Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur might have to pay more than £15M ($23.4M) a year to "use Wembley as their temporary home while they redevelop their stadiums," according to Gary Jacob of the LONDON TIMES. The Premier League clubs have "made an offer to play at the national stadium and hope that the Wembley board will soon decide whether either or both will be permitted to do so." Chelsea appears to be in a "stronger position" after offering about £11M, some £3M ($4.7M) more than Tottenham. Wembley "hopes to earn" about £15M in annual rent and could also "ask the London clubs to pay for their additional venue costs, such as security, which could run into millions of pounds, although the clubs may be able to recoup the money from extra revenue because of the increased capacity of Wembley." Tottenham has "held talks with Wembley officials and also about a move to stadium mk, the home of Milton Keynes Dons, over a number of years" (LONDON TIMES, 7/15). In London, Vaishali Bhardwaj reported Tottenham Hotspur Supporters' Trust has called on FA Chair Greg Dyke to respond to its request "urging the national governing body to allow Spurs to play at Wembley while the club's new stadium is being built." The trust released a statement on Tuesday in which it revealed it had "written to Dyke to ask him to 'make every effort' to ensure the club could host games at Wembley" for the '17-18 season, but had not yet received a response. THST claimed that some supporters had, however, been "sent responses which told them the FA would not comment on 'confidential commercial matters,' resulting in the trust demanding that the national governing body hold a meeting to fully address their concerns" (EVENING STANDARD, 7/14).
