Chelsea could ground share with West Ham at the Olympic Stadium while their new stadium is built claims the BBC’s Dan Roan.
The Blues want to relocate to Wembley for three years and but it is claimed the FA want £20m-a-year in rent.
But Roan claims they have also held talks with the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) about a temporary move to the Olympic Stadium, which will become West Ham’s home from next season. Chelsea are also understood to be considering a switch to Twickenham as a third option.
Officials from the Stamford Bridge club are said to have held a meeting with LLDC chiefs at the end of last year, although no final decision has yet been reached and a ground share with the Hammers remains unlikely.
West Ham would need to agree to such a move, but their tenancy contract with the LLDC does allow for such an arrangement.
It would mean West Ham receiving a significant 50% discount on their £2.5m-a-year rent for the 60,000-seater stadium.
West Ham will soon contribute £15m up front towards the £272m stadium conversion costs but £7.5m of that will be returned if another football ground shares with them. Chelsea would have to fork out around £15m to ground share with West Ham over three years – with the Hammers receiving over £11m of it in rebates – but it is still considerably less than the £60m being quoted by the FA for Wembley.
Whether Chelsea and their fans could stomach sitting in a West Ham branded stadium with claret and blue seats for three seasons is a completely different matter though and Wembley remains their first and probably their most realistic option.
I can’t help feeling that if Chelsea were to share the OS it wouldn’t be long before there were serious problems either at the stadium or in the surrounding areas. Nothing good will come out of it and I expect they will attempt to trash the place after their last game if they are playing at our home.
Problem is sparrow it ain’t our home we’re just 25 days a year tenants. But I’m just illiterate so your better finding out more at the mecca of intellectual debate and the legends so called site of choice for updates.
Yeah, sorry. Should have made it clearer. I know we are renting the place. I meant home ground, even if we are a tenant.
In all honesty i wouldn’t put too much credence in what Roan says. He clearly writes articles to provoke a response. Especially about the OS and West Ham.Read his rant a couple of months ago about how unfair our stadium move was. Unfortunately he neglected to report the whole truth but simply cherry picked the points that suited his story. In any other situation his mock outrage would be comical.
Read that too at the time Mooro66.He certainly set out to not create a balanced argument.It read more like a man who had a vendetta against us lol