Will Burton argues the case for Twickenham welcoming Chelsea for a temporary stay at the home of English rugby.
Let’s be honest, Chelsea’s proposed move from Stamford Bridge to Twickenham, albeit temporary, is not ideal for anyone but let’s look at the silver lining under all that grey.
If the Chelsea faithful had their way Mr Abramovich would cough up for some magic beans and a 60,000-seater stadium would sprout out of the ground overnight.
Twickenham would remain the home of English rugby and be filled full of rugby fans with stiff collared shirts singing ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’. Nothing more.
But that’s not always how things work.
Chelsea are in need of a temporary home and in many ways Twickenham would be a natural fit.
The venue is accustomed to hosting major sporting events, is only ever used a handful of times a year, and it is located just seven miles from Chelsea’s current home.
Not to mention the substantial fan base which the Blues have in the area.
The 2016/17 season will see West Ham move into the Olympic Stadium so it seems fitting timing for their London rivals to be playing at another iconic sporting venue.
England is a proud sporting country and we should make use of the world class facilities we have, of which Twickenham is certainly one. They should not be left gathering dust for 9/10ths of the year.
Those who oppose the move will play the tradition card but I’m not sure that will wash with a venue that has accommodated Iron Maiden, Lady Gaga and – of course – the Annual Jehovah’s Witnesses convention.
I admit it would seem a little odd having nets around the famous posts but if you can turn the home of cricket into an archery range in the name of ‘legacy’ you should be able to paint on some different markings at Twickenham for a season.
I would argue that, contrary to views of some, modern day Chelsea supporters bear no resemblance to the ‘hooligans’ who plagued the game during the 70s and 80s.
In fact Chelsea fans were voted the fifth most attractive in the league. If you have to have 80,000 football fans trudging past you’re house every fortnight better that they are easy on the eye.
The Chelsea following also seem to agree, a recent pole showed 93% of fans would support the proposed move.
All that’s left now is to persuade those that normally ‘swing low’ to adopt a more ‘care free’ attitude and share their sacred home to help out their sporting neighbour.
Picture courtesy of waldopepper, with thanks
