Spurs are on the way to Wembley... but they're carrying Chelsea on their coattails

Spurs are on their way to Wembley. And so are Chelsea.

The two meet there next month in the FA Cup semi-final, in what looks likely to be the most local of local derbies – with both sides hoping to make the stadium their temporary home in coming seasons. Which is why the decision made last week by Brent Council, to allow Tottenham to play 27 home matches a year there in front of a 90,000 capacity crowd, is such big news when it comes to Chelsea.

Officially, there is radio silence on Chelsea's Stamford Bridge plans.

All of the planning hurdles have been surmounted, but for the outside possibility of the Mayor of London's decision to grant permission being taken to Judicial Review. There will now be a period of phoney war, where very little is seen to happen with the stadium plans for some time, yet with much actually progressing on out of sight.

One of the big negotiating points is known to be the various permissions that need to be sought from both Transport for London and Network Rail, whose railway lines border Chelsea's home on the west and east sides respectively.

Chelsea will need to build over both, to differing extents, and that will require much discussion and paperwork before a brick is laid.

The issue of Chelsea's interim home for three seasons, a matter of much discussion, does seem to be mostly settled though. It is understood that Wembley is a done deal.

The stadium will be home to Tottenham in 2017-18, and Chelsea are not expected to move in until 2019-20, so there will be no overlap between the two foes.

But that groundwork put in by the north London side may bear unexpected fruits for the club from the west.

The paperwork for last week's planning meeting at Brent Town Hall is dry, although Chelsea fans may raise a wry smile at the reproduction in the agenda of what was, at the time of writing, the current Premier League table: showing Tottenham second, and Chelsea top.

Wembley's existing planning permission had made it possible for the stadium to hold an unlimited number of events each year, with one caveat – the capacity cannot exceed 50,835, making use of only the lower two tiers of the stadium, without special permission.

The reason for the capacity cap goes back to the original granting of planning permission and the need to improve road access from the Brent Park exit of the North Circular.

This work was never completed, as it was deemed too expensive and complicated. But Tottenham succeeded in their argument that other road improvements and alterations in the area made up for this and that they would do a better job than England manage in persuading fans to leave their cars at home.

Planning officers at Brent Council said 'on balance' they accepted this and, in an entirely unintentional flashback to Chelsea and Tottenham's last Wembley meeting, voted 5-1 in favour of it being accepted.

Tottenham have got what they wanted, and they may have done Chelsea a big favour in the process – although caution is required if transferring this decision to Wembley's next tenant.

Spurs' application to change the restrictions related only to their one season at the stadium: and the planning report makes it clear the decision was taken with a view to carefully observing what happened during that time.

But if Tottenham can make their 90,000 capacity work next season, then that experience will clearly be persuasive should Chelsea decide to take the same case to Brent Council.

And all this raises the prospect that, over the course of three Premier League seasons at their temporary home, the Blues could be watched by in excess of five million fans.