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Stand Up Against CFC For CPO

Twelve thousand Chelsea fans hold the future of Stamford Bridge in their hands but they have been given a few weeks to save our football home. Chelsea Pitch Owners (CPO) are being urged by the club to sell their shares for the price they paid for them which would mean our fans no longer have a say over whether our team play at Stamford Bridge or not.

Whilst Chairman Bruce Buck insists there are no immediate plans to move to another stadium, it should be obvious that this idea is in the pipeline and they need to take the power away from the shareholders to do this. If the club genuinely wanted the best for the fans they would be up front and honest about their motives. Letters have been sent to all CPO members but many of these probably haven’t been received given that most shareholders bought shares over 15 years ago and the register will be out of date.

Some Blues have sensibly questioned why there is such a rush. The stadium has been there for 106 years, CPO has been running for 18 years, yet shareholders are being given just 24 days to decide the future of our ground. Why?

CPO was created for a reason and nothing has permanently changed significantly enough to mean it is now redundant. Whilst owner Roman Abramovich’s commitment to the club isn’t being doubted and Chelsea no longer have to fear going homeless or playing at a substandard ground, the fans still deserve to have some security over issues which should be so important to us. Who knows what the future holds? Without CPO, we no longer have a say over the stadium or the club’s name. With the land Stamford Bridge is on being worth so much money, it is fairly obvious that sooner or later the club will sell up and use that money to develop a new stadium elsewhere.

Whilst some fans would be willing to sacrifice Stamford Bridge if it means playing in a new 60,000 seater stadium outside of Chelsea, we should hope that Blues who can actually vote for the stadium’s future do the right thing. Are we really aspiring to have a soulless shell like the Emirates with no link to our roots? Is that what we hope to call “home” one day? The club statement claims that there would be a guarantee that we wouldn’t move further than three miles away for the next nine years. After that, who knows? Fancy going to watch Chelsea in Harlesden before 2020? Or how about we move away from West London all together after 2020? This is the risk we run if we don’t cling on to CPO.

“I am sure all Chelsea fans have enjoyed the football and success we have witnessed at Stamford Bridge since 2003,” Chief Executive Ron Gourlay said. Unreal. What about the football we enjoyed for the decades before Abramovich? What about the football our fathers enjoyed for the decades before us?

The club needs 75% of the votes to own the rights to the pitch and the name. If you are a member of CPO, use your vote wisely and save Stamford Bridge. If you are not, spread the word to those that are and let the club know exactly what you think.

#SayNoCPO

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Read more in the London Evening Standard, Chelsea Supporters Group, Blue Tinted, Sabotage Times, and The Chels or follow Trust Chelsea on Twitter.

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