Stamford Bridge Thread

[Iggy Doonican 4,186]

On 1/16/2018 at 4:08 PM, mccg said:

Chelsea to launch campaign to tackle antisemitism

http://www.chelseafc.com/news/latest-news/2018/01/chelsea-to-launch-campaign-to-tackle-antisemitism.html

Fair dues to them.

I see what you did there. Reminds me of the only funny thing Jimmy Carr has said '' "Someone came up to me last week and complained about a joke, quite a big-boned girl.She said: "I think you're fattist." I said: "No, I think you're fattest".

[the wes 7,212]

On 23/01/2018 at 0:52 AM, Unionjack said:

Chelsea named eighth richest club in the world in Deloitte Football Money League

http://www.cityam.com/279269/chelsea-named-eighth-richest-club-world-deloitte-football

Our stadium holding us back from being in the top five richest club in the world

[zekinjo 449]

A Chelsea spokesperson said: “Chelsea FC have reached an agreement to settle the ongoing legal proceedings in relation to rights to light. The details of the agreement are confidential.”

Chelsea agreed to compensate most of the 50 properties that would suffer as a result of the redesign but reached a stalemate with the Crosthwaites. The family took out a High Court injunction in May to stop construction work going ahead, delaying the club’s hopes of being in their new home by the start of the 2023-24 season. (Telegraph)

 

 

 

[Fulham Broadway 16,831]

See good and bad about the new ground. 

As someone else said ''we seem to be turning into Arsenal''  .'When we think of the real Arsenal we think of Seaman, Vireira, Petit, Bergkamp, Wright, Adams etc...big game players with strong minds. I think it's fair to say they haven't been replaced with like for like and have never recovered from the loss of those. We look at the backbone of Chelsea's success and see we're now taking the same course as Arsenal in that we're failing to find the same strength as the Cech's, Franks. JT's etc. If we're not better in the transfer market then we can look forward to the same kind of rotting seen at Arsenal. The mediocrity of Arsenal has run alongside the building of the Emirates...then we look at our plans for the new stadium. Are we walking the same path we have to ask.'

[Iggy Doonican 4,186]

39 minutes ago, Fulham Broadway said:

See good and bad about the new ground. 

As someone else said ''we seem to be turning into Arsenal''  .'When we think of the real Arsenal we think of Seaman, Vireira, Petit, Bergkamp, Wright, Adams etc...big game players with strong minds. I think it's fair to say they haven't been replaced with like for like and have never recovered from the loss of those. We look at the backbone of Chelsea's success and see we're now taking the same course as Arsenal in that we're failing to find the same strength as the Cech's, Franks. JT's etc. If we're not better in the transfer market then we can look forward to the same kind of rotting seen at Arsenal. The mediocrity of Arsenal has run alongside the building of the Emirates...then we look at our plans for the new stadium. Are we walking the same path we have to ask.'

Going to be interesting FB next season when which looks pretty likely we will be playing in a half empty ground (certainly not full) in the Europa League. Before anyone moans this is not a pop at our shall we say newer fans but the likes of me and you FB have seen the really shit times and I'm expecting a few lean seasons and anyone disparaging the FA Cup will soon change their tune when it will probably be our best chance of silverware in the next few seasons.

I think Roman knows he can't compete with Man City and while he's not throwing in the towel he knows we are no longer the only show in town.

[Fulham Broadway 16,831]

12 hours ago, Iggy Doonican said:

Going to be interesting FB next season when which looks pretty likely we will be playing in a half empty ground (certainly not full) in the Europa League. Before anyone moans this is not a pop at our shall we say newer fans but the likes of me and you FB have seen the really shit times and I'm expecting a few lean seasons and anyone disparaging the FA Cup will soon change their tune when it will probably be our best chance of silverware in the next few seasons.

I think Roman knows he can't compete with Man City and while he's not throwing in the towel he knows we are no longer the only show in town.

Yeah difficult to compete with Citehs riches.  I don't think we'll go back to the really lean times that we went through, but the FA Cup might be the best of aspirations in coming seasons. Can see a lot of fans drifting away, but then again you don't really need them if they've that attitude.

[Superblue 6,370]

Agreed, although I wasn't around for the really lean times of the 80's, I do remember from the early 90's on wards, how great that FA Cup felt in 97, the cup winners cup in 98, etc.

For me any trophy is success and enjoyable. People only go back in history and remember the teams that won trophies and were successful. 

If we drop into the Europa League next season, so be it. I was more than happy winning that trophy a couple of years ago, it was an enjoyable experience and like Arsenal have grasped, it may well be a huge opportunity for getting back into the Champions League by winning it.

I would also like to hope it allows the board and the club to re-focus. I was listening on the radio earlier today someone speaking about Roma and how Monchi has come in and helped to re-build the team despite losing their most effective player in the summer in Salah and continuously selling big name players to balance the books. For me, it's key that we get a football mind on the board with strong power to get the club pushing on again. We're no longer shopping at the top end of the market and need to be far smarter with our purchases this summer and hopefully a mix also of youth integration and some of our own loan players coming back.

It's a big summer. I've said in a previous post if we miss out on top 4 this season it'll be the 3rd time in 7 seasons which is starting to show a lack of consistency and stability which we once had.

[Iggy Doonican 4,186]

9 hours ago, Fulham Broadway said:

I don't think we'll go back to the really lean times

They were anorexic FB 

[Fulham Broadway 16,831]

This could put a spanner in the works

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/43906272

[the wes 7,212]

RFU reject hosting football to further dent Chelsea's options 

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-union/international/chelsea-new-stadium-wembley-stadium-offer-shahid-khan-rfu-twickenham-not-for-sale-a8324456.html

[the wes 7,212]

6 hours ago, Fulham Broadway said:

This could put a spanner in the works

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/43906272

Hope this is not True

[Unionjack 7,531]

10 hours ago, Fulham Broadway said:

This could put a spanner in the works

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/43906272

Can just see Fulham playing therre eh!

[Fulham Broadway 16,831]

1 hour ago, Unionjack said:

Can just see Fulham playing therre eh!

I am not sure it’s worth renovating the Bridge. Yes there are big games where we could sell out 60k but the capacity is about right with the prices as they are, when we come back from being rootless, with a long mediocre patch, we might not be able to regularly fill a bigger stadium by the time it’s ready. With TV money as it is, any extra made by hospitality etc. on a match day is pocket money in comparison. People don't seem to realise 10-15 points at home are won every season because of the close proximity of the fans.

There is an easier way - just knock down the hotel and make the shed end bigger.

[Unionjack 7,531]

1 minute ago, Fulham Broadway said:

I am not sure it’s worth renovating the Bridge. Yes there are big games where we could sell out 60k but the capacity is about right with the prices as they are, when we come back from being rootless, with a long mediocre patch, we might not be able to regularly fill a bigger stadium by the time it’s ready. With TV money as it is, any extra made by hospitality etc. on a match day is pocket money in comparison. People don't seem to realise 10-15 points at home are won every season because of the close proximity of the fans.

There is an easier way - just knock down the hotel and make the shed end bigger.

I kinda agree mate. OK it might be nice to have a posh new home but right now Id rather get the team sorted out (AND the board). Get back into some sort of stability here we are in the top 4 regular again with a team all gelled up and then do it.

[Iggy Doonican 4,186]

4 hours ago, Fulham Broadway said:

I am not sure it’s worth renovating the Bridge. Yes there are big games where we could sell out 60k but the capacity is about right with the prices as they are, when we come back from being rootless, with a long mediocre patch, we might not be able to regularly fill a bigger stadium by the time it’s ready. With TV money as it is, any extra made by hospitality etc. on a match day is pocket money in comparison. People don't seem to realise 10-15 points at home are won every season because of the close proximity of the fans.

There is an easier way - just knock down the hotel and make the shed end bigger.

We have to be brutally honest Chelsea are not going to get an extra 18,000 fans to watch us play the likes of Burnley, Bournemouth etc especially in midweek. Bigger ground means bigger away support but there's no way Burnley could bring 5,000 to Chelsea in midweek so there will be empty seats. Can't see them knocking down the hotel but making the Shed a 6,000 capacity was a joke and the blame is firmly at Bates door for that. West Ham do get much larger crowds although their twattish fans aren't happy but to use a line from the League of Gentlemen '' They are a local club for local people'' Chelsea aren't our support comes mainly from the Home Counties.

Historically our crowds during midweek have always been poor because fans have to travel into London and then get through the rush hour traffic on the road and on the Underground. Fans will have to travel even further if we are at Wembley and I expect crowds to be below 42,000 for some games. Not going to lie FB I'M a bit concerned about the next few years but it's Chelsea and as you know predictable we are not. 

[Superblue 6,370]

3 hours ago, Iggy Doonican said:

We have to be brutally honest Chelsea are not going to get an extra 18,000 fans to watch us play the likes of Burnley, Bournemouth etc especially in midweek. Bigger ground means bigger away support but there's no way Burnley could bring 5,000 to Chelsea in midweek so there will be empty seats. Can't see them knocking down the hotel but making the Shed a 6,000 capacity was a joke and the blame is firmly at Bates door for that. West Ham do get much larger crowds although their twattish fans aren't happy but to use a line from the League of Gentlemen '' They are a local club for local people'' Chelsea aren't our support comes mainly from the Home Counties.

Historically our crowds during midweek have always been poor because fans have to travel into London and then get through the rush hour traffic on the road and on the Underground. Fans will have to travel even further if we are at Wembley and I expect crowds to be below 42,000 for some games. Not going to lie FB I'M a bit concerned about the next few years but it's Chelsea and as you know predictable we are not. 

I live in Gloucester and have travelled down to Chelsea a few times for midweek games with my dad and it's a pain. Taking half a day minimum off work because ideally we need to catch the bus around lunchtime and not getting home until the early hours (with work the next day) is a slog, so I can understand your point.

Playing Devil's Advocate a bit here, but from what you've just said regarding fans from further afield. Should the club consider making an offer itself for Wembley? I know that a lot of fans, and particularly those that are based in London wouldn't be happy with this idea, but there are a few serious considerations to be made with this:

1. The stadium build is now being talked about as an estimate of around £1.2bn. You can't help but feel that the transfer activity in the last couple of years where we've adopted a sell to buy mentality is being influenced by this and will be for potentially many years. With the money pumping into the league now and giving even mid table teams a lot more money to spend we could find ourselves falling seriously behind the top clubs if we're not careful.

2. The apparent length of time away from Stamford Bridge will be 4 seasons.

3. By the time this is all done, and by the looks of things, making huge sacrifices as a result, it will be around 2024-2025.

Buying Wembley keeps us still in London, albeit in a different area (However we were exploring alternative sites to Stamford Bridge previously). The cost of buying Wembley would be far lower than the expected costs for the Bridge. The stadium is ready to move straight into, would be far bigger than what Stamford Bridge can become and as a result the club can immediately start to benefit from the increased gate receipts, hospitality, etc helping to pay off the cost of buying the stadium that much quicker. The venue is iconic and world renowned and will allow the club to rent it out for events, England can still play there, etc again making more money for the club and the stadium's reputation would only enhance the club's own reputation across the world.

As I said, some fans won't like it but I am far more concerned that by the time this Stamford Bridge build comes to fruition, the club will have made so many sacrifices on the pitch to compensate that we could be left behind. If the board believe a bigger stadium is paramount for us to continue developing and being more financially competitive then surely they should consider this if the FA is indeed open to selling.

[the wes 7,212]

Shahid Khan gives Chelsea green light to rent Wembley and says ground will remain 'cradle of English football'

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/shahid-khan-gives-chelsea-green-12436750

[Fulham Broadway 16,831]

 

5 hours ago, Iggy Doonican said:

Can't see them knocking down the hotel but making the Shed a 6,000 capacity was a joke and the blame is firmly at Bates door for that

Bates was very constrained on the capacity in his time by the local authority. Saying that the MH and shed are not great stands, the space in the concourses are rubbish. UK grounds are terrible in design, compared to say Deutscheland