The owner of Premier League football club Chelsea FC, Todd Boehly, has assured the stadium freeholder that the club plans expand the ground rather than move to a new location, according to reports.
Since the club’s takeover earlier this year, Boehly is thought to have been considering a number of new locations, including a new 60,000-seater stadium in Earl’s Court, which would be a substantial upgrade of Stamford Bridge’s 42,000 capacity.
Chelsea’s home ground is significantly smaller than the other top stadiums in the Premier League and previous owner Roman Abramovich had considered a new ground to bring them up to the same level as the club’s rivals.
The stadium’s freehold is currently held by shareholder group CPO, which has a 180-year lease on Stamford Bridge.
To leave Stamford Bridge, the club, which was purchased by Todd Boehly in May for £4.25bn, would need CPO’s approval.
However, the group has now released a statement that explaining that ‘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.’
It was also previously revealed by Jonathan Goldstein, part of Todd Bohely’s consortium and a co-owner of the West London club, that Chelsea planned to redevelop Stamford Bridge within the next year.
Goldstein said, “We are looking very heavily at redevelopment… the planning process is something which we will start during the course of the next year and we’ll hope central government will get behind it and see it as an engine for growth.
“The only problem, of course, is the management of interest rates because it makes it so much more expensive to develop.”
“It is a big project and there are very many constituents involved and we are at the beginning. But we will carry on because we believe in the business, in Chelsea FC and the area and we know, over time, Stamford Bridge needs redevelopment.”
