According to reports, Chelsea Stadium Stamford Bridge’s size and capacity could prove to be a real problem for Roman Abramovich as he looks to sell the London club.
Chelsea’s stadium Stamford Bridge can currently hold just over 40,000 fans at full capacity. But this number is way below their league and London rivals. Arsenal‘s Emirates Stadium has the capacity to hold up to 60,260 fans at full capacity. While Tottenham Hotspurs‘s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has the capacity to hold up to 62,850 at full capacity.
The blue’s London rivals West Ham United‘s stadium can hold 60,000 fans. The West Ham United owners have plans to increase the seating capacity in the near future. Football finance expert Kieran Maguire talking about Chelsea’s potential said that any potential buyers will have to consider the seating capacity problem with Stamford Bridge.
What did Kieran Maguire say about the situation at Chelsea?
Speaking on the Price of Football podcast, Kieran Maguire said:
“Chelsea would be an attractive investment because it’s in a desirable part of London, it’s the current UEFA Champions League holders, it’s the current FIFA Club World Cup holders, it’s won the Premier League – so, there are some positives.
“Against that, you’ve got people such as Jim Ratcliffe, head of INEOS, a British man. He, quite tellingly said a couple of years ago, that Chelsea was offered to him or he was made known that Chelsea was potentially available but he felt the price being asked was too high – about £2billion.
“There’s also an ongoing issue with Stamford Bridge, it’s not big enough, that’s the simple statement. Old Trafford holds 74,000, the Glazers are potentially going to increase that to 80,000, Liverpool are at 54,000, they want to expand to 60,000, Manchester City want to expand to 60,000.
“We’ve got West Ham, Arsenal and Spurs in London at 60,000 plus. That’s going to be an expensive project and also, it’s going to take a long time to sort because finding a property space in London with the appropriate planning permission to build a 60,000-plus stadium is not going to be an easy task. It’s going to involve perhaps dismantling existing properties, getting the right planning permission and then there’s the issue of funding.
“Chelsea has many positives, but also from an investor’s point of view, it has its challenges as well.”
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