Chelsea's WSL clash against title rivals Manchester United in March has already sold out Kingsmeadow, adding fuel to growing sentiments that the reigning league champions are swiftly outgrowing their current home base.
The sell-out crowd for the potentially decisive league affair arrives hot on the heels of comments from Chelsea midfielder Erin Cuthbert who said the club have grown too big for their Kingsmeadow home, which holds 4,850 fans and has served as the Blues’ base since 2017.
This season, Chelsea notched a club record 38,300 fans at Stamford Bridge for their 3-0 London derby victory over Spurs in November, while 10,000 filled the stadium to bear witness to their Champions League group stage win over Paris St. Germain.
Speaking to BBC BBC Radio 5 Live, the Scotland international stated that the team are hoping to play every game at Stamford Bridge within “a couple of years”.
"We are only a couple of years away from being able to play at Stamford Bridge every game," Cuthbert said.
"We want to play 15 games there next year, then 20 - we have to keep pushing the standards. Growth never comes from comfort zones.
"We have outgrown Kingsmeadow. England won the Euros, it's grown the profile of the game and everything has changed."
Cuthbert’s comments echo those of her manager Emma Hayes, who in November following Chelsea’s emphatic London derby win called on the Women’s Super League to demonstrate “more ambition” in curating a landscape conducive for the fast-paced growth of women’s football.
“We'd like to be here more,” Hayes said of playing at Stamford Bridge. “I think we all know that solving the conundrum in the women's game around what do we do from small stadia, you know, is there a medium-term plan to go medium-sized stadiums before eventually everybody comes home to the large stadium? I don't know.
“But I'm absolutely certain we're all outgrowing our small stadiums, that I'm sure off.”
Hayes has long advocated that the league and clubs need to complement the searing growth of the game with better financial investment and even accused the league of selling women's football on the cheap.
Following a slew of farcical postponements in the women’s top-flight in January due to frozen and unplayable pitches, the discourse surrounding the state of women’s pitches and stadia seized headlines.
Chelsea are set to host Manchester United on 12 March. United currently sit top of the WSL table with a one-point buffer to the Blues, though Chelsea boast a game in hand.
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