‘Chelsea fans set for nightmare scenario after stadium latest – I’m hearing…’
Chelsea are considering groundshare plans in the event they choose to redevelop their Stamford Bridge home in the coming years.
Football Insider revealed on Thursday (8 May) Chelsea could be forced to pay more than £10million a year to play at Twickenham – while Wembley could emerge as a potential option.
Tottenham previously played at Wembley while their new stadium was being finished, with England’s home of football hosting Spurs for almost two seasons.
Chelsea are also considering building a new ground on a site at Earl’s Court – which would mean no groundshare is needed.
Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – revealed Chelsea could be away from Stamford Bridge for up to “seven years” if they choose to refurbish their current ground.
Chelsea fans could ‘lose interest’ after relocation, says Wyness
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Wyness suggested Chelsea fans could “lose interest” due to a “lack of atmosphere” at any temporary home.
The Blues’ current home holds 40,341 – while Twickenham has a capacity of 82,000 and is primarily used for rugby.
| Club (Stadium) | Capacity |
| Man United (Old Trafford) | 74,197 |
| Tottenham (Tottenham Hotspur Stadium) | 62,850 |
| West Ham (London Stadium) | 62,500 |
| Liverpool (Anfield) | 61,276 |
| Arsenal (Emirates Stadium) | 60,704 |
| Man City (Etihad Stadium) | 52,900 |
| Newcastle (St James’ Park) | 52,258 |
| Aston Villa (Villa Park) | 42,918 |
| Chelsea (Stamford Bridge) | 40,341 |
Wyness claimed any relocation could present a nightmare scenario for Chelsea fans.
He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “The big issue I’m hearing is that Chelsea are going to be away from Stamford Bridge for a period of seven years if they rebuild their current stadium.
“Seven years is a very long time.
“Spurs only managed a couple of years at Wembley, and that was enough for a lot of the fans.
“They were starting to lose interest because of the atmosphere.
“I hope, for Chelsea’s sake, that they take the Earl’s Court option and they don’t have this dislocation.
“It’s a big problem to be moving away for seven years, particularly if you’re not welcome in Twickenham.
“They are stuck with very few options when it comes to groundsharing.
“It’s always been hard with Chelsea with the situation around the pitch owners. Any redevelopment has always been a very tough problem.”
Aston Villa respond to Chelsea’s Rogers interest
Meanwhile, Football Insider has revealed (6 May) that Aston Villa will do everything they can to keep star man Morgan Rogers amid new interest from Chelsea.
Unai Emery is desperate to keep hold of Rogers but Villa acknowledge they will have to accept offers that are too good to turn down.
The attacking midfielder is happy with the Midlands giants and interested clubs will have to stump up a mega-money fee to land the England international.
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