Chelsea: Delays in building a new stadium turned out to be godsends

Chelsea’s plan for a new stadium have been on hold for nearly as long as they have been in the works. In light of the double hit the global economy is taking from the coronavirus and an oil price war, those obstacles now look like godsends.

Wherever he is – we know it’s not in England – Roman Abramovich may be wiping one of the many drops of sweat of his brow. With the global economy suffering in every conceivable way from governmental and civic responses to the coronavirus while simultaneously taking a distinct but overlapping whack from the micturition match between Saudi Arabia and Russia over the price of oil, even billionaires are looking to clear unnecessary liabilities from the portfolios. Chelsea will not start work on a new stadium on Tuesday, and Abramovich has one less thing to worry about.

The stadium rebuild was almost entirely off the cards two years ago when the British government denied Abramovich an entry visa. Abramovich understandably was not about to build a new stadium when he could not even visit the one his team was using.

With or without an economic crisis, no one thought work was going to begin on the March 31, 2020, deadline set three years ago.

But with the deadline passing and with the world’s finances in a Juicero, the Stamford Bridge redevelopment plans are now permanently suspended.

Had work started on the new stadium at any point in the last few years, Abramovich and the club would be on the hook for a multibillion pound project at a time when clubs around the world are laying off staff and considering asking players to take a wage cut. The club would have to shut down construction to observe social distancing on a project already slated to be years over schedule and billions over initial budget. What would that mean for the eventual opening date and the transition from the original Stamford Bridge? They would have to pay workers for work not getting done at a time when there is no money coming into the club and the bulk of the owner’s portfolio is sinking. And whenever they could restart construction they would find supply chains in disarray and sports projects far down the list of priorities.

And all that is notwithstanding whatever new geopolitical ramifications come out of the coronavirus and Russia-Saudi price war that could affect a Russian – Israeli owner of a football club in post-Brexit England.

An added irony is that one of the first steps of construction would have been knocking down the current hotel that is part of the stadium complex – the hotel Roman Abramovich donated to the use of National Health Service employees.

A source told The Telegraph: “The plan makes no business sense whatsoever. Given how much it would cost and how long it would take, the stadium would be nothing but a vanity project.”

Well, yes, that is true. Tautologically so. What billionaire buys a sports team for any reason other than vanity? Remember what we quoted last week: “the fastest way to become a millionaire is to become a billionaire and then buy a sports team.”

No matter how much retail, dining, hotel and club-themed space went into the new stadium along with the increased seating capacity, it was always going to be more vanity than investment. Sports teams have many employees who get rich, but the owners have to make their riches somewhere else in order to spend them on the team.

But in a few years, who knows what the market for retail, dining and hotels connected to a massive stadium will look like. Stamford Bridge nearly vanished in the 1970s if not for the intervention of Lord Richard Attenborough. The old and new stadium could have both been in jeopardy if the new stadium had been under construction during this period of potentially years-long uncertainty and economic recession and recovery.

The Telegraph also quoted Charles Rose, the Chelsea Pitch Owners’ chair: ““The confirmation [of permission lapsing] represents the biggest missed opportunity in the lifetime of most Chelsea fans.”

Two months ago that would have been true and could have been lamented. Today, it represents the biggest lucky dodge in the lifetime of most Chelsea fans, and is a sign that the football gods really do smile on Chelsea.

And for this Chelsea fan, it means I still have a chance of someday visiting the one true Stamford Bridge before anyone has a chance to replace it.