Todd Boehly brushes off Chelsea fan criticism as ‘par for the course'

New York Times

27-02-2025

Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly has brushed off fans' criticism as 'par for the course' and refused to guarantee the club's ownership structure will be the same this time next year.
Speaking to a packed room at the Financial Times' Business of Football Summit in London on Thursday evening, Boehly also said strikers are hard to sign and that you cannot find them in a 'grocery store'.
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Before Chelsea's game against Southampton on Tuesday night, around 200 supporters protested against Boehly and Clearlake Capital's ownership of the club.
The protest included negative chants towards Boehly and Clearlake Capital and positive songs for Roman Abramovich, the club's former owner.
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'I just think it is par for the course,' Boehly said when asked about the fans' unrest. 'The sooner you learn you are not going to keep all the people happy all the time, the freedom shows up.
'We are just trying to execute a plan and recognise things aren't linear, and we are trending in the right direction. The trend is moving in the right direction and that's the thing that really matters.
'In June, it will be three years in charge. That's not a lot of time. It's a whirlwind of activity and a steep learning curve, but I think that's also a good thing.'
Boehly was also asked about the state of his relationship with Clearlake Capital, the club's majority shareholder and co-founder Behdad Eghbali. The Athletic reported at the beginning of September that the relationship was in tatters.
'I can't predict the future,' Boehly said when asked if the ownership structure will look the same this time next year. 'We have agreed on a strategy and a way forward and stuff is getting done.' Boehly was asked if he would buy Chelsea in the same way again knowing what he knows now. 'I don't look in the rear-view mirror,' he said.
Boehly and Clearlake have spent more than £1billion on transfer fees since acquiring the club in June 2022 and have signed players on long-term deals, some up to eight years. One advantage of such contracts was that Chelsea could amortise the transfer fee over the length of that deal. However, fellow Premier League clubs voted through a limit on the number of years the cost of a transfer fee can be spread, in relation to a contract, to five years.
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'Yeh, a seven-year contract is really a five-year contract,' Boehly said when asked about their squad-building policies.
'The reality is, 95 per cent of the time, you're going to have to make a decision, or you shoot yourself in the foot. So you either are able to come to terms and agree to an extension or you agree there's greener pastures out there and that's the business you're in and that's life. I think that that's the the reality of the model.'
Boehly, who is also co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team, then went on to speak about the importance of a 'superstar captain' with great sporting sides across sports. 'When you read about the teams that are the dynasties over the years, they had superstar captains that really led them and what you're trying to find is, you know, how do I find that superstar captain?'
During the wide-ranging discussion that included his thoughts on how the Premier League should sell its media rights and whether an independent regulator is good for football. He was also asked about building a squad of players.
Boehly was questioned on what he believes has been the most misunderstood part of his and Clearlake Capital's ownership of the club.
'I think the most misunderstood thing is that we're thinking about it as measured in years and and you've got to think both short and long term,' Boehly said.
'But we're focused on the combination of both of them and seeking the best possible way to execute on that. It's a balancing act in order to figure out how to do it.
'Strikers are hard to find, right? You don't go into the grocery store and say, 'I am going to get a striker'. It is an amazing skill set and you have to have the right mentality.'
'When you read about the teams that are the dynasties over the years, right, they had superstar captains that really led them and what you're trying to find is, you know, how do I find that superstar captain.'
Chelsea are next in action next Thursday against Copenhagen in the Europa Conference League last-16 first leg. They are currently fifth in the Premier League.