Chelsea have been at Stamford Bridge since 1905.
That’s 120 years of football at the London ground, which has seen so many historic matches, trophies and memories for Chelsea fans.
But Stamford Bridge isn’t perfect. The capacity is far less than you would expect from a club of Chelsea’s calibre, and facilities aren’t state-of-the-art.
The toss-up seems to be between a full redevelopment of the stadium and moving to another site. Chelsea reporter Nizaar Kinsella has shared what he knows about the new stadium dilemma.
Chelsea v Milan - Friendlies
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Stay at Stamford Bridge or move to Earl’s Court
Basically, Chelsea are left with two choices.
There is only one plot of land in West London suitable for a project of this size, in Earl’s Court. There seems to have been quite a bit of back and forth in recent months, and no concrete decision has been made.
But Kinsella has an inkling of which direction Todd Boehly will go in, as he reveals: “The Stamford Bridge expansion looks more likely, but there is still some window of opportunity open on taking a site which is currently controlled by the Earl’s Court Development Company (ECDC).
“It feels probable that the ECDC will get planning permission at the end of 2025 to kill off any chances of Chelsea moving to a new site and selling the valuable plot of land at Stamford Bridge.”
If Kinsella is right and Chelsea go down the route of rebuilding on the same site, such an undertaking would likely take years. They really should make a final decision soon.
It’s time for Chelsea to make a decision
Regardless of what they do, Chelsea need to lock in their decision so work can begin.
These kinds of projects, whether building from scratch or renovating, take years of work and a whole lot of money.
Chelsea’s project is still in a young stage, but it won’t be forever. The hope is that this squad ages up and improves as you would expect.
A new stadium would only add to an already promising future, but ownership should make sure it’s there in time for when this side is truly competing for Premier League and Champions League honours.