A DIEHARD Chelsea fan and Stamford Bridge stallholder of 45 years fears the club is trying to force him out of business.

Michael O'Connell, 60, says his future is up in the air after the Fulham Road club applied to trademark the name 'Chelsea' on clothing products. Mr O'Connell sells T-shirts and scarves bearing the word as an alternative to official club products at a far cheaper price.

His says he has been left stunned by the application, and concedes he will have to close if it is successful. "These T-shirts make up three-quarters of sales," he said. "If this goes through, I'll be finished."

Mr O'Connell, who runs the stall outside the ground with daughter Janine and grandkids Rebecca, 19, and Elizabeth, 16, is licenced by the council to trade. He sells official club merchandise like mugs and baseball caps, as well as the cheaper products.

He is confused as to how the club could get the name of a town or place protected, and cannot understand why the European Champions seemingly want him out after nearly half a century trading. Five other stalls would also be affected.

"I'm not doing anything wrong," he said. "Adidas won't supply us with the official shirts so we sell the next best thing, which are mostly for the kids. Why would they want us out? It's not like they haven't got the money to allow us.

"They have 'Chelsea Football Club' and 'CFC' trademarked, which is fair enough. I don't see how they can trademark an entire place - it would be like doing the same with Manchester or Liverpool."

Mr O'Connell says the row is 'heartbreaking' for him as a lifelong fan of the club and he believes supporters would miss out if the stallholders are forced away.

"We are part of the atmosphere, people love to see us. For me, it's just extremely sad. This has been my life. Come rain or shine, my wife knows what I'm doing on a matchday, and that's coming here. I love the club and will carry on supporting them whatever but I would love to know who is behind this. It's heartbreaking."

The club put in the trademark application with the Intellectual Property Office in 2010 but River Island, which runs a clothing line called 'Chelsea Girl', and a Coventry-based business which sells clothes bearing the name 'Chelsea Man', aleady own the rights. It is believed the club is negotiating with the firms to find a solution.

The club failed to respond to our request for comment.