Todd Boehly has admitted Chelsea’s owners could be split over new stadium plans – which perfectly aligns with the feeling among fans.
The American businessman expects the Blues to relocate to a new ground, having called Stamford Bridge home since 1877.
The west London venue is only the 11th-largest football stadium in England, with a capacity of 40,341 despite several renovations.
Co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali have long been thought to be at loggerheads over a solution.
It is understood the latter favours an expansion of Stamford Bridge, but economic and logistical hurdles have derailed such plans.
The stadium is cramped between tightly-spaced buildings, a dense population in the capital, plus main roads and train lines.
Boehly, meanwhile, shared his belief that a new stadium is the only way forward, with Earl’s Court mooted as a possible new location.
Jamie O’Hara told the Sports Bar: “They want to potentially go to Earls Court, you see an Arsenal stadium, you see Spurs’ stadium.
“Spurs have blown everyone out the water in terms of stadiums in London – it is unreal!”
Arsenal had called Highbury home for over 90 years but similarly had outgrown the venue, which held less than 40,000 fans, prior to the club moving into the Emirates in 2006.
Tottenham’s new stadium has been hailed as ‘one of the best in the world’, but Chelsea are hamstrung by one key thing in emulating their London rivals.
Following Chelsea’s financial turmoil of the 1980s and 90s, the Chelsea Pitch Owners (CPO) crucially control Stamford Bridge freehold, turnstiles, pitch and Chelsea Football Club Ltd naming rights.
The CPO, which was formed in 1997, lease both the stadium and the name of the club back to Chelsea – on the condition that the team continue to play at Stamford Bridge.
This means that Boehly may need to change his asset’s name from ‘Chelsea Football Club’ or get at least 76 per cent approval from CPO voters.
To make matters more difficult, his predecessor Roman Abramovich‘s controversial and ultimately failed bid to buy the CPO in 2011 has fractured the organisation’s relationship with the club.
Jason Cundy told talkSPORT: “It really is a contentious issue, and it has been for a number of years because we know the stadium.
“There’s not a Chelsea fan out there who wants to leave Stamford Bridge.”
Cundy continued: “There are a number of issues here. It’s splitting the fan base.”
Chelsea’s plans for an improved stadium are nothing new, having had a bid to move into Battersea Power Station in May 2012.
However, the bid was ultimately rejected as a Malaysian company turned the Grade II listed building into apartments.
By 2017, they had full planning permission from Hammersmith and Fulham Council, alongside the Mayor of London, for a new 60,000-seater stadium.
Concept images of a design by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, who had previously worked on the Allianz Arena in Munich, were released before Abramovich ultimately pulled the plug a year later.
The Russian’s sudden sale of Chelsea in 2022 meant bids to restart the project were never completed, and planning permission has since expired.
Boehly has now told Bloomberg Insight he believes a new stadium is the only way forward.
“Inside of London, it’s really complex,” Boehly said.
“It’s not like we are building something in a rural environment. We have a lot of constituents to make sure we care about. Certainly, the Chelsea fan base is one of them.
“Long term, I think we’re going to build something new, and I think we’ll figure it out.”
