[HeyyImRyan]

(Original post by TRS-T)
Because your local fanbase is not that big?

Yes you have lots of fans in Hong Kong but could you fill a 60k stadium in West London?

To be fair, United (my team) fill an 85k stadium with millions of Asian fans, and it's actually a majority of tourists who fill it

Prices are too high for locals to go to every game and pay separately, and the amount of season tickets on offer is pretty slim, thousands are left on a waitlist.

[TRS-T]

(Original post by HeyyImRyan)
To be fair, United (my team) fill an 85k stadium with millions of Asian fans, and it's actually a majority of tourists who fill it

Prices are too high for locals to go to every game and pay separately, and the amount of season tickets on offer is pretty slim, thousands are left on a waitlist.

I feel sorry for the locals but I still hate your club due to the gloryhunting nature of your fanbase.

[tommm]

Because it's easy to wind up people like you.

[sao desi]

(Original post by TRS-T)
I feel sorry for the locals but I still hate your club due to the gloryhunting nature of your fanbase.

All successful teams have gloryhunters. it's something that will never cease.

Because it's easy to wind up people like you.

Or because some are made to feel inadequate by Chelsea's success. As a (presumed) Blackburn fan, that may be you perhaps, as it's just a small club little else.

[sao desi]

(Original post by WheresWally)
Chelsea winning the champions league means sweet fa, i really think luck played a big part in your success this season. I personally don't see you winning the champions league again any time soon, unless you get some good investment, nomsayin?

No, I don't speak street.

However, United's last two CL's were won by luck. A win is a win, I don't really care.

[WheresWally]

Do you want a tissue sweetheart?

[sao desi]

(Original post by alexsong)
Because they give out free tickets, can't sell out a Wembley semi final and took 30,000 fans to the Champions League final

That's almost half of the stadium, was it not?

[Spaz Man]

They are a big club, just not a very well respected one as their time at the top has only been for 8 years really. The whole Russian billionaire sugar daddy thing doesn't help either.

[Deep456]

1992–93: 18,754
1993–94: 19,211
1994–95: 21,062
1995–96: 25,598
1996–97: 27,617
1997–98: 33,387
1998–99: 34,571
1999–00: 34,532
2000–01: 34,700
2001–02: 38,834
2002–03: 39,784
2003–04: 41,234
2004–05: 41,870
2005–06: 41,902
2006–07: 41,909
2007–08: 41,397
2008–09: 41,464

That's why they aren't a huge club. They have been in the premiership the whole time and had pathetic attendances for long periods. Only with the influx of oil money did they manage to sell out, says a lot.

[scriggy]

(Original post by sao desi)
Why aren't they bigger than Spurs?

Sorry, typo. That was meant to be the other way round.

[Kevmeister]

(Original post by alexsong)
Because they give out free tickets, can't sell out a Wembley semi final and took 30,000 fans to the Champions League final

They only got 30k tickets.

[Mortson]

Define the term "big club". They are one of the most successful in England, have just won the European Cup and have a lot of supporters in England and all over the world. If you consider success and fanbase to contribute to how "big" a club is, then I think Chelsea fits the description.

[alexsong]

(Original post by sao desi)
That's almost half of the stadium, was it not?

(Original post by Kevmeister)
They only got 30k tickets.

Yea that is their allocation but every other English side to make a final in recent years has taken about 100,000 fans for the fan parks etc

[murpo]

Hazard has just joined Chelsea, they are going to get bigger now............

[Darth Vader 7]

(Original post by Mortson)
Define the term "big club". They are one of the most successful in England, have just won the European Cup and have a lot of supporters in England and all over the world. If you consider success and fanbase to contribute to how "big" a club is, then I think Chelsea fits the description.

They're nowhere near the most successful clubs in England. That title is only reserved to Liverpool and Man Utd. They're not even the most successful club in London, let alone England.

[punkski]

(Original post by murpo)
Chelsea fans are ****

my father is from southern Russia. when i was a child, football was the only thing we had in common. when he wasn't working or away, he'd take me to a nearby football ground where he'd lift me over the fence and then climb over himself so we could use one of the spare goals for training. he enrolled me into a local club, and before long i had become a good footballer for my age. one day, he brought me home a fake Chelsea shirt from a business trip somewhere, apologizing that he didn't know if i would even like them. and from that day on, i knew who my club were.

ten years later, i'm now a summer away from university. my father's not at home anymore, but i still travel to London just to go to certain matches at Stamford Bridge. i saved up enough for a proper #8 Lampard kit last season, and on a more personal note, i have captained my local football club's u-18 side since the age of 16. when i play football, i still think of my father, and whenever i watch Chelsea play, i remember that they were his club too.

everyone has their story mate, and we should respect each others'.

[murpo]

(Original post by punkski)
my father is from southern Russia. when i was a child, football was the only thing we had in common. when he wasn't working or away, he'd take me to a nearby football ground where he'd lift me over the fence and then climb over himself so we could use one of the spare goals for training. he enrolled me into a local club, and before long i had become a good footballer for my age. one day, he brought me home a fake Chelsea shirt from a business trip somewhere, apologizing that he didn't know if i would even like them. and from that day on, i knew who my club were.

ten years later, i'm now a summer away from university. my father's not at home anymore, but i still travel to London just to go to certain matches at Stamford Bridge. i saved up enough for a proper #8 Lampard kit last season, and on a more personal note, i have captained my local football club's u-18 side since the age of 16. when i play football, i still think of my father, and whenever i watch Chelsea play, i remember that they were his club too.

everyone has their story mate, and we should respect each others'.

Chelsea have horrible attendance, they get given free tickets to make them attend.

Most chelsea fans left to become city fans

[NDGAARONDI]

(Original post by murpo)
Chelsea have horrible attendance, they get given free tickets to make them attend.

Most chelsea fans left to become city fans

Have you got stats for percentage of attendances for Chelsea? Always thought that it was exaggerated with Chelsea's low attendances as if it was on the Boro or Wigan scale. I imagine being based where they are really doesn't help, so a move to Battersea would help improve growth more organically. Plus, it's much easier for large cities to have clubs have large attendances if there's only that team or one other in it. If Chelsea reduced their prices, they'd see more attend the games especially as there are tons of sporting and other entertainment attractions in the city, which do not apply to other cities so easily.

Speaking of attendances, it might surprise you that Milan aren't always good at that. Sometimes there's space to bring in a scooter to chuck down the stands.

[punkski]

(Original post by murpo)
Chelsea have horrible attendance, they get given free tickets to make them attend.

Most chelsea fans left to become city fans

.. but whether that's true or not, that wasn't exactly my point was it?

and besides, it's one of many London clubs, what did you expect? hard to imagine Newcastle United would have the attendance it enjoys if it shared the city with a dozen other big clubs for decades.

[sao desi]

(Original post by punkski)
.. but whether that's true or not, that wasn't exactly my point was it?

and besides, it's one of many London clubs, what did you expect? hard to imagine Newcastle United would have the attendance it enjoys if it shared the city with a dozen other big clubs for decades.

Not all London clubs are of equal size. It's fanciful to say Leyton Orient or Brentford are as big as Arsenal or Tottenham.