Little did Chelsea fans know it, but when Russian president Vladimir Putin launched a full-blown invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 the course of history at their club was altered forever.
It was on this day last year that Roman Abramovich sensationally put the Blues up for sale after close to two decades as owner, an astonishing response to the sanctions imposed on him by the UK Government in light of his country's actions one month earlier.
After alleging that he maintained ties to Putin, Downing Street subsequently froze the entirety of Abramovich's UK assets, including Chelsea, forcing him to engineer a swift exit and wave goodbye to the club in circumstances he would never have dreamed of.