Chelsea owner Todd Boehly ‘commits to massive redevelopment of Stamford Bridge’

Chelsea owner Todd Boehly has confirmed his commitment to a massive redevelopment of Stamford Bridge, despite fears the club could move elsewhere.

There had been talk of new locations being considered, including a new 60,000 seat stadium at Earl’s Court, which would be a substantial improvement on its current capacity of 42,000.

Stamford Bridge is significantly smaller than the rest of the ‘Big Six’ in the Premier League and previous owner Roman Abrahimovich had considered a new ground to bring them on a level with their main rivals.

Chelsea owner Todd Boehly has confirmed his commitment to the redevelopment of Stamford Bridge.

Stamford Bridge currently has a capacity of 42,000, much smaller than the other big six clubs.

The American businessman has now promised the stadium owner that he will expand Stamford Bridge instead of leaving, according to Sun.

The shareholder group that owns freehold of the London club’s stadium, Chelsea Pitch Owners, said: “The new owners have committed to redeveloping the stadium.

“Therefore, it is anticipated that the group’s workload will increase as this project begins to take shape.”

The American has promised the stadium owner that he will expand Stamford Bridge

Sportsmail previously reported last month that the Earl’s Court site was being discussed again, having first been mentioned under the Abramovich regime in 2013.

That talk has now been squashed with Boehly pledging to keep the club in its historic home.

Chelsea would need permission from Chelsea Pitch Owners (CPO) to leave Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea would require permission from Chelsea Pitch Owners (CPO) to leave Stamford Bridge

The shareholder group owns the freehold under a 180-year lease. Without his permission, the club would be forced to give up the Chelsea FC name.

Co-owner Jonathan Goldstein also previously revealed that they planned to rebuild Stamford Bridge within the next year.

The businessman is one of several investors in the consortium, led by American tycoon Boehly, which took over from previous owner Abrahimovich after the Russian was sanctioned following his country’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

And Goldstein has admitted that the Premier League team is seeking planning permission for its stadium renovation in the next 12 months, despite calling the UK ‘non-investible’ under the leadership of Conservative Prime Minister Liz Truss. .

Blues co-owner Jonathan Goldstein’s comments come despite his calling the UK “non-investible” under the leadership of newly appointed Conservative Prime Minister Liz Truss.

He said: ‘We are looking very seriously at redevelopment…the planning process is something we will start over the course of the next year and we hope the central government will get behind it and see it as an engine for growth.

“The only problem, of course, is interest rate management because it makes it much more expensive to develop.” Asked if the club would delay the process, he replied: ‘No, no, we’ll keep going as fast and as hard as we can.’

‘It is a great project and there are many voters involved and we are at the beginning. But we will continue because we believe in the business, in Chelsea FC and the area and we know that, in time, Stamford Bridge needs to be redeveloped.”

He added: ‘We’ve had three SWFs tell us at the moment, the UK is on hold. They prefer to watch, and watch, and wait. Britain seems non-investible at this point.’