RFU boss Bill Sweeney wants to stage Chelsea games at Twickenham whilst the Premier League outfit redevelop Stamford Bridge.
Sweeney is desperate to maximise revenue from the 82,000 capacity home of English rugby and would be open to the Blues moving in temporarily.
Chelsea want to upgrade the Bridge to take 60,000 instead of the current 42,000 but would need a temporary home when the builders move in.
Spurs played at Wembley from 2017 to 2019 while they built the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and hosting Chelsea for a couple of seasons would give the RFU a massive cash windfall.
Sweeney insists the ground is licensed to play Premier League but fears local council Richmond could kibosh the move.
Sweeney said: “It would be a big financial number. The licence would allow it to happen and there have been conversations previously about possible Premier League clubs coming here.
“Richmond council is more concerned in terms of impact on local residents, numbers of fans and so on they’re a little bit more sensitive.
"It may depend on which club it is. I know they would definitely have a conversation about that though.”
Sweeney recently threatened to move England’s base from Twickenham to the Midlands , with Milton Keynes an option, because of a row over Beyonce concerts.
Twickenham could not offer the American superstar the six gigs she is playing at Spurs this summer because of restrictions on the number of non-sports events it can hold.
Currently they are limited to three per year but Sweeney is confident that will be raised, boosting the RFU coffers, and they will stay put.
He added: “We’re making really progress with Richmond. The conversations with them have been positive, it’s a cooperative process.
“They see the value that we bring to the area and they understand why we need to have more non-rugby events when you compare it to Tottenham, to Wembley, the O2, they can see why we need those non-rugby events to make the thing viable.
“We’ve just completed the survey of local residents and we had the split between five minutes from the stadium and 15 minutes from the stadium.
"I think the figure was, and it was much bigger than we were expecting, 75 per cent support in terms of do you support the stadium hosting more or a lot of non-rugby events.
"I’m confident it’s going in the right direction.”
Shifting England away from Twickenham would have been a bombshell move and plans are in place for it to have a £600m facelift.
“We’ve always said our preference was to remain here,” Sweeney said.
"Not just for cultural reasons and the history.
"Hospitality and ticketing are 50 per cent of our revenue and from a geographical point of view this is a really important part of the country to be in."
Rvicky
0
Do you know me?
I know your handwriting 😂😂😂😂 calm down that's just banter.
sayaclnprt
1
just build new stadium wich is huge and leave stamford bridge for our ladies
KoonChristian
0
This is rubbish, what's the dem different from 42 to 60, I hate nonsense! Chelsea should be discussing 200,000 .
It's a pity!
yung87
0
This is rubbish, what's the dem different from 42 to 60, I hate nonsense! Chelsea should be discussing 200,000 .
Do you really follow Chelsea at all? Chelsea had requested to revamp our current home Stamford Bridge but they were denied. We decided to change the venue for our home matches by building a new stadium altogether but that wasn't feasible due to the area needed for the new stadium. So Chelsea had no choice than to stay where we are now which you already know that it doesn't belong to Chelsea FC. So the proposed 60,000 stadium capacity is the maximum capacity Stamford Bridge can be developed to without causing damage to private properties. So if it were you in Chelsea's shoes, what would you have done differently from what the owners have decided on?
KoonChristian
0
This is rubbish, what's the dem different from 42 to 60, I hate nonsense! Chelsea should be discussing 200,000 .
I'm a Chelsea fan, not a false one.
KoonChristian
0
😂😂😂😂 Yet you've never bought a ticket to a Chelsea match.
Do you know me?
Rvicky
0
This is rubbish, what's the dem different from 42 to 60, I hate nonsense! Chelsea should be discussing 200,000 .
😂😂😂😂 Yet you've never bought a ticket to a Chelsea match.
KoonChristian
1
This is rubbish, what's the dem different from 42 to 60, I hate nonsense! Chelsea should be discussing 200,000 .
pumadelo
2
I don't no y dem no like Chelsea council should av allow us to build new stadium atleast to a capacity of 80000 ppl but highest they can grant is 60000 capacity we re far behind our mate in Europe
deaabiklu
0
we need to upgrade the stadium as soon as possible
Naokmptuz
0
if they want to develop Stamford Bridge to 60 thousand to me is small, they should make it 80,000 instead of 60 000
It's the cost, space and length of time. They can still reconsider increasing capacity in the future ahead. And it's possible too that they don't want to disclose the actual plans
Jepabnpru
3
if they want to develop Stamford Bridge to 60 thousand to me is small, they should make it 80,000 instead of 60 000
yedbiops
1
yeeeeeeah that's cool
Richardoghale
2
Let's go Blues💙💙💙💙☑️
Rylandohill
2
ok lets goo!!!
Biucenouy
2
I like the move of the Blue 💙
fuuilmnouy
2
it's a good move