Chelsea owner Todd Boehly has sacked head groundsman Jason Griffin after 30 years at the club, as well as removing his assistant and son Reisse.
Griffin senior has head groundsman since 2003, leading a team of more than 10 people, including his son. The younger Griffin held the position of assistant grounds manager at the Premier League side, but both he and his father have now left their roles.
They were responsible for maintaining the playing surfaces at Stamford Bridge, the club's Cobham training ground and Kingsmeadow, the home of the Blues' women's and youth teams. The duo's team earned widespread praise and industry acknowledgement for their work.
Chelsea have told the Daily Mail that they will not comment on personnel matters. But the departures of the Griffins appears to be part of a wider overhaul of staff that is being pushed by Boehly since his takeover last summer.
The American and his Clearlake Capital consortium have since made wholesale changes throughout the club's off-pitch staff. Medical, recruitment, coaching and the hierarchy at the Blues have all been overhauled since Boehly bought the Blues from Roman Abramovich.
Griffin senior hit the headlines in April 2008 when he became involved in an FA investigation after a clash between Chelsea's ground staff and Manchester United star Patrice Evra. Chelsea's then head groundsman was barged by Evra as staff attempted to begin work on the pitch following a win over the Red Devils.
Griffin then became involved in a row with United’s then fitness coach Tony Strudwick over the incident. After an investigation, the FA backed Griffin's version of events.
The investigating commission said: "We broadly prefer Mr Griffin's account. We were favourably impressed by Mr Griffin as a witness, who came across as frank, calm and sensible. Mr Strudwick we found less reliable."
Back in April 2022, Chelsea's groundstaff came under fire from former boss Thomas Tuchel after a 4-2 defeat to Arsenal. The then-Blues manager pointed to the state of the Stamford Bridge pitch as a reason for the defeat after Andreas Christensen's ill-judged backpass led to a Gunners goal.
"He said he cannot continue, so I think he had some problems. I don't take a player out because he makes one mistake. To say the pitch is difficult to play here it maybe sounds like an excuse, but it is a very, very difficult pitch that we have here. It's not in our favour," Tuchel said.
“The ball bounces very awkwardly in front of Andreas when he wants to play this ball. We had the same mistake against Real Madrid that cost us the next round of the Champions League, and this one cost us the next match. I can't remember when we got two goals like this."
It is not yet known who will lead Chelsea's grounds team in the absence of head of department Jason and assistant Reisse.
