Gate money is a key element in Manchester United’s overall success and in particular has helped to provide the financial means that have allowed them to out distance Liverpool. Chelsea’s stadium is only the eighth largest in the Premier League which curbs matchday revenues. So it is no surprise that Chelsea have revived plans to move away from the Bridge.
Gate money is a key element in Manchester United’s overall success and in particular has helped to provide the financial means that have allowed them to out distance Liverpool. Chelsea’s stadium is only the eighth largest in the Premier League which curbs matchday revenues. So it is no surprise that Chelsea have revived plans to move away from the Bridge.
The club have explored every possibility of staying. They have spent £700,000 working with two architects to see if there is any feasible way in which the current 41,800 capacity could be expanded. However, they are constrained by a lack of space caused by fixed boundaries such as the Fulham Road and several railway lines.
They have even considered the drastic option of bulldozing the ground, rotating the pitch 90 degrees and starting from scratch. However, even that move, which would obiterate the existing stadium and its distinctive character, would produce only 6,000 more seats.
Any move would be funded by bank loans, a possible cash injection from Roman Abramovich and the sale of Stamford Bridge itself. It’s there that things start getting complicated. The pitch and the stands are owned by Chelsea Pitch Owners plc (CPO), a fans’ group set up to protect the club’s assets in 1993 when the ground was threatened with closure because of financial problems.
CPO is a group of 12,000 supporters who hold 15,000 shares. Some of them may not be alive or readily traceable Chelsea need a 50 per cent majority of those present at the annual meeting for the deal to progress, but it is uncertain how many would even turn up.
They have been offered £10m and privileges at a new stadium, including season ticket priority and their names inscribed on a wall of honour. The group raised £1.5m and borrowed £8.5m from the club in 1997 and would in effect regain their initial stake, although without any adjustment for inflation, so in real terms it is a lot less, even allowing for the value of the incentives offered.
In their offer to CPO, Chelsea have pledged that any move before 2020 would not be more than three miles from Stamford Bridge. There is likely to be substantial competition for sites with Fulham and QPR also considering new stadiums.
Land owners at Earls Court have already rejected a development at the nearest location. Old Oak Common is not well served by public transport and, like Wormwood Scrubs, is more than three miles away from Stamford Bridge. White City is in the heart of QPR territory and the site at Imperial Wharf is too small for a 60,000 seater stadium.
Battersea Nine Elms appears to be the favourite, even though it is across the river. It is a large plot in an iconic setting that could easily accommodate a £500m stadium.