Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor heaped praise on her side’s new celebrity investors after multi-millionaire entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian and his wife, tennis great Serena Williams, flew over for their FA Cup final triumph at Wembley.
Sandy Baltimore scored a brace either side of a Catarina Macario goal as Chelsea sealed an unbeaten domestic treble with a 3-0 victory over Manchester United in front of a sold-out crowd.
United could not replicate their cup-winning run from 2024, while manager Marc Skinner found himself with more defending to do after the final whistle when quizzed about the absence of co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
“They were here today to show their support,” Bompastor said of 23-time grand slam singles winner Williams and Reddit founder Ohanian, who will join the board of the Blues after purchasing a reported 10 per cent stake in the Women’s Super League champions, worth around £20 million.
“You can feel from the beginning they have the right mentality coming into Chelsea. I think it was the best way to welcome them with this game, this final, and this result.”
Chelsea co-owner Behdad Eghbali and fellow co-owner and chairman Todd Boehly were also on hand to lend their support as Bompastor capped off a first campaign in charge that, save missing out on the Champions League final, she said was “almost the ideal season”.
“It’s a big, big lift,” said Bompastor. “It’s really enjoyable for us to see all the people from ownership were here today, but even more important to feel they were really behind the team.
“I think it just shows as a woman, when you play in football, and the women’s game, you are in the right club, and you really want to give that back on the pitch for all these people.”
She added of the final: “We just showed our mentality, our values, in this game, and I think to be able to end the season in almost a perfect scenario. We won, we were playing at Wembley, it was sold out, and we had a strong performance, strong results, I think against a strong opponent.
“That’s almost the ideal way to end the season.”
Skinner, meanwhile, was quick to point out that United chief Omar Berrada, technical director Jason Wilcox and members of the Glazer family were present, admitting he was not sure why Ratcliffe – who has been criticised about his handling of United’s women – was absent.
“In all honesty I don’t know why Jim wasn’t here,” Skinner said: “From my perspective, I don’t know the answer to that, and how I feel about that is I’ve just lost a final.”
He added: “I get that the representation, visibility is how you see it, but as long as our club and team is being invested in. That is also a way of showing your support for the team, so for us we need to close that gap.
“I understand the angle, I don’t know the reason Jim wasn’t here, but as long as the club continues to invest in the right way that we need to close that gap, then they are still showing the support in that way, and I really think that’s a pertinent point.”
The PA news agency has approached United for comment.
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