When it comes to home grounds, Chelsea Football Club have played their games at Stamford Bridge ever since the club was first formed. It was originally the home of London Athletic Club, there was some discussion that Fulham might move into it because of its location in West London.
Chelsea played there from the moment the club was formed, but for a period of time there has been a discussion about whether or not the Blues might up sticks and play somewhere else. The latest rumours are that the London club are going to play at a purpose-built ground in Earls Court, but is that actually all that likely to happen?
What’s Wrong with Stamford Bridge?
From the moment that Chelsea was bought by Roman Abramovich and he poured billions into making the club as successful as possible, it was clear that Stamford Bridge wasn’t a big enough stadium. It was a perfectly fine home whilst the club was only winning the likes of League Cups every once in a while, but with a capacity of just 42,000, it has fallen way behind the stadiums of the club’s rivals.
Old Trafford can welcome more than 74,000 supporters, whilst the redevelopment of Anfield has seen it increase its capacity from around 45,000 to in excess of 61,000. For a club of Chelsea’s stature, Stamford Bridge isn’t good enough.
@mikewoz_yt Stamford bridge behind the scenes tour! #soccer #chelseafc #chelsea #stamfordbridge
There is also the fact that the club’s desperation to move somewhere else has left those responsible unwilling to spend too much money in the modernisation of the stadium. To make matters worse, its location next to an underground line means that expanding the current ground is all but impossible. Any expansion plans could end up costing as much as £2 billion, taking nearly a decade to complete.
Although the club has Fulham on its doorstep and might well be able to engage in a groundshare during the redevelopment phase, it seems more likely that the Blues will keep Stamford Bridge whilst building somewhere else.
Long-Held Plans to Move
When Roman Abramovich owned the club he gave the go-ahead to revamp it, with the aim being to increase the capacity to around 60,000 seats. The logistics of doing so were complex, however, and the idea of seeing 60,000 people dispersed into the area surrounding the stadium was thought to new likely to cause congestion.
As a result, alternative sites were sought, with Battersea Power Station being one area that was seriously considered. There was an offer form Chelsea to buy the area in order to turn it into a 60,000 seat stadium, working alongside the property development company Almacantar in order to achieve it.
Although the bid was turned down, with Battersea Power Station instead being turned into a residential and commercial site, the possibility of departing Stamford Bridge was clear. The Stamford Redevelopment Project was formed instead, with plans drawn up to change the ground over a period of three to four years. The development plan was put on hold in 2018, before being revived four years later after Todd Boehly had become the new owner.
Ultimately, though, the difficulties surrounding the reconstruction of Stamford Bridge, including an objection from people living nearby who feared losing their natural light, became too much.
A Move to Earls Court?
The desire for Chelsea to have a larger stadium could be seen as overwhelming by many. One of the latest suggests is that the club move to Earls Court, with the Blues having reportedly held talks with Transport for London over the possibility. A plan has been drawn up by the Earl’s Court Development Committee, but there is no sign of a football stadium included in said plans.
That is due to be presented to the councils of Hammersmith and Fulham and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, with London club keen to try to add in a possible stadium site for themselves before those plans are given the go-ahead.
If the plans are true of Chelsea moving to Earls Court, I hope that they at least turn Stamford Bridge into a museum
There will never be a better feeling of walking into that stadium — it may be a rust bucket, but it’s OUR rust bucket pic.twitter.com/bs6HcyMi1U
— Vᴅʏᴋ (@VdykCFC) September 10, 2024
The main hope of the football club is that the plans of the ECDC are too expensive. That would leave the door open for the Blues to offer to build a multi-use football stadium, with the Lillie Bridge Depot having been identified as the place they would look to build. One other issue is that Chelsea Pitch Owners holds the freehold on Stamford Bridge and are likely to object to a move, to say nothing of refusing the sale of the old stadium in order to fund the new one.
With Earls Court valued at around £500 million, it would mean an expensive build before a single shovel has even been laid into the ground.