Chelsea are close to being football nomads for the next six years thanks to plans to renovate their home ground, Stamford Bridge.
The Blues have played at the iconic 40,343-seater West London stadium since 1905 when Henry Augustus Mears founded the club. It has undergone renovations two times since then, the last time being in 1998, 26 years ago.
The ground is currently due for renovation and this is one of the premises on which the club was sold to Todd Boehly and his partners following the Roman Abramovich drama. It has been two years with no significant moves yet to be made, leading to frustrations from the club’s support, journalists and some staff within the club.
The issue at play, however, is much bigger than sluggishness. The club, according to reports, will have no home ground for six years, which is the expected duration of the renovations. There are no available stadiums in London that can be rented out to the Blues to use as a home ground. Wembley is out of the question thanks to its status as a national stadium.
The other option the club has is to buy land and build a stadium. This will take less time but the cost will almost double their budget for the renovations, thanks to the purchase of the land.
The club is in a dilemma at the moment and the owners are feeling the heat from the fans over the crippling infrastructure within the premises. Chelsea Pitch Owners, the fan group that own the naming rights to the club and Stamford Bridge, are behind this pressure.
Last October, the Boehly-led administration presented a proposal to the powerful fan group. The proposal contained their plans to incorporate a newly acquired £80 million property around Stamford Bridge into their expansion plans. This was when the initial warning of potential homelessness was passed to the Boehly-led administration.
Any renovation work will see the club play their home games somewhere else for at least the next four years, with expansion plans to come into effect after the renovations. This could see Chelsea remain homeless for six to seven years. Discussions are still ongoing with all stakeholders involved.
In the meantime, the club are preparing to take on Newcastle United next Monday as they look to end their season on a high and work towards finishing in the UEFA competitions places.
