Fulham will in unserem Stadion spielen!

[Sportsfreund]

Fulham plan Chelsea switch

Fulham hope to conclude a deal to groundshare with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge next season.

The Cottagers are groundsharing at Loftus Road with Queens Park Rangers in a deal costing the Premiership side £1m for this season.

But Fulham chief executive Bruce Langham has held a series of talks with his Chelsea counterpart Trevor Birch and Fulham are hopeful of moving to Stamford Bridge.

The decision will have to be made by 1 March, the deadline by which Fulham must make their request if they want another year at Loftus Road.

"We think there's a good chance of getting a groundshare with Chelsea - and we're aiming for next season," said a Fulham spokesman.

The biggest obstacle to the groundshare plan is a planning rule which allows only one team to be based at Stamford Bridge.

The clubs will submit a joint application to the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in the near future, requesting they change that rule.

If the Council delays, Fulham plan to stay at Loftus Road for another year and then move to Stamford Bridge in August 2004.

A groundshare with Chelsea would provide Fulham with a stop-gap while they search for a site for a new stadium.

Fulham chairman Mohamed Al Fayed has abandoned plans to return to Craven Cottage after redevelopment costs increased to more than £100m.

In October, Al Fayed discussed the possibility of buying into Chelsea Village in return for a deal allowing the Cottagers to play at the Bridge.

But the talks ended with Fulham announcing they had turned down an offer to purchase 9.9% of the club for £15m, in return for a 25-year groundsharing deal with further profit-linked payments.

BBC

Ich glaube nicht, dass sich unser Präsident Ken Bates damit sehr viele Freunde machen würde. Ich weiß, dass Fanclubs schon Proteste gegen das "Groundsharing" angekündigt haben.

[Sportsfreund]

Hier der Bericht von SkySports:

Fulham have dramatically revived plans for a controversial Stamford Bridge groundshare with their west London rivals Chelsea next season.

Cottagers chief executive Bruce Langham has held a series of talks with his Blues counterpart Trevor Birch and Langham's club are "hopeful" a one-year deal will be clinched in weeks.

Jean Tigana's side were made homeless when chairman Mohamed Al Fayed abandoned plans to return to Craven Cottage after redevelopment costs rocketed to more than £100million.

Since then they have been playing their home games at Loftus Road - homee of Second Division Queens Park Rangers - in a reported £1million deal this season.

With the Stamford Bridge plan back in consideration, they have until March before they have to make a final decision - that is their deadline to request another year at Loftus Road.

A Cottagers spokesman said: "We think there's a good chance of getting a groundshare with Chelsea - and we're aiming for next season."

The biggest obstacle to a Chelsea-Fulham alliance is the planning rule which allows only one team to be based at the Bridge.

The clubs will submit a joint application to the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in the near future, requesting they change that rule.

If the Council delay, Fulham plan to stay at Loftus Road for another year and then move to Stamford Bridge in August 2004.

A groundshare with Chelsea would provide Fulham with a stop-gap while they search for a site for a new stadium.

But the Cottagers, who have averaged crowds of just 16,693 this season, would need to more than double their gate to fill the 42,449-capacity Stamford Bridge.

The Blues responded by saying the gesture was a "private, neighbourly act" - and claiming the Premier League suggested the idea to them in he first place.

[Sportsfreund]

Die Sache wurde zum Glück vom Londoner Stadtamt abgewiesen.