The £600m Chelsea new stadium plan that never happened amid Earl's Court 'talks'
There has been a lot of talk over a potential new stadium for Chelsea over the last few days.
It was reported on Tuesday that the club are ‘in talks with Transport for London (TfL) over a possible deal for the site to build a new stadium to replace Stamford Bridge. football.london understands that Chelsea are still considering all options when it comes to the stadium.
However the Earl’s Court Development Company have insisted that there are no plans for Chelsea to use the site. They wrote in a statement: “There is no plan within our plans for Chelsea FC to relocate to the Earls Court site.
“We have a fully detailed design, shortly to be registered with both local authorities, which prioritises the delivery of thousands of homes and jobs, culture and open space through a well-designed and considered masterplan which has evolved over four years of engagement.
“This will see development commence in 2026 with the first residents and occupiers moving in from 2030. This is, and will remain, our primary focus.”
Chelsea have been looking at potentially building a new stadium in recent years. The current stadium has a 42,000 capacity with plans to increase that mooted before.
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During Roman Abramovich’s time as owner of the club, there were searches for a potential new site for a new stadium. According to The Athletic, sites at the Imperial Wharf and White City were explored.
There was also a proposal to build a new stadium on top of Waterloo train station back in 2007. Speaking to The Athletic, Robert Kennedy, Director of stadium designers Holmes Miller revealed: “The Eurostar line was leaving Waterloo for St Pancras, so suddenly you had the biggest open space in that corner of London above Waterloo station.
“You could drop columns down through the existing train lines and build a platform, and then put a 60,000-seat stadium above it. They were going to put high-rise flats around the outside to pay for it. But the whole package ended up a wee bit expensive.”
After that, Chelsea were said to have turned their attentions to Earl’s Court - the site that now appears to be the priority. The Blues however also looked at Vauxhall Nine Elms, that includes the disused Battersea Power Station.
Chelsea are said to have made a bid of around £300 million in 2012, but were outbid by a Malaysian group who paid around £400 million. The site has since been developed with luxury flats and bars.
In 2017, Chelsea were granted full planning permission from Hammersmith and Fulham Council to rebuild Stamford Bridge with a 60,000 seater stadium. The plans would include the club finding somewhere else to play their home games during the rebuilding process, which would have seen the build of a “Gothic, Westminster Abbey-inspired stadium.”
The £600m plans were put to one side in May 2018 just days after Abramovich was denied a new UK visa. A statement from the club read: “Chelsea Football Club announces today that it has put its new stadium project on hold. No further pre-construction design and planning work will occur."
It added: "The club does not have a time frame set for reconsideration of its decision. The decision was made due to the current unfavourable investment climate."