- Roman Abramovich wants Stamford Bridge to be a cathedral of football
- Tuesday will mark the start of a three-day public consultation at the Bridge
- Project to expand Stamford Bridge to 60,000 will cost in excess of £500m
- Abramovich has ruled out leaving Stamford Bridge on permanent basis
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich will unveil his remarkable vision for the future of the Premier League champions on Tuesday at the start of a three-day public consultation at Stamford Bridge.
The exhibition for local residents will be the first glimpse for Chelsea fans of Abramovich’s blueprint for a rebuilt 60,000 stadium that he wants to be a cathedral of football, paying homage to the club’s history at their one and only venue.
The design of the four new stands will take their inspiration not from the uniform style of most recent stadiums, but from the buttresses, pillars and gothic architecture of Westminster Abbey in whose diocese Stamford Bridge once stood.
An impression of Chelsea’s new 60,000 stadium which has been inspired by Westminster Abbey
Here is what the South Stand at Stamford Bridge would look like if Chelsea's expansion plans come to fruition
Roman Abramovich has ruled out leaving Stamford Bridge as he wants it to become a cathedral of football
The North Stand, East Stand, South East Corner, South Stand and West Stand will be refurbished
Barclays Premier League outfit Chelsea plan to expand Stamford Bridge from 42,000 to 60,000
And the history of the club’s surrounding neighbourhood has been studied to the extent that a modern version of Stamford Bridge itself — first mentioned in 1410 to be in need of repairs in the court rolls of Henry IV — will be part of the grand design more than 600 years later, going back to the future.
This attention to detail has even included researching the exact shade of the original Chelsea blue.
The building plan — with no estimated cost at such an early stage but likely to be well in excess of the mooted £500million — is being financed by Abramovich, who is conducting the whole ambitious project as a separate entity run by his people away from Chelsea Football Club business.
He has assembled a professional A-list team comprising a masterplan architect (Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands), stadium architect (Herzog & De Meuron), strategic planners (Aecom), railways and transportation (WSP) and structural engineers (Schlaich Bergermann & Partner) to work on the plan.
It would see Chelsea spend three seasons playing at a temporary home, with Wembley and Twickenham two possibilities.
Abramovich, who bought Chelsea from Ken Bates in 2003, is understood in June 2013 to have finally reached the conclusion that the club should stay at Stamford Bridge and extend there rather than move elsewhere.
Chelsea chief Abramovich watches his side from his executive box at the west London stadium in Fulham
Abramovich wants to spend another billion pounds on Chelsea before handing the reins to his 21-year-old son
Here is an aerial view of how Stamford Bridge looked ahead of the 1993-94 Premier League campaign
Stamford Bridge looks remarkably different to how it was structured back in April 1959
This follows a frustrating decade in which Abramovich examined a number of fanciful proposed alternative sites including Earls Court, Battersea Power Station, White City, and Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. But none proved feasible — with the only winners being those who collected the numerous consultancy fees.
Billionaire Abramovich’s eureka moment has led to his handpicked group working for two years towards this first consultancy exercise, which will take place in the East Stand.
The fine detail will see the Chelsea owner and his building team work within the contours of the current site at Stamford Bridge, with the new four stands even following the angles of the old singular North Stand and the shape of the ground as it was in 1939.
A general view of the huge crowd at Stamford Bridge for an England vs Scotland match in April 1913
Chelsea will list their reasons for expanding Stamford Bridge to 60,000 at the three-day public consultation
Supporters leaving the new Stamford Bridge will be able to gain quicker access to Fulham Broadway station
Most of the new seating capacity will be in the South Stand and the two hotels on the concourse will be demolished, with Abramovich wanting his new Chelsea to be for football only.
The benefits to the neighbourhood will include long-planned pedestrian walkways above the railway lines that define the boundaries to two sides of the site, plus seats reserved for local residents.
Despite the disruption the building of a new stadium will cause to locals, Chelsea fans can be assured that it will at least guarantee the Abramovich ownership dynasty.
Part of Roman’s reasons for wanting to spend the best part of another billion pounds on Chelsea is to eventually hand over a stadium fit for a European football superpower to his eldest son, 21-year-old Arkadiy, who has inherited his father’s love of the club.
Work is in progress when it comes to finalising plans for the expansion which would take years to complete
A closer look at the 'work in progress' in the planning of Chelsea's new 60,000 seater in west London
Chelsea could move to either Wembley Stadium or Twickenham while Stamford Bridge is being rebuilt
