Stamford Bridge

The name of the stadium is not linked to the battle of 1066 but to the name of the bridge next to the main entrance of the stadium.

This sports arena was inaugurated on April 28, 1877, but it remained mainly dedicated to athletics until 1904. On September 29, 1904, the Scottish Gus Mears bought the stadium and decided to build a large soccer stadium with 100,000 seats. His goal was to attract an existing club, Fulham, in particular. Fulham refused, and Mears created his own club, Chelsea, in order to have a resident club in the stadium. Due to the problems with the resident club, the stadium was smaller than expected with “only” 70,000 seats when it opened. In 1997, the stadium underwent a major renovation that resulted in a rearrangement of the stands (with a full roof), and a reduction of the capacity to 41,663 seats.

The first soccer match was played there on September 4, 1905: Chelsea hosted Liverpool for a friendly match.

The stadium was equipped with a lighting system for night games in 1957.

The attendance record 82 905 spectators, set on October 12, 1935 against Arsenal.

Roman Abramovich has expressed his desire to expand the stadium to 65,000 seats, but the lack of space in London is a major problem. At the moment, due to Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich’s visa denial, the expansion project has stalled.

The stadium hosted the 2012-2013 UEFA Women’s Champions League final on May 23, 2013.