The above was posted on a WHU site during a discussion re our potential takeover by sombody whose information is ordinarily reliable.

I can't find anything using Google, but it sounds plausible to me.

Any thoughts on the figures plus the impact this could have long term?

I'm guessing this does seriously damages the atmosphere at the bridge. Chelsea wont be arsed about the atmosphere though as long as their filling the ground.
33% f**ing hell thats bad :o
Was going to go Chelsea away this season, its the last year I'll be able to get junior tickets but its on a wednesday night :(

You guessed right Red Rose, the place is a joke now! Everywhere you look there is chinese tourists with their cameras decked out from head to toe in club merchandise.

More and more of the lifelong Chelsea fans are being priced out. The cheapest tickets are £45, which is a joke. I predict that in 2 years time the bridge will be complete silence for 90mins.

When I watch MOTD or live football on tv I get sick of seeing the toursit types in most Premier League grounds near the pitch with their camera phones and more intrested in the close up picture of Lampard, Henry or Gerrard than the game. They are not real fans they are just bandwagon types jumping in with the 'trendy' image. Sooner they piss off the better. Mind you at League 2 games you get NONE of that its great also with terracing in many cases. Games been hi jacked at higher level

I can well imagine that Chelsea is the third most popular tourist destination in London, but I'd definately question the 33% fact. It would be almost impossible for a third (thats 14,000 at CFC) of everygame to be attended by first time watchers, who then presumably never come back that season (or any other season) only to be replaced by another 14,000 the next home match.

I know football is headed that way, and Chelsea are probably the worst, I can't see 33% being accurate.

pretty close to that now.

Whilst there are a lot of one off supporters at chelsea games 33% is a ridiculous statement to make - for a start there are only 10,000 tickets sold on a match by match basis, now considering that these go to members first and any left are put on general sale. The Liverpool game didn't go on general sale so the only tourists will be touted tickets and authorised packages.

There is no doubt though te atmosphere is dying quickly as it is at all the major grounds, sanitisation of football is to blame - chelsea's have banned flags on safety grounds however they now let their own manufactured flags in.... how unsafe can a flag be?


The first two Premiership games of the season saw 1750 Chelsea flags handed out to supporters as they entered the stadium. It would be great to see those flags waving again on Sunday.

The flags, which are blue and white checked and feature the club badge, have been especially designed to comply with safety regulations at the stadium, as must all flags brought in.

Therefore the players have asked anyone who has one of the flags, and is coming to the Liverpool game, to bring it along again - and keep the blue flag flying high!

Mmmm, it would appear I hadn't thought it through properly and it isn't plausible at all! Although 33% over a season may be right.

The flags sound a good idea but I have say that club approved merchandise in an attempt to raise the atmosphere is yet another nail in the coffin of spontaneous and natural support.

Basically, the clubs are saying support on our terms or don't bother.

And don't get me started on the stupid Reebok stamped stick things West Ham handed out recenty...

I've seen these. They look awful.
Preston and Watford had them in the play offs.
I'm sure clubs hand them out to try and make a better atmosphere :blink: :rolleyes:

While on the subject of flags banners etc a new banner was put up on the stretty this season which read United > England it was removed by the club (after they had allowed it) because of ONE complaint.

Are they those stupid things you are ment to hit together. If they are i've seen them at places like Preston loads of times. I agree look they look awful and stop people from clapping normally to generate Atmosphere normally.

So it should be!

Don't really want to get into arguments on here cos we're all here to achieve the same goal, but I just don't get the whole anti England thing with United fans.

I know it's mostly just to wind up opposition fans, but how any Englishman can wear an Argie shirt and/or chant Argentina is beyond me.

the whole anti-england thing is basically because it doesnt matter which tournament it is, a utd player always ends up with the blame for englands failure...(becks in 98, phil nev in 2000, ronaldo 2006 etc)...this recent world cup was the last straw for many match going utd supporters and that was the main reason for the banner, its our response to the booing that ronnie is going to get at every away this season

Lamps has been getting shit loads of stick for his performances and rightly so, but you would never see any Chelsea fans chanting Argentina (Well you never know seeing as half the fans at the Bridge these days are foreigners :angry: ). Personally it seems a bit pathetic to me, but as I said this isn't the place to get into it.

This is very much the place for fans to have debates of these nature as long as they remain civil.

Having said that I'm keen to keep threads as much on topic as possible; there is a General Football section that can be used for these sort of discussions.

We had 'em at Reading in December 2004. Shite.