Skip to main content

Chelsea's stadium dilemma

Out of the 13 London clubs, only one has never moved home. Chelsea.   The stadium is the most significant issue facing the club.  Its size constrains revenues and Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham have all moved to new stadiums.

Having a gleaming new 60,000-seater stadium is not simply about the additional £50 million-plus from ticket revenue a season, or the extra spend on merchandise, but also attracting players, commercial partners, other sports and concerts. 

Chelsea are “exploring options” on the stadium, and are not committing to anything until fully establishing the time and cost of all possibilities, but they hope to have a sense of preference on Stamford Bridge or Earl’s Court later this year, ideally over the summer. Boehly has already shown himself keen to listen to supporters. The club have kept in close touch with Chelsea Pitch Owners (CPO), which owns the Stamford Bridge pitch,

Todd Boehly initially signalled the new owners’ intent to redevelop Stamford Bridge through a complicated stand-by-stand increase from 40,000 to 60,000 or through demolition and a total rebuild, which would require the team to move to Craven Cottage or Wembley for up to four seasons. Both of those options are beset with logistical problems, let alone inevitable legal challenges from neighbours.

The alternative is moving to the site of the old Earls Court Exhibition Centre. Logistically, it would lead to least disruption. Chelsea could continue playing at Stamford Bridge while construction took place.   But it would not be acceptable to most fans.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Threat of financial calamity removed from Baggies

West Bromwich Albion had effectively been in decline ever since the club was sold to a Chinese consortium in August 2016, paying a figure north of £200m to buy former owner Jeremy Peace’s stake. Controlling shareholder Guochuan Lai’s ownership was fairly disastrous for the club, but his unloved tenure finally came to an end after Bilkul Football WBA, a company ultimately owned by Florida-based entrepreneur Shilen Patel and his father Dr Kiran Patel, acquired an 87.8% shareholding in West Bromwich Albion Group Limited, the parent company of West Bromwich Albion Football Club. This change in ownership was urgently required, due to the numerous financial problems facing West Brom, including growing high-interest debt and serious cash flow concerns, following years of no investment from the former owner. Indeed, West Brom’s auditors had already rung the alarm bell in the 2021/22 accounts when they cast doubt on the club’s ability to continue as a going concern without making player s...
1 comment
Read more

Fulham requires big funding from owner

After lengthy delays, Fulham’s shiny, new Riverside Stand has finally opened, creating “a unique Thameside destination with first class facilities for supporters and partners on match days, as well as for the wider community year-round”. This ambitious project has increased Craven Cottage’s capacity by around 4,000 to 29,600, while it has also taken advantage of the club’s fantastic location and wealthy catchment area by including two Michelin star restaurants, a rooftop swimming pool, corporate hospitality and event space, all benefiting from views of the Thames. Chief executive Alistair Mackintosh observed, “Fulham is the sort of club that can have a business class or first class and have fans that turn left on a plane.” Indeed, there is also an exclusive members club – with a football season ticket as an optional extra. It’s fair to say that “the times they are a-changing”, as this is a long way from the traditional pie and a pint. However, in a world where clubs face the tw...
Post a Comment
Read more

A poor financial record, but new hope at Everton

I recently saw an amusing video online in which a group of Everton fans were rebuked in jest for being hopeful.  Football fans in general tend to swing between excessive optimism and excessive pessimism, but for many it seems that moaning is in their bloodstream (Spurs fans probably take the trophy).  However, Everton fans have had plenty to moan about on and off the pitch.   Let’s hope that a new era is about to begin for this grand old club. Everton’s 2023/24 financial results covered a fairly momentous season, when they ended up 15th in the Premier League, though they would finished three places higher if they had not received an 8-point deduction for breaching the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Regulations (PSR). It was a worrying time for Everton fans, as the club faced a “perfect storm” of issues, including large financial losses, an ever increasing debt burden, a challenging stadium build and the tortuous sale of the club. There were eve...
Post a Comment
Read more