Chelsea owners make major Stamford Bridge decision as stadium plan confirmed

Chelsea news as the owners continue to divide fans with their latest decisions after the latest choice made on upgrades at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea have made new plans to erect two huge lion sculptures outside Stamford Bridge as the new owners continue to refurbish parts of the ground.

Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, who took over from Roman Abramovich 15 months ago in May 2022, have been unable to progress quickly with stadium plans that have revolved around moving ground permanently, knocking down the site for a total rebuild and also expanding the current plot.

The latest addition they hope to make it to erect two lion shaped sculptures, one at the Britannia Gate and one at the Stamford Gate entrance. In the planning application seen by football.london, Chelsea wrote: "As the Council will be aware, Chelsea FC changed ownership in May 2022 and its new owners have made a commitment to upgrading the Stadium’s facilities and appearance to positively transform the visitor experience.

"Consistent with this approach, this application proposes to install sculptures at the Britannia and Stamford Gates, which will refresh the appearance of the Stadium’s entrances and draw upon the Club’s long history with an innovative artistic design."

It adds: "At Britannia Gate, the artwork will deliver an enhancement on the outlook of the Site over the otherwise utilitarian entrance to the Stadium grounds, in-keeping with the surrounding heritage of Moore Park.

"Overall, the very limited nature of the Proposed Development involving the erection of a sculpture at Stamford Gate and atop the existing security gate hut will deliver enhancements on the outlook of the entrances to Stamford Bridge Stadium from Fulham Road."

Chelsea, who had covered costs for those travelling to away matches by official coaches provided by the club, have now removed the subsidy, writing: "When considering all factors, it was not financially sustainable to continue to offer subsidised coach travel."

Despite saying earlier in the statement, "We are aware the coaches are a valuable tool that many supporters rely upon, and the majority of those we engaged with asked the club to continue to offer the coach services.

"After reviewing this feedback and recognising how important the ability to travel by coach is, the club has committed to offering the service for the 23/24 season for selected men’s and women’s away fixtures."

"The appalling decision will force those who rely on the service to pay significantly more to travel to away fixtures," it wrote in response.

"Despite representations from The Chelsea Supporters’ Trust (CST) and coach users, CFC has unfortunately decided that maintaining the £10 subsidy is not 'financially sustainable'.

"It is important to note that this decision was made in the same year that the club broke the transfer record twice. It is widely rumoured that the coach subsidy budget was approximately £250k."

The response continued: "On Friday, the CST again met with the club to communicate that at a time when they should be taking active steps to make football affordable for more people, the decision to remove the subsidy in full is totally unacceptable.

"This decision also contradicts the commitment to inclusivity that the club guaranteed during takeover discussions held last Spring."

It finished: "It appears that during a cost-of-living crisis, Chelsea FC are happy to increase the financial burden on many supporters by penny-pinching."

Since this point the club also went on to sign Cole Palmer from Manchester City for around £45million. Although it waits to be seen just how much the new sculptures do cost, it continues to divide fans with the owners and their decision-making.

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