JOSE SLAMS WORST HOME ATMOSPHERE screams the tabloids. THE TOURISTS AND PRICES ARE TO BLAME is the swift, volleying reply from the Chelsea faithful. When all seemed well and settled at Chelsea, the dust has been kicked up and we’ve got a new drama on our hands. Hurrah.
This drama though strikes a bit more personally though. Our beloved, silver-fox leader has slandered our home support; the same home support that contains me, my dad and our well earned money every home game. It seems that the approach of buying a highly expensive ticket, the cost of travel, purchasing some of the overpriced confectionary from the club stalls, and then watching the game, being sure to politely applaud when a player does something nicely, isn’t the approach we should have. We want more noise, more hooligans, passion, and all for half the price.
Nothing beats going to watch Chelsea, for me. The mix of nerves, confidence and excitement walking down Kings Road is a feeling that never gets old. Standing up, cheering exceptional bits of skill and goals, doing the bouncey, everything, it’s terrific. But the one thing that has been spoiling it, more noticeably in recent years, is the atmosphere at the less significant games. The passion and love for the club is there, but very often not the noise and it often seems that those in the East and West stands have left their singing voices back at home.
Source: chelseafc.com
For big games, against Manchester United, Tottenham, Arsenal etc, the atmosphere at the game is usually pretty darn special. The PSG game last year too was exceptional. The fans rise to the occasion; they feel the emotion and significance and support the team. It’s just against the smaller teams that we struggle, as fans. The Matthew Harding is usually vocal, and the Shed End decent to, but West Stand with their corporate sections and the East Stand with the family section, much less so. Perhaps we’re complacent, perhaps we expect to be entertained, win, and that’s that. Perhaps the tickets are so expensive that the louder, and – I use this term carefully – ‘more passionate fans’ save up for the bigger games, as opposed to the vs Leicester, or vs Burnley sort of games. These sorts of games are likely to see more children in attendance, which usually suggests smaller range from our archive of chants – the more child friendly ones get sung, for language reasons. Does the problem lie with price then?
Now before berating the ticket prices, it’s worth considering this. In any market where demand is high and supply is minimal, prices will remain high; particularly when the subject of that market is a luxury good that many around would be willing to pay huge heaps of money for. Basic economic theory shows that. Supporters come with success; everyone acknowledges that, so the success of Chelsea Football Club on the pitch increased the number willing to travel to games, meaning that ‘proper Chels’ have been excluded as price rises. The middle class now fill the terraces, armed with scones, instead of celery.
Of course there is the argument of Financial Fair Play as well, with the club needing to make as much revenue as possible, in order to fund other financial ordeals. The issue is, games are selling out at Stamford Bridge, and if the club can charge their high prices knowing that people will pay the money, from a business perspective, why wouldn’t they?
But the cost of supporting Chelsea at games is one of the highest in the league. We have every right to be angry about that. We are the supporters of the football club, the character of the club, and who all these people who work at the club are paid to appease, so why don’t our views take priority?
One fan got in touch with John Terry this week via Instagram and told him about the problems he felt there were at the home games. John Terry promised to contact him further, and earlier today did. He said that players and staff alike are pushing for stewarding changes, moving away fans, and under-22 tickets. Are the club trying to listen to us? If they are, we might have to make a bit more noise.
The moving of away fans is something I’m immensely in favour of though, and I am pleased it has been mentioned. Ever since the old away section was moved away from the East Stand lower – after Porto fans were hurling abuse at Mourinho in the Champions League – that Shed End soul and unity has suffered, and the atmosphere too. Put them anywhere else, top tier of the East Stand or something, and restore the Shed End to the vibrant, bouncing section it was. If two out of the four stands at least are singing, that’ll do wonders for the atmosphere.
Other ideas being thrown into the mix by Chelsea fans are as follows: safe standing, singing sections, cheaper tickets, and regulation on persistent standing. All good ideas, but the problem isn’t exclusive to Chelsea by any means; the whole of English football is riddled with dreary and lifeless atmospheres.
Look across the English stadiums and only Selhurst Park really sticks out and showcases itself as having a vibrant ambience. Most stadiums have their moments, even The Emirates, but the rest of the time, many fans would rather eat burgers and look at their phones than give full focus to the football. There are too many distractions, so many things to detract away from the football, with the rise of social media arguably bringing about people enjoying football less. In many cases, the only sound to be heard is the grumbling and moaning of discontent emanating from the disappointed supporters who will walk out of the ground with five minutes to go.
We’re playing some of the most exciting football – on occasions – than the club has seen in recent years, but this isn’t enough to inspire rowdy noise like a good, meaty tackle would have done in the past. Perhaps passing, possession football should be ditched and we should all return to big, heavy tackles and knocking it out wide, before lumping it into the mixer.
The simple fact of the matter is that, in most cases, if it wasn’t for the away fans most stadiums would be close to silent, and let’s face it, our away support is the bee’s knees. Away fan support is always superior to the home fan support because of the higher concentration of more loyal fans clumped together. The hope to replicate this kind of feel at home grounds is where the idea of singing sections comes from, however these will only work if the rest of the fans decide to join in.
There is an argument that the stadium is now populated mostly by tourists these days, and not ‘proper fans’ though, and this is one that I find truly preposterous. For every tourist, you’ll have at least a few hundred of these ‘proper fans’. Part of the rage towards tourists though is that they won’t initiate chants, or contribute to the atmosphere in that way because they aren’t Chelsea fans. If only we had another 40,000 people who could, eh? These people would get involved if there was an atmosphere already there, that I’m sure of. If everyone around them is singing songs, jumping and cheering, they’re bound to as well. For that reason, introducing a singing section might be a worthwhile idea, particularly in a stand that’s not the Matthew Harding, because they already do enough singing.
Whilst his harsh criticisms of the supporters may have cut deep on some, the positive out of Jose’s outburst is that Chelsea fans are starting to wake up and acknowledge that we need to be louder, with most fans all now thinking about what we can do to improve. Whilst we may never reach the levels of Galatasary fans with all their flares, bandanas and general murder weapons, we should at least be aiming to the level that not only our quality on the pitch is intimidating enough at home games, but that the level of support is as well.
With regards to what we can do, I think a fair amount of change is needed. A singing section and moving the away fans into the top tier of the East Stand would be a must for me, as well as the introduction of under-22 tickets. This is something I’m properly in favour of as it reduces prices for me first and foremost, and also it will encourage more of us young, enthusiastic fans to attend more games. This will also give greater back-up for Jose Mourinho and Rui Faria for when Arsene Wenger kicks off again.
The least that can happen now is for the club and fans to open up communication and make sure they listen to our ideas, and sort this out together. We want to feel like fans again, and not just customers who already splash out a lot on buying shirts each year. If we can improve our atmosphere, then I’m sure many others around the country would to, instead of sitting in silence, occasionally murmuring as rich people kick around a leather ball as we scroll through our twitter feeds.
Huw Saunders
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