If Todd Boehly want to move Chelsea from Stamford Bridge then the process won't be easy. A stadium move, renovation or change of any sort is always complex, but with the SW6 ground it is perhaps even more so than usual.
Not only is the home ground penned in by houses on one side and Fulham Broadway tube station on the other, the club have historically struggled to get permission to expand the current set-up. That isn't the only issue facing the new ownership group though as Stamford Bridge forms one of the pillars of their promise to improve the club.
Roman Abramovich attempted throughout his time to get the stadium improved and also held talks to move the home ground elsewhere but nothing came to fruition. As Boehly and Clearlake attempt to increase the revenue of the club, upgrading the 44,000 seater capacity is part of that.
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A report in the Daily Mail states that one of the options discussed is to move to Earl's Court. It was initially thought of as an idea in 2013 but was blocked by the Hammersmith and Fulham Council. The site was purchased in 2019 by property developers but hasn't been built on and it is said to not be impossible for Chelsea to have a stadium there in the future.
The issue with this is that in a unique set of circumstances the Chelsea Pitch Owners (CPO) could block the club from using the name Chelsea FC if they didn't give permission. This creates a dilemma for the owners and one of the new board members, Jonathan Goldstein, spoke about the stadium and plans in an interview last month.
"The fact that people need to be aware of is that there is no existing planning permission on the site," he said. "There was planning permission but it's lapsed so we have to start again. We're at the beggining of that process and obviously there's two alternatives. You either redevelop the existing stadium of you take it down and build a new one on the site.
"We're very tight at Stamford Bridge, the Chelsea Pitch Owners are part of that process and we're going through our own educational process, we will then consult with fans and local authorities. I would hope that over the next 12 to 18 months you will be able to invite me back and I'll be able to tell you how we intend to take that forwards.
"We're really focused on understand the locality and understanding what we've got at Stamford Bridge and maximising the opportunity and the excitement for the fans."
The CPO really do hold the shots though after previously stopping Abramovich from buying the group in 2011 as he looked to find alternative stadium options. If Boehly and Clearlake are to make progress away from Stamford Bridge then they would face the same sort of issues.
CPO are a company that have the freeholds of Stamford Bridge and the name Chelsea FC. The group, made up of over 23,000 individual shares protects the stadium and club name. Chelsea the club pay a lease for the name and use of the stadium with CPO having a 199-year lease.
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