MM on the prawn sandwich brigade

On Tuesday evening I went to Stamford Bridge to watch Chelsea take on Lefski Sofia courtesy of free tickets from my good friend Sung. Now don't get me wrong I was grateful for Sung's generosity and would bite her hand off if such an offer were made again, also it was an absolute pleasure to watch live champions league football and finally I appreciate the circumstances of my being at stamford bridge is ironic considering my forthcoming musing (you'll sense there is a but coming here...)

But ..... it was ultimately a rather depressing affair. We were seated in the once famously fearsome Shed end. This is how a Chelsea fan living in the states remembers visits to the Shed in the 70s and 80s, on hs website 'shedendblues'. (The photos show the Shed as was and is today)

We'd bunk the train up from Reading, dodge the underground and pay our 50p under 16 rate to stand in the Shed End - the atmosphere was always electric - guaranteed to get crushed if Chelsea scored - and if the footy was no good there was always the North End idiots putting on the half time show.


Sadly we found that the Shed had less atmosphere than such other grounds as Chesterfield's Saltergate or Scunthorpe's Glandford Park which I have visited in the past 12 months. Never in all my footballing years have I seen so many suits, tourists, late arrivals, public school scarves, trophy girlfriends, middle aged men with gelled hair, people leaving their seats during the action, flashing bulbs, and over-sized pepsi drinks all in one place. All of this accompanied by not a single chant from the Shed through the whole game, no abuse yelled at the officials and an exodus of 'fans' 10 minutes before the game even finished. No doubt traditional fans have been priced out by the bankrupting ticket prices and sadly football is all the poorer for it. Give the game back to the fans!