Chelsea’s owners ‘have made club a laughing stock’

Chelsea’s under-fire chief executive Chris Jurasek has been accused of ignoring the concerns of supporters over broken promises and the threat of “irreversible toxicity” towards co-controlling owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali.

In a 1,500-word letter sent to Boehly and Eghbali this month, Chelsea’s Supporters’ Trust stressed the “urgent requirement to engage with the wider fanbase” and set out a host of issues. These included a lack of trust towards the board, the feeling that the club were becoming a laughing stock, broken pledges on pricing and the threat of protests.

Jurasek, who has faced accusations of referring to fans as “customers” and received criticism for cutting bus subsidies for away travel, responded in a letter to the trust yesterday, saying: “Our goal is the same as your goal: to ensure Chelsea has a bright and successful future. To do so, there is a necessity to increase club revenue to put us on a par with our rivals and allow us to compete in both the Premier League and Women’s Super League, as well as in domestic and European competitions.”

Mark Meehan, the trust chairman, responded by saying Jurasek had not addressed the issues it had raised, and that there was a “disconnection felt towards the club ownership, board as well as the majority of the team and the manager”.

Meehan said: “A football club belongs to its supporters and the CST will continue to do everything in its power to guarantee that the voices of those supporters are heard from the stands to the boardroom and ensure that Chelsea supporters are at the very centre of every key decision made by the club – we are supporters, not customers.”

Boehly, the Chelsea chairman, has already been the target of abuse from supporters, while head coach Mauricio Pochettino and forward Raheem Sterling have been booed.

In their original letter to Boehly and Eghbali, the supporters’ trust said there was “an overwhelming sense of helplessness, frustration, and deep concern” among fans.

It added: “The feeling that the club has become a ‘laughing stock’, both on and off the pitch, is growing. The Chelsea Supporters’ Trust regretfully believes that we are close to, if not already experiencing, a significant shift in supporter opinion that could result in irreversible toxicity, almost irrespective of results on the pitch.

“Unless the situation improves, this seems likely to manifest itself in more targeted chanting, especially at televised games, and quite possibly more organised, overt, and impactful forms of protest by some sections of the fanbase.”

Addressing an increase in prices the letter said supporters had been assured that measures to bring income in line with other top-flight clubs would not hit their pockets until “all commercial revenue streams were exhausted”.

It added: “Supporters are frustrated and angry that this pledge has been broken.”