FA Exec Martin Glenn Speaks on Potential Chelsea, Tottenham Wembley Groundshare
Football Association chief executive Martin Glenn has given his blessing to Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur for their plans to potentially use Wembley Stadium as their home ground while theirs are under construction.
As reported by the Guardian's Jamie Jackson, Glenn said the FA is “there to provide help,” and the chance to make more use of England's national stadium can only be a good thing:
"I won’t comment on clubs but if that’s an opportunity then we will follow it. We are there to provide help. We can run the FA for less costs and we can raise more. There’s a range of things. It’s primarily a football stadium, football matches are more profitable to run than concerts and other things.
We are the national stadium and seeking to use it more is what we are all about. We have an obligation to football. I’m not talking specific clubs but it’s in our interest as an association for clubs to redevelop their grounds, make superb facilities and if it’s possible to help them in that transition by using Wembley, we are absolutely supportive of that.
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Chelsea have plans to increase the capacity of Stamford Bridge to 60,000, while Spurs will soon start construction on a brand new stadium set to replace White Hart Lane. Spurs' new arena will also be used to host NFL matches—fixtures that currently take place at Wembley.
According to Glenn, Chelsea and Tottenham could even share Wembley as their home ground for a season, although the FA will not allow any team to use more than one stadium as its home ground.
In August, the Daily Mirror's Steve Stammers reported the Blues had already agreed to a deal with the FA that would see them play all of their home matches at Wembley for a period of three years, with permission from the Premier League expected to arrive soon. Under the rules of the deal, Wembley's capacity would be capped at 50,000.
Having one team move to the national stadium is one thing, but if both Chelsea and Tottenham play their matches under the same roof, it will require a lot of additional planning and some creative scheduling in order to make the Premier League calendar work.
According to Jackson, Spurs are expected to be without a home for just one season, with their new ground scheduled to be ready in time for the 2018-19 campaign.
