( CNN ) -- Chelsea have warned a group of supporters they are slowing the progress of the English Premier League outfit after they opted not to return the freehold to the club 's Stamford Bridge stadium . The ground , in the west of the English capital , was sold to a fans ' organization called the Chelsea Pitch Owners ( CPO ) in 1997 to protect it from falling into the hands of developers if the club ran into financial trouble . But only 61.5 % of CPO 's shareholders voted to sell the freehold back to the club -- less than the 75 % needed to authorize the move . Explainer : Chelsea 's bid to leave Stamford Bridge . Chelsea , who are currently third in the Premier League , are keen to explore the possibility of building a new ground with a bigger capacity than Stamford Bridge , which currently holds only 42,000 supporters . In a letter to CPO , Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck said that a new ground could help the club raise an extra $ 56 million of revenue each season but that the redevelopment of Stamford Bridge was necessary to help pay for it . But many fans were not happy at the club 's plans to move away from the site and Chelsea fell short of the vote required . The club are owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich but limited space around their ground means expansion is difficult . Two of the club 's rivals , Manchester United and Arsenal , have stadiums that hold 76,000 and 60,000 respectively . A statement on the Chelsea 's official website read : `` Chelsea FC is naturally disappointed with the result . A large number of fans supported our proposals but it was always going to be difficult when we had to have a 75 per cent majority of voting shareholders accepting them . `` We approached this process with transparency and the will to do what is best for Chelsea Football Club and while we will remain as ambitious as ever , this decision could slow down our progress . '' Buck added : `` Obviously we are disappointed but we recognise and we respect totally that the shareholders of Chelsea Pitch Owners have spoken . `` We will meet with Mr Abramovich ( Chelsea 's Russian owner ) and the rest of the board and we will decide what action , if any , we will take going forward . ' '' I do n't view this as an us and against you , we against they situation . We are all Chelsea fans and I can only hope that on Saturday we can get together and support this club and beat Arsenal . ''
Chelsea lose vote to buy back their Stamford Bridge stadium . A group of the club 's fans who own the freehold opt against handing it back . The 'Chelsea Pitch Owners ' have owned the freehold since 1997 . They are now demanding a new lease on life for the ground, which they say is worth around £100m per year in rent and maintenance costs.