Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly has admitted that the club may be forced to wait until 2042 for their new stadium.
Despite their global stature and incredible success since the turn of the century, Chelsea's home venue, Stamford Bridge, remains one of the smallest among Europe's elite. In fact, it's only the ninth biggest in the Premier League with a 41,000 capacity and is almost half as spacious as Manchester United's 75,000-seater Old Trafford.
Unsurprisingly, Chelsea's current owners BlueCo have discussed increasing the club's capacity, either through renovating Stamford Bridge, moving to another venue or building a brand new stadium.
However, Boehly has revealed that Chelsea supporters will have to wait a long time for a new home, insisting that such a vast project could take several decades.
Speaking with Bloomberg, the 51-year-old revealed: “It's years [until plans materialise] in the making. When we originally bought the club we agreed initially that we had 15 or 20 years to figure this out but it is a big project in a really interesting city like London where there's a lot of constituencies that have an opinion.
“Obviously the number one constituency for us is our fan base and what's going to be the best for Chelsea. I think everyone recognises that a club as big as Chelsea should have a stadium that reflects the size of the club and ultimately that's going to be a strategic advantage.”
Chelsea have already been left behind by their rivals, witnessing Liverpool expand Anfield in recent years and Tottenham Hotspur move into a brand new state of the art stadium in 2019. Man Utd are also set to create a 100,000 capacity arena in the coming years, while Everton's new stadium will exceed Stamford Bridge by over 10,000 seats.
Naturally, the Blues will be keen to keep up with their adversaries and certainly don't lack the financial backing to achieve their ambitions.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Chelsea Co-Owner Sets Worrying Timeline for New Stadium.
