Chelsea have made an offer to buy the site of Battersea power station with a view to building “one of the most iconic football stadiums in the world”.
It’s no secret that Chelsea have been looking for a new stadium. Stamford Bridge is too small compared to Old Trafford, the Emirates and even the Nou Camp, meaning that Chelsea’s rivals make millions more from each home game than Chelsea does. With the new UEFA Financial Fair Play rules now in effect, Chelsea are at a financial disadvantage to their rivals because of the size of Stamford Bridge.
A statement on the Chelsea website said:
“Chelsea Football Club can confirm to our fans that we have today submitted an offer, with our property development partner Almacantar, to acquire the 39-acre Battersea power station site.
“Battersea power station is one of London’s most famous buildings and has the potential to become one of the most iconic football stadiums in the world.
“Our joint bid was submitted in accordance with the sales process established by the joint administrators for the site. The process could run for a number of months.”
Plans for redevelopment would incorporate well-known features of the site, including the chimneys and turbine hall. The proposals include a 15,000-seat single-tier stand, “likely to be the biggest one-tier stand in football”, and shops, offices and affordable housing.
Besides working through the political hurdles of building a new stadium at Battersea, Roman Abramovich also has to overcome the objections of Chelsea Pitch Owners shareholders, who rejected his proposal last year to sell the stadium back to the club.
CPO was formed in 1993 to prevent the stadium falling into the hands of property developers and I cannot see RA moving to develop Battersea without an agreement in place that would allow the club to sell Chelsea to developers, as those funds would pay for the majority of the cost for the new stadium.