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Chelsea

Ground: Stamford Bridge

Visits: 3

 

Date: 4th January 1997

Match: Chelsea - West Bromwich  3-0  (FA-Cup)

Attendance: 27 446

 

Date: 22nd April 2000

Match: Chelsea - Middlesbrough  1-1  (Premier League)

Attendance: 34 467

 

Date: 20th April 2011

Match: Chelsea - Birmingham  3-1  (Premier League)

Attendance: 40 848

 

Report (Chelsea - Birmingham):

My first match on this trip was supposed to be Ipswich-Norwich on Thursday evening. Since I didn't want to rush things I decided to fly out to London on Wednesday afternoon, hoping to catch a game in the evening. In the end I only had two choices, Tottenham vs Arsenal or Chelsea - Birmingham. Getting a ticket for the north London derby was impossible meaning it had to be my third trip to Stamford Bridge. My first trip to this west London ground was in January 1997 (the second in April 2000). In 1997 the Shed End was rebuilt and the old West Stand was still there. The new West Stand, with its hospitality boxes, was opened in 2002 and the capacity nowdays at Stamford Bridge is 42 000. For most games the demand is much bigger than that, there are a lot of tourists in London! For unattractive midweek matches getting a ticket is a bit easier though and there were plenty of tickets left when I bought mine 10 days in advance. As a ground Stamford Bridge is quite nice but the atmosphere during most matches is not that good.

 

Chelsea scored after a minute against Birmingham and when the second was scored 25 minutes later everyone knew it was game over. The second half was more like an exhibition game, Chelsea were simply too superior for this to be a dramatic match. I spent most of the second half listening to my seat neighbours discussions, some of those were quite interesting, and when Spurs equalised (3-3) against Arsenal I was immediately informed. The match at Stamford Bridge eventually ended 3-1 to Chelsea and even if the game/atmosphere wasn't the best it is always nice to see four goals. 

 

stamford bridge2

Stamford Bridge on a matchday

 

chelsea wall

Chelsea, Wall of players

 

shed end, mur

Remains of the old Shed End wall

 

peter osgood, staty

Statue of Peter Osgood

 

east stand1

East Stand

 

shed end1

Shed End

 

west stand1

West Stand

 

matthew harding stand2

Matthew Harding Stand

 

east stand2

East Stand (vs Birmingham)

 

chelsea-boro3

East Stand (vs Middlesbrough)

 

birminghamfans

Birmingham fans

 

shed end2

Shed End (vs Birmingham)

 

chelsea-boro4

Shed End (vs Middlesbrough)

 

avspark

Kick-off (vs Birmingham)

 

stamford bridge, view

My view (vs Birmingham)

 

west stand2

West Stand

 

dressing room2

Dressing room

pano, stamford bridge

Pano

 

pano, stamford bridge3

Pano

 

pano, stamford bridge5

Pano