Chelsea's New Stadium Plans Approved by Hammersmith and Fulham Council

Chelsea have received planning permission to build a new 60,000-seat stadium that will replace Stamford Bridge.Sports writer Dan Levene reported the news on Wednesday following a meeting at Hammersmith and Fulham Council:The council's planning committee accepted the proposal, which will see Stamford Bridge demolished and replaced with a new 500 million ground including a walkway over the District Line rail track.As a result of the approval, the Blues could be without a home for up to three seasons while work on the new stadiumdesigned by Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, the architects responsible for the Bird's Nest in Beijing and Bayern Munich's Allianz Arenais completed.Here's what the new stadium will look like, via the Daily Mail:The ground will hold around 18,400 more seats, putting Chelsea on par with Arsenal's Emirates Stadium in terms of capacity and ahead of fellow Premier League sides West Ham United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Sunderland, as well as the Championship's Newcastle United, all of whom currently boast larger venues.One of the final obstacles in the Blues' way is the supporter-owned Chelsea Pitch Owners organisation, who own the freehold of Stamford Bridgewhere they have played since 1905as they must also sign off on the new stadium before work can be done.Assuming they, too, grant permissionalong with the mayor of London, Sadiq KhanChelsea need to find temporary accommodation until they can make their planned move into the new stadium in 2021, with Wembley Stadium, the London Stadium and Twickenham Stadium among the options to be explored.The latter is perhaps the most likely option, as Tottenham Hotspur will play at Wembley starting next season as White Hart Lane's redevelopment continues, while the London Stadium would require them to ground-share with West Ham.Blues owner Roman Abramovich will foot the bill for the project, with the naming rights for the ground also being sold to help fund its construction.
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