Column: More Twists In Plans For Chelsea's New Stadium

It is now six months "since plans to demolish and rebuild Stamford Bridge up were dropped-off at Hammersmith Town Hall," according to Dan Levene of EUROSPORT. But it "has all gone quiet since -- so what is really going on?" The "silence is, in itself, quite normal at this stage of proceedings." The planning authority "is scrutinising all it has been sent, and water testing everything against the statutory guidelines which govern these sort of developments." It is also "taking soundings from interested parties: from local residents and businesses, to the public authorities with a vested interest in matchdays running smoothly." The "interesting stuff is what is going on behind the scenes." Gaining concrete information on this project "is far from easy -- as it is not actually being driven by Chelsea." The plans were "submitted on behalf of Fordstam Ltd.: the holding company which stands above the club." Essentially, "this is the baby" of Chelsea Owner Roman Abramovich -- and Abramovich "is not especially keen on picking up calls from the press." This has "led to a great deal of speculation about two key project issues: the timescale, and the funding." Nowhere "in the copious planning document is there any clear indication" of where the estimated £500M ($733M) development costs are coming from. There is "the possibility that the club's bountiful owner will simply put his hand in his pocket -- though given his attitude to balancing the transfer books of late, that is considered unlikely." The expectation is "of some form of cash-for-equity deal with a developer, likely as not to be Chinese." But the "traditional thinking, that such a move would require Chelsea to buy-out the freehold of the ground from the fan-owned Chelsea Pitch Owners first, has always been seen as a stumbling point" (EUROSPORT, 5/2).