Chelsea bidding for Battersea to build 60,000 capacity stadium

Russian big boy and owner of the London club Chelsea; Roman Abramovich has tendered a bid for London’s Battersea power station site a landmark in London which can build a 60,000 capacity stadium today. Though derelicted, the power station which is on the south bank of the Thames has a familiar site due to its four white chimney stacks. Abramovich wants to make the stadium one of the most iconic football stadiums in the world if everything goes well with their bidding. The idea is for Chelsea to able to stand and compete with rivals with larger stadiums both at home and abroad. Their present stadium; Stamford Bridge has been where they are since 1905 can only handle about 42,000. However, any move could run into opposition from fans. Chelsea tried to buy the freehold of Stamford Bridge last year to clear the way for a possible move but the plan was rejected by the Chelsea Pitch Owners (CPO), a group of fans who acquired the freehold in 1993 to protect the ground from developers. In a statement by the club, issues surrounding the new project to be embarked on are with the support from fans, shareholders (CPO) inclusive, the Wandsworth residents and council of Wandsworth amongst others. Previous reports have said the Battersea site could have a price tag of 300 to 400 million pounds ($486 to $648 million) and would be likely to attract interest from international bidders. Announcing a bid for the 39-acre site with property development partner Almacantar, Chelsea said they had not made a final decision to leave Stamford Bridge and that they were not the only party interested in the site. However, Chelsea set out ambitious plans for a new ground that would incorporate the power station’s key features. The power station, which featured on the cover of Pink Floyd’s 1977 album Animals, has been disused for three decades and a series of regeneration projects have come to grief. Chelsea play in the FA Cup final against Liverpool on Saturday and meet Bayern Munich in the Champions League final on May 19. Abramovich, who made his fortune in post-Soviet Russia in the 1990s, has transformed Chelsea since buying the club in 2003, helping them to win the Premier League three times.