Chelsea have been criticised by their own fans and have warned that they will face a wave of “irreversible toxicity” unless they make drastic changes.
Chairman Todd Boehly and co-owner Behdad Eghbali are accused of making the club a “laughing stock” on and off the pitch because of the way they run things.
The Chelsea Supporters’ Trust, a stalwart group, wrote to the two men thirteen days ago to express the anger and frustrations of enthusiasts who are fed up with the more sensible top brass at Stamford Bridge.
This plunged the already tense meetings between them and the enthusiasts into all-out civil war.
The incendiary letter highlights “the disconnect fans feel towards the majority of the team, the coach, the club and the board. “
He goes on to point to the anti-Boehly chants at the recent Brentford game, the perceived lack of communication from the club and a “growing lack of acceptance from the fans”.
Winger Raheem Sterling and manager Mauricio Pochettino were targeted by Chelsea enthusiasts in the volatile 4-2 FA Cup quarter-final win over Leicester City, which sends the team to Wembley for the second time this season.
Chelsea are currently 11th in the table. They finished 12th last season with problems, their lowest level overall in the Premier League.
Financiers Boehly and Eghbali led a £2. 5 billion takeover of Chelsea in 2022 as the club forgot due to sanctions imposed on former owner Roman Abramovich.
Since then, the pair have overseen a £1 billion spend on new players, but they have only one Carabao Cup final defeat at Wembley to Liverpool last month to prove it.
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The result has led to former Manchester United star and TV commentator Gary Neville referring to the players as “billion-pound bottlers”.
Supporters are similarly of opinion about what they say is the lack of “public vision” of the new owner, which they say has created an overwhelming sense of helplessness.
Boehly and his partner are also accused of reneging on promises on prices for fans, playback kits, food and beverages, and ticket prices.
Many Chelsea enthusiasts are concerned that season ticket prices are about to skyrocket. This season they vary between £750 and £940 for an adult.
This helps fund record spending on removals and a desire to comply with strict profitability and sustainability regulations that have seen Premier League teams Everton and Nottingham Forest deduct emissions this season.
The CST is calling for more communication between the club and fans on a multitude of issues, such as the redevelopment of the stadium or the move to a new ground.
They offer a “clear explanation of the journey” that Boehly and his friends at American personal equity firm Clearlake Capital are taking to their beloved Chelsea.
Since their takeover in May two years ago, Chelsea have had three permanent managers: Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and head coach Pochettino.
But former midfielder and coach Frank Lampard also had to intervene for 11 games at the end of last season in an attempt to stabilize the dispatch with effects and morale in crisis amid an inflated roster of starting players with contracts of up to 8 years. longitude.
Boehly walked into the sanctuary of the Chelsea dressing room after games.
Eghbali is very “active” through club members who feel that the environment is unhealthy.
The club responded to the fans’ considerations with its new general manager, Chris Jurasek.
He wrote: “We certainly need to make sure we engage with our supporters to provide them with transparent lines of communication and a meaningful point of transparency.
“With the status quo of the Fan Advisory Board, which communicates with the club as normal, we are confident that there are many shared discussions and the goal of collaborating heavily with a number of key stakeholders.
“In addition, with the common Fan Forum meetings representing the accessibility of the stadium, our women’s and men’s groups highlight the main point of communication between Chelsea Football Club and its supporters. “
There is no direct response to the Trust’s arguments relating to the behaviour of the board of directors, the players, the manager or considerations about ticket prices.
Jurasek added: “We recognise that there are fears about the costs that arise on a suitable day and the effect that ticket costs can have on our fans.
“Please be assured that we take recommendations and engage in regular consultations with the Fan Advisory Committee to ensure we take a holistic approach to this vitally important issue. “
Dear Todd and Behdad,
As we approach the final months of the season, we want to write to you about your plans for the upcoming season and beyond. As you know, the Chelsea Supporters’ Trust has tried to be constructive in its dealings with you and your colleagues. It FC. Es in this spirit at Chelsea that we wish to highlight and address some serious considerations from the fans and the disconnect that enthusiasts feel towards the majority of the team, the manager, the club owners and the board.
The current temperament of the fans and the anxiety over the lack of transparent direction off the pitch
The current sentiment among Chelsea enthusiasts is, in our opinion, at its lowest point since the early 1980s. While this is to be expected given our current form and position in the rankings, a significant number of followers we spoke to are quick to express their considerations. whereas the lack of public vision on the part of the new owner has provoked feelings of helplessness, frustration and deep concern in an overwhelming majority. Supporters say there is a growing lack of buy-in from a giant portion of enthusiasts, especially spectators, at the board, in part due to very limited communication. Many enthusiasts are very concerned about the short and long term. long-term of our football club.
In our last defeat at Brentford, the reviews of some low-key players have become the vocal expression of the most enthusiastic Chelsea fans in the match. A number of anti-ownership chants may be heard even as we were winning and much of our recent discussion with the fans shows a lack of widespread and meaningful buy-in from decision-makers at the most sensible levels of our club. Morale among fans is incredibly low and cannot be ignored. stock”, on and off the pitch, is growing.
Sadly, the Chelsea Supporters’ Trust believes we are near, if not already facing, a significant shift in fan sentiment that could lead to irreversible toxicity, regardless of the effects on the pitch. Unless the scenario improves, this will most likely manifest itself in more targeted chants, especially in televised matches, and in a probably more organized, open, and impactful protest bureaucracy by certain sections of the fan base.
We call on the club to work hand in hand with the CST to improve the relationship between the fans and the board. The existing mechanisms of fan engagement are obviously not working at an optimal level lately, and we need to work together to improve this.
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When he started at Chelsea FC, he let his supporters know that he was going to increase any and all advertising revenue streams and double the profits to align us with the other big clubs in the Premier League. We were informed that only once all advertising profit resources had been exhausted, would the club succeed in the fans’ wallets?
Fans are frustrated that this commitment has not been fulfilled. Since May 2023, a number of fan budgets for the public have been reduced or adjusted and costs have increased. Examples include:
Obviously, the way to further increase the benefits of the matchday is to increase the costs of tickets and we perceive that lately the club is comparing other scenarios, other characteristics and decisions related to ticket costs for next season.
The Chelsea Supporters’ Trust recognises that you need to maximise your income, but we have serious considerations about ticket costs going forward, whether for season ticket holders or general admission.
The UK is currently facing one of the most difficult financial times in its history. It is vital that you know that the burden of living through a crisis has created enormous monetary hardship for many other people and fans, who are the lifeblood of the club, and in fact are not immune to those pressures. Don’t be under any illusions that many fans are involved. on the possibility of a significant increase in ticket prices.
A poll of CST members has garnered responses from thousands of supporters, some of whom fear they will be prevented from seeing the club they love due to above-inflation increases.
We believe that any significant increase in ticket prices today would be incredibly unwise and that all other ideas related to price levels or changes to senior concessions deserve to be considered at a later date.
This confidence is especially applicable given the record spending on players that has had a far from positive effect on the field. We are well aware that the accumulation of ticket value will only add to the “pinch of money” narrative. And we have clear and genuine concerns about how fans would react to this combination of value increases and poor and inconsistent performances on the field. We strongly warn against such a move.
There is a pressing need to engage with a wider fan base.
CSE has been very inspired by Chelsea’s willingness to work with us on a number of netpaintings and core projects to foster greater fan relationships.
That said, we are at a level where a new and broader strategy for fan engagement must be pursued as a matter of urgency to address the serious concerns of enthusiasts who have shown so much loyalty in recent years. Extending a much higher degree of acceptance with those supporters would be a net advantage to you and the club as a whole in the future.
Surely supporters deserve a coherent and detailed strategic update from the owners on their medium and long-term plans? They haven’t won any yet. This update will come with the remodeling of the stadium. Even if the club has no strategic news in this area, it would not hurt to make regular statements, given the important importance of the remodeling for so many fans of the matchday. There has been very little communication with the fan base on the issue, and what enthusiasts are seeing is that it has been nine years since the Abramovich Stadium allocation in 2015 and we seem to have gone backwards, while our peers in governments nationals continue to move forward, reaping the benefits. remodeling or reconstruction of the stadium. There seems to be deep concern, even cynicism, about what is happening, which is not unexpected given the lack of updates. In the communication vacuum caused by the lack of fan updates, rumors abound, some no doubt spectacularly inaccurate. This can’t be healthy. We reiterate our assertion that enthusiasts will have to be concerned about stadium redevelopment plans from the outset.
We believe that sharing your vision more widely, adding your business ambitions, and a wider fan base can be an appropriate way to begin to better understand what you’re looking to achieve. Communicate how you hope to transition to a more sustainable operation. It’s a must-have if you need to alleviate the generalized anxiety your followers are feeling lately.
That’s where your ambition to be a leader in “fan engagement” comes into play.
Much of Chelsea FC’s current ‘fan engagement’ tends to be akin to issues of correspondence or more strategic finance and governance spaces (long-term plans, etc. ), and while both are important, there is a nuanced stance on this. We are of the opinion, backed by reports from clubs such as Brighton and Hove Albion and Brentford, and by evidence from experts in the field, that a club is open to a wider fan base with wider commercial objectives, without having to disclose key data that could be subject to advertising sensitivities may, Over time, it will build up and, in particular, be accepted as true among enthusiasts and the club. It can also save time for monitoring a club where significant changes are temporarily made.
We think that showing some of the progress made directly to a wider fan base can help build greater confidence in decision-making at Chelsea, which is something you’ll obviously want if you want to take fan feedback with you.
We do not offer a technical explanation of profits, losses and profit generation, but we do offer a transparent explanation of how far the club has come under his leadership. Fans really care about the future of their club and are more understanding when given more facts about an issue.
This wouldn’t result in any adjustments to the existing interaction bureaucracy you use, such as the Fan Advisory Council or even appointments with us. Instead, more open and large-scale communication is another point of interaction that clubs use to build trust. , especially among new owners.
We recommend that you work intensively with CSE to expand a fan communication strategy that works for the club and for the fan base. We believe this deserves to be a first face-to-face event, organized as soon as possible, followed in writing. and video materials.
We would appreciate an ongoing discussion with you about this critical factor and are happy to have a confidential meeting with you and your team about those proposals.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely
The Board of Directors of the Chelsea Supporters’ Trust
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