Chelsea takeover: Why Woody Johnson’s New York Jets record should give Blues fans the fear

Robin Bairner

• 7 Mar 2022 22:41 GMT
• 3 min read

Woody Johnson has emerged as a leading candidate to buy Chelsea from Roman Abramovich, who has announced his intention to sell the club.

Abramovich is eager to make a quick sale allegedly due to fears he may be sanctioned by the UK government owing to his close links with president of Russia Vladimir Putin after the country’s invasion of Ukraine. However, these links have always been refuted by the Blues’ owner.

Johnson, meanwhile, is reported by ESPN to hold an interest in buying Chelsea. It is said hat he grew to become a fan of the club while staying in London, where he was the US ambassador over a four-year period from 2017.

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Woody Johnson's record at the NY Jets

The 74-year-old has had a long-standing interest in sports in business terms, having been the owner of the New York Jets since 2000. His record with the franchise, however, should make for some alarming reading for Chelsea supporters.

Initially under Johnson, the Jets enjoyed some modest success. In his first 11 years in charge, they made the playoffs on six occasions and twice reached the AFC Championship game only to lose on both occasions.

Since then, however, their record has been miserable. Only in the 2015 season have they won more games than they have lost, while they have finished rock bottom of the AFC East – a four team division – on six occasions in the last eight years.

“How is it that the greatest city in the world has the two worst football teams? New York deserves better than the slop the Giants and Jets have been serving up for most of the last decade,” Gary Myers, a former NFL columnist for the New York Daily News, told the Guardian in December.

“The really bad news: there is no end in sight. The NFL promotes parity but somehow the Giants and Jets, despite consistently high draft picks, have combined for only one playoff appearance in the last 10 years.”

A string of poor management decisions have blighted the organisation over the last decade and, naturally, the blame lies with those at the top. It is considered one of the worst run franchises in American sports.

Chelsea fans, then, would be right to be fearful should Johnson buy the club.