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Todd Boehly has suggested that the club’s owners could split if they can’t agree on the future of Stamford Bridge. In May 2022, Clearlake Capital, owned by Behdad Eghbali and José E Feliciano, and the American Billionaire joined forces to buy Chelsea from Roman Abramovich.
The consortium bought the West London outfit for £4.25bn, making the Blues the most expensive football club in the world. An official statement revealed that Boehly and Clearlake paid £2.5bn in shares while £1.75bn was set aside for investments in Stamford Bridge, Kingsmeadow, the men’s team, the women’s team, the academy and charity funding.
The new owners have heavily invested in new players and staff, but redeveloping the stadium on Fulham Road has proven to be difficult. So, with that being said, football.london has rounded up everything you need to know about the future of Stamford Bridge.
Boehly provides fresh update on new Chelsea stadium plans
In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Boehly suggested that he and the club’s majority shareholder, Clearlake Capital, could split if they can’t agree on the future of Stamford Bridge. Clearlake Capital have a 61.5 per cent stake in Chelsea, with the remaining 38.5 per cent is split equally between Boehly, Hansjorg Wyss and Mark Walter.
The former said: “We have to think long term about what we’re trying to accomplish. We have a big stadium development opportunity that we have to flesh out. That’s going to be where we’re either aligned or we ultimately decide to go different ways. The status quo is something that’s just fine.
“We’ve learned from each other and we’re going to be able to work it out any which way. If you look at the evolution of the team, we’ve been aligned on what we’re trying to do and what we’re trying to build. It’s a team that’s young, it’s a team that’s got long contracts.
“All these things were new. In order to do all these things we’ve done, it’s because we’re aligned. We’re executing on a plan that ultimately will have Chelsea where it belongs. We’re sitting in the top four of the table.”
Chelsea Pitch Owners PLC dilemma
The Chelsea Pitch Owners PLC (CPO) is a company that holds the freehold of Stamford Bridge stadium and the name Chelsea FC. Over 23,000 individual shares have been sold to fans, former players and staff since it was set up by Ken Bates in the 1990s.
In 1997, CPO leased the ground to Chelsea FC for a period of 199 years. No one person can unduly influence the company and, in the event of the club wanting to move, they either have to surrender the name Chelsea FC to CPO, or to obtain their permission to do so.
Ultimately, the future of the Blues rests in the hands on the CPO. In January 2025, the CPO chairman addressed the future of Stamford Bridge in an official AGM statement: “To re-state the obvious, only CPO shareholders can have a vote on any proposal regarding the future of Stamford Bridge.
“No share, no vote. Tell your family, friends and colleagues what we are about. Encourage them to buy shares and, if you are able, please buy more shares yourself…