The true cost of the East stand.

[alan'82]

I've always wanted to know a deffinative answer to questions I have about the East stand & Chelsea in the 70's.

Is it fair to say the ambitious plans to re-develop the ground,starting with the East stand,cost Chelsea at least a decade of financial misery & therefore, a disasterous knock-on effect on the squads quality and the ability to buy players?.

Did the fans push for this?,was it really needed at the time,or was it a vanity project of the rulling Mears family dynasty,not properly managed or financed correctly from the word go.Or were they just badly advised,maybe just plain unlucky it coencided with a difficult financial period?

I didn't follow Chels until '80-81,(as a young lad),so I know little of the details other than what I can find in sources such as Rick Glanville's Chelsea biography.

So therefore,I think it's well worth asking the questions to old time fans who witnessed the events first hand & therefore,have an opinion well worth listening to!.

The one question that i've always wanted an answer to is........what do you think would have happend to Chelsea F.C. if the board had delayed (maybe cancelled) the East stand project before they started to build it.

Would CFC have become an established/good first division side of the time,based on a crop of talented youngsters/experienced older pros?.

Would we have had to face all the Marler Estates crap?,spending years adrift in the old second division?.

Was it all just inevitable?.

Thanks.

[Backbiter]

Would CFC have become an established/good first division side of the time,based on a crop of talented youngsters/experienced older pros?

We already were a good and established side - the most successful in our history with 3 major trophies in 6 years. We were as inconsistent as hell but we had some real talent. It wasn't just the East Stand that buggered things up, though. The drinking culture at the club prevented the likes of Hudson achieving their potential, and Sexton's management of the club went badly downhill, and the team was already breaking up. Yes, we had money to invest in players like David Hay, our record buy, but I think we were clearly on the slide before the old East Stand was demolished. The sale of Osgood and Hudson came before the East Stand disaster.

Gary Locke was a good youngster who made the breakthrough into that side, and of course Ray Wilkins was a fantastic youth product, with others like Wicks, Stanley, Britton, Finnieston and Swain emerging at the same time, so we could have blooded them more gradulally alongside some quality signings, rather than chuck them all in together once our finances had collapsed.

Would we have had to face all the Marler Estates crap?,spending years adrift in the old second division?

Without the East Stand debacle there would have been no need to sell the ground, as the Mears family did, so there would have been no Marler/ Cabra/ Bulstrode bollox. But there would also have been no Ken Bates, no electric fences, no CPO.....The Mears family would have carried on and on, so there'd have been no Roman either......

Was it all just inevitable?

Definitely not.

[Tea Bar Boy]

I always thought it seemed a good idea at the time but 10 years to late . The economy went tits up badly and credit just dried up 3 day working weeks etc. grim times for everyone

The East Stand was the first part of the ground development , I recall seeing what the finished stadium was going to look like and it would have been years ahead of its time in some of the old programes . 60,000 all seater with stands the same height as the current East Stand in a bowl bit like Old Trafford used to be like , not sure if anyone can find the old plans somewhere ?

[Backbiter]

Here's an artist's impression from an old programme:

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQj-uTS-LpOsC_JLZPL1xVIpKu_5t9HLrDEgP6hpWSTCysd40TPpVJohjL9

[erskblue]

Cheers you lot

This aspect of Chelseas history has intrigued me too.

[Mike Carefree]

The old wooden east stand had to come down..All i know is that in the early days of the new east stand some great chelsea discos ensued...A great time for us fans to integrate with our players freely...No them n us then...Learned never to take non established girlfriends...

[chelsea78]

I obtained a glossy leaflet in the early 70's from the club entitled The Chelsea Blueprint. It was basically the plans with illustrations of the proposed new Stamford Bridge . The new east Stand was to be stage one of these plans. I don't believe the club were wrong to have had such ambition because had the stadium redevelopment been realized, it would have been years ahead of it's time. The problem was that after building work had begun, there was a prolonged building strike of around 18 months which delayed the East stands completion. The effect of this was that the project ended up costing a great deal more then had been predicted from the outset. Don't forget that this was happening at a time when inflation was running out of control.

.

[Nitro]

Would like to see all the plans, a lot of detail was in a Chelsea book of the early 70s, the plans were years ahead of its time, it says in the book that an extra tier could be added to get to the 80,000 capacity.

Plans included that walkway to the station, why cant we have it now.

All that expectation after delays and end remember losing to Carlisle 0-2 ah.

Political turmoil, 3 day weeks, strikes stopped us in our tracks, should have gone on to be the Capitals greatest team. We are now though.

[erskblue]

_{The old East Stand was a typical 'Archibald Leitch' Stand as was the old small stand in the corner.}

_{If you look back at Stadiums Archibald Leitch built in early 1900s then these two types of stand were the norm for his football stadiums.}

_{Craven Cottage still has the small stand (pavillion ) today}

[Peckham Blue]

I've got that yearbook somewhere, it's the 1972 one I think and when I can finally get around to scanning more of the old photos I'll do it as well. The plans were very impressive, from memory four stands with 'executive boxes' like the East on all four sides although I can't remember if it was to be all seater at the ends, all standing in those areas would have really been something. You can't blame Mears and Chelsea for trying, we had a great team at it's most successful period in our history but Government policy leading to a three day working week and the increased cost of steel f**ked things up big time.

[Carshalton Blue]

Original plans for the new stamford bridge early 70's, not to far off Bates ideas & what we've got now.

some info on an old train station Chelsea & Fulham that ran behind our east stand, quite an interesting read although a bit trainspotterish....

Chelsea & Fulham station, that funny little bit of concrete behind the East Stand, which today you can't see, but there was the one of the first stations on the West London Extension Railway, which openned on 2nd March 1863!

The official location was between Fulham road bridge and Kings road bridge and just to the east of Wandon road, but the platform went up behind the East Stand.

It ran several football specials on match days.

On the 21st October 1940 it closed due to enemy action!!! The station it self did not suffer any substancial damage, but it never re-opened.

http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/c/chelsea_fulham/index.shtml

This is my video & been posted on here a few times before but i thought i'd post again incase some of you havent seen it.

[erskblue]

Cheers for above post mate.

[BlueBeard]

I've never liked the 'new' East Stand, maybe I would have if the stadium development had been completed. In my eyes it just never fitted in with the rest of the ground, maybe other fans felt the same about the old West Stand when it was first built.

I never watched a game from the old East Stand, but I loved the building, especially with the tunnel underneath which meant fans could change ends if they wanted to. As a kid I often switched ends at half time if Chelsea were attacking the north end, and stood under the North Stand. Also collected loads of autographs under the East Stand at the players entrance over the years, happy days.

The only time I've sat in the new East Stand was in the early 80's, in Gate 13, terrific memories of a totally different kind!

[Mike Carefree]

Used to love it when the SHED would sing SEXTON...SEXTON...and if he was upstairs in the old stand the window would open and he would give us a wave

[Nitro]

Original plans for the new stamford bridge early 70's, not to far off Bates ideas & what we've got now.

Thanks to all, lots of info to remember " Green Seats" no idea why we had green seats.

Interesting that this was still planned for 1982, must have been at the end of the Mears ownership.

Would love to see as many plans as possible, is that model of the stadium in the museum, seem to remember a couple of models in there before it was moved.?

[Carshalton Blue]

Another different pic & take of the east stand

East Stand, Stamford Bridge (1986) From a new flat on the site of the old Fulham Hospital. The pitch and 'shed' (south stand) can just be glimpsed between the stand and the flat's roof.

[erskblue]

The new stand looked amazing when it was built.

It was easily 'head and shoulders' above anything else in English football at that time.

[Carshalton Blue]

What i find weird is the fact the new design published in 1972 had a motoway running adjacent to stamford bridge, i think it was to be the new west way link? thank f@ck it didnt come off.

You can see it on this programme.

[alan'82]

Thanks for all the replies,fascinating stuff really, but I guess in the end, it's all in the past & any mistakes the board made, can't be changed.Just as long as they made them for genuine CFC reasons.

Still kinda think it proved to be a bit of a 'folly' that not only could the club not afford, but cost us at least a decade of utter stagnation into the bargain.

Questions about what could Eddie Mac/Butch Wilkins have achieved without the crippling finacial restraints, will remain un-answered I guess.

But, without the huge debt & with a stronger finacial postion,do you think McCreadie would have been appointed manager in the first place?.

Would Ray Wilkins have been sold to manure?.

Would the late 70's to early 80's have been so tough?.

[Tea Bar Boy]

Would the late 70's to early 80's have been so tough?.

The highs mean so much more when you have seen and lived the lows is my take on it .

Would anyone in the ground have believed you when we just beat relegation to the old 3rd division by a whisker if you turned round and told them " Don't worry fella we will win the European Cup , League and FA cups galore in the future "

[whitewall66]

personally i've always loved the east stand cos a mate of mine worked on the turnstiles so between 1988 and 1992 i got in for nothing

[erskblue]

personally i've always loved the east stand cos a mate of mine worked on the turnstiles so between 1988 and 1992 i got in for nothing

That must have been brilliant

[Carshalton Blue]

personally i've always loved the east stand cos a mate of mine worked on the turnstiles so between 1988 and 1992 i got in for nothing

Late 90s early 00s we had a Hibs lad on the mhl turnstyles, a mate of mine had it sorted with him to let us in for £10, we had a password we used so the fella knew we were in on the scam, we pretended to pass him a ticket, he'd click the gate we'd go in & pay my mate the £10, they then would meet up after the game & split the money, once in the ground we'd stand in the restricted view bit next to the east lower or in my case i'd know so many lads i'd always find a seat or an ailse i could stand in, one game we had Watford at home & i ended up in the very first seat in the mhl up at the back overlooking the west lower where some of my pals were sat getting soaked & all for £30 or whatever it cost at the time lol!

Marseille at home he must have let 50 to 100 lads in that night so nice little earner for em.

It lasted about two seasons before the lad got caught & nicked, good while it lasted as it coincided with me having to give my st up the year or so before.

[whitewall66]

it was brilliant erksblue,one of the funniest times i had at a match was in the east lower we were playing forest and i was right behind the dugouts,brian clough had been in an episode of boon and these two chelsea blokes spent the whole 90 minutes taking the piss out of him, when clough started pointing his finger at the ref they started shouting"i've been in boon young man" and "if i give up football i can always take up acting can you young man" and doing a superb impression of his patronising voice

[erskblue]

it was brilliant erksblue,one of the funniest times i had at a match was in the east lower we were playing forest and i was right behind the dugouts,brian clough had been in an episode of boon and these two chelsea blokes spent the whole 90 minutes taking the piss out of him, when clough started pointing his finger at the ref they started shouting"i've been in boon young man" and "if i give up football i can always take up acting can you young man" and doing a superb impression of his patronising voice

Superb !