CHELSEA TO MOVE?

Last updated : 21 October 2004 By editor

Of course the fans will be very upset, this wasn’t in the brochure when the club was taken private. A warning surely to any pro-Glazer reds out there.

The Daily ‘hate’ mail reported yesterday:

‘Chelsea's millionaires are considering relocating from the opulence of West London to become East Enders. The club's long term ambition to stay at the top of English football has included talks at Stamford Bridge about leaving their 99-year-old home at the end of the King's Road for the proposed Olympic Stadium in Stratford which would be built if the 2012 bid were successful.

‘The controversial suggestion is likely to cause uproar among Chelsea fans, who would find it difficult to contemplate such a drastic move across town. But the club are aware that they need a stadium with a capacity of at least 60,000 if they are to continue to compete with Arsenal, who are moving to a stadium of that size in 2006, and Manchester United, whose Old Trafford site will soon be able to accommodate 75,000.

‘Chelsea insiders promoting the Stratford option point to the cosmopolitan nature of the playing staff plus only 12 per cent of the fan base being drawn from the local area.’