Last week, the Chelsea Supporters’ Trust stated that the Ricketts family must urgently and publicly address supporter concerns – especially with regard to inclusivity, given both past and recent statements by members of the family. We also committed to surveying our members as to their confidence and support in the Ricketts family’s bid for Chelsea FC.
Yesterday (1 April) we conducted a snap survey of our membership. We asked our membership whether, based on information in the public domain as of 1 April, they had confidence that the Ricketts family would run an inclusive and successful club, and we asked whether they supported the Ricketts family’s bid. Our members have given a clear message in this regard.
72% of those who responded do not currently have confidence
that the Ricketts family would run an inclusive and successful club, with 5% of respondents believing they would.
Similarly, 77% of members who responded do not support the Ricketts family’s bid for Chelsea FC and 3% of respondents are in support.
It is essential that the new owners of Chelsea FC have the confidence of the supporter base and demonstrate an understanding of the values that we stand for. At present, it is clear that our membership neither supports nor has confidence in the Ricketts family’s bid for the club. This is reflective of wider concerns articulated by large, vocal sections of Chelsea’s supporter base.
The CST Board is guided by our membership, and thus we do not currently believe it is in the best interests of our members for the Ricketts family’s bid to succeed.
We await further public detail from the Ricketts family on concrete steps they will take to address the well-documented concerns of Chelsea supporters. Should the Ricketts publicly set out clear and detailed plans on how they will address support concerns, we may survey our members again in the next week.
On Behalf of Chelsea Supporters’ Trust
