20 Sep 2021 12:42:06
The 1st game I've managed to get to this season yesterday. Have sore head after celebrating The Unbeatables latest brilliant 3-point lane win.

What a player Silva is even at 37. And Kante has to be the best player in World football at the moment.

My only gripe is that we should have scored 6 or 7 to really rub the noses of the Spuds fans in it.

Talking of Spuds fans, have they turned into Arsenal fans - their sections were like a library yesterday?!

One positive for Spurs: it was my 1st visit to the rebuilt White Hart Lane - and as much as it irks me to say it: what a magnificent stadium it is - I was so impressed by the enviromental initiatives of the rebuild - makes little old Stamford Bridge look shabby and second rate.

Come on Roman - hand-in-pocket time again I'm afraid old chap - please build us a stadium for us to be proud of and worthy of the Champions of Europe. And while we're asking you to open your wallet yet again, Roman, can you please, pretty please, buy us Haaland next summer.

1.) 20 Sep 2021
20 Sep 2021 13:54:32
I agree Jamie, the Bridge could do with an upgrade. But then I find myself looking at somewhere like Selhurst Park and thinking that's a proper old school rocking stadium.

Maybe it's not the bricks and mortar we should be worried about. If we're honest there's plenty of library like sections in our home games too, I don't think that percentage would look better with a capacity increase.

2.) 20 Sep 2021
20 Sep 2021 14:22:09
Lads if ever the saying, “all coat and no knickers” described a club, it is the spuds.

This weekend it will be our third home game. For the first I got pinged and obviously had to miss the game. The game against Villa I did get to and although the result was pleasing it did flatter us somewhat.

Today I have been summoned by the NHS for some treatment. Normally this would be good news but as the NHS is playing catch up my treatment will roll into Saturday. I’m beginning to think I’m jinxed.

Of course it could all be a conspiracy but experience tells me, you don’t mess with our NHS heroes.

COME on MY MIGHTY BLUES.

3.) 20 Sep 2021
20 Sep 2021 14:28:06
Lol. We really do need a new stadium. It's 2021, the solution is to move elsewhere in London, not spend 2 billion for only a 20k capacity increase.

4.) 20 Sep 2021
20 Sep 2021 15:51:24
Standard, as a CPO I would have supported the club if had decided to move out of Stamford Bridge to a reasonable alternative site.

I have never been convinced about the complete rebuilding of Stamford Bridge. If it was possible and as a short term fix I would have preferred the expansion of the the Shed End but I’m told this was considered but found to be “impractical”, whatever that means!

5.) 20 Sep 2021
20 Sep 2021 16:35:14
I loved the plans for the new ground, I like the design like Bayern’s to trap the atmosphere so it’s as loud as possible. Shame it fell through.

6.) 20 Sep 2021
20 Sep 2021 16:51:45
I think RA and the board know that the stadium requires looking at. I would expect something to happen in the next 5 years. With regard to building atmosphere in a stadium? All the big clubs have a wee bit if a dilemma. In the old days when it was pay at the gate whole supporters buses stood together and sang together. Or the pub would empty out and again everyone stayed and sang together. If you want to sing wave flags and generally let off steam, and you have the energy to do it then the club should know and they should try to organise the stadium in that fashion. That way they can unite an end or a side of the stadium that will generate the mood throughout the stadium. It is an unintended consequence of the season ticket distribution that has split up supporters mixing old with young, shouters with quieter fans, not to mention the families section.

7.) 20 Sep 2021
20 Sep 2021 17:22:49
The plans to redevelop Stamford Bridge never seemed realistic to me : knocking down the present stadium, digging 15 metres down and building a new ground: how long would have taken? The cost would have been astronomical for the sake of 18000 extra seats. I don’t know what the answer is. The Battersea Power Station would have been ideal but it was not to be.

8.) 20 Sep 2021
20 Sep 2021 17:24:21
Good points lads but for me allowing away supporters into The Shed was wrong. I always think it’s the two ends of a stadium that create the real atmosphere and we should look to relocate away supporters into a dark corner! haha.

9.) 20 Sep 2021
20 Sep 2021 17:56:15
Jimbo wasn’t the issue with Battersea that CPO wouldn’t sell the land to Abramovixh to then redevelop if we moved?

10.) 20 Sep 2021
20 Sep 2021 18:30:00
Fuser, I’m not sure what the position of the CPO was but I think the club’s proposals for Battersea were rejected in favour of a Malaysian consortium .

11.) 20 Sep 2021
20 Sep 2021 18:32:14
fuser, I think the finance for the Battersea power station was the major problem. I also think another interested
Party was prepared to pay more than us.

I do recall the CPO having reservations about moving away from The Bridge but I don’t recall a definitive NO to a move to close to our ancestral home. The fans I spoke to were happy with the power station or earles court.

12.) 20 Sep 2021
20 Sep 2021 18:55:33
I think the club wanted to buy the freehold of the Bridge in around 2012 but the CPO rejected it as required 75 % approval. Obviously, Battersea and Earls Court are off the menu. Strangely, as long ago as 2012 the club said that redevelopment of the Bridge was not feasible or cost effective stating it would take 3 years to build and cost 600 million ( a vast underestimate even then) . I think we will just have to accept the Bridge as it is.

{Ed002's Note - The club have planning and will do it once one issue is overcome. That is all that has held things up.}

13.) 20 Sep 2021
20 Sep 2021 19:17:27
It seems like a long time ago Jimbo and to be honest I don’t remember any CPO vote but I’m sure you are correct. I do vaguely remember the CPO not wanting to sign over the pitch freehold until a site had been secured plus I think there were one or two other concerns.

My guess is if a rebuild becomes a reality the vast majority of the CPO’s will release their shares. Again, if I remember correctly the CPO scheme only exists to stop housing development of the site.

It’s all a bit vague for me nowadays, sorry.

14.) 20 Sep 2021
20 Sep 2021 19:25:46
Ed, that surprises me. The original planning approval has expired but I assume it’s a lot easier to get new approval once a decision of approval has been made in the past. I’m still have doubts it will happen, it just doesn’t make economic sense: where is the money coming from?

{Ed002's Note - It is not the money that was the issue. When circumstances are right the club will renew the same application with the same design - but right now they cannot do that.}

15.) 20 Sep 2021
20 Sep 2021 19:39:12
Tom, reading Ed’s comments it may not be an issue. But if the club had to relocate and the Bridge site was sold what else would have been built there? You only have to look at Lille Road. Perhaps an agreement to build a significant amount of affordable homes and social housing might have made a difference.

16.) 20 Sep 2021
20 Sep 2021 20:42:49
Jimbo, I think the vast majority of CPO’s would have excepted the housing development of the Bridge if a quality site close to our ancestral home.

Let’s be honest our site is probably the most valuable piece of land that Premiership football is played on.

17.) 20 Sep 2021
20 Sep 2021 21:22:26
Yes Tom, I think that’s part of the problem. The site would be worth a fortune: maybe we can ground share with Spurs ?.

18.) 20 Sep 2021
20 Sep 2021 21:55:29
I know you are joking Jimbo but I’m ok with ground sharing.

Just imagine us sharing a ground with Fulham. Both sides could make a fortune with the sale of either site.

Never going to happen but I don’t feel that precious about the issue.

19.) 20 Sep 2021
20 Sep 2021 22:15:30
Fulham’s site would be worth a fortune too. Ground sharing works in Italy, I can’t think where else it’s common. It wouldn’t bother me: it’s the team that counts. Wasn’t there a proposal years ago for Liverpool and Everton to share a ground? . Don’t think it would catch on in England but it makes economic sense.

20.) 21 Sep 2021
21 Sep 2021 06:30:47
Sheffield Utd and Wednesday, Bristol City and Rovers are two that spring to mind but it’s never going to happen and I do appreciate the emotional attachment and history involved.

{Ed001's Note - it doesn't work in Italy which is why they are all looking to build their own grounds.}

21.) 21 Sep 2021
21 Sep 2021 08:59:17
I didn’t know that Ed. Thanks for the information.

Can I ask why it’s failed?

{Ed001's Note - because none of the fans feel at home really as it is not their stadium, often they leave damage if the other team are home instead. Then there is the lack of income, when you own a stadium you can host concerts etc when you are not at home. Then damage to the pitches through overuse. Admin problems do not help, as the stadiums are usually owned by a third party and both clubs have access to it.

It is only of use to small clubs who can't afford a stadium of their own, as it does reduce the costs associated. Other than that there are few, if any, benefits to a shared stadium.}

22.) 21 Sep 2021
21 Sep 2021 09:28:58
Interesting Ed. Thank you.

{Ed001's Note - very welcome. You can see the same in Germany as well, though it is different circumstances, either neither club benefits really or one team is the dominant one and the other just gets to use the pitch for their matches. Again it only really helps the little club due to the savings in running a stadium such as the big one with all the lights around it. It was two teams that went halves but the smaller one went bankrupt trying to pay their way and the bigger one bought them out but allows them to use it for free still. If they hadn't been willing to help the little team out, then it would have been the end of them.}

23.) 21 Sep 2021
20 Sep 2021 19:58:32
Ed002, please don't wet our lips and then refuse to let us drink: what is the one issue to overcome? Is it to do with the railway?

{Ed002's Note - No it is nothing to do with the railway nor the buses. You are very strange people.}

24.) 21 Sep 2021
21 Sep 2021 13:10:26
Is the building of the ground still viable Ed002?
It was quoted by some as £1billion in 2018 and that could have doubled by the time work starts.

25.) 21 Sep 2021
21 Sep 2021 13:15:45
[Ed002's Note: The money is not the problem as I have explained. ].

26.) 21 Sep 2021
21 Sep 2021 17:07:39
Ed001, you say that ground sharing 'is only of use to small clubs' - then it's ideal for Arsenal and Spurs!