Hundreds of Chelsea fans marched outside Stamford Bridge to protest against the club's ownership ahead of their game against Southampton on Tuesday.

Videos on social media showed a large number of supporters walking down a street and singing inflammatory chants about Blues chairman Todd Boehly. A banner, held up by those at the front, carried the message: "You're destroying our club."

Other clips showed Chelsea fans singing the name of Roman Abramovich, the Russian oligarch who previously owned the club between 2003 and 2022.

Another group of supporters were seen throwing dollar bills over a banner displaying the message: "BlueCo, stop killing Chelsea. Get out of our club."

One fan waved fake money in front of a cartoon image of Boehly, which was accompanied by a sign reading: "Thanks Chelsea fans for making me richer."

It appeared to be a reference to Boehly's co-ownership of American ticketing site Vivid Seats, which often sells tickets to sporting events including Chelsea games at a significant markup.

There was a visible police presence at the march, according to BBC Sport, but it was said to have been a peaceful protest without any incidents of violence.

Social media reports have stated that firefighters needed to extinguish pyrotechnics around 45 minutes before the start of the match.

Fans gathered outside the stadium's Bovril Gate around two hours before kick-off, per the Evening Standard, before moving onto Fulham Road towards Stamford Gate.

The protest had been in the works for some time, with fans on social media banding together earlier this year to arrange a march.

An unnamed organiser told football.london: "The protest is about change and hopefully causing the owners to have pressure applied on them by their investors as it will hurt their public image.

"The protest will be a peaceful one with lots of fans and a few banners so that the fans can have their voices heard by the club. As of this moment, the protest will not continue inside the ground.

"There are already a few hundred [fans on board] but we expect these numbers to rise considerably before Monday. We want to highlight what the American ownership is doing to kill football here in the UK with exploitation and money being their priority."

Chelsea's current owners have experienced a sharp decline in popularity in recent months, with the Blues having taken just nine points from their last 10 league matches.

They have spent over £1billion on players since the BlueCo takeover in 2022 but have failed to win a trophy in that time. They are relying on the Conference League as their sole hope of ending that drought this season.

Over the last few months, Chelsea have slipped from second in the Premier League table to seventh, meaning they face a battle to qualify for European football next term.