Chelsea Women will stage all of their Women’s Super League home fixtures at Stamford Bridge from next season, the club has announced.
The move follows a similar switch by Arsenal to the Emirates last summer. Chelsea have already used Stamford Bridge for their European ties this season, but until now most WSL matches have been played at Kingsmeadow in Kingston, south-west London.
Kingsmeadow, the first ground owned by a women’s team and Chelsea’s principal home for nearly a decade, became the club’s sole base in November 2020 after AFC Wimbledon moved to Plough Lane. The club began exploring alternatives earlier this year after head coach Sonia Bompastor raised the possibility in January.
The decision to make Stamford Bridge the regular venue for Barclays WSL games was reached after consultations with players, commercial partners, the fan advisory board and supporter groups. Moving from Kingsmeadow’s capacity of just under 5,000 to Stamford Bridge’s roughly 40,000 seats is intended to give the team a stage more in keeping with its ambitions and achievements, the club said.
Details on where domestic cup fixtures will be played have not been finalised. Champions League matches are expected to continue at the west London stadium, while Kingsmeadow will still host girls’ academy fixtures. The announcement was timed with the unveiling of a new club identity called Never Done.
Since Chelsea relocated to Kingsmeadow for the 2017/18 season, their WSL record there reads 80 matches: 69 wins, 6 draws and 5 defeats, a win rate of 86.3 percent and an average of 2.7 points per game. Their WSL results at Stamford Bridge are even stronger on paper, with 12 games delivering 11 wins and 1 loss, a 91.7 percent win rate and an average of 2.8 points per match.
An open letter from the squad framed the change as part of a wider legacy, thanking past players and supporters and stressing unchanged ambition: to keep winning trophies and to continue building the women’s game with fans alongside them at the Bridge.
Bompastor told Sky Sports the switch reflects growth in the women’s game and Chelsea’s desire to drive that expansion. She said the club wants to be ambitious both on and off the pitch and to offer fans a special matchday experience by bringing more supporters to Stamford Bridge. Players, she added, wanted the chance to perform in bigger stadiums and enjoy that atmosphere.
Sky Sports analyst Charlotte Marsh called the decision a strong statement of intent but warned of risks. Chelsea have not consistently dominated the WSL in recent seasons despite domestic cup success, and Champions League glory remains elusive. Marsh pointed out that smaller venues can produce louder, sold-out atmospheres that benefited Chelsea at Kingsmeadow, so the club must work hard to recreate that intensity on a larger stage if the move is to pay off.