Chelsea were planning for a new stadium under this new ownership but according to the recent reports those plans have been put on hold.
Like Chelsea’s quest for top 4 places their hopes for new stadium have also been put on hold despite having spent so much since the new ownership took over. As per the reports Chelsea were planning to relocate to Earl’s Court which is just eight minutes away from their current home Stamford Bridge. It would be an emotional moment if they chose to move away from a place that has served for a century and two decades. Anyway the plan has been put hold according to reports since Earl’s Court Development Company has now submitted plans for development in that area which doesn’t include a new stadium for Chelsea. With that in mind we are looking at some of Chelsea’s scrapped stadium plans in the past.
HISTORY OF THE BRIDGE
Stamford Bridge has served Chelsea for 119 years since it’s birth. It was in 1904 when an English businessman Henry Agustus Mears decided to acquire the Stamford Bridge stadium and start a new club. They had to wait till 1905 for founding the club offcially under the name Chelsea FC. Stamfrod Bridge was there even before Chelsea FC was born. So since then from 1905 the Bridge has been the home of the Blues. From flickering between the top and second tiers in the beginning to and established super power in England. Stamford Bridge has seen everything that Chelsea have went through. After early success in the mid 20th century club was tarnished with hooliganism and sunks in debts towards the end.
Just imagine when Ken Bates bought Chelsea in1892 it was only worth 1 pound and now Blue Co bought them in 2022 for around 4.25 billion pounds. So much has changed since then growing into one of the elites of English football. But one thing has stayed constant that is the their beloved home stadium Stamford Bridge. Currently holds 40,173 which is the smallest among the so called ‘big six’ in the Premier League. Chelsea with a huge fan bade around the world have been planning to either develop or move away from their home for some time now. Many audacious plans have come up but have just been about building castles in the air. Let’s look at some of the previous scrapped plans.
CHELSEA NEW STADIUM PLANS IN THE PAST
Battersea Power Station
Chelsea had an audacious plan to transform a famous monument in Battersea power station in London into a dream project. To build a 60,000 seater with four huge chimney at one end. Two above the corners above the entrance. Developers thought it would a unique one different from the ordinary bowl style. There was also proposal for a 15,000 single seater like Dortmund’s yellow wall. Chelsea’s dreams were blown off into smokes when a Malaysian company bought the site and built a shopping complex.
Cathedral of Football
After the Battersea Power Station plan went down, Chelsea came up with another stunning plan to develop a 60,000 seater Colosseum like structure. It was inspired from the Westminster Abbey and Tower of London. The aesthetics were brilliant enough from the ground level. Unfortunately the plans got shelved in 2018 and then got ditched later.
Earl’s Court
Earlier this month it was reported that Chelsea were planning for a move for a new home at Earl’s Court. Which was just 8 minutes from their current home. It was originally planned at the Earl Court’s Exhibition Centre site. They had considered to build a 70,000 seater stadium but had never got beyond just an idea. But According to the Mirror Earl’s Court Development Company recently rubbished about Chelsea’s plans and already have plans to build 4,000 homes on the land as well as retail and office space and three performance venues.
CHELSEA’S STAMFORD BRIDGE EXPANSION
Amidst all this audacious plans there have always been plans to expand Stamford Bridge. But the location of the Stadium in SW6 has been a real obstacle for these expansion plans. They have a residential area around the site along with railway line. But according to reports Chelsea have already bought some place around the stadium worth around 140 million pounds. Which might be song to some of the Chelsea supporters who wish to have their home revamped as rivals Tottenham and Arsenal have their own 60,000 seater humongous stadiums.
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