By David Gold
October 27 – Chelsea have suffered defeat today at the hands of their supporters, after the Chelsea Pitch Owners refused to sell the freehold of the club’s Stamford Bridge stadium, which they currently lease to the Premier League side.
Chelsea had wanted to purchase the freehold in order to give them more flexibility in their search for a new stadium, but they fell short of the 75 per cent of the vote required.
They did, however, receive the backing of the majority of shareholders, with some 61.6 per cent supporting the proposal.
The land was sold to the club’s supporters in the 1990s to safeguard them from being made homeless, but they have now said that they cannot move to a new ground unless they were in a position to profit from the sale of Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck (pictured right) admitted his disappointment at the result of the vote, and his less than diplomatic words will not have gone unnoticed in North London, as he promised they would bounce back from the defeat with victory on the pitch by thumping Arsenal.
“I guess on behalf of Ron [Gourlay, pictured left] myself and Mr Abramovich, obviously we are disappointed but we recognise and respect that the shareholders have spoken,” he said.
“We will meet with Mr Abramovich and the rest of the board and decide what, if anything, we will do to take things forward.
“We are all Chelsea fans and I can only hope that, on Saturday, we all get together [and] support this club.”
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