Stamford Bridge is a renowned football stadium located in London’s Moore Park estate, which is simply referred to as ‘The Bridge’. The stadium is the home ground of the English football club Chelsea.
Stamford Bridge Stadium Capacity
The stadium has a seating capacity of 41,631, making it the eighth largest stadium in the Premier League season 2017-18. Before Chelsea F.C., the stadium was used by the London Athletic Club.
In 1905, Chelsea was founded and they occupied this coveted stadium ever since. The club has already expressed their desires to expand the capacity to 60,000 by 2022. During this expansion, the club will play at the Wembley Stadium.
History
The stadium was first opened in 1877, as the home ground for the London Athletic Club. The stadium was first offered to the Fulham football club, who turned it down because of some financial reasons.
Initially, the Stamford Bridge had an astounding seating capacity of 100,000. With this staggering capacity, it was the second largest ground in entire England.
Over the years, there were many changes made to the stadium, reducing the capacity of the stadium to the current number.
Major Matches
Stamford Bridge has been a host to number of major football matches over the years. The biggest match that has been hosted by this stadium was Chelsea vs FC Dynamo Moscow in 1945.
It would not be wrong to call this match the biggest ever held at this stadium since it recorded the highest ever attendance at the stadium. While the highest official attendance recorded at this stadium is 82,905, this match was seen by more than 100,000 spectators.
In 1945, the Soviet side FC Dynamo Moscow were invited on a tour to the U.K. as it was the end of the Second World War. The first team that they faced on this tour was Chelsea at the Stamford. The match ended as a draw at 3-3.
One more major game played at this stadium was the 2008-09 Champions league quarter final between Chelsea and Liverpool. Before the game, the aggregate was 3-1 in favor of Chelsea, and everyone thought that the victory was theirs.
While Chelsea did win the quarter-finals, the crowd witnessed a great number of twists and turns in the game which ended in a 4-4 draw.
Controversies
During the 1984-85 football season, a huge number of pitch invasions and football hooliganism had taken place during the matches at this stadium.
Because of this, the chairman had an electric perimeter fence erected between the stands and the pitch. Although the fence was never turned live, this was an unusual incident for a stadium.
Recent Matches
The EFL Cup semi-final of the 2017-18 season was a major game played recently on this stadium. Chelsea vs Arsenal is always a great game to watch. Although none of the sides could score a goal, the match was a good one to watch.
Also, the quarter final of the FA cup in 2017 was also a cracker of a game. Chelsea was facing Manchester United and the match lived up to its expectations. It was a game that kept the audience involved all the time. Chelsea managed to steal a victory with the help of the only goal scored in the entire game.
