Chelsea FC signs first head of global fan engagement

Chelsea fc 2Chelsea Football Club has appointed its first head of global fan engagement as the West London club seeks to build on its success on the pitch to further establish itself as a major global football brand.
According to a study conducted by Brand Finance – which estimates the value of each club based on a range of factors including global influence – the Premier League champions are the fourth most valuable club brand in the world, worth £959m, with only Barcelona (£1.1bn), Real Madrid (£1.1bn) and Manchester United (£1.3bn) ahead.
In a bid to close this gap, Chelsea FC has hired Adam Field, whose most recent role was heading up the Nike Football digital marketing team in Europe as digital brand director, to take up the post.
Field has spent the past decade working in a range of roles both client and agency side,  including global head of social media at PokerStars and head of social media at Havas Media UK.
He first joined Nike in 2013 as digital community manager, leading a team of over 45 digital staff from its Dutch HQ and working across all categories within Nike in seven key markets across Europe.
Within 18 months, Field was promoted to digital brand director for Western Europe, with responsibility for Nike.com, social media activity, apps, performace marketing and digital content. He left the company three months ago to move back to the UK and set up his own consultancy.
Chelsea FC is also expected to announce a major digital transformation programme next week, while earlier this year the club was given the go-ahead for a £500m redevelopment of Stamford Bridge to expand the ground’s capacity to 60,000 seats.

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