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Chelsea Pitch Owners

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The East Stand. The cost of constructing this stand played a large part in the club's financial crisis.

Chelsea Pitch Owners plc is a nonprofit organisation which is part of Chelsea Football Club, tasked with the upkeep of the stadium. It owns both the freehold of the Stamford Bridge stadium and the naming rights of Chelsea Football Club.

History

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Chelsea suffered serious financial troubles during the 1970s and 1980s following a large-scale attempt to renovate Stamford Bridge. The financial crisis and a subsequent change of ownership at the club culminated in the sale of the club's freehold to property developers Marler Estates (and subsequently Cabra Estates). The move almost saw Chelsea lose the stadium.[1]

The future of the stadium (and hence the club) was only secured in 1992, when the property developers were bankrupted by a market crash, allowing the then-chair Ken Bates to do a deal with their bankers and to regain control of the stadium for the football club. Following this, Chelsea Pitch Owners was created, and in 1997 it purchased the Stamford Bridge freehold, the turnstiles, the pitch and the Chelsea FC name with the aid of a non-recourse loan of £10 million[1] from Chelsea Village plc, the parent company of the club.[1][2] CPO in turn granted the club a 199-year lease on Stamford Bridge at a peppercorn rent.[1]

Organisation and ownership

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The new entrance to the West Stand

In granting control of the freehold to Chelsea Pitch Owners, the intention was to ensure that Stamford Bridge could never again be sold to property developers. Irrespective of how many shares are owned by an individual, voting rights are limited to 100 per shareholder to prevent any one person or organisation gaining control of CPO.[3]

CPO also owns the name Chelsea Football Club Ltd, which is licensed back to the club on condition that the first team play their home matches at Stamford Bridge. This means that should Chelsea move to another stadium in the future, they would not be able to use the name Chelsea Football Club without permission from 75% of CPO shareholders.[4]

The company is a non-profit organisation and is not listed on any stock exchange.[1][3] Its purpose is to raise the money needed to pay off the loan and then lease the freehold back to the club, on the strictly-defined proviso that the ground may only be used for football purposes. Fans are encouraged to purchase shares to secure the club's future. As of 2023, around 23,000 CPO shares have been sold, and approximately £2 million of the debt has been paid off.[5] Former club captain John Terry is the current president of the CPO.[6]

Club proposal

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On 3 October 2011 Chelsea Football Club made a proposal to buy back the freehold land (owned by CPO) on which the football stadium at Stamford Bridge sits, which would pave the way for a move to a new ground. Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck, said: "Chelsea should always be grateful to those who invested in CPO. We know only too well how close the club came to losing our home prior to the formation of CPO, but that threat has now gone under Mr Abramovich's ownership and with the CPO structure in place we cannot plan with certainty for the future. I hope all shareholders vote in favour of the proposal."

Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay said: "I am sure all Chelsea fans have enjoyed the football and success we have witnessed at Stamford Bridge since 2003 and Chelsea Football Club and Mr Abramovich are determined to ensure that the club continues to compete at the highest level of world football." He added: "We continue to look at options for expanding the Bridge and I should be clear that we have not identified a site for a new stadium elsewhere."[7]

The proposal was brought in a general CPO meeting on 27 October 2011 but failed to pass as only 61.6% of the total votes were cast in favour of the proposal, below the 75% minimum requirement.[8]

In May 2012, Chelsea Football Club confirmed that they had lodged a bid to buy the site of Battersea Power Station, with the possibility of the club relocating to a 60,000-seater capacity stadium.[9] Chairman Bruce Buck did concede that there were "a number of hurdles to jump," including "winning the support of our fans, the CPO shareholders and local Wandsworth residents [near the Battersea site], as well as securing the approval of Wandsworth Council, the Greater London Authority and heritage authorities."[10] The Battersea Power Station proposal did not proceed, with the site redeveloped for residential and commercial uses.[11]

The Stamford Bridge Redevelopment Project

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In December 2015 Chelsea announced intention to build a 60,000-seater stadium at Stamford Bridge to a design by Herzog & de Meuron.[12] Planning permission was achieved in 2017,[13] In May 2018, the club announced suspension of the rebuild due to the "unfavourable investment climate."[14]

In July 2022 it was reported that the club's new owner Todd Boehly had appointed American architect Janet Marie Smith to oversee the renovation of the stadium.[15]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Chelsea Pitch Owners". Chelseafc.com. Archived from the original on 6 June 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  2. ^ Fifield, Dominic (3 October 2011). "Chelsea take first step towards leaving Stamford Bridge for new home". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  3. ^ a b "CPO Share FAQs". Chelseafc.com. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 14 March 2011.
  4. ^ Glanvill, Rick (2006). Chelsea FC: The Official Biography – The Definitive Story of the First 100 Years. Headline Book Publishing Ltd. pp. 91–92. ISBN 978-0-7553-1466-9.
  5. ^ "Chelsea Pitch Owners".
  6. ^ "THE CPO TEAM". Chelseafc.com. Archived from the original on 18 March 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  7. ^ "Chelsea FC Proposal To Chelsea Pitch Owners". Chelseafc.com. Archived from the original on 20 April 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  8. ^ "Chelsea FC lose fan vote on stadium". BBC. 27 October 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  9. ^ "Chelsea make offer to buy Battersea Power Station". BBC. 4 May 2012. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  10. ^ "Chelsea Pitch Owners EGM". Chelseafc.com. Archived from the original on 6 June 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  11. ^ "Battersea Power Station opens after decades of decay". BBC News. 14 October 2022. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  12. ^ "Chelsea submit plans to increase Stamford Bridge capacity to 60,000". The Guardian. 1 December 2015. Archived from the original on 1 December 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  13. ^ "Chelsea Football Club's Stamford Bridge plans approved by mayor". BBC News. 6 March 2017. Archived from the original on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  14. ^ "Stadium plans on hold". Chelsea FC. 31 May 2018. Archived from the original on 16 July 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  15. ^ Victor, Tom (22 July 2022). "Chelsea owner Boehly's grand plan to rebuild Stamford Bridge one stand at a time". mirror. Archived from the original on 4 August 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
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