Chelsea to seek advice from rivals Tottenham Hotspur as they prepare for possible Wembley move while Stamford Bridge is redeveloped
- Chelsea pushing ahead with £500million development of a new Stamford Bridge
- Blues face four years away while their home is redeveloped from 2019
- Chelsea consider Wembley as a temporary home though fans want Twickenham
Chelsea will take advice from Tottenham Hotspur over a move to Wembley when they push ahead with the £500million development of a new Stamford Bridge.
The Premier League champions face four years on the road as they flatten and re-build their stadium, as revealed by Sportsmail back in May, with a potential move-out date in 2019.
Talks will be lined up through supporters’ groups to discuss any pitfalls and problems over using the national stadium as a temporary home during that spell.
Chelsea will take advice from Tottenham Hotspur over a potential move to Wembley
Chelsea hope to meet with their own Supporters’ Trust, who are in regular contact with their counterparts at Spurs, to get details on any fan complaints and ensure a seamless switch.
Tottenham have found their Wembley stint to be relatively trouble-free so far, despite mixed results on the pitch. However, ticketing issues ensured their opening London derby against Chelsea had an attendance of just 73,587 – some way short of the 90,000 capacity.
The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust have also reported ‘teething problems with crowd management and entry’ in the early days of their year away from White Hart Lane.
Chelsea face four years away from Stamford Bridge while their home is redeveloped
Wembley remains Chelsea’s most likely temporary destination although fans would appear to prefer moving to Twickenham while the builders move in at Stamford Bridge, according to the results of a new Supporters’ Trust survey.
Results released with week showed, of the fans surveyed, 47.77 per cent listed Twickenham as their preferred temporary home while 41.62 per cent went for Wembley. West Ham’s London Stadium took just 10.62 per cent of the vote.
Trust chairman David Chidgey said: ‘With the redevelopment of Stamford Bridge more certain, supporters’ focus is now to ensure that their experience in it will improve, while avoiding the pitfalls experienced by other clubs who have built new stadiums.
‘More pressing is the choice of stadium while Stamford Bridge is redeveloped and supporters are genuinely concerned about the possible locations and increased costs and inconvenience incurred while following the team as a result.’
Although fans prefer Twickenham as a temporary home, Chelsea will consider Wembley too
Planning permission for the new Stamford Bridge was granted by the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in March.
In July, that permission was challenged by an application for judicial review but the claim was refused by a judge – who said none of the grounds had the slightest prospect of success – removing another hurdle to Chelsea's plans.
Meanwhile, the Blues will look to potentially tie future shirt sponsorship deals to the new stadium’s naming rights in the next decade.
The new 60,000-seat Stamford Bridge could also house infrastructure from technology companies who would take up sponsorship deals with the club – an idea noted by the club’s commercial director Chris Townsend in an interview with the Financial Times this week.
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