Boehly promises Stamford Bridge total rejig

Article posted by Coliseum, December 20^th, 2022

Image: Coliseum GSVA

The Premier League team Chelsea F.C. has committed to a massive redevelopment of its home digs – Stamford Bridge in London, England (UK) – ending fears the club will relocate to a new stadium.

‘The Sun’ stated that the top-flight’s American owner Todd Boehly, who bought the Premier League outfit back in May for £4.25 billion, has made promises to the stadium freeholder to expand the ground rather than move the club to a new location.

The Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, West London, UK. Founded in 1905, they play their home games at the Stamford Bridge. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division of English football. They won their first major honor, the League championship, in 1955.

The Stamford Bridge is a football stadium in Fulham, adjacent to the borough of Chelsea in West London, UK. It is the home of Premier League club Chelsea F.C. With a capacity of 40,341, it is the ninth largest venue of the 2022-2023 Premier League seasons and the 11^th largest football stadium in England.

The shareholder group that owns the London club’s stadium freehold, Chelsea Pitch Owners, said, “The new owners have committed to redevelopment of the stadium. So, it is anticipated the group’s workload will increase as this project begins to take shape.”

Chelsea Pitch Owners plc is a nonprofit organization which is part of Chelsea Football Club, tasked with the upkeep of the stadium. It owns both the freehold of the Stamford Bridge Stadium and the naming rights of Chelsea Football Club.

‘The Sun’ further stated that the club recently appointed a committee to consider new locations and had reconsidered a shock move to a 60,000-seater stadium in Earl’s Court in London.

A move to Earl’s Court, where the Exhibition Centre once stood, was previously explored under Roman Abramovich (Russian oligarch and politician and former owner of Chelsea).

But plans were abandoned in 2010 when the Hammersmith and Fulham Council squashed the idea.

Meanwhile, concerned Chelsea fans have snapped up shares in record numbers since Boehly’s acquisition because of fears over the club’s future.

Supporters have spent £175,000 snapping up shares since the club went up for sale in March.

That is compared to just £21,000 in 2021, before Abramovich was forced to sell owing to his links to the President of Russia Vladimir Putin.

The Chelsea Pitch Owners revealed in accounts published this week: “After 19 years of uninterrupted ownership, the football club was sold to new owners during the year. Fan concerns over the future of the club led to an unprecedented demand for shares and record sales, which are unlikely to be repeated. An amount of uncertainty is to be expected with new owners coming in, although initial dealings with them have been very positive.”

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