Chelsea Women’s team has shown its interest in hosting all of its home games at Stamford Bridge from next season. Earlier, Chelsea was planning to move to AFC Wimbledon’s Plough Lane, which had a capacity of 9000. The decision was in speculation as the team grew in their capacity by 4850 at Kingsmeadow, but that proposal seems to have been changed. Like Arsenal and Aston Villa, Chelsea plans to play their home games at their club’s main stadium.
Fans have, however, raised some concerns about the risk factor in the shift decision to a stadium that has a capacity of over 40,000. The move to Stamford Bridge will attract larger crowds than the club’s current main stadium. Around five miles from Kingsmeadow, a Wimbledon-based Plough Lane has been seen as the middle ground between the current ground and the Bridge.
Chelsea Women’s team is currently playing a majority of its home games at Kingsmeadow, AFC Wimbledon’s former stadium in south-west London. The team had purchased Kingsmeadow in 2015 and also hosts academy games, which have a capacity of 4,850.
Arsenal Women have made the Emirates Stadium, which has a capacity of 60,000, their main home ground since the 2024-25 season. The team had won the Deloitte Football Money League against Chelsea.
Chelsea FC Women’s head coach Sonia Bompastor, earlier in January, revealed the team’s plan to shift the ground for the home matches.
She said, “I think the club is having some really good conversations about plans for the future, about stadiums. I think in the women’s game, at a club like Chelsea, it’s always important to have a backup plan because when you play many games in the season with your men’s team and women’s team, you play Champions League, and sometimes you can have clashes. We are close, probably, to maybe agreeing on something in the future.”
The Chelsea Women’s team is coming off a disappointing 3-1 loss in the Women’s Champions League quarter-final matches against Arsenal. The team had arrived at the Emirates while being challenged by multiple injuries in the squad. Bompastor was left with very few players to change.
The Blues managed to dominate the opening game for 15 minutes, but luck wasn’t enough. Meanwhile, Renee Slegers’ Arsenal team looked great throughout the match while coming off as the defending champions. Their victory against Chelsea extended their winning streak to 10 matches.
