Chelsea Gets Massive BOOST In Bid To Redevelop Stamford Bridge

In recent years, talks of a new stadium have switched to talks of relocation to redevelopment. Some of us Chelsea fans wanted us to purchase the old Battersea Power Station, and turn it into an iconic piece of art. The Power Station would be amazing to see, with the four large smoke stacks on each corner of the building. But now we are focusing our attention on working on the current site. Which is fantastic news, because in 1905 Chelsea was founded to play football at Stamford Bridge, and though the original Bridge is nothing likes today’s, it is still nice to see we haven’t completely avoided our history.

Last summer, Chelsea came out with a new study on stadium expansion, despite the strong opposition from the local council residents, financiers as well as having little probability of not breaking any building codes and planning laws. The study also showed that an expansion would most likely not provide a positive return-on-investment due to all the obstacles and costs.

The expansion idea has gained weight, especially in the recent months, when it was revealed that Chelsea was looking at a temporary relocation to Twickenham while Stamford Bridge was under construction. But it is still unknown whether the locals would approve of any construction.

Despite that, if Dan Levene’s report is indeed true, expansion plans have been running smoothly behind the scenes. The board would like to see the capacity around 60,000, which would put help match Chelsea’s match day revenue with other European super powers.

“[The study announced in the summer] was initially expected to report back last September, but after the public relations disaster of the last attempt to convince fans that changes were necessary, eggshells have been well deployed underfoot this time [and] there seems to have been a concerted effort to get all the ducks in a line…Sources close to the redevelopment project tell me fully fledged paper plans exist showing a new, improved Stamford Bridge on the existing site — though you won’t hear that from the club itself. But I’m told there is a confidence within the club, following changes to planning legislation, that the requisite permissions can be secured within the season — perhaps even by the end of 2015 the club has spent over a year meeting [with] local residents, businesses, influential bodies and community groups. […] The hope is to get that rarest of things: a proposal that suits everyone. That will require the redevelopment of a whole stretch of Fulham Road, improved public transport access, and safeguards to ensure matchday exuberance is less likely to spill over into neighbouring homes and gardens. This is no mere facelift, but a full demolition and rebuilding job, and that will require the movement out of the Chelsea area for at least a season, probably two. Much consultation has been conducted in [the Twickenham] area too and, coupled with a significant recent change in the political climate in that locality, there is a belief that what was once seen as impossible may be made to happen; maybe with a spreading of the impact across more than just the one stadium venue.”