Move to Earls Court Ruled Out by Chelsea FC

Chelsea Football Club has denied rumours that it is considering a move from its Stamford Bridge home to new purpose built premises in Earls Court.

There has been speculation that the move could be on the cards following a report in the Guardian that Chelsea were in talks with developer Capital and Counties, who are planning to demolish Earls Court Exhibition Centre after the 2012 Olympic Games.

However, Chelsea spokesman Steve Atkins has issued a statement strongly denying the rumours. He says: " We don't have any plans to move stadium at this time.

The current plan is to turn Earls Court into a new residential area with 8,000 new homes, designed by famous architect Terry Farrell, but the developers are said to be still looking to see if a better deal becomes available.

Four years ago, Chelsea considered the Earls Court site which could allow them to house crowds of 60,000 instead of the 41,000 maximum at Stamford Bridge, but decided then not to proceed.