Stamford Bridge (stadium) facts for kids
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"The Bridge"
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Stamford Bridge in 2013
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| Full name | Stamford Bridge |
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| Location | Fulham, London, SW6 England |
| Coordinates | 51°28′54″N 0°11′28″W / 51.48167°N 0.19111°W |
| Public transit |  Fulham Broadway |
| Owner | Chelsea Pitch Owners |
| Operator | Chelsea Football Club |
| Executive suites | 51 |
| Capacity | 40,341 |
| Record attendance | 82,905 (Chelsea–Arsenal, 12 October 1935) |
| Field size | 113 by 74 yards (103.3 m × 67.7 m) |
| Surface | GrassMaster by Tarkett Sports |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1876 |
| Opened | 28 April 1877 |
| Renovated | 1904–1905, 1998 |
| Architect | Archibald Leitch (1887) |
| Tenants | |
| London Athletic Club (1877–1904) Chelsea F.C. (1905–present) London Monarchs (NFL Europe) (1997) |
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Stamford Bridge is a famous football stadium in Fulham, West London. It's right next to the area of Chelsea. This stadium is the home ground for the Premier League team, Chelsea Football Club.
With seats for 40,341 fans, it's one of the biggest football stadiums in England. It ranks as the ninth largest stadium in the 2022–23 Premier League season.
Stamford Bridge first opened in 1877. It was used by the London Athletic Club until 1905. That year, a new owner named Gus Mears bought the lease. He then started Chelsea Football Club so they could play their home games there. Chelsea has been playing at Stamford Bridge ever since. The stadium has changed a lot over the years. The most recent big changes happened in the 1990s. It was made into a modern stadium where everyone has a seat.
This stadium has hosted many important football matches. These include games for the England national team, FA Cup Finals, and FA Cup semi-finals. It has also been used for other sports. These include cricket, rugby union, rugby league, speedway, and American football. The most people ever to watch a game here was 82,905. This was for a league match between Chelsea and Arsenal on October 12, 1935.
Contents
History of Stamford Bridge
How Stamford Bridge Began
The name "Stamford Bridge" likely comes from "Samfordesbrigge." This means "the bridge at the sandy river crossing." Old maps from the 1700s show a "Stanford Creek" nearby. This creek ran where a railway line is now, behind the East Stand. It was a small river that flowed into the River Thames.
There were two bridges over this stream. One was Stamford Bridge on the Fulham Road. The other was Stanbridge on the King's Road, now called Stanley Bridge. The current Stamford Bridge was built from bricks between 1860 and 1862. It has been rebuilt in parts since then.
Stamford Bridge opened in 1877 for the London Athletic Club. It was mainly used for athletics until 1904. That year, brothers Gus and Joseph Mears bought the lease. They wanted to hold big professional football matches there. Before this, in 1898, Stamford Bridge hosted a World Championship game of shinty.
The Mears brothers first offered the stadium to Fulham Football Club. But Fulham turned it down because of money. So, the Mears brothers decided to start their own football club. They named it Chelsea, and it became a rival to Fulham. A famous stadium architect, Archibald Leitch, designed the stadium. He also designed other well-known grounds like Ibrox, Celtic Park, and Craven Cottage. In its early days, a small train station served Stamford Bridge. It closed after World War II bombing.
Stamford Bridge could hold about 100,000 people when it was new. This made it the second-largest stadium in England. It was used for the FA Cup final. At first, the stadium had a running track around the football pitch. This meant fans were far from the action. There was only one main stand for 5,000 people on the east side. The other sides were open. Dirt from building the Piccadilly line was used to make high standing areas for fans.
In 1945, Stamford Bridge hosted a very special match. A team from the Soviet Union, FC Dynamo Moscow, visited the UK. Chelsea was the first team they played. Over 100,000 people came to watch the game, which ended in a 3–3 draw. Many fans stood on the dog track and even on top of the stands.
Tough Times for the Club
In the early 1970s, the club's owners wanted to update Stamford Bridge. They started building a new East Stand. But the cost of building went very high. There were not enough materials, and builders went on strike. The rest of the stadium was not touched. The new East Stand was finished, but the old running tracks were still there. Also, the new stand was about 20 meters away from the pitch. The plan was to move the whole stadium north. But money problems in the 1970s stopped this. The other stands were not rebuilt for another 20 years.
During this time, Chelsea struggled in the league. Fewer fans came to games, and the club's debts grew. Chelsea was moved down to the Second Division in 1975 and again in 1979. They almost dropped to the Third Division in 1983. But they returned to the First Division a year later.
Because of the rising costs, the club faced big problems. In the late 1970s, the land the stadium was on was separated from the club. When Ken Bates bought Chelsea for £1 in 1982, he did not buy the land. A large part of the Stamford Bridge land was sold to property developers. This led to a long legal fight between Bates and the developers. The developers went out of business after a market crash in the early 1990s. This allowed Bates to buy the land back and reunite it with the club.
In the 1984–85 season, there were problems with hooligans at matches. Chairman Ken Bates put up an electric fence between the stands and the pitch. It was like the fence he used for cattle on his farm. But the fence was never turned on. The GLC stopped it for health and safety reasons. It was soon taken down.
Modern Updates and Changes
The Hillsborough disaster in 1989 led to the Taylor Report in 1990. This report said that all top football clubs needed to have all-seater stadiums by the 1994–95 season. On July 19, 1990, Chelsea's plan for a 34,000-seat stadium at Stamford Bridge was approved.
The stadium began to be rebuilt. Over the 1990s, the old running track was removed. The East Stand, built 20 years earlier, had started this process. Now, all the stands have roofs and seats. They are right next to the pitch. This design helps to make the crowd's noise louder. The pitch, the entry gates, and the club's name rights are now owned by Chelsea Pitch Owners. This group was set up to stop property developers from buying the stadium.
KSS Design Group (architects) planned the full redesign of Stamford Bridge. This included its hotels, shop, offices, and homes.
Other Uses of the Stadium
Stamford Bridge hosted the FA Cup Final from 1920 to 1922. After that, Wembley Stadium took over in 1923. It has also hosted ten FA Cup semi-finals and ten Charity Shield matches. The England national team played three matches here, the last in 1932. It was also a home ground for the London XI team in the first Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.
Stamford Bridge has been used for many other sports too. In October 1905, it held a rugby union match. In 1908, it hosted a Rugby League international game. Two more Rugby League games were held in 1952 and 1983. In 1914, a baseball match was played here. In 1924, the stadium hosted the 1924 Women's Olympiad. This was the first international event for women in track and field in the UK.
A speedway team raced at the stadium from 1929 to 1932. In 1931, a special track was laid for speedway and athletics. A midget car race in 1948 brought in 50,000 people.
In 1980, the ground was used for a major day-night cricket match. This was a success. The next year, it hosted a cricket final. But the idea of playing cricket on football grounds ended after that. Stamford Bridge also briefly hosted American football. The London Monarchs played there in 1997, even though the field wasn't quite long enough.
Chelsea Museum
In 2005, a new club museum opened. It was called the Chelsea Museum or the Centenary Museum. This marked the club's 100th birthday. The museum is in the old Shed Galleria area. Visitors can see old programs, past shirts, and other items from the club's history. A famous quote from former manager José Mourinho is on the wall: "I am not from the bottle. I am a special one."
On June 6, 2011, a new, bigger museum opened. It has better and interactive displays. It is located behind the Matthew Harding stand. It is the largest football museum in London.
Club Shop (Megastore)
The main club shop is called the Megastore. It is on the south-west side of the stadium. The shop has two floors. The ground floor sells souvenirs and kids' items. The first floor has clothes, like training jerseys, jackets, and team shirts. There are also two smaller shops. One is at the Stamford Gate entrance. The other is inside the new museum building.
Future Plans for Stamford Bridge
The former owner of Chelsea, Roman Abramovich, wanted to rebuild Stamford Bridge. The goal was to make it hold about 55,000 to 60,000 seats. The stadium is in a very busy part of London. It is between a main road and two railway lines. This makes rebuilding very difficult. Also, getting 60,000 fans in and out of the residential streets around the stadium would cause a lot of traffic.
Other Possible Locations
Other places were looked at for a new stadium. These included Earls Court Exhibition Centre, White City, and Battersea Power Station. But if the club moved from Stamford Bridge, it would lose the name 'Chelsea Football Club'. This is part of the rules of Chelsea Pitch Owners (CPO). The club wanted to buy the land back from CPO. But in a vote on October 27, 2011, the shareholders decided not to sell their rights.
On May 4, 2012, Chelsea announced they wanted to buy Battersea Power Station. They planned to build a 60,000-seat stadium there. They showed pictures of the planned stadium on June 22, 2012.
Proposed New Stadium Design
On June 17, 2014, the club said they were studying the area around Stamford Bridge. In December of that year, Chelsea announced they planned to build a 60,000-seat stadium at Stamford Bridge.
On January 5, 2017, the local council approved the rebuild. The whole Chelsea village area would be taken down. The new stadium would have a new club shop, museum, bar, and restaurants. The two hotels, restaurants, bars, and spa would be moved.
On March 6, 2017, the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, gave full permission for the rebuild. He said the "high quality and spectacular design" would add to London's "fantastic array of sporting arenas."
During the rebuild, which was expected to take 3–4 years, the club would need another place to play home games. Twickenham Stadium was one idea. In February 2016, news reports said Chelsea had a £20 million deal with the FA. This was to use Wembley Stadium for three seasons starting in 2017–18. Chelsea wanted to be the only club using Wembley. But the FA suggested they share it with Tottenham Hotspur F.C. for just the 2017–18 season. This was because Spurs were also rebuilding their stadium. The FA wanted to be fair about using the national stadium.
New Look for the Stadium
The new design for the stadium was inspired by Gothic architecture and Westminster Abbey. It was meant to look like a "cathedral of football." It would have 132 brick pillars mixed with 132 thin steel pillars. These would go over the roof and end in a round white steel ring above the pitch. This design was a nod to the brick factories in the area from the Victorian era. The pillars would create a covered path around the stadium.
The stadium's unique shape was designed to fit the tight space. It had to work around nearby buildings, railway lines, and old walls. It also aimed to make the inside space as big as possible. The new stadium would have five levels above ground and three basement levels. It would have five entrances for general fans and four for special guests. The main goal of the rebuild was to make the match-day experience better for fans. This included good views from all seats, easier access, and season-ticket holders keeping their same seats.
The rebuild would involve digging and taking down the old stadium. It was expected to cost $754 million.
New Plans for the Stadium
In July 2022, it was reported that Chelsea's new owner, Todd Boehly, had hired American architect Janet Marie Smith. She would be in charge of updating the stadium.
Stamford Bridge Statistics
Records
- Record attendance: 82,905 against Arsenal F.C. on October 12, 1935.
- Lowest attendance: 3,000 at a Chelsea vs. Lincoln match in 1906.
International Matches Played Here
- December 11, 1909: England Amateurs 9–1 Netherlands
- April 5, 1913: England 1–0 Scotland
- November 20, 1929: England 6–0 Wales
- December 7, 1932: England 4–3 Austria
- May 11, 1946: England 4–1 Switzerland (a Victory International)
- March 25, 2013: Brazil 1–1 Russia
How to Get to Stamford Bridge
Stamford Bridge is easy to reach by public transport. The closest London Underground station is Fulham Broadway. It has a special "match day" entrance. This helps crowds get in and out of the station more easily. It avoids the main ticket hall and shopping center. Since the stadium is in south-west London, there is very little car parking nearby. So, Chelsea FC and fan groups suggest using public transport.
| Service | Station/Stop | Line/Route | Walking distance from Stamford Bridge |
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London Buses  |
Walham Green | 11, 14, 211, 414, N11 | 200 yards (180 m) 2 mins |
| Fulham Broadway/ Fulham Town Hall |
28, 295, 391, 424, N28 | 0.2 miles (0.32 km) 5 mins | |
| London Underground |
Fulham Broadway | District line | 0.2 miles (0.32 km) 5 mins |
| Earl's Court | District line Piccadilly line |
1.1 miles (1.8 km) 27 mins | |
National Rail  London Overground  |
West Brompton | London Overground Southern |
0.8 miles (1.3 km) 20 mins |
| Imperial Wharf | 0.625 miles (1.006 km) 13 mins | ||
London River Services  |
Chelsea Harbour Pier | London River Services | 0.75 miles (1.21 km) 15 mins |
See also
In Spanish: Stamford Bridge (estadio) para niños
