Chelsea Forced To Expand Away Dressing Room At Stamford Bridge After Liverpool And Brighton Complaints

Chelsea have been ordered to expand the size of their away dressing room at Stamford Bridge following complaints from Premier League rivals.

Liverpool and Brighton are understood to have complained about the facilities for visiting teams to the stadium in west London.

The cramped conditions meant players were forced to share the same room as management and staff.

Visiting teams have complained about the cramped conditions at Stamford Bridge (Image: Alamy)

The Premier League’s coronavirus regulations state that dressing rooms must be a certain size to help players and staff socially distance.

The protests have forced Chelsea into spending thousands of pounds to expand the away dressing room to comply with the regulations.

Chelsea have increased the size of the away dressing room by knocking through into the media area at Stamford Bridge.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp missed this month’s trip to Chelsea after testing positive for coronavirus, with his assistant Pep Lijnders taking charge of the side for the 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea have long planned to redevelop Stamford Bridge (Image: Alamy)

Ljinders then tested positive the following week, with Liverpool's Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Arsenal forced to be postponed.

Liverpool are understood to have complained about the conditions at Chelsea, while Brighton boss Graham Potter made similar complaints following his side’s 1-1 draw on December 29.

Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl previously criticised the facilities at Stamford Bridge in 2020.

He said: “We lose nearly three minutes. Down the stairs, up the stairs, I don’t know where.

“You want to coach, you want to reorganise the team. You have this time and they are struggling to go in this quick.”

Chelsea have expanded their away dressing room by knocking through into the stadium's media area (Image: Alamy)

Chelsea have long planned to redevelop Stamford Bridge, which holds around 42,000 supporters.

Five years ago, the club was given planning permission to rebuild the stadium into a new state-of-the-art 60,000-seat arena.

However, the plans were put on hold in 2018 after club owner Roman Abramovic was unable to secure a UK visa.

Chelsea said at the time: “No further pre-construction design and planning work will occur. The club does not have a timeframe set for reconsideration of its decision.”

Topics: Liverpool, Chelsea, Football, Premier League, Brighton And Hove Albion

Rory O'Callaghan

Rory O'Callaghan is Editorial Lead at SPORTbible. He has previously worked for Sky Sports News, MailOnline and Reach covering football, cricket, boxing and MMA. Tested daily as a Liverpool fan in a Manchester office.

@rory_ocallaghan