Chelsea news: Todd Boehly witnessed one of the great Blues nights at Stamford Bridge as new challenge emerges
Todd Boehly is making himself at home at Stamford Bridge. The American co-owner was once again in attendance in SW6 on Tuesday for the Champions League defeat of Borussia Dortmund and got an early glimpse at how special the competition is.
"Stamford Bridge was rocking and our performance helped that. We pressed high, we tackled, we tried to attack them. Like I said, all of this against a top team."
That isn't how things have been recently with sections turning on him audibly. When Stamford Bridge is united it is a unique setting in English football. Anfield has a new stand, the Etihad is less than 25 years old, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is brand new with little success in it so far.
The lucrative business of football and European competition in particular is a seriously important one for owners to tap into and with the goal of getting Chelsea's revenue to £1bn, more money from ticket sales and matchday expenditure is needed. Stamford Bridge in its current form limits that.
Planning permission has been hard to come by due to residential areas surrounding the ground and the general lack of space to build onto. Work has been denied before due to potential light polution as well. The Telegraph has reported that plans to relocate to other grounds while work is done remains possible.
When asked about the matter last year, new director Jonathan Goldstein said: "We are looking very heavily at redevelopment. The planning process is something which we will start during the course of the next year and we'll hope central government will get behind it and see it as an engine for growth.
"The only problem, of course, is the management of interest rates because it makes it so much more expensive to develop." He also stressed that no delays will stop the club from moving quickly to resolve the outstanding matter which has been discussed on and off for over 10 years.
"No, no, we'll carry on as fast and as hard as we can. It is a big project and there are very many constituents involved and we are at the beginning. But we will carry on because we believe in the business, in Chelsea FC and the area and we know, over time, Stamford Bridge needs redevelopment.
"We've had three sovereign wealth funds say to us at the moment, the United Kingdom is on hold. They'd rather watch, and watch and wait. Britain looks uninvestable at this point."
"I think the supporters have been really fair with us.," he said. (The) supporters care, so when the results aren't what they want, they feel pain. They have to articulate that pain somehow, to get rid of it, and whether that's at me or whoever it is, we all know in this job that is what happens.
"They've been really supportive, they really have. They've stuck with the team and helped us on the pitch. Rightly so, when we haven't performed the way we should, they've let their feelings known and that's fair enough."
Vezonic22
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I still miss Roman Abramovich, the man who had an admirable deep love for his Chelsea. I envy Chelsea coz of that, nothing else. Glazers can relate, can't even match that at all.