12 hours ago, Kev56 said:

Well, I won’t be seeing.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-13161629/Chelsea-fear-homeless-SIX-YEARS-ahead-Stamford-Bridge-revamp-frustration-growing-lack-progress-new-owners.html

Farking Hell,  I hope my inevitable Zimmer Frame can be accommodated  !

1 hour ago, The Rising Sun said:

That's true , but a £2 billion layout for an additional £110 m a year which we usually throw away on just one player doesn't seem to make sense . 

Plus the loan has to be repayed Tottenham are paying £37 million a year back  on a £600million loan ( I think ) for another 25 years.

Our borrowing is likely to be a lot more isn't it ? I can't remember the latest estimates but we'll be away from the Bridge for a lot longer than Spurs were away from WHL as they were able to build a large part of one end of the new stadium while still playing at WHL.

I don't know what our owners have in mind for us , what's the options for playing somewhere else for a few years dya reckon ?

Thanks for your reply mate 

And if we don't do this, by the time boehly etc go we won't be buying 100m players. Tottenham will. And we will be a mid table outfit. 

The big 6 teams in 10 years time will be those with the biggest revenues. And they will accelerate away. Without a new stadium in 10 years time we will be 7th or 8th. 

Where will we play? I'd hope we strike a deal with Twickenham for x games per season and the rest at craven cottage. Otherwise it'll be Wembley + craven cottage. 

It'll be an annoying and sh*t 6 years. But worth it in the long run. 

When the original plans under Roman were put in it was going to cost between £500,000,000-£1 billion. Hopefully it’s not gone up too much.

12 hours ago, Richard P said:

When the original plans under Roman were put in it was going to cost between £500,000,000-£1 billion. Hopefully it’s not gone up too much.

You can count on it that it will. Inflation and higher costs for material and for labour will probably double it.

12 hours ago, Richard P said:

When the original plans under Roman were put in it was going to cost between £500,000,000-£1 billion. Hopefully it’s not gone up too much.

It doesn't really matter. It won't count to FFP. It affects Clearlakes ability to invest in the club, but that's relatively limited anyway because of FFP. 

14 hours ago, Richard P said:

When the original plans under Roman were put in it was going to cost between £500,000,000-£1 billion. Hopefully it’s not gone up too much.

Likely to be much closer to 2bn now.

16 hours ago, Richard P said:

When the original plans under Roman were put in it was going to cost between £500,000,000-£1 billion. Hopefully it’s not gone up too much.

 

3 hours ago, Valerie said:

You can count on it that it will. Inflation and higher costs for material and for labour will probably double it.

Easily double unfortunately, material costs, groundworks costs, labour costs are all through the roof.

18 hours ago, bisright1 said:

And if we don't do this, by the time boehly etc go we won't be buying 100m players. Tottenham will. And we will be a mid table outfit. 

The big 6 teams in 10 years time will be those with the biggest revenues. And they will accelerate away. Without a new stadium in 10 years time we will be 7th or 8th. 

Where will we play? I'd hope we strike a deal with Twickenham for x games per season and the rest at craven cottage. Otherwise it'll be Wembley + craven cottage. 

It'll be an annoying and sh*t 6 years. But worth it in the long run. 

Ever been to Craven Cottage? Seems like a nice stadium/pitch on the tele. Wouldn't mind seeing us playing there for 6 years if push comes to shove. 

3 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Ever been to Craven Cottage? Seems like a nice stadium/pitch on the tele. Wouldn't mind seeing us playing there for 6 years if push comes to shove. 

With  over 25,000 season ticket holders plus huge corporate section. Tickets will be hard to come by. Six years could see some support frustrated.

What about building on Brompton cemetery behind the East Stand.

Its been dead for years , pretty lifeless in fact.

55 minutes ago, The Rising Sun said:

What about building on Brompton cemetery behind the East Stand.

Its been dead for years , pretty lifeless in fact.

You've been dying to use these puns, haven't you @The Rising Sun ?

 

1 hour ago, PloKoon13 said:

 

The stadium is built in such a cramped area that it's incredibly difficult to expand, and if we don't expand, we can't grow financially. But we can't move if we want to keep the Chelsea name. 

We have been trapped in this stalemate for over a decade now and I'm not sure there is any way out of it.

Edited March 8, 20242 yr by Scott Harris

14 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

The stadium is built in such a cramped area that it's incredibly difficult to expand, and if we don't expand, we can't grow financially. But we can't move if we want to keep the Chelsea name. 

We have been trapped in this stalemate for over a decade now and I'm not sure there is any way out of it.

I think some people don't realise the problems the confines of the footprint creates.

As a rule of thumb you need to keep in mind foundations go at 45 degrees outwards, so adding any weight to the existing stands will just extend the forces out further, underneath the existing structures around the ground, which will not be allowed. The only realistic way of expanding on the existing footprint is to knock it all down and start again unfortunately.

6 minutes ago, dkw said:

I think some people don't realise the problems the confines of the footprint creates.

As a rule of thumb you need to keep in mind foundations go at 45 degrees outwards, so adding any weight to the existing stands will just extend the forces out further, underneath the existing structures around the ground, which will not be allowed. The only realistic way of expanding on the existing footprint is to knock it all down and start again unfortunately.

I think your rule of thumb is wrong.

The problem with SB has always been access and egress onto the Fulham Road. This can be negated by a concourse being built over tube line behind the North Stand. Romans plan was accepted but Thersa May suspended his business visa. 

Since then the club have been given permission to buy the old veterans hospital next to the west stand. I would have thought this expansion of the footprint increases the chances of the club being able to start works before vacating or even to remain. 

On 07/03/2024 at 17:56, Richard P said:

With  over 25,000 season ticket holders plus huge corporate section. Tickets will be hard to come by. Six years could see some support frustrated.

They might as well stay at home and watch. It's not like they offer much support at games anyway. Thank God for the Emptyhad otherwise we probably are the "big club" with the most toxic fans in terms of supporting the team with silence or when they can be bothered by booing. 

On 11/01/2024 at 16:25, bisright1 said:

It's a completely nonsense opinion to think west ham can sell out 60k week in week out and we can't. 

Also Fulham tickets aren't on general sale. 

You obviously noticed the empty seats the other night Newcastle sold their full allocation if we were playing Burnley, Sheffield United or Wolves there would have been at least another 1,500 empty seats. The empty seats in the West Stand will happen again before the end of the season guaranteed , The club are on the decline the disconnect between the fans and the board and management is massive and then you have to factor in this sort of pricing 60,000 stadium never going to happen not with these septic tanks running things.  

2 hours ago, bluehaze said:

You obviously noticed the empty seats the other night Newcastle sold their full allocation if we were playing Burnley, Sheffield United or Wolves there would have been at least another 1,500 empty seats. The empty seats in the West Stand will happen again before the end of the season guaranteed , The club are on the decline the disconnect between the fans and the board and management is massive and then you have to factor in this sort of pricing 60,000 stadium never going to happen not with these septic tanks running things.  

The game against Newcastle was a sell out. Season ticket holders not coming to a Monday night game doesn't change things

Our corporate tickets not alwaus fully selling out might have something to do with it being the 4th best stadium in London. 

13 hours ago, bisright1 said:

The game against Newcastle was a sell out. Season ticket holders not coming to a Monday night game doesn't change things

Our corporate tickets not alwaus fully selling out might have something to do with it being the 4th best stadium in London. 

Go back to the sanctions where were the most empty seats the West Lower very few season ticket holders in that part of the ground and if you sit there it's like the league of nations this is where the majority of tourists sit. You can defend and deflect mate but crowds are on the wane and with prices going up next season and if we are still mid table fodder then empty seats will become the norm and filling a 60,000 stadium is never going to happen @Boyne a season ticket holder said as much as well and his opinion I highly respect.

17 minutes ago, bluehaze said:

Go back to the sanctions where were the most empty seats the West Lower very few season ticket holders in that part of the ground and if you sit there it's like the league of nations this is where the majority of tourists sit. 

West lower is season tickets.

2 hours ago, CaitlinCFC said:

West lower is season tickets.

Obviously there's some but it's not exclusively hence the empty seats during sanctions, 

20 hours ago, bluehaze said:

The club are on the decline the disconnect between the fans and the board and management is massive 

I’m really struggling to give a sh*t about the club anymore. I’ve given up trying to get tickets to men’s games, either when we get the chance I’m not willing to spend the silly money. It’s not even about the sh*t performance, I’d normally be pissed off and wanting to see the club come out of it all but I just don’t feel any connection nowadays.

Fill the place with tourists in their overpriced replica tat, I’ll be at a comedy show having a laugh instead. 

4 hours ago, bluehaze said:

Go back to the sanctions where were the most empty seats the West Lower very few season ticket holders in that part of the ground and if you sit there it's like the league of nations this is where the majority of tourists sit. You can defend and deflect mate but crowds are on the wane and with prices going up next season and if we are still mid table fodder then empty seats will become the norm and filling a 60,000 stadium is never going to happen @Boyne a season ticket holder said as much as well and his opinion I highly respect.

Just find this view point completely baffling and so negative. 

If we can't sell out a 60k stadium, we deserve to be mid table. 

But you seem determined to believe that we are the 4th biggest club in London, so be it. 

20 hours ago, bluehaze said:

Go back to the sanctions where were the most empty seats the West Lower very few season ticket holders in that part of the ground and if you sit there it's like the league of nations this is where the majority of tourists sit. You can defend and deflect mate but crowds are on the wane and with prices going up next season and if we are still mid table fodder then empty seats will become the norm and filling a 60,000 stadium is never going to happen @Boyne a season ticket holder said as much as well and his opinion I highly respect.

It will be interesting to see what happens with season ticket prices come the start of next season. One of the guys i go to the games with sent me a note the other day saying that prices will go up by 20%. I don't think that will happen but I can see an increase of 10%. My ST in the MHU is £880 so the price would go up to £968. Wouldn't surprise me if the club rounded up the figure to £1,000. I'm getting more and more cynical in my old age. Will be interesting to see how many people give up their season tickets. I have to admit it's something I've considered. Not due to the standard of football or even a possible ST price increase but because of the way match going fans are mucked about due to games being moved for TV but that's maybe a discussion for another day. Just to say that it doesn't help when selling tickets: you only have to look at the club trying to sell tickets for a couple of recent matches. Doesn't help that the tickets being sold were for silly money. One of the reasons I go to the games is because it's the only time I meet up with some people and I would miss the banter.

When the club were looking are refurbishing the ground in the early 1990s Ken Bates stated that he didn't think a stadium of 60,000 wasn't viable as he believed that the football bubble would burst. Begs the following questions: if prices do go up how many ST holders will stop going?; how many members do we have and how easy is for them to get tickets?; and how many tickets are given to travel companies for tourists to buy? Do those tourists follow the club or is just another box to tick? I've had my ST in the MHU since season 97-98 and a good number of the people who sit near me have been there since the start of that season. True, some have moved on for very good reasons: sadly some have passed away; others have moved away and can't get to the games; and others can't afford to go. Have seen a few tourists and am convinced that some of them go to the games as it's on the list of things to do. I'm tempted to write to the club and ask how many tickets are sold to travel companies but I doubt if I'll get an answer.

If we did build a 60,000 seater ground and it doesn't sell out, the owners could turn round and say you asked for a bigger ground and we're not filling it. It could be a risk. Some people have mentioned about using the ground for other events e.g other sports. That would certainly bring in more revenue. How much is anyone's guess but a couple of key points: there is a possibility that the women's team could play more or all of their games at the Bridge rather than at Kingsmeadow. As we know the men play 19 home league games and the women 11 so a total of 30 plus all the cup and European matches. We could be approaching fifty matches. If the club starts to use the ground for other events the residents and Hammersmith and Fulham Council will no doubt raise objections. Kensington and Chelsea Council may also raise objections. Having fifty matches at the Bridge may not be too popular given to the disruption caused by road closures.

I think that if the ground is ever redeveloped that it could be turned 45 degrees - the purchase of part of the Oswald Stoll estate could help that - and that may help with an increase in capacity.

I'll post more later but I'm going out for a while.

WATP

 

Ah well, close, 😞

Edited March 16, 20242 yr by Kev56