Chelsea FC have agreed a deal in principle with the FA to play their home games at Wembley while Stamford Bridge is being re-developed, as per reports in the Mirror.
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Chelsea FC are looking to revamp Stamford Bridge, increasing its capacity to 60,000, in order to compete financially with Manchester United and Arsenal FC. Both the clubs boast of a stadium with a seating capacity in excess of 60,000 which subsequently helps them generate much higher match day revenue, something which has become critical with the implementation of Financial Fair Play by UEFA.
The construction work needed to expand the stadium capacity is expected to keep the venue out of use for three seasons, starting with the 2017-18 campaign.
The Premier League are expected to give Chelsea FC the go-ahead to expand the stadium, subject to planning permission being granted for the new-look project.
The club have already published plans and are set to stage a meeting to canvas local opinion about the project. The local consultation on the new stadium is planned during an exhibition next week from September 1-3.
If the plans are approved, the re-vamp of the stadium will start in May 2017. The FA have agreed a deal in principle as per the Mirror to allow Chelsea FC to play their games at Wembley till the revamped Stamford Bridge is ready for use at a cost of around A?12million a year.
However, Chelsea FC will have to agree to play at a reduced capacity of 50,000 due to restrictions by the local laws.
The only remaining approval is from the Premier League, with the Blues required to fulfil the league’s criteria of:
- Good transport links
- A guarantee that all home league matches will be played at the stadium.
- A proximity to the ground the club are leaving.
Chelsea FC should not have any problems to meet those demands.
