at the Foreign Languages Faculty of Moscow State University and graduated in 1997.[3] She started working as Roman Abramovich's PA at Sibneft in 1997.[3] In 2003, she moved to London, when Abramovich bought Chelsea.[3] She has also worked for Millhouse Capital, another company owned by Abramovich.[4]

Chelsea F.C.

Granovskaia became involved in transfers and contractual dealings for Chelsea, becoming the representative of the owner at the club in 2010, then joining the Chelsea board in June 2013.[3] In 2014, she was promoted to chief executive of the club.[5] The Times stated that the promotion made her the "most powerful woman in football."[6]

Her task of managing transfers sometimes put her at odds with managers who had their own ideas of whom to sell or buy during the transfer window.[7] She has also been responsible for brokering the team's sponsorship deal with Nike, that will fund £60m per year to the club until 2032.[8]

Granovskaia has been described as 'The Iron Lady' and "one of the best club directors in world football".[9] In 2018, Forbes ranked her Number 5 in their "Most Powerful Women in International Sports" list.[10]

Marina Granovskaia received the Best Club Director in European football award at the Golden Boy Awards on 13 December 2021.[11] On 22 June 2022, it was announced that Granovskaia would leave Chelsea by the end of the 2021–22 season, following the change in ownership of the club.[12]

References

  1. ↑ "Chelsea FC's Marina Granovskaia: the most powerful woman in football". de24.news. 25 July 2020.
  2. ↑ "Chelsea-boss er så skræmmende, at flere ikke tør udtale sig om hende". sport.tv2.dk (in Danish). 19 July 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Marina Granovskaia". ChelseaFC.com. Chelsea FC. 18 January 2018.
  4. ↑ "Forget Jose Mourinho. Is Marina Granovskaia the real 'Special One' at Chelsea?". The Telegraph. 14 June 2013.
  5. ↑ "Football's First Lady". Evening Standard. 23 October 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2017 – via EBSCOhost.
  6. ↑ Hughes, Matt (23 October 2014). "Abramovich's leading lady set to run Chelsea's off-field operations". The Times. Retrieved 20 September 2017 – via EBSCOhost.
  7. ↑ Benjamin Newman "Why Marina Granovskaia & Antonio Conte’s relationship at Chelsea is over" 101 Great Goals, 26 January 2018
  8. ↑ "Chelsea confirm huge £60m-a-year deal with Nike until 2032". The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. 13 October 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  9. ↑ "Chelsea's Iron Lady Marina Granovskaia lays down law on transfers". The Telegraph. 7 June 2015.
  10. ↑ Alana Glass (27 March 2018). "The Most Powerful Women In International Sports 2018". Forbes.
  11. ↑ "Marina Granovskaia wins the best club director in Europe during the golden boys awards". Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  12. ↑ "Chelsea Football Club announces new Board of Directors and leadership changes | Official Site | Chelsea Football Club". ChelseaFC. Retrieved 2022-06-22.


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