- For the village in England see Stamford Bridge, East Yorkshire
- For the battle see Battle of Stamford Bridge
Stamford Bridge is a football stadium in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham that is home to Chelsea Football Club. The capacity is 42,449, making it the largest league ground in London until Arsenal's new Emirates Stadium opens in 2006.
The stadium was opened in 1877, and was used as an athletics track until 1904, when it was acquired by new owners who wanted to attract a professional football club. It was initially offered to Fulham, but they turned it down. Instead, Chelsea was formed as a new club and were given entry to The Football League for the 1905-06 season.
The capacity was originally planned to be 100,000, making it the second largest ground in England after Crystal Palace, the FA Cup final venue. Stamford Bridge itself hosted the cup final for three years from 1920 to 1922, after which it was replaced by Wembley.
The stadium was also the 'home' stadium for the London XI team that played in the original Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, which is today called the UEFA Cup. The team reached the two-legged final, and played their home leg at Stamford Bridge.
Name
18th century maps show a 'Stanford Creek' running along the route of what is now a railway line at the back of the East Stand as a tributary of the Thames.
The stream had two local bridges: Sanford Bridge on the Fulham Road (also recorded as Little Chelsea Bridge) and Stanbridge on the King's Road. Stanford Creek, Sanford Bridge and Stanbridge no doubt all contributed in some uncertain way to the eventual name of Stamford Bridge, which must have been further suggested by the well known Battle of Stamford Bridge in Yorkshire, a famous victory by King Harold Godwinson against the Vikings in 1066 that took place shortly before his defeat by the Normans at the Battle of Hastings.
Stands
Matthew Harding Stand
Capacity: 10,933
The Matthew Harding Stand, previously known as the North Stand, is along the north edge of the pitch. It is named for Chelsea director Matthew Harding, who transformed the club in the early 1990s before his death in a helicopter accident in October 22, 1996. The stand has two tiers however there are rumours Abramovich will make this bigger, however it would be necessary to knock down the world of sport which falls behind the Matthew Harding stand
East Stand
Capacity: 11,253
The oldest stand, the East Stand is located along the east side of the pitch. Previously the home to away supporters on the bottom tier, however at the start of the 2005/2006 season, Mourinho requested the move of the family section to this part of the stand to boost team moral. The stand has three tiers and is the heart of the stadium, housing the tunnel, dugout, dressing rooms, AV and commentary box.
Umbro Stand
Capacity: 6,832
The Umbro Stand, previously known as the Shed End or the South Stand, is located along the south side of the pitch. The stand has two tiers. The lower tier used to be home to the family centre however for the 2005/2006 season, Mourinho moved the away fans to the East corner of the shed, on both the tiers. The West side of the stand is still home supporters.
West Stand
Capacity: 13,432
The West Stand, recently updated, is located along the west side of the pitch. It has three tiers, in addition to a row of executive boxes that stretches the length of the stand. This stand houses Abramovich on match days
Earlier stands
As originally constructed, Stamford Bridge was an athletics track and the pitch was initially located in the middle of the running track. This meant that spectators were separated from the field of play on all sides by the width of the running track and, on the north and south sides, the separation was particularly large because the long sides of the running track considerably exceeded the length of the football pitch.
The 1905 stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch and had a single stand for 5,000 spectators on the east side. The other sides were all open in a vast bowl and thousands of tons of material excavated from the building of the underground railway provided high terracing for standing spectators exposed to the elements on the west side.
In 1930, a new terrace was built on the south side for more standing spectators. Only part of this was roofed and it became known as "The Shed". This became the favoured spot for the loudest and most die-hard support until the terrace was demolished in 1994 (when all seater stadiums became compulsory by law as a safety measure in British senior professional football). The seated stand which replaced it is still known as the Shed End (see above).
In 1939, a two storied North Stand including seating was erected. It was demolished and replaced by open terracing for standing supporters in 1975. The North Terrace was closed in 1993 and the present North Stand of two tiers (the Matthew Harding Stand) was then constructed at that end (see above).
In 1964/65, a seated West Stand was built to replace the existing terracing on the west side. Most of the West Stand consisted of rising ranks of wooden tip up seats on iron frames, but seating at the very front was on concrete forms known as "the Benches". The old West Stand was demolished in 1998 and replaced by the current West Stand (see above).
A vast new East Stand was built in 1973, originally intended as the start of a comprehensive redevelopment of the stadium which was abandoned when the football club ran into financial difficulties. The East Stand essentially survives in its 1973 three tiered cantilevered form, although it has been much refurbished and modernised since (see above).
The successive building phases have eliminated the original running track: the 1973 East Stand began this process. All stands are now roofed and are immediately adjacent to the pitch. This has had the effect of concentrating and capturing the noise of the supporters, which paradoxically appears louder now than when support was dispersed at a distance from the pitch on open terraces, although the stadium capacity is approximately half of what it was.
Chelsea Village
Stamford Bridge also contains many other features, other than the stand such as bars, restaurants, the Chelsea megastore, the world of sport, the centenary museum and a hotel
International matches
- 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 (Victory International)