FA to allow Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur to play at Wembley during stadium redevelopment
Reports suggest that the Football Association will allow both Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur to play their home games at Wembley while Stamford Bridge and White Hart Lane are redeveloped, according to The Mirror. Both London clubs are looking to increase the capacity of their stadiums to more than 60,000 seats.
Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge currently has a capacity of only 41,798 – a far cry from the other top four clubs. Tottenham’s White Hart Lane has a capacity of only 36,284.
Manchester United leads the pack with a 75,731 capacity at Old Trafford followed by Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium with a capacity of 60,432. Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium recently opened a new stand that increased its capacity to 53,359.
The two stadiums are 8th and 13th in the list when ranked by capacity with other teams like Newcastle United, Sunderland and Liverpool ahead of them. The Anfield club themselves have started redevelopment which will see their 45,276 capacity stadium increased to 54,000.
FA is ready to support the clubs: Chief executive chairman
Martin Glenn, the FA’s Chief Executive Chairman said: “I won’t comment on clubs but if that’s an opportunity then we will follow it. We are there to provide help. We can run the FA for less costs and we can raise more.
“There’s a range of things. It’s primarily a football stadium, football matches are more profitable to run than concerts and other things. We are the national stadium and seeking to use it more is what we are all about. We have an obligation to football.
“I’m not talking specific clubs, but it’s in our interest as an association for clubs to redevelop their grounds, make superb facilities and if it’s possible to help them in that transition by using Wembley, we are absolutely supportive of that.”
Spurs and Chelsea will have to play all home games in a season at one ground
While the Premier League has allowed the two clubs to shift base to Wembley while their respective stadiums are being redeveloped, they also revealed that if they move to Wembley, they will have to play all ‘home games’ for that season at Wembley.
There were reports that Tottenham planned to play some games at Wembley while the others would be played at Stadium mk – Milton Keynes’ stadium. But that will not be allowed to happen if they move to Wembley.
EPL Chief Richard Scudamore said: “They’d have to play in the same stadium for the entire year. For the integrity of the competition.
“You can’t have 19 home games with 10 at Milton Keynes and nine at Wembley – completely, completely unfair. That won’t be allowed in our competition.”