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Football stadiums
Not owning your own ground is a drawback for any football club, particularly when you want to attract investment but lack tangible assets. Hence, it is no surprise that Coventry City FC are trying to acquire a stake in the Ricoh Stadium.
Chelsea FC are thinking of making another proposal to purchase the freehold of Stamford Bridge at the annual meeting of Chelsea Pitch Owners (CPO) in December. Apparently under the CPO constitution the club would only have to obtain more than 50 per cent of the vote to pass the motion, as opposed to the 75 per cent needed at extraordinary general meetng as was held earlier this week.
Following yesterday’s rejection of Chelsea’s proposal to acquire the freehold of Stamford Bridge from Chelsea Pitch Owners (CPO), it is recognised that there has to be a constructive dialogue between the club and fans to reach a mutually acceptable outcome.
Chelsea have lost their battle to buy back the freehold of Stamford Bridge from Chelsea Pitch Owners (CPO). Only 61.6 per cent of shareholders voted in favour and a 75 per cent majority was required. The club admitted that the decision would slow down progress on a possible stadium move.
Nearly £250,000 has been spent on shares in Chelsea Pitch Owners (CPO) since the club announced their plans to buy back the Stamford Bridge freehold three weeks ago as the first step in the search for a new stadium.
Accrington Stanley’s owner Ilyas Khan thinks that the club is not sustainable at the Crown Ground in the longer run and needs to move to a new stadium to be viable. The club has already had to reduce staff numbers to keep costs under control. A possible site for a £7m stadium has been identified near Hyndburn Sports Ground and Mr Khan might be prepared to contribute £2m towards the cost.
The rescue of Plymouth Argyle by locally based businessman James Brent moved a step closer yesterday after the cabinet of Plymouth City Council agreed to buy the club’s ground at Home Park and lease it back to them. Mr Brent had made such a deal a condition of his takeover going ahead.
Barry Hearn has revealed that he risked Leyton Orient’s future to block West Ham’s proposed move to the Olympic Stadium and he has warned the Government that he’ll do it again if they ‘illegally’ shoehorn the Hammers into the stadium.
Hearn told The Football League Paper, ‘We risked going out of business to challenge this. You worry because all these legal costs mount up but we had a board meeting and decided that if West Ham moved to the Olympic Stadium that would put us out of business anyway so we had to challenge it.’
Documents obtained by the Daily Telegraph relating to communications between Chelsea and Hammersmith Borough Council suggest that the club still has an interest in the nearby Earl’s Court site. It would have many pluses, including not being far from the Bridge and enjoying good t
Tottenham Hostpur have welcomed the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OLPC) decision not to proceed with the current bid process for a legacy tenant in a brief statement.
‘We welcome the OPLC decision to end the current Olympic Stadium bid process, said the Spurs statement. ‘We firmly believe that the bid we put forward was, in fact, a realistic sporting solution for the stadium, along with a substantial return to the taxpayer, community programming and athletics provision.’