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Chelsea Football Club has faced several existential crises in its history. So the precarious position the club is currently in is nothing particularly new.

In the 1970s, the building of the East Stand nearly bankrupted the club, leading to the Mears family selling Chelsea to Ken Bates in 1982. However, the freehold of Stamford Bridge was retained by the previous owners who then sold it to property developers Marler Estates plc, (later Cabra Estates plc) in 1984.

Throughout the 1980s, Chelsea supporters lived with the very real possibility of losing Stamford Bridge as their home ground – to be replaced by high-value penthouse flats no doubt – while they would groundshare with Fulham or Queens Park Rangers.

Thankfully for Chelsea supporters, the market crashed and in 1992, Cabra Estates were bankrupted and Bates was able to buy the Stamford Bridge freehold.

Chelsea Pitch Owners was established in 1992 in order to keep Stamford Bridge from the clutches of property developers in the future. In 1997 they were given the option to buy the freehold outright, which they did courtesy of a £10million soft loan from the club.

Ironically, Bates’ financing of Stamford Bridge's redevelopment from 1995 to 2002 through Eurobonds and the club’s inability to repay them in 2003 led directly to Roman Abramovich buying the club.

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