Stamford Bridge set for major redevelopment?

[Barbara 15,149]

seems complicated, but hopefully possible. How does infrastructure investment bodes with FFP?

[boshman 1,073]

I agree with WHS. Are 4th tiers going to work? They would have to give out free binoculars to each fan up there

They really do have a job on there hands trying to fit another 18'000 seats. I just can't see it working. Be interesting to see what they come up with.

[Term-X 7,891]

seems complicated, but hopefully possible. How does infrastructure investment bodes with FFP?

Investment in stadium (any context) does not go on FFP books.

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,738]

RFU is full of the most money hungry people around so I bet they will look to get a major cut of whatever is brought in. I wouldn't be surprised to see premium seats go up there if they have any say in it.

[special Eden 78]

is there any chances of expanding more than 60,000 or is that the maximum because of the problems around the stadium?

[xPetrCechx 13,546]

is there any chances of expanding more than 60,000 or is that the maximum because of the problems around the stadium?

I think that 60K will be enough for us... we don't have so many supportrs there...

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Is a 4th tier really feasible though. The view from the back of the East stand is bad enough as it is.

Very fair point, but I am really struggling to see how else we're going to do it...

I think that 60K will be enough for us... we don't have so many supportrs there...

You underestimate our fanbase. We sold out a game against Bolton in the League Cup 3rd round before they went on general sale.

[Liquidator 5,176]

Might ask some of the architects I work with tomorrow about how they'd expand.

I imagine it would be MH being expanded because decking over the district line behind it would be cheaper than demolishing the shed end. We could do both though. East and west stands are already at their maximum heights allowed by the council. East stand uses it's limited space very efficiently too in terms of seating rake and evacuation times so rebuilding that even with decking would not give us much more there, maybe 5k if decking went over the London overground line behind it.

Adding a 3rd tier or expanding upper tier of MHL would be feasible. Decking and exit over district line towards West Brompton would be needed, as well as purchase of homes other side of district line due to rights to sunlight but that would presumably be ok to do. Rake of MH upper tier matches that of east upper so it would still look good and fit in with the style of the stadium.

If we were to redesign the shed end I'd start again. It may be feasible to create a single tier stand like in the battersea proposals. This could improve atmosphere. Again there is the exit issue and office space that we'd need to purchase behind the shed end. Demolishing these offices (located behind old shed wall) would expand egress space which would help us meet health and safety laws.

[Liquidator 5,176]

Is a 4th tier really feasible though. The view from the back of the East stand is bad enough as it is.

If we are keeping the existing structure of the east stand below it then no. It already cantelivers out in a way that it wouldn't be able to reasonably support a fourth tier.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Might ask some of the architects I work with tomorrow about how they'd expand.

I imagine it would be MH being expanded because decking over the district line behind it would be cheaper than demolishing the shed end. We could do both though. East and west stands are already at their maximum heights allowed by the council. East stand uses it's limited space very efficiently too in terms of seating rake and evacuation times so rebuilding that even with decking would not give us much more there, maybe 5k if decking went over the London overground line behind it.

Adding a 3rd tier or expanding upper tier of MHL would be feasible. Decking and exit over district line towards West Brompton would be needed, as well as purchase of homes other side of district line due to rights to sunlight but that would presumably be ok to do. Rake of MH upper tier matches that of east upper so it would still look good and fit in with the style of the stadium.

If we were to redesign the shed end I'd start again. It may be feasible to create a single tier stand like in the battersea proposals. This could improve atmosphere. Again there is the exit issue and office space that we'd need to purchase behind the shed end. Demolishing these offices (located behind old shed wall) would expand egress space which would help us meet health and safety laws.

Great response! Let us know what the architects say - as I said in my post I'm no engineer so I have no clue what I'm talking about. I'm a historian not an architect

[OhForAGreavsie 5,775]

You underestimate our fanbase. We sold out a game against Bolton in the League Cup 3rd round before they went on general sale.

That's not correct Alex. I saw tickets available for general sale on the website and, indeed, they were heavily promoted in radio advertising which ran for about a week.

[Liquidator 5,176]

Great response! Let us know what the architects say - as I said in my post I'm no engineer so I have no clue what I'm talking about. I'm a historian not an architect

Sorry about the late response, been pretty manic at work recently

Fortunately the one I did manage to ask used to work for KSS who were the architects for the Shed and MH ends and the West Stand when they were all rebuilt in the 90s. She said if you look at how much the pitch has moved south over the years since the 1970s it doesn't leave us with a huge amount of room to expand the Shed End. The boundary with the old shed wall is only a few metres from the back of the current stand (where the entrances to the upper and lower tiers are) despite the old shed being massive. An expanded stand would mean the circulation area behind the stand would need to be wider to accommodate more people in an evacuation. This would require the demolition or partial demolition of the old Shed wall and the hotel/Sports bar complex as well as offices on Fulham Road that the club do not own. A lot of space between the current Shed end and Fulham Road would need to be totally flattened which is quite a large area. If we did this however we would meet requirements of more emergency exit space AND have space to expand. If and it is a very big if, the whole area behind the Shed was knocked down (bare in mind this is a very large amount of privately owned office space) then she said the capacity of the shed could potentially double. However, this would have an impact on the ramp entrance to the East Stand which would be cut off. Design wise, it may be viable to completely rebuild with a single tier stand as the current lower tier may not support a big increase in size of the current upper tier.

In terms of the West Stand she mentioned that it was incredibly difficult to get planning permission for it with its current height. An expansion or rebuild (unlikely given it was only completed in 2001) would not only be a major issue with the council but would also require destruction of the Oswald Stoll foundation behind it. (Imagine the field day Martin Lipton would have with that- Blues destroy war vetrans home and leave them on street to die). This is because the stand would need to get taller with perhaps another floor of concourse built which would require significant expansion to the current facade. It would also worsen the pre/post match bottleneck caused by people from the Shed, West and Matthew Harding stands going towards Fulham Broadway. If we were to expand the West Stand it would require practically the total destruction of the Oswald Stoll Foundation and buildings on the Fulham road. According to the architect you would still not get much increase in capacity- maybe 5 or 6000 with all this work plus massive battles with the council and residents over height. New seats would be Nou-Camp esque in distance from pitch.

Decking over the District line is possible in the case of the Matthew Harding stand but another exit not onto Fulham Road is vital. The decking would be fairly expensive but could help to create a route to Fulham Broadway station not via Fulham Road and presumably would extend as far as the current extent of the museum/Chelsea club building. These would need to be knocked down in the case of any expansion. The new exit would presumably create some sort of route to West Brompton station too although consultation about an enclosed walkway (as has been proposed) could cause problems with owners of Brompton Cemetery as it is a Royal Park or alternatively the residents of Seagrave Road. If going via Seagrave Road I think a few houses and a church would have to go because of the rights to sunlight they wouldn't have. Anyway, suppose we could get another exit on the north side of the Stadium, demolish the homes of Brompton Park Crescent and Seagrave Road and could then expand the Matthew Harding stand. It depends what the club want, but if we are going for an expansion, an extension to the upper tier would not be too offensive given the rake (gradient) of the stand matches that of the East Upper which it connects to and isn't too far off the rake of the West Upper so architecturally it wouldn't be too offensive. That or an equally sized third tier would gain us around 5,000 extra seats. In terms of total rebuilding, space is used quite efficiently but we didn't rule out, with expansion, around 8,000 more seats in total. This would take us to just under 50,000.

Finally the East stand. Again, decking is an option but would be very difficult to get permission for given that it would border a Royal Park. Unless major structural changes are made (as well as battle for planning permission over height) the stand can't really be expanded. It is already very efficient for evacuation and space usage and and we may not even be able to have the same gradient if we expanded the upper tier given regulations have tightened the maximum rake allowed since it was built. You would also be miles from the pitch.

Rebuilding would not change capacity much given the footprint of the stand would still probably be a bit smaller than the West stand. We would also need more circulation space behind the East stand if the Matthew Harding stand was also expanded. If we expanded the Shed end we would lose the main entrance to the lower and upper tiers to the East stand too so it is a bit of a difficult one. The absolute maximum we can hope for from the rebuilding of the East stand would be 2-3000 if the architect's estimates are correct despite it costing a massive amount.

Finally we would need to look into a new car park for television broadcast vans which currently reduce capacity for Champions League games. Modern stadia are often equipped with an elliptical underground road which would be expensive (although maybe possible if the shed end area is expanded). We may also need to make alterations to Fulham Broadway station etc.

[zolayes 14,489]

I still think a move might be easier and cheaper

[Term-X 7,891]

Thanks for that Liquidator, great post.

Since this won't be on FFP books, it's up to Roman in regards to the cost.. if he's willing to do it then money isn't an object.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

I still think a move might be easier and cheaper

Correct, but if money is no problem for us then staying is a real option.

[oxfordblues 299]

i thought we was looking at the old earls court or battersea power station

[BlueLion. 21,491]

i thought we was looking at the old earls court or battersea power station

Haha you're a bit behind with that one buddy! Battersea and Earls Court have long since been bought out.