Latest cfcuk Fanzine Article (123) from the CSG
We have received some good news for our younger supporters regarding away games next season.
Following the concerns that the CSG raised with the club, and reported on in the last issue of cfcuk, regarding the apparent reluctance of Chelsea FC to pass on concessionary prices offered by home clubs, we were contacted by the clubs head of ticketing, Graham Smith.
He has assured us that they have found a way of passing on theses concessions to young Chelsea supporters. Several clubs in the premier league offer reduced prices for different age groups up to the age of 21. So if you fall within this age group or are buying tickets for people who are of this age please make sure you look out for the correct prices and do not pay full adult prices unless you absolutely have to!
Away season ticket holders next season are being offered the chance to tick boxes on their application forms if they want to sit at the front, back or middle of the Chelsea allocation or if they have no preference on where they sit.
What a good and simple idea you might think? Unfortunately it was one raised several years ago by the CSG at the Fans Forum following countless complaints from away season ticket holders about the poor seats they were getting. Why this “new” idea could not have been implemented then is anybodies guess??
Talk of away games for next season brings us to the subsidised train travel that the club have been offering. Unfortunately 3 of the 4 trains that were organised for this season had to be cancelled due to lack of interest and the one that did run to Liverpool had less than 200 people on board. We will be asking the club if they will be considering any trains for next season or do not think it is worth the effort.
The CSG are still of the opinion that if the trains are priced at a reasonable cost for supporters and sufficient notice of timings for them is given then there should be enough demand for them, particularly for evening games up north. We could well be fighting a losing battle with this issue though!
The recent player event held at Stamford Bridge involving John Terry, Frank Lampard and Josh McEachran proved to be very popular and sold out quite quickly. However these player events do seem to have moved away from the cheep and cheerful nights that they were first designed to be.
With ticket prices now over £30 and corporate hospitality also offered, have they now become another way of making money for the club? While no one would want to see the club lose money on these occasions, surely a cost covering price could be re introduced and the evenings could return to being for Chelsea supporters who don’t have bottomless pockets?
With Chelsea proclaiming extra police presence inside Stamford Bridge for the game against Spurs in their fight against anti-Semitism, surely some of the extra officers would have been better deployed on the segregation line between home and away fans in the Shed End, where things threatened to spill over in heated exchanges between Spurs fans and stewards in the Shed Lower?
A couple of events in the summer for your diaries are the Chelsea supporters’ tournament to be held at Cobham on July 10th and the Football Supporters Federation Fans Parliament the day before on July 9th at Imperial College, London.
The teams for the tournament are in the process of being finalised but we still need a couple more referees for the day, so if you can help out please contact us at the email address below or feel free to approach anyone you know in the CSG and we will provide you with details for the day.
The FSF event is well worth attending for all fans interested in what is happening around our national game. Several workshops are set up for the day covering a whole host of things that concern all football supporters. There is also the chance to meet and talk to fans of clubs from all over the country and discuss all footballing issues. For details of the parliament look on the FSF web site.
Finally, big congratulations from all of us at the CSG to Darren Barker on regaining his European Middleweight title on the evening following the home win against Spurs.
A great day for all Chelsea supporters!