Chelsea owners divided over stadium dilemma

Todd Boehly has suggested that divisions among Chelsea’s owners on the future of Stamford Bridge could lead to them splitting.

Boehly has an uneasy relationship with Clearlake Capital, the club’s majority shareholder, with it emerging last September that both sides have explored the possibility of buying each other out. The Times understands that Clearlake, jointly owned by Behdad Eghbali and José Feliciano, has no intention of selling its 61.5 per cent stake in the club.

Reports earlier this season suggested Boehly and Clearlake did not agree over the best way forward for a new stadium — whether to redevelop Stamford Bridge or move to new site at nearby Earls Court. The US billionaire, who holds a 12.8 per cent stake in Chelsea — the same as allies Mark Walter and Hansjorg Wyss — has now confirmed as much in an interview with Bloomberg.

Boehly hinted that the plan is to build a multisport stadium, similar to Tottenham Hotspur’s, which hosts NFL, rugby, boxing and music events.

“We have to think about the long term. You know, what we’re trying to accomplish?” Boehly, the 51-year-old American, said. “We have a big stadium development opportunity that we have to flush out, and I think that’s going to be where we’re either aligned or we ultimately decide to go a different way.

“We have 16-20 years to figure it out. Obviously, inside of London, it’s really complex, but it’s not as if we’re building something in the middle of a rural environment. We have a lot of constituencies to make sure that we care about. Certainly, the Chelsea fan base is one. But long term, I think we’re going to be building something new, and we’ll figure it out.”

Clearlake declined to comment but The Times understands it remains fully committed to the creation of a new home for the club.

It is continuing to work through the possible options of what is an extremely complex, multibillion-pound project given Chelsea’s west London location. The redevelopment of Stamford Bridge has a number of challenges, among them the presence of a nearby railway line and the need, by Clearlake’s estimation, to relocate to Wembley for as long as seven years.

The Earls Court option would enable Chelsea to remain at Stamford Bridge while a new stadium is being built, but the fact the club probably only needs 25 per cent of the existing 77-acre site is a big hurdle to overcome.

Chelsea are in danger of falling behind their Premier League rivals, including Manchester City, Manchester United and Newcastle United, all of whom have plans for a new or modified stadium.

While they have explored the possibility of moving to Earls Court, there is no consensus on whether to make an offer. The development company in charge of regenerating the exhibition centre has dismissed Chelsea relocating on to the site. If Chelsea wanted to leave Stamford Bridge, they would need an agreement with Chelsea Pitch Owners (CPO), which maintains the freehold of Stamford Bridge and could block any attempted move.