According to the Guardian newspaper Chelsea could be leaving their home Stamford Bridge and relocate to Earls Court – which is about a 20 minute walk away from the current stadium.
The debate over whether or not the Premier League champions need to move into a bigger ground has gone on for some time, could the Earls Court site be the perfect solution for the club?
As far as I can tell the move would have two major advantages – which will make it tough to pass up. Firstly, the club will get the 60,000 stadium it desires and secondly (maybe most importantly) Chelsea can stay in the same area that they have called home for 105 years.
If the club wished to take on the site (where the soon to be demolished Earls Court exhibition centre currently stands) they may have to act fairly quick as the owners Capital and Counties had originally earmarked the area for a residential enclave with over 8,000 new homes. However, talks are reportedly on between the Stamford Bridge outfit and Capital and Counties over a potential new stadium.
There are very few sites in London in which the club could build on, or be willing to, as chairman Bruce Buck is adamant that the Blues won’t be leaving west London and suggested that plans for a new stadium isn’t the most pressing concern the Premier League champions have at this time.
Buck said:
“Certainly we wouldn’t leave west London or thereabouts and there are very few sites available.
“We have to do things with our other commercial activities to make up the deficit that is created by the fact we don’t have a 60,000 seat stadium. We can’t say that we will never move or have a new stadium but at the moment, it’s not at the front of our agenda.”
(The Guardian)
But many argue that Chelsea will have to bring in extra revenue from somewhere and extra matchday takings should be the preferred choice if they are to compete with Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal, whose grounds boast a significantly larger capacity than Stamford Bridge.
I have mixed feeling regarding the whole issue as I love the Bridge, but I realise the importance and potential a bigger and more modern stadium would bring.
Would you be happy to see our beloved Blues move to the Earls Court site?
