Chelsea already planning victory parade if they end season with Premier League and Champions League triumphs Chelsea are already planning a victory parade through the streets around Stamford Bridge to celebrate winning the Premier League and Champions League next month. Hammersmith and Fulham Council has distributed letters to 55,000 residents and businesses warning of street closures on the afternoon of Sunday, May 25 if the Blues end their season by winning at least one of the trophies.
The forward planning comes despite Chelsea being two points behind Liverpool in the Barclays Premier League with four matches to play
and with Atletico Madrid still to face in the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Should they advance against the La Liga leaders, Chelsea will then face either Bayern Munich or Real Madrid in the Lisbon final on May 24.
But the
club and local authorities are already putting arrangements in place for an open-top bus parade when the players return from Portugal the following day.
The memo, sent jointly by Wandsworth, Kensington and Chelsea, and Hammersmith & Fulham councils,
has dropped through thousands of letterboxes this week and warns of potential disruption from street closures.It reads: 'We are writing to give you very early warning of a possible Chelsea FC victory parade if the club are successful
as they pursue Premier League and Champions League title next month.'While the club and our three councils understand that success is far from certain,
we believe that the responsible thing to do is give you as much notice of the date as possible.
Last time: Chelsea paraded the European Cup and the FA Cup through the streets in front of thousands of fans in 2012Lift it high: Frank Lampard shows off the European Cup after Chelsea beat Bayern Munich on penalties in the final 'The need for us to plan for a parade follows police advice. They are concerned that a spontaneous celebration, should Chelsea be victorious, would be difficult to control and more disruptive for residents.
'Hence we have agreed to work with all parties to ensure that any parade happens peacefully and with the minimum of inconvenience to residents.'
It goes on to say that the
parade would start at the west entrance to Stamford Bridge at 3pm and proceed along Fulham Road, Hortensia Road, Kings Road and New Kings Road before ending at Parsons Green. At the double: Chelsea also paraded through the streets after winning the Premier League and FA Cup in 2010 Blue flag day: Chelsea fans await the newly crowned Premier League champions in 2005 The note concludes: 'I hope you appreciate that
this letter is only intended to give you advance warning about the possibility of a parade, as we have learned the lessons from previous parades where you told us that you wanted as much notice as possible.
'While we wish Chelsea every success, we also realise that there are several twists and turns left this season and we promise to share our proposed plans as soon as we can.'
Thousands thronged the streets back in May 2012 after Chelsea beat Bayern Munich on penalties to win the Champions League, having won the FA Cup a couple of weeks earlier.
They also toured on an open-top bus after winning the Premier League and FA Cup double in 2010 and also after each of their first two title in 2005 and 2006.
Such advance planning can sometimes backfire, however. Islington Council gave warning of an Arsenal victory parade ahead of their 2006
Champions League final with Barcelona, only for them to lose 2-1.
Party cancelled: Arsenal had planned to parade the European Cup in 2006 but they lost 2-1 in the final to Barcelona
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