18 hours ago, Mike Carefree said:

 

P.s.......and.......turn back time to bring back a younger me....Harkins...Babs...Hickey and all the wonderfull elements we once had surrounding these names

Oh back in the day. Best days of my life.

@Valerie are you ready for all this to be over?

@Munkworth ready to welcome in the new custodians?

Shed enders think I can speak for a lot of us when I say thank you Roman.

Edited May 30, 20224 yr by axman2526

On 28/05/2022 at 14:40, axman2526 said:

Whichever of the stands that is developed first put 3 tiers on it and shove the away fans up in the gods like Barca do.

Knock the (loss making) hotel down, double the height of the Shed End and put the away fans at the very back of the top tier, 1 so they can't be heard and 2, so it is hard to get to and from (just like Barcelona's Camp Nou) 😉

1 hour ago, coombsie said:

Knock the (loss making) hotel down, double the height of the Shed End and put the away fans at the very back of the top tier, 1 so they can't be heard and 2, so it is hard to get to and from (just like Barcelona's Camp Nou) 😉

Then keep them locked in for an hour or so and get hit with a baton by the police, for no reason what so ever. ( personal experience ) 

2 hours ago, coombsie said:

Knock the (loss making) hotel down, double the height of the Shed End and put the away fans at the very back of the top tier, 1 so they can't be heard and 2, so it is hard to get to and from (just like Barcelona's Camp Nou) 😉

Before any sort of development starts there is quite a lot of groundwork( no pun intended) that needs to be undertaking. Will that be on site at SB or …..?

Let’s look first at SB redevelopment 

1) Egress this alone is the biggest obstacle whilst to a degree a lot of the background work was completed this needs to be revisited ASAP.

Pretty sure that the walk to FB on a raised platform will be needed.

2) The smallest stand would surely be the first stand to be redeveloped because that would be the one that would be the easiest to take out of commission without too much  impact if , and a big if, the club don’t move out for a season. Who knows it may well be that like Spurs, like Liverpool we are granted help at the end of one season and at the start of the next to avoid disruption 

There would be a need to re house club offices, club shop from current, locations and it’s even possible that the foundation’s etc would facilitate an extra tier or the like.

3 ) The Matthew Harding likewise may be able to have another tier added or it’s even possible that it could be built over the current walkway.

4) Alas the East  Stand is well past it’s sell by date and whilst I read that it had been very well maintained it probably will need to come down.

it’s high highly possible that the club shop offices etc may well be moved to the shopping centre at FB which I believe is up for sale.

I can’t  see a 60k stand being squeezed in and so then you have to ask if it wouldn’t be a plan b and that may well mean moving and to be honest the pitch owners  will present a challenge but surely they will need to be far more pragmatic after all even the likes of Everton at Goodison realise that sometimes current location despite the romance just can not be maintained 

https://www.sportsballshop.co.uk/sportsballblog/what-is-the-premier-league-stadium-capacity-2019-20-for-every-club/

I am pretty sure Spurs' stadium is the measuring stick here. We are looking for a 60k stadium as the previous plans showed. Now that Boehly is in the new stadium is going to be a multievent venue. Be it concert or any event they will integrate all that in. Otherwise Boehly would plan against his own words (from a couple of youtube-videos I have watched). The American type stadium is what we are going for. 

I think at this point he has the rough idea of what it is going to be and in what year we will start working.

Letter from the Chelsea Supporters Trust to Todd etc. @Munkworth I assume you've received a copy as well. The issue of freezing season ticket prices is mentioned in the letter.

https://chelseasupporterstrust.com/wp-content/uploads/CST-Open-Letter-to-Todd-Boehly-300522.pdf

Statement from the CPO.

https://www.chelseafc.com/en/cpo/cpo-news/cpo-statement---new-ownership

You will be aware that an agreement was signed late on Friday night for the Clearlake consortium led by Todd Boehly to acquire Chelsea FC. This is a major step forward in finalising the change of ownership, although the process is of course not yet complete. The agreement comes with various undertakings, including redevelopment of the stadium.

We would like to give you a brief summary of how the Board has been working to protect the interests of CPO over the last 8 weeks. We have been fully engaged with as many parties as possible who were involved in the sale. Of the four shortlisted bidders, face to face meetings were held with three of them and the fourth was held virtually. We met with several of the groups who had previously expressed an interest but not made it on to the shortlist. We have also had discussions with the True Blues consortium. We have contacted and lobbied relevant officials at DCMS as well as the local MP for Chelsea and Fulham. In each case we are satisfied that the key issues surrounding CPO's relationship with the Club have been presented. Bidders were made aware that our priorities are:

• that football continues to be played at Stamford Bridge by a team called Chelsea FC
• the redevelopment of the ground to create the best stadium in London for the best team in London
• agreeing a process that ensures the outstanding loan to the Club is resolved in a mutually beneficial way
• underpinning the future of CPO as part of the Chelsea infrastructure

As the sale process is now reaching the point where there is some certainty, we will of course continue our dialogue with the Boehly team to pursue our objectives.

To support our activity, we also connected with a large number of media outlets both in the UK and overseas, and took part in TV, radio and press interviews. The list of these organisations includes amongst others the BBC, Sky Sports, The Financial Times, The Times, The Telegraph, The Mail on Sunday, The Athletic, The Sun, The i Newspaper, goal.com, along with a number of podcasts with connections to the Chelsea community. We remain in regular contact with many of these outlets. We have also consulted with corporate lawyers, accountants, PR experts and architects to get their advice and guidance where necessary.

We are grateful for the cooperation and collaboration with the Board of Chelsea Supporters Trust in representing each other’s interests throughout the process. We hope this partnership will continue in the era of the new ownership.

Finally, as you may have seen from our social media posts, there has been an unprecedented level of share applications since the announcement of the sale.

The number since March 2nd has been significantly higher than we would normally receive in a whole year. This has put a strain on our resources and it has taken longer than we hoped to process the shares. We apologise again for these delays and assure everybody that has applied that they will get their shares, so please do not cancel any new applications that you may have made. The Board is of course delighted to see so many new shareholders joining the CPO family as it strengthens our position when talking to new owners. Please continue to spread the word about CPO to family, friends, work colleagues, social media contacts. Every share sold will help to strengthen our position. Please note that from now on signed shares will not be available for purchase until the start of the new season.

Thank you as always for your support and constructive feedback. We have appreciated hearing from so many of you during the last few weeks. This has been a time like no other in Chelsea's history, and we all hope that the new era will be a successful one for our Club.

The new owners haven't even got their feet under the table yet nor has it been confirmed by the club, all these statements seem a tad premature.... they must be thinking what have we got ourselves into here... turn and run!! pumping billions of $$ into the club and already being told what they can and can't do!

1 hour ago, Boyne said:

continues to be played

I'm not being funny but can somebody tell me  how can we have the best stadium in London for the best club in London if we can't move,there has always been to many obstacles in such a small area to get around.

All done

 

 

Roman Abramovich has completed the sale of Chelsea Football Club and related companies to an investment group led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital.

This sale process commenced on 2 March, when Mr. Abramovich announced his intention to sell the Club after 19 successful years of ownership. In selling the Club, Mr. Abramovich stipulated that the new owner must be a good steward of the Club, the net proceeds of the sale must be donated to charity, and that he would not seek the repayment of loans made to affiliates of the Club.

Following this announcement, the Board of Directors and senior staff at the Club immediately commenced work on the sale transaction. Raine, a global merchant bank chosen by the owner to run the sale process, has significant expertise and experience advising premium sports clubs on mergers and acquisitions and advised the owner and the Club in the process.

SANCTIONS
On 10 March, Mr. Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK Government. Under sanctions, the Club operated within the confines and constraints of the restrictive General Licence granted by the UK Government, while doing its best to maintain the ordinary course of business. At all times throughout the process the Club’s objective was to support our men’s, women’s and academy teams and allow them to operate with the absolute minimum level of inconvenience and distraction.

These sanctions also presented unique and unforeseen challenges to the sale process, but the Board and Raine continued to work on the transaction in accordance with the owner’s objectives.

PROCESS
The process was extremely thorough and completed on an accelerated timeline. Many described the proposed transaction as “unprecedented”, and it was. A transaction such as this would normally take nine months to a year to complete; we did it in less than three months.
The Club received more than 250 enquiries from proposed purchasers, held detailed discussions with more than 100 individuals and entities, and entered into 32 confidentiality agreements, which allowed for due diligence with respect to confidential Club information. Ultimately, the Club received 12 credible bids, resulting in 4 and then 3 final bidders. The Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital consortium was chosen as the preferred bidder.
PREFERRED BIDDER
The group led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital rose above the other groups through the strength of the partnership between the group’s component parts, which includes Mark Walter, co-founder and CEO of Guggenheim Capital; and Hansjörg Wyss, founder of the Wyss Foundation; Todd and Mark’s participation in the ownership of several sports franchises with sustained winning traditions, including the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Los Angeles Sparks; a belief by the Board that this group could help the Club resolve certain current challenges and could assist in creating new opportunities, and help the Club reach its long-term strategic objectives. We believe the Board and the Boehly/Clearlake group have a shared vision for the future of Chelsea Football Club.
STRUCTURE OF TRANSACTION
In choosing the right stewards for the Club through this transaction, we agreed with the new owners that their group would make certain binding financial commitments, including investments in the Academy and women’s team, the redevelopment of Stamford Bridge and the Chelsea Foundation.
We also agreed several further conditions to ensure that the new owners continue to provide equity funding for future capital and operating expenditures, and that the Club will not be laden with inappropriate financial indebtedness.
STAKEHOLDERS AND APPROVALS
Throughout this process, we have worked very closely with the UK Government, in particular the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), and HM Treasury, as well as with the Premier League, The FA and UEFA. In order to complete the transaction, we needed consents and approvals from all, and in particular from the UK Government.
We have been able to obtain all necessary consents, as well as further licences required in Portugal, Canada and Jersey due to the structure of the previous ownership
THANK YOU
We would like to thank all of the bidders for their engagement, effort and participation in this process.

We would also like to thank our men and women footballers, the staff of both teams, everyone in our Academy, and in particular Thomas Tuchel and Emma Hayes for their patience and support during this process. And, of course, thank you to all our partners, staff and fans during this difficult phase for the Club.
We additionally wish to state our appreciation for the efforts of the Fans' Forum, Chelsea Supporters Trust, Chelsea Supporters Group, Chelsea Supporters Club and Chelsea Pitch Owners for engaging with bidders and conveying their views and expectations of any new owner.
And finally, we would like to thank for their help, assistance, and support those persons with whom we have worked with at:
DCMS
HM Treasury
UEFA
The FA
The Premier League
The Raine Group
Northridge Law
Simmons & Simmons
Ernst & Young
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
And, OF COURSE, Roman Abramovich for 19 amazing, unforgettable years.
The Board of Directors of Chelsea Football Club.

Consortium led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital completes acquisition of Chelsea Football Club

• 16 Min Ago
• • Facebook
  • Twitter
  •  

 

New joint control owners are committed to growth and building on the tradition of unparalleled football excellence.

The consortium led by Todd Boehly, chairman and CEO of Eldridge, and Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. (together with its affiliates, “Clearlake”), today announced completion of the ownership transfer of Chelsea Football Club (“Chelsea FC” or “the Club”). The consortium also includes Hansjörg Wyss, founder of the Wyss Foundation, and Mark Walter, co-founder and CEO of Guggenheim Capital. Walter and Boehly are owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Los Angeles Sparks. The transaction has received all necessary approvals from The Government of the United Kingdom, The Premier League, and other authorities.

Under the terms of the agreement, Boehly and Clearlake will share joint control and equal governance of the Club. Boehly will serve as Chairman of the holding company.

Boehly and Clearlake are committed to investing in key areas that will extend and enhance Chelsea’s competitiveness, including the redevelopment of Stamford Bridge, further investment in the Academy, the Women’s Team, and Kingsmeadow stadium. The owners will also continue the important work of the Chelsea Foundation.

“We are honoured to become the new custodians of Chelsea Football Club,” said Boehly. “We’re all in – 100% -- every minute of every match. Our vision as owners is clear: we want to make the fans proud. Along with our commitment to developing the youth squad and acquiring the best talent, our plan of action is to invest in the Club for the long-term and build on Chelsea’s remarkable history of success. I personally want to thank ministers and officials in the British government, and the Premier League, for all their work in making this happen.”

Behdad Eghbali and José E. Feliciano, Clearlake co-founders and managing partners, said, “We are excited to commit the resources to continue Chelsea’s leading role in English and global football, and as an engine for football talent development. We also want to thank the authorities for all their work throughout the process. As pioneers in sports and media investing, we are thrilled to partner with Todd and the rest of the consortium to meaningfully grow the Club as a global platform. Together, we will expand the Club’s investment across infrastructure, technology, and sports science to support the incredible Chelsea football and commercial teams – all with the goal of leveraging this growth to fuel even more on-pitch success.”

The new ownership group wishes to recognise the dedication and professionalism of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, HM Treasury, and the Premier League in conducting their reviews of this historic and complex transaction.

Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Moelis & Company LLC, and Robey Warshaw LLP served as financial advisors to the new ownership group. Latham & Watkins LLP, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, and Sidley Austin LLP served as legal counsel.

The Raine Group served as exclusive financial advisor to Fordstam Limited and Chelsea FC. Northridge Law LLP, Simmons & Simmons LP, and Pillsbury, Winthrop, Shaw, Pittman LP served as legal counsel.
 

On this basis then can somebody explain FFP to me and the impact of this process upon our market trading ability. To my simple mind if we have had our £1.5Bn loan written off, that surely makes our bottom line £1.5Bn richer, meaning providing Todd and Co. can stump up the cash we shoud have oodles to spend in the market if we wanted without any FFP limitations.

Presumably we could go and spend a quarter of a billion on a new defence without any behind the scenes shenanigans to stop us getting banned.

2 minutes ago, Trueblue76 said:

Consortium led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital completes acquisition of Chelsea Football Club

• 16 Min Ago
• • Facebook
  • Twitter
  •  

 

New joint control owners are committed to growth and building on the tradition of unparalleled football excellence.

The consortium led by Todd Boehly, chairman and CEO of Eldridge, and Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. (together with its affiliates, “Clearlake”), today announced completion of the ownership transfer of Chelsea Football Club (“Chelsea FC” or “the Club”). The consortium also includes Hansjörg Wyss, founder of the Wyss Foundation, and Mark Walter, co-founder and CEO of Guggenheim Capital. Walter and Boehly are owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Los Angeles Sparks. The transaction has received all necessary approvals from The Government of the United Kingdom, The Premier League, and other authorities.

Under the terms of the agreement, Boehly and Clearlake will share joint control and equal governance of the Club. Boehly will serve as Chairman of the holding company.

Boehly and Clearlake are committed to investing in key areas that will extend and enhance Chelsea’s competitiveness, including the redevelopment of Stamford Bridge, further investment in the Academy, the Women’s Team, and Kingsmeadow stadium. The owners will also continue the important work of the Chelsea Foundation.

“We are honoured to become the new custodians of Chelsea Football Club,” said Boehly. “We’re all in – 100% -- every minute of every match. Our vision as owners is clear: we want to make the fans proud. Along with our commitment to developing the youth squad and acquiring the best talent, our plan of action is to invest in the Club for the long-term and build on Chelsea’s remarkable history of success. I personally want to thank ministers and officials in the British government, and the Premier League, for all their work in making this happen.”

Behdad Eghbali and José E. Feliciano, Clearlake co-founders and managing partners, said, “We are excited to commit the resources to continue Chelsea’s leading role in English and global football, and as an engine for football talent development. We also want to thank the authorities for all their work throughout the process. As pioneers in sports and media investing, we are thrilled to partner with Todd and the rest of the consortium to meaningfully grow the Club as a global platform. Together, we will expand the Club’s investment across infrastructure, technology, and sports science to support the incredible Chelsea football and commercial teams – all with the goal of leveraging this growth to fuel even more on-pitch success.”

The new ownership group wishes to recognise the dedication and professionalism of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, HM Treasury, and the Premier League in conducting their reviews of this historic and complex transaction.

Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Moelis & Company LLC, and Robey Warshaw LLP served as financial advisors to the new ownership group. Latham & Watkins LLP, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, and Sidley Austin LLP served as legal counsel.

The Raine Group served as exclusive financial advisor to Fordstam Limited and Chelsea FC. Northridge Law LLP, Simmons & Simmons LP, and Pillsbury, Winthrop, Shaw, Pittman LP served as legal counsel.
 

Surely Not!

 

We'll be coming out to Guantanamera instead of Liquidator soon.

 

A big moment in the club’s history.

Feels a little surreal that Roman is no longer the owner.

The new owners have big shoes to fill. I wish them well.

Finally!

Interesting and potentially huge future ahead...

 

KTBFFH

Official! Welcome Todd and the boys! Hope you do us proud.

Welcome to the family Todd & co....

Try your best, love the club, dont sh*t on the fans, and we will repay that commitment with our unwavering support tenfold. 

KTBFFH

 

 

Sky Sports News are already trying to turn the takeover into a negative thing.

- Continuously quoting a "Government source" having one last swipe about "Roman enabling the brutal attack on Ukraine"

- getting a Financial Times "expert" on TV saying how we are now in for a bumpy ride and the new owners will want to make a big profit when they do eventually sell up.

- asked a Chelsea Supporters Trust member if he is now worried because we have new owners

 

Sky Sports just can't help themselves.

 

F*ck the lot of them I say!

Welcome to the Chelsea family Todd and co.

It really is us against the world!

12 minutes ago, 2211 said:

Sky Sports News are already trying to turn the takeover into a negative thing.

- Continuously quoting a "Government source" having one last swipe about "Roman enabling the brutal attack on Ukraine"

- getting a Financial Times "expert" on TV saying how we are now in for a bumpy ride and the new owners will want to make a big profit when they do eventually sell up.

- asked a Chelsea Supporters Trust member if he is now worried because we have new owners

 

Sky Sports just can't help themselves.

 

F*ck the lot of them I say!

Welcome to the Chelsea family Todd and co.

It really is us against the world!

They're trying to make themselves feel better after their liverpool lovefest came to naught with the CL final. They can f**k off for all we care.

16 minutes ago, 2211 said:

Sky Sports News are already trying to turn the takeover into a negative thing.

- Continuously quoting a "Government source" having one last swipe about "Roman enabling the brutal attack on Ukraine"

- getting a Financial Times "expert" on TV saying how we are now in for a bumpy ride and the new owners will want to make a big profit when they do eventually sell up.

- asked a Chelsea Supporters Trust member if he is now worried because we have new owners

 

Sky Sports just can't help themselves.

 

F*ck the lot of them I say!

Welcome to the Chelsea family Todd and co.

It really is us against the world!

They are also reporting not one Liverpool fan did anything wrong in Paris and it is all a conspiracy against them.

However one thing my opinion agrees with them on is these new owners won't be a patch on Roman.

No way to know yet how this will turn out, but I'm very optimistic. Of all the potential buyers, Boehly seemed the best choice for me. Don't know anything about baseball or the Dodgers, but the way he dealt with the bidding process fills me with confidence. No controversy, no media circus, just went through it in a professional manner.

Good luck to him and to the club, let's hope we come back better than before.

Also, it's been said a million times already but we can never say it enough: Thank you for everything Roman!

1 minute ago, axman2526 said:

They are also reporting not one Liverpool fan did anything wrong in Paris and it is all a conspiracy against them.

However one thing my opinion agrees with them on is these new owners won't be a patch on Roman.

Unbelievable isn't it, they are bending over backwards to make Liverpool fans look like saints.

Won't be the same as with Roman but I think we'll splash out this summer to get the fans onside and going forward it might be more measured purchases.

I think we'll be ok.

3 hours ago, WhiteWall said:

Surely Not!

 

We'll be coming out to Guantanamera instead of Liquidator soon.

 

 

Jose E Feliciano

Roman

Well, we’re in totally unknown territory now but I suppose while City are in their golden era with Guardiola it’s not the worst time to be patient with a new project and direction, if this ownership change had happened circa 2012/14 then we’d be missing out big time.