Who owns Stamford Bridge?, Amazing fact about the pitch

There has been speculations from Football fans around the world on who owns Stamford Bridge, the home ground of Chelsea Football Club.

Some football fans believe the stadium was rented to Chelsea FC as they pay yearly rent, while some believe Chelsea own the stadium.

In these article, we’ll clear the air on who owns Stamford Bridge.

History of Stamford Bridge

Stamford Bridge is the home ground of Chelsea Football Club with capacity of 40834, but it hasn’t always been that way and the site has quite a history.

Stamford Bridge (/ˈstæmfərd/) is a football stadium in Fulham, adjacent to the borough of Chelsea in South West London, commonly referred to as The Bridge.

Fulham mentioned is a City in London just like Manchester, It is the city where Stamford Bridge is located and does not literally mean the Fulham Football Club.

The existing Stamford Bridge was built of brick in 1860–1862 and since been partly reconstructed.

Stamford Bridge Grounds officially opened on 28th April 1877 and for the first 28 years of its existence, was used almost exclusively by the London Athletic Club as an arena for athletics meetings.

In 1904 the ownership of the ground changed hands when two brothers Mr Henry Augustus (Gus) Mears and Mr Joseph Theophilus (JT) Mears acquire the land to stage one of the biggest professional football match.

The original capacity was planned for 100,000 and at the time, which was the second largest venue in the country, behind that at The Crystal Palace.

Late 70’s, with the club virtually bankrupt. The owners made the drastic decision to sell the Stamford Bridge site to property developers (Marler Estates) to pay off some of the debts.

It was a decision that very nearly saw Chelsea lose it’s ground, be forced to share stadium with neighboring club, Fulham or QPR.

Who owns Stamford Bridge

There have been lots of clamour between football fans around the world on who owns Stamford Bridge with some claiming the stadium was owned and rented to Chelsea by Fulham Football Club.

Below the give full details on the ownership and management of Stamford Bridge.

This ownership evolved from a period of financial doubt in the 1990s, when the Club’s then owner granted the freehold of the then stadium footprint to the Chelsea Pitch Owners (CPO)

Read more on Chelsea Pitch Owners and amazing fact about the stadium.