was also the venue for an unofficial Victory International in 1946

Chelsea vs. West Bromwich Albion at Stamford Bridge on 23 September 1905; Chelsea won 1–0.
The Stamford Bridge freehold, the pitch, the turnstiles and Chelsea's naming rights are now owned by Chelsea Pitch Owners, a non-profit organisation in which fans are the shareholders. The CPO was created to ensure the stadium could never again be sold to developers. As a condition for using the Chelsea FC name, the club has to play its first team matches at Stamford Bridge, which means that if the club moves to a new stadium, they may have to change their name.[35] Chelsea's training ground is located in Cobham, Surrey. Chelsea moved to Cobham in 2004. Their previous training ground in Harlington was taken over by QPR in 2005.[36] The new training facilities in Cobham were completed in 2007.[37]
Stamford Bridge has been used for a variety of other sporting events since 1905. It hosted the FA Cup Final from 1920 to 1922,[38] has held ten FA Cup semi-finals (most recently in 1978), ten FA Charity Shield matches (the last in 1970), and three England international matches, the last in 1932; it was also the venue for an unofficial Victory International in 1946.[39]


View from the West Stand of Stamford Bridge during a Champions League game, 2008
In October 1905 it hosted a rugby union match between the All Blacks and Middlesex,[40] and in 1914 hosted a baseball match between the touring New York Giants and the Chicago White Sox.[41] It was the venue for a boxing match between world flyweight champion Jimmy Wilde and Joe Conn in 1918.[42] The running track was used for dirt track racing between 1928 and 1932,[43] greyhound racing from 1933 to 1968, and Midget car racing in 1948.[44] In 1980, Stamford Bridge hosted the first international floodlit cricket match in the UK, between Essex and the West Indies.[45] It was also the home stadium of the London Monarchs American Football team for the 1997 season.[46]
The current club ownership have stated that a larger stadium is necessary in order for Chelsea to stay competitive with rival clubs who have significantly larger stadia, such as Arsenal and Manchester United.[47] Owing to its location next to a main road and two railway lines, fans can only enter the ground via the Fulham Road exits, which places constraints on expansion due to health and safety regulations.[48] The club have consistently affirmed their desire to keep Chelsea at their current home,[49][50][51] but Chelsea have nonetheless been linked with a move to various nearby sites, including the Earls Court Exhibition Centre, Battersea Power Station and the Chelsea Barracks.[52] On 3 October 2011, Chelsea made a proposal to CPO shareholders to buy back the freehold to the land on which Stamford Bridge sits, stating that "buying back the freehold removes a potential hurdle should a suitable site become available in the future".[53] The proposal was voted down by CPO shareholders.[54] In May 2012, the club made a formal bid to purchase Battersea Power Station, with a view to developing the site into a 60,000 seater stadium,[55] but lost out to a Malaysian consortium.