Chelsea fans can block owners from agreeing £1.5bn deal as tensions rise – Kieran Maguire
The Chelsea board may regret rising ticket prices as they need approval from fans if they plan to build a new stadium away from Stamford Bridge.
That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who exclusively told Football Insider that the decision made by the Blues “could come back to bite them”.
Senior figures at Stamford Bridge opted to increase ticket prices ahead of the 2024-25 season despite an underwhelming campaign under new ownership.
The decision was criticised by the Chelsea Supporters Trust, who recently wrote to the club to warn the board of “irreversible toxicity”.
As revealed by Football Insider, Chelsea’s owners have taken steps towards building a new £1.5billion stadium.
Chelsea owners must be ‘careful’ – fans could now block stadium deal
However, Maguire warned that Chelsea chiefs may struggle to gain approval from the pitch owners after aggravating fans with price rises.
“The mistreatment of fans could come back to bite the board,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.
“They’re ignoring the fact that many of those fans are also Chelsea pitch owners.
“If the board and owners want a new stadium then they have to get the approval of Chelsea pitch owners.
“So they need to be careful how they treat football fans.
“Chris Jurasek has not endeared himself by referring to football fans as consumers.
“Their conduct to date has been naive and it has been a cynical exploitation of fans’ loyalty to their clubs.“
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