Chelsea fans have gathered at Stamford Bridge in their hundreds to protest against the European Super League.
The Blues are one of the so-called Premier League ‘big six’ – alongside Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Man United and Tottenham – forming a breakaway division for which they would always qualify and could never be relegated from.
It has sparked widespread outrage across the football community, not least from the supporters, players and staff of the clubs involved.
Ahead of the Premier League clash with Brighton on Tuesday night, Chelsea fans mobilised in west London with banners to express their disgust with the plans.
Organised on social media, fan group ‘We Are The Shed’ have already insisted the protests are not aimed at the team, but at the board behind the Super League proposal, with one banner urging owner Roman Abramovich to ‘do the right thing’.
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has called an emergency meeting among Premier League captains, while Reds boss Jurgen Klopp and Man City manager Pep Guardiola have admitted they are against the plans.
As of yet, nobody from Chelsea’s hierarchy has commented and manager Thomas Tuchel said he understood the fans’ frustrations before his press conference was cut short on Monday.
He said: “I totally understand the emotion on this and you want more response from Chelsea. I can absolutely understand every single argument, but it has to be clear that I am not the guy for these questions. I am not part of the board or these decisions.
“I can understand that you want more answers to get the bigger picture, but I am clearly not the guy. I coach the team to get results on the pitch and tomorrow against Brighton. I can understand that this does not satisfy you.”
Chelsea icon John Terry, who is the current assistant to Dean Smith at Aston Villa, has also spoken about the plans in a social media post.
Posting a picture of himself on his Instagram, Terry wrote: “What has happened to our beautiful game…”
