Boehly: Chelsea fans may need to wait until 2042 for new stadium
Chelsea fans may need to wait until 2042 before they can move from Stamford Bridge to a new home, co-owner Todd Boehly warned on Tuesday.
The club have fallen behind London rivals including Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Fulham in swapping old stadia for new arenas, or vastly upgrading existing infrastructure.
But with a move to Earls Court touted, and a neo-gothic rebuild of the Bridge now seemingly shelved, Boehly has revealed that he and his co-owners put a 15-20-year timeframe on the stadium project when they purchased Chelsea from Roman Abramovich in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Boehly said at the Milken Institute Global Conference that “everything is good and stable” at the club while discussions “about the future of the stadium and the future plans” will take place at the conclusion of the season, in which Chelsea are chasing a trophy in the Europa Conference League and Champions League qualification domestically.
He told Bloomberg: “It’s years [until plans come to fruition] in the making. When we originally bought the club we agreed initially that we had 15 or 20 years to figure this out but it is a big project in a really interesting city like London where there’s a lot of constituencies that have an opinion.
“Obviously the number one constituency for us is our fan base and what’s going to be the best for Chelsea.
“I think everyone recognises that a club as big as Chelsea should have a stadium that reflects the size of the club and ultimately that’s going to be a strategic advantage.”
Chelsea Club World Cup uncertainty
The club will also compete, alongside Manchester City, in the Club World Cup next month, with the Blues’s schedule closer to being finalised.
Club Leon, who were originally in Chelsea’s group, were banned from the tournament on the basis that they share the same owner as fellow Mexican side Pachuca.
Club Leon and Deportiva Alajuelense lost legal appeals for inclusion at the Court of Arbitration for Sport yesterday, with the latter claiming they were the most deserving replacement.
Instead Fifa is set to hold a play-off between Los Angeles FC and another Mexican side, Club America, to decide who enters a pool with Chelsea, Flamengo and Esperance de Tunis.
“As a result of the CAS ruling, Fifa is responsible for designating the final qualified team to participate in the Club World Cup 2025,” the court said.
It added: “The CAS Panel has issued an Operative Decision dismissing the three appeals and ruled that Pachuca and Club Leon failed to meet the criteria in the Regulations for the Fifa World Cup Club 2025 concerning multiple club ownership.
“The Panel examined the evidence, including the Club Leon trust set up by the owners of the club, and concluded that this trust was insufficient to comply with the Regulations. Consequently, Club Leon remains excluded from the competition and Pachuca remains qualified.
“A separate appeal by [Alajuelense] against Club Leon, Pachuca and Fifa, filed on 3 February 2025, requested that Club Leon and Pachuca’s participation in the Club World Cup was contrary to Fifa regulations and that one of the clubs, or both, should be removed.
“The appeal also requested that [Alajuelense] should be admitted to the competition in place of a removed team. This case was heard by CAS in person in Madrid on 23 April 2025 and was also rejected today.”