Chelsea handed major boost in efforts to move Stamford Bridge to Earl’s Court

Chelsea are falling behind their other top six rivals in matchday revenue due to the smaller attendance of Stamford Bridge, in a world where Arsenal and Tottenham have both moved into new stadiums in the last 20 years.

Earl’s Court has always been discussed as a potential landing spot for a new stadium, however have so far been unsuccessful due to not reaching an agreement with the Earl’s Court Development Group.

However, Simon Phillips has stated that the ECDG have been unable to raise funding for their own plans, and talks with Chelsea continue over possibly buying the land.

He said: “Chelsea are in ‘serious discussions’ with The Earl’s Court Development Group over obtaining the land there. The ECDG have been initially unwilling to discuss a potential sale as they wanted to get a planning consent that in their mind provided them with a way to value the site.

“Even though they have planning permission, they have been unable to raise commercial funding for the development – there is a belief from insiders that planning consent is not viable in commercial terms. There has been several attempts to raise the funding required but so far without any success.

“This is being made more difficult with more restrictive financial markets and a general consensus that the economy is likely to deteriorate rather than grow due to the war in the Middle East, issues in Ukraine/Russia, and the general lack of belief in the present government.

“Discussions between Chelsea and ECDG have continued throughout the summer, and we can confirm they are ongoing. It is likely that ECDG would be more interested to dispose of the entire site, which is something Clearlake have not been keen on However, it’s not been ruled out, but will have to on the right financial terms.

“It is generally understood that the two local authorities would be supportive of Chelsea moving to Earls Court, providing it does come with a combined sports/entertainment development, alongside some form of residential.”

One Chelsea fan believes that it has been a terrible start to the season and that a shock relegation is on the cards if things don’t improve 😱 What do you make of that?

Surely it’s not that bad?!

Moving away from Stamford Bridge is required for revenue, however there are a number of features from the current stadium which would need to remain in place.

Stands named ‘The Shed’ and after club legend Matthew Harding are important parts of the furniture in West London, and the relationship between owners and supporters would only be further damaged if these were to be changed.

Stamford Bridge has become known for the iconic gate smacking which has occurred after the Blues score important goals, and keeping this as a possibility will also be important.

Whatever happens, it is still going to be a number of years before Chelsea get a move to a new stadium, and in that time they will continue to rely on player trading for revenue more than their rivals.

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