http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~2471443,00.html
Chelsea FC wrote:
Roman Abramovich's ownership and long-term commitment to the club (yes you heard it right haters) removes the once real danger that the team could find itself homeless or at a substandard ground, therefore we believe the CPO safeguard is no longer necessary.
Chelsea FC will, in return for the
freehold, effectively write off the remainder of a £10 million loan given to CPO 14 years ago to assist CPO's purchase of the
freehold.
So basically what had happened in the 1993 was that Stamford Bridge came under a real threat as a football stadium and Chelsea agreed to 'sell' it to 15,000 shares (most of them fans) so that it wasn't bought by other people. Along with that deal Chelsea agreed to loan them 10m to help them with buying it.
Now, as we all know, there was this discussion that if Chelsea moved they would have to change their name to something else. However, if the CPO agrees the new deal, which would see their loan being written off, Chelsea would be no longer obliged to change their name and would be allowed to switch stadiums keeping Chelsea FC as the team's name.
However, we would not be able to move into any place more than 3 miles away anytime before 2020, but that's only a little more than 8 years away.
The club won't admit it but this is obviously the first step in
securing a new stadium, since SB can't produce the amount of money we need to function.