Chelsea have begun the process of finding a new site to build a stadium after it was revealed they intending to buy back shares in their Stamford Bridge home from supporters.
With Stamford Bridge’s capacity limited to little over 40,000 the Blues feel it is holding them back in their attempts to beat the premier league odds and compete with Manchester United and Arsenal – who both have stadiums with capacities in excess of 60,000.
The plot the Bridge sits on is too small to re-build so the club want to find a new site in West London.
However, they can’t do so until they have come to an agreement with the ‘Chelsea pitch owners’. The group was formed in the early 1990s in an attempt to ensure the stadium could never be bought by property developers - as was the case in the late 80s, when the club suffered severe financial hardship and were contenders in the relegation betting rather than for the title.
However, with Roman Abramovich bankrolling the club he danger appears to have past and chairman Bruce Buck has urged the fans to sell back the shares to the club – for the same price they paid for them, £100.
"That threat [of the ground being sold to developers] has now gone under (Roman) Abramovich's ownership," said Buck.
"Bear in mind that no-one bought these shares as a financial investment.
"Everyone bought these shares as a way of helping the club and they also bought them as mementoes and souvenirs.
"We think we're paying well over the odds."
Given Abramovich’s vast wealth it would be surprised if at least some of the shareholders try and eek out some more cash for their shares. I do think it is a bit cheeky of the club to guilt trip the fans into selling back the shares when they quite happily pay players wages in excess of £100,000 a week.
The normal fan is used to being hit in the pocket by the clubs they support, it is about time the won some of it back.
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