Chelsea 1-2 FC Basel
Stamford Bridge
18/09/13
Att: 40,358
A rarity for myself in this country as I broke out of Non-League to watch a Champions League match on British soil for only the second time. Chelsea had been drawn in an interesting group, off the pitch, and I'd wanted to visit 'The Bridge' for a while, with my previous visit being consigned to the 'mostly forgotten' section of my mind. I'd would have rather done the Schalke game, but tickets will be nigh on impossible I imagine. Instead I settled for the current Swiss champions, while the fan-scene in Switzerland isn't as impressive as other countries I was still hopeful of there being a decent noise.
Walking from West Brompton Station is an odd experience, anyone with football knowledge will know Chelsea wasn't always men in suits and padded seats. It became obvious that the 'Chelsea of Old' is exactly that, in the past and gone for good. The walk was predominated by upper class restaurants and day trippers, many of whom were probably at there one game they'll go to this year. What was more striking was that during the walk I saw a stall out of the corner of my eye selling programmes from the 70's and 80's, mainly, one programme caught my eye, with a stunning arial of the ground prior to re-development. I nearly had a heart attack when I was told it would set me back £300 to purchase it. I'd seen enough and wanted nothing other than to find my seat and watch the ground fill up.
It became apparent that Basel weren't going to have as many as I'd thought they would, and there was a lack of colour, flags etc in the away end. The reasoning behind this became apparent after the game, when I found out fans had *apparently* been turned away, and some *apparently* refusing to go into the ground altogether. I imagine the reasoning behind this to have been due to the contrast of strictness in ground regulations between this country and the continent. Indeed the away supporters were unhappy, to say the least, when chelsea unveiled two surfers across the Matthew Harding stand in the build up to the match, one that was entertaining from a neutral point of view, with Basel coming behind to win the game.
As mentioned there has been a drastic change at Chelsea over the last 20/30 years, both on and off the pitch. Stamford Bridge can be traced back to 1877, plying its trade as a venue for an athletics club in its early years. originally the ground was offered to Fulham, but they turned down the offer, in came The Blues. Archibald Leitch was hired to turn the venue into a football ground between 1904-05 and Chelsea played their first ever season in 1905. With an initial capacity of 100,000 The Bridge was one of the largest grounds in the country. A huge sweeping bowl of terracing, save for a stand with a capacity of 5,000 along one side. In the 70's the club was almost ruined by redevelopment plans, the cost of the current East Stand being much greater than anticipated. During the 84/85 season, in light of Hooligan problems, an electric fence was erected around the perimeter of the pitch, although never turned on. In the 90's the ground was slowly rebuilt to its present form.
The oldest stand in the ground is the aforementioned East Stand. This had been opened during the 1974/75 season on top of the 1905 grand stand. With a 10,295 capacity the tripled decked stand houses the club changing rooms, tunnel and dugout. This swings round to the Shed End. Originally the home terrace, it was reopened in 1997 in the form of its current monstrosity. It really isn't fitting of a main home end, with a larger upper tier and capacity just under 7,000, it backs onto the hotels which occupy the rest of the site the famous terrace stood on. Not least it's also the away end. The only remains being the rear wall, at least the club have recognised this placing plaques. In 2006 Peter Osgood's ashes were laid to rest under the penalty spot at this end. The opposite end, the Matthew Harding end, is a spitting image of the Shed, but with a capacity of just under 11,000. The final side is the West Stand, built for the start of the century, its double tiered, with a capacity of 13,500. It's split in the middle by executive boxes.
Walking from West Brompton Station is an odd experience, anyone with football knowledge will know Chelsea wasn't always men in suits and padded seats. It became obvious that the 'Chelsea of Old' is exactly that, in the past and gone for good. The walk was predominated by upper class restaurants and day trippers, many of whom were probably at there one game they'll go to this year. What was more striking was that during the walk I saw a stall out of the corner of my eye selling programmes from the 70's and 80's, mainly, one programme caught my eye, with a stunning arial of the ground prior to re-development. I nearly had a heart attack when I was told it would set me back £300 to purchase it. I'd seen enough and wanted nothing other than to find my seat and watch the ground fill up.
It became apparent that Basel weren't going to have as many as I'd thought they would, and there was a lack of colour, flags etc in the away end. The reasoning behind this became apparent after the game, when I found out fans had *apparently* been turned away, and some *apparently* refusing to go into the ground altogether. I imagine the reasoning behind this to have been due to the contrast of strictness in ground regulations between this country and the continent. Indeed the away supporters were unhappy, to say the least, when chelsea unveiled two surfers across the Matthew Harding stand in the build up to the match, one that was entertaining from a neutral point of view, with Basel coming behind to win the game.
As mentioned there has been a drastic change at Chelsea over the last 20/30 years, both on and off the pitch. Stamford Bridge can be traced back to 1877, plying its trade as a venue for an athletics club in its early years. originally the ground was offered to Fulham, but they turned down the offer, in came The Blues. Archibald Leitch was hired to turn the venue into a football ground between 1904-05 and Chelsea played their first ever season in 1905. With an initial capacity of 100,000 The Bridge was one of the largest grounds in the country. A huge sweeping bowl of terracing, save for a stand with a capacity of 5,000 along one side. In the 70's the club was almost ruined by redevelopment plans, the cost of the current East Stand being much greater than anticipated. During the 84/85 season, in light of Hooligan problems, an electric fence was erected around the perimeter of the pitch, although never turned on. In the 90's the ground was slowly rebuilt to its present form.
The oldest stand in the ground is the aforementioned East Stand. This had been opened during the 1974/75 season on top of the 1905 grand stand. With a 10,295 capacity the tripled decked stand houses the club changing rooms, tunnel and dugout. This swings round to the Shed End. Originally the home terrace, it was reopened in 1997 in the form of its current monstrosity. It really isn't fitting of a main home end, with a larger upper tier and capacity just under 7,000, it backs onto the hotels which occupy the rest of the site the famous terrace stood on. Not least it's also the away end. The only remains being the rear wall, at least the club have recognised this placing plaques. In 2006 Peter Osgood's ashes were laid to rest under the penalty spot at this end. The opposite end, the Matthew Harding end, is a spitting image of the Shed, but with a capacity of just under 11,000. The final side is the West Stand, built for the start of the century, its double tiered, with a capacity of 13,500. It's split in the middle by executive boxes.