Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly brushes off fan protests as 'par for course'

Ahead of Chelsea's 4-0 victory over Southampton on Tuesday, supporters gathered with banners criticizing Boehly. Their main grievances centered on the lack of silverware since he and Clearlake Capital took control of the club in May 2022, as well as his investment in Vivid Seats, a U.S. company that sells sports tickets at significant markups.

During the Financial Times' annual "Business of Football" summit, Boehly stated that owners should expect some level of fan dissatisfaction, emphasizing that he cannot please every supporter.

"It's par for the course. The reality is the sooner you learn you're not going to keep all people happy all the time, freedom shows up," Boehly remarked.

Discussing the challenges of building a successful team, Boehly added, "You're trying to get on a plan, execute a plan, realize things aren't linear and if you're in the right direction you feel better. The trend is in the right direction and that's the thing that really matters. In June it'll be three years, that's not a lot of time. Especially in an industry where there's so little downtime."

Chelsea are experiencing their best season under Boehly's ownership, although Enzo Maresca's team is in fifth place in the Premier League, just one point behind Champions League qualification.

Boehly also commented on the club's failure to sign a striker during the January transfer window.

"Strikers are hard to find, right? You don't go into the grocery store and come in and get a striker with an amazing skill set. Then you also have to have a fantastic mentality," he said.

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