Chelsea's FA Cup final at Wembley should have been a clean celebration. Instead, a section of supporters are planning to turn it into an ownership protest against BlueCo, with a peaceful march down Wembley Way before kick-off and a turn of backs in the 22nd minute.
Why Wembley is becoming the target
The 22nd minute is symbolic, tied to when the current owners took over in 2022. The protest group says this will be the first time fans have protested against their club's ownership even after reaching the FA Cup final, which tells you how strong the anger has become.
David Cook, organiser of Not A Project CFC, told mirror.co.uk: "I know it will look strange to some supporters. You reach the FA Cup final and it's a sign of success. But this is about how the club is being run. This is our club, we are passionate and we support our team. We want it back."
He was even blunter about the broader mood. "We have lost faith in the ownership. From managerial appointments, treating academy graduates badly and trading them as assets while selling bits of the club to themselves, this is all wrong."
Chelsea's league position and recent form help explain why this has landed so badly. They are ninth in the Premier League with 49 points from 36 matches, and their last five league results are DLLLL. In all competitions, the last five have brought one win, one draw and three defeats.
The protest group expects thousands to support the demonstration at Wembley. That makes this less like a handful of disgruntled voices and more like a visible show of dissatisfaction on one of the club's biggest days.
What the final says about the mood around Chelsea
Chelsea are still in an FA Cup final against Manchester City, but the atmosphere around the club is clearly not matching the occasion. City sit second in the Premier League with 74 points from 35 matches and arrive with WDWWW in their last five league games, which only sharpens the contrast at Wembley.
Cook also pointed to the lack of stability under the current regime, saying: "You need stability. We had two big managers. Mauricio Pochettino did quite well and then Enzo Maresca did very well. But they reached a point where they questioned the ownership - and they were gone."
That is the core of the protest. This is not just about one final or one bad run of results, it is about a section of the fanbase deciding that Wembley is the right place to make the point. If the march is well attended and the 22nd-minute turn of backs lands as planned, it will be a very public reminder of how far the relationship has frayed.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
