Chelsea’s new ‘sporting department’ has also taken its final form, with Laurence Stewart now officially joint sporting director, alongside Paul Winstanley. Stewart agreed to join us from AS Monaco at the end of October and that will finally happen “next week”, the club confirmed today.
Stewart and Winstanley will head up the operation (co-owner and president Todd Boehly stepped down as interim athletic director last month) and oversee the work of technical director Christopher Vivell, co-director of recruiting Joe Shields, head of talent management and development Kyle Macaulay. and Jim Fraser (who is also Head of Youth Development) and Senior Data Analyst Matthew Hallam. Hallam is a new name to me and unfortunately there is not much information available about it.
It looks like Vivell will also have an expanded role once our multi-club operation starts to take shape.
Chelsea’s departmental summary makes no mention of Neil Bath, who was recently promoted to ‘Director of Football Development and Operations’. His focus is probably on the football side, but it’s strange (to me) to see his former assistant and successor, Jim Fraser mentioned, and not Bath himself as well.
Anyway, The Athletic has this handy chart, if you’re a visual learner:
New Chelsea Hierarchy Design.
Todd Boehly and Behdad Egbhali are expected to inform the clubs of Paul Winstanley or Lawrence Stewart for any transfer transactions, although they will remain actively involved owners of Chelsea Football Club. (@TheAthleticFC) #CFC pic.twitter.com/pdhrocrc1r
— Pys (@CFCPys) February 2, 2023
Source: Co-sporting director Laurence Stewart completes Chelsea’s new ‘sporting department’
