John Terry has entered the Chelsea ownership race by confirming he is fronting up a £250million consortium looking to buy supporters a 10 per cent share in the club.
The former skipper and Chelsea legend is leading the True Blues Consortium, which plans to allow fans to buy a stake in the club for as little as £100.
Terry and former Chelsea women’s player Claire Rafferty have put their names to the consortium which has won the backing of Stamford Bridge freeholders, Chelsea Pitch Owners, and the club’s supporters’ trust.
‘Chelsea has been such an important part of my life for 22 years, said Terry.
‘I want to see the club’s history and heritage protected as we go into a new era with like-minded people who have the same long-term vision of building the best football club in the world and understand how important our DNA is.’
The consortium would elect one representative to sit on Chelsea’s board while fans who buy into the scheme would also get voting rights.
Former captain John Terry has confirmed that he is at the forefront of a consortium that is looking to purchase a 10 per cent stake in Chelsea
Terry and former women’s star Claire Rafferty (front left) are heading up the consortium called True Blues
The bid could offer supporters the chance to buy a stake in the club for as little as £100
Terry cannot fund a full bid to try and compete for total ownership of Chelsea.
It has been reported that the bid will also allow supporters, players and ex-staff to buy fan tokens for more than £100, with voting rights coming in return.
Terry has been extremely active in promoting his ‘Ape Kids Football Club’ non-fungible tokens (NFT) collection in recent months, though its value is said to have plummeted.
The plans come after Terry’s NFTs reportedly decreased in value by almost 90 per cent
Terry’s NFTs dramatically decreased in value by almost 90 per cent in the last month, according to The Athletic.
They were going for prices averaging $656 (£497) after launch on February 2, but by March 8 the average price had dropped to $65 (£49).
A number of players are also said to have lost faith in the controversial scheme, including former Chelsea players Ashley Cole and Tammy Abraham.
The drop in value means anyone who had been inspired to purchase NFTs because sporting stars have endorsed them could lose huge amounts of money.
In January, the Premier League contacted Terry and told him to remove the Premier League trophy from his NFTs due to intellectual property laws.
Terry cannot fund a full bid to buy total ownership from Roman Abramovich (right)
Terry was also asked to remove the Chelsea badge as well as any FA and UEFA trophies that featured on the ‘Ape Kids Football Club’ collection.
Terry added: ‘Having met with and heard what the True Blues Consortium is about, I know they understand.
‘They’re a group of lifelong Chelsea fans and season ticket holders who have created a concept that will complement and assist any preferred bidder running the club while adding fan connection and engagement with the board.
‘This innovative structure is designed to be inclusive of all Chelsea fans and protect our club.
‘I’m thankful for the Chelsea Pitch Owners and Chelsea Supporters’ Trust’s time and support on this and we hope we will be welcome investors into the club’s new structure.’
Conservative party donor David Meller is reportedly another person behind the consortium
The Consortium plan to levy funds to buy a stake in Chelsea through a community scheme.
Goal claim another figure behind the consortium is Conservative party donor David Meller, a Chelsea fan who is invested in the idea along with his son Jonathan.
However, Meller’s involvement could attract controversy after it was claimed he benefitted from the government’s fast-track VIP lane for friends and donors of the Conservative Party to get PPE contracts at the height of the pandemic.
He was also the chairman of the President’s Club, a fundraising group that was shut down following a probe into allegations of sexual harassment at an event in 2018. Goal claim he has worked with the club in a charitable capacity already.
Harley Kisberg, founder of online media company iTech Media, and investment banker Stanford Loudon are also reportedly among other Blues fans to have become founding members of the consortium.
There have been a host of bids for Chelsea after Abramovich put the club up for sale, with the owner having been sanctioned by the UK government following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Consortiums led by Todd Boehly, Nick Candy, the Ricketts family and Sir Martin Broughton confirmed that they submitted bids prior to Friday’s deadline.
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