Chelsea ‘only at the beginning’ of stadium (re-)development process, again

Chelsea co-owner Jonathan Goldstein gave an exclusive interview to (Chelsea fan) Francine Lacqua of Bloomberg TV on Friday, and one of the topics in the (obviously) business-centric chat that came up briefly was that of the stadium. As we recall, part of the bidding process was a specific “binding commitment” to redevelop Stamford Bridge — be that stand-by-stand or as a complete rebuild — and Goldstein, as a noted London-based property developer, is the person in charge of that process now.

However, with the focus so far on (completely) reorganizing both the football and the business sides of the club’s operations, the stadium process is currently still just in its infancy. Goldstein’s hoping that in twelve months’ time he will have better and more concrete answers.

“That’s one of the great questions [but] there is no existing planning permission on the site. There was a planning permission. It’s lapsed, so we have to start again. We are at the beginning of that process.

“Obviously, there are two alternatives. You either redevelop the existing stadium or you take it down and build a new one on the site. We’re very tied to Stamford Bridge — the Chelsea Pitch Owners are part of that process. So we’re going through our own educational process. We will then consult with fans, consult with local authorities, and I would hope over the next twelve months, I will be able to tell you how [we will proceed].”

“Current we’re really focused on understanding the locality, understanding what we got at Stamford Bridge, and trying to maximize the opportunity and excitement for the fans.”

-Jonathan Goldstein; source: Bloomberg TV

You can watch the full interview here or just the Chelsea portion here. And if you haven’t, now is as good a time as any to join the CPO and have a say in this as well. (I personally still hold out hope that the Cathedral of Football plans will get resurrected, even the planning permission lapsed a couple years ago after the plans themselves were put on hold in 2018.)