Chelsea Provide Fresh Update on Stamford Bridge Redevelopment Plans (Sort Of)
Chelsea have issued confirmation that there have been 'no developments' on plans to redevelop Stamford Bridge since the club first shelved the idea back in 2018.
As recently as early 2018, there had been much uncertainty as to where the club would play long-term. They had floated the idea of modernising the historic stadium, adding to the 42,000 capacity to take it closer to the 60,000 mark boasted by most of the elite modern arenas.
It all went quiet, however, when the club decided against any stadium redevelopment in the short-term, with a statement explaining that the current 'investment climate' means plans are unfeasible.
"Chelsea Football Club announces today that it has put its new stadium project on hold," the statement from last year read. "No further pre-construction design and planning work will occur.
"The club does not have a timeframe set for reconsideration of its decision. The decision was made due to the current unfavourable investment climate."
And now, over a year on, there has been another update. Even if it doesn't tell us very much at all.
Minutes emerging from a recent fans' forum say the club are no further on with the situation than they were last summer, with the project remaining shelved for the time being.
"The club confirmed there are no developments regarding the new stadium so the project remains on hold," the minutes read, as reported via football.london.
The stadium has been the least of the fans' concerns in recent months given all the footballing uncertainty over the summer. Manager Maurizio Sarri left to be replaced by Frank Lampard, who has had to contend with a registration embargo in his first season back at the Bridge.
But after a shaky start, the likes of Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori have all been established as first-team players, and three league wins on the bounce since a defeat to Liverpool last month mean they sit a creditable fourth in the Premier League at the nine-game mark.