By Mark Baber
September 11 – FA Chief Executive Martin Glenn has said that the FA would be “absolutely supportive” of Chelsea and Tottenham using Wembley whilst they redevelop their stadiums, even if it means they have to ground-share the England’s National Stadium for a period.
Glenn’s comments, made at Soccerex, come as the two London-based clubs are both planning on extensive stadium redevelopments and considering where to play their home games during the rebuilding which may take two seasons in both cases.
In a £500 million redevelopment Chelsea plan to increase the capacity of Stamford Bridge to 60,000 whilst Tottenham are planning on a 61,000 capacity for their new £400 million stadium.
Glenn explained the rationale behind the FA’s stance, saying he could not talk about particular clubs but: “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.”
Stadium MK in Milton Keynes and Wembley are the most popular choices for Tottenham fans to fill the gap whilst rebuilding. However, the club’s choices have been restricted as Premier League supremo Richard Scudamore recently voiced his opposition to the club playing their home games at more than one stadium during a season, claiming it would be “completely unfair”. No club has ever played their home Premier League games in different stadiums during a season, although this has recently happened in extraordinary circumstances with Coventry City in the Football League.
Scudamore has pointed out that Premier League teams are paired in the fixture list “so it’s perfectly possible to have two teams playing in one stadium.”
With the governing body having made its position pretty clear, the odds for Tottenham’s ‘home’ ground in 2017-18 have to be stacked in Wembley’s favour, but with Pete Winkelman and Inter MK involved it is far from a done deal.
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