And so the bell has finally tolled on Roman Abramovich and perhaps even Chelsea as an elite entity within football.
A little after 9am, the statement dropped and so did an axe on a man we never really knew. Or chose not to.
Time was that we might call the government's announcement of his sanctioning a bombshell, but these circumstances would make such terminology rather crass indeed.
Real explosions in Ukraine have shifted perspectives, and by midday on Thursday the faintest echoes were being heard around Stamford Bridge.
'I look at this stadium and what Roman built and this is hard,' said James Blount, a Chelsea fan of 40 years.