Chelsea get green light for 60,000-seater stadium, Latest Football News - The New Paper
Football

Chelsea get green light for 60,000-seater stadium

Chelsea's plans to build a new £500 million (S$864.7m) 60,000-seater stadium cleared another major hurdle yesterday when they received approval from London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

"London is one of the world's greatest sporting cities and I'm delighted that we will soon add Chelsea's new stadium to the already fantastic array of sporting arenas in the capital," Khan said in a statement.

The English Premier League leaders plan to build the new arena on the site of their current Stamford Bridge home in west London, which is currently the seventh-biggest in the EPL and seats 41,631 fans.

The proposals received planning permission from local authorities in January and the new ground could be completed in time for the 2021/22 season.

INCREASED REVENUE

The stadium has been designed by Herzog and de Meuron, the architects behind the "Bird's Nest" stadium used at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and Bayern Munich's Allianz Arena.

The higher capacity will translate into increased matchday revenue for Chelsea, who made £93m on matchdays in 2014/15, according to financial consultants Deloitte.

The figure is well below Arsenal (£132m) and Manchester United (£114m).

The club will have to leave Stamford Bridge - their home since 1905 - for three years during the redevelopment.

They could temporarily relocate to Wembley, which will be used by Tottenham Hotspur next season while their White Hart Lane ground is being rebuilt. - AFP

eplFootballCHELSEA (EPL)