Chelsea yet to make firm decision on playing at Wembley while Stamford Bridge is redeveloped

Reports had claimed that an £11m-a-year offer had been made

Simon Johnson
Tuesday 07 July 2015 08:15 EDT
Comments
Wembley Stadium (PA)
Wembley Stadium (PA) (PA)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Chelsea have yet to make any firm decision on whether they will move to Wembley amid reports the club have offered £11million-a-year to play at the national stadium while Stamford Bridge is redeveloped.

The club's plans over their stadium are still only at a preliminary stage despite holding a three-day exhibition last week to unveil some designs over how the ground can be turned into one that can host 60,000 fans.

Chelsea are still considering a number of ideas for the site as well as what they will do when, and if, building begins.

Now that fans and local residents have seen some early sketches, the club will examine the feedback received and decide if any changes need to be made to push ahead with one scheme.

Chelsea hope to expand Stamford Bridge to 60,000
Chelsea hope to expand Stamford Bridge to 60,000 (Getty Images)

It will still take some time for planning permission to be applied for, let alone granted, and that means talks with other grounds have only been informal.

That means Chelsea can't commit to any official financial offers while they're unable to provide any time frame for when they want to move in.

Besides, one of the options Chelsea are looking into is the possibility of playing at Stamford Bridge while it is rebuilt one stand at a time.

The club have also been in talks with Twickenham, but the Evening Standard understands a move outside of London has not been considered.

A move to Twickenham will be met with fierce resistance from local residents, while they face competition from Tottenham to play at Wembley.

Spurs will be playing elsewhere during the 2017-18 season as White Hart Lane is rebuilt, although playing in Milton Keynes at the home of MK Dons is also on their minds.

According to reports in The Times, they have offered only £8m to play at Wembley, meaning they risk being outbid by Chelsea, but neither club were prepared to confirm the story.

Wembley is likely to be the most attractive option for both teams as the stadium can host fixtures there as long as the attendence is reduced to 50,000, which is still more than the capacity of their current stadiums.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in