Category Archives: Season 2008-2009.

Tales From SW6

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Chelsea vs. Bordeaux : 16 September 2008.

A few of my closest Chelsea mates were having a good old debate during the afternoon about the “manufactured” atmosphere that the club seems to be promoting again this season. We had heard that, instead of Chelsea flags, old style blue and white bar scarves would be given to all fans at the game. I commented that while I like the impact of these “visuals”, I was dead against the Fulham-style noise-makers ( first observed by me at Anaheim in 2002 I seem to remember )…if at any time in the near future, we were handed those on our entrance into the MHU, I think a little part of me would die a little.

Regarding flags, my last comment to the boys was “if the fans were able to bring them in themselves, a la Ultras, I could find it more palatable.I think it’s the club enforcing these things on us which is the key to our disdain.”

And so I set off. I left work at 4.15pm.

I work in the Wiltshire town of Chippenham. It’s a pretty sleepy town, famous for only one thing really…or rather, infamous…a mere 800 yards away from where I work, rock and roll legend Eddie Cochrane was killed in a car crash, back in around 1960.

I made good time until I reached the outskirts of West London – in the first hour, I covered 70 miles, but then the traffic slowed up. In the second hour I only did 25 miles. Drove into London on the M4, with Windsor Castle visible to my right ( Peter Osgood was born in Windsor ) and the much lampooned Slough to my left.

Since the ‘seventies, when my parents drove me up the M4 to games at Chelsea, the landmarks I spot from the M4 have become iconic for me. I’m travelling a well worn path on this road, believe me.

As I drove up and over the elevated section of the M4, I glimpsed the majestic arch of Wembley on the horizon to the north, the skyscrapers at Canary Wharf right ahead of me and I got what I will call from now on “the Brentford Buzz” – the sudden realisation that I was now in London Town and only three miles away from Stamford Bridge. The Killers CD was turned up a few notches…a nice feeling of exhilaration.

Parked-up at 6.15pm, straight into The Goose and a pint of Carling, me darling. Out into the quiet beer garden and a few “hiya boys” to Alan, Daryl, Rob, Daryl and his son Ed, Simon and his son Milo. Oh – another chap was present…a chap called Glenn ( or “Parky” ) who I used to work with in Trowbridge. He was on crutches after a knee op and had come up by train, but had no way of getting home…so I said I’d take him back. We had a good old laugh, mainly at Parky’s expense – bit of a character! Daryl and Simon were glowing in praise of the recent Stevie Wonder concert they had seen at The Dome.

We laughed at the image of one of our friends at Chelsea ( the legend that is Lovejoy ) being spotted on “Match Of The Day” during the City game and being likened to Chris De Burgh by Adrian Chiles of the BBC. He won’t live that one down!

A mild evening, we walked to the ground and I picked up a copy of CFCUK at the stall…Mark Worrall was there and we said “hi.” He has been pestering me to do a few recollections of “Arsenal 184” for his next book, so I said I’d crack on with that.

Parky bought a Chelsea / Bordeaux scarf for a fiver. I bought a programme and into the stadium.

Yep, there was a scarf draped on the back of my seat – I was surprised nobody had pinched it. As the teams came onto the pitch, quite a few fans began twirling them. I was more concerned in demolishing the steak and ale pie I had just forked out £3 on.

I didn’t think that the visual impact of the scarves was as good as the flags to be honest. The sight of all four stands featuring fans with the blue and white scarves draped around their necks looked rather surreal…like a Subutteo stadium from the ‘seventies, or maybe a Hollywood version of how English football fans should look.

The game was an absolute breeze. Did Bordeaux play well? Neaux!

A snappy couple of goals from Frank and Joe gave us a deserved lead at half-time…out came the scarves-a-twirling! It was all too easy, though. I lost patience with the team in the second-half…from Big Phil’s comments, it seems I was not the only one…I felt we didn’t move the ball in the right way. It was all a bit laboured. Deco, especially, was off the pace and then gave away a really silly foul which earned him a deserved yellow. Good to see Ballack back – he tried to open up the defence a few times, but as the game moved on, I was sure it would end 2-0.

Two late goals gave us a really comfortable win…lovely finish from Malouda. A fearsome strike from Belletti rattled the crossbar at The Shed End ( Parky was sat right behind it! ) and Anelka poked home. Anelka did OK actually.

Couldn’t help but note the atmosphere wasn’t great at all…a few sections tried to get things going to no avail. For a big club, Bordeaux’ away following of only 300 was pitiful. Parky reckoned the Shed were singing “where were you at Agincourt?” to them!

The match was sold-out, apart from one key area…noticed that there were quite a few gaps in the middle of The Shed ( Gate 4 ). I have noticed this many times before…I have a feeling this is where the club puts people on complimentary tickets or on hotel packages. But why right behind the goal? Right in the middle of what should be the singing section? Answers on a postcard please.

Walking past the tube station, I noted the Chelsea / Bordeaux scarves were now down to £3!

While waiting for Parky to get back to the car, I popped into The Goose and was pleased to hear that the boozer will be open at 10am again on Sunday.

Left Old London Town at 10pm, dropped Parky off at 11.45pm and I reached home at 12.15am, my sore throat from Manchester City ever so slightly worse.

United – you are next.

Now, where did I put my noisemaker?

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Tales From Raintown

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Manchester City vs. Chelsea : 13 September 2008.

I picked up my good friend Glenn at 10am. I was a bit surprised he was wearing a lovely sky blue Napapirji sweatshirt – maybe he was hedging his bets for later in the day.

On the way to his house, I drove past the Frome Town ground…for over a century it was known as Badgers Hill. This season, a sign of the times if ever there was, it has been renamed after a local firm. Yes, Frome’s ground is now known as the Alder Smith Stadium. Corporate-naming rights hits the Screwfix League. Ridiculous. However, my mate Steve, who follows Frome home and away, tells the story that the stadium is now known by his cohorts as the “ASS” and it is now common practice for Steve to ask of his fellow fans “are you taking the wife up the ASS next week?”

Glenn has recently chosen a new career path – working for the same care company as Judy actually – and we talked about this for the first hour as we drove through a few towns on the way up to the motorway. It will probably mean he will miss more games, but there aren’t as many jobs around these days. He’s looking forward to the change anyway.

Glenn has been going to Chelsea with me since 1983. We looked back on those days. In my year of 200 fellow pupils at school, I was the only Chelsea fan. He knew of two more Chelsea fans but we were a bit of a rare breed in those days. We talked about other games involving Manchester City. I will often speak of the 1983-1984 season in these reports as that great season is a full quarter of a century away now and we talked of the home game against City in December of that year. We pummelled their goal, but lost 1-0 to a Jim Tolmie free-kick. What I remember more than anything from that game is looking down at the City bench from high up in The Shed and seeing comedian and die-hard City fan Eddie Large sat on the City bench! I can just imagine Bates telling him to get lost when he asked for a complimentary seat in the East Stand.

I lent Glenn last season’s “Blue Pride” DVD, plus the “Blue Revolution” one…should keep him occupied. I also lent him Phil Thornton’s “Casuals” – a thorough book which sums up the rise and spread of casualdom over the years. Looking back to that 1983 season, both Glenn and myself, living in Somerset, were blissfully unaware of what had been going on in Liverpool, Manchester and London over the previous six seasons. I think Glenn, on an away trip up to Carlisle, began talking to some Chelsea dressers on the special and had reported back to me about this “new trend” – actually, he probably spoke to me about this on the train on the way up to that City game in December 1983. I have the feeling we hunted around the “Mod” shops in Carnaby Street on that day and Glenn was wearing a “no-name” polo-neck shirt. He was a bit of a Mod back in those days, so his was an easy transition. By the time of the Pompey game just after Christmas 1983, I was like a kid in a toy shop, suddenly now able to spot all of the labels on display in The Benches. I was on the dole that season, so my time would come…my priorities were to see the games, not dress up too.

Anyway, I digress.

Stopped at a couple of service stations on the way up north, listening to Five Live on the radio…we were dismayed when Tevez put United ahead, but we then punched the air as Liverpool equalised. Into Manchester, through the notorious Moss Side district, a stone’s throw from City’s former home Maine Road…rows and rows of red brick terrace houses to the right and a newer, but still foreboding, estate to the left. I wondered how odd it must be for a club’s home to be transplanted to a different part of the city. How strange it must be to have to give up your favourite drinking establishments for some new ones three miles away. Let’s hope it doesn’t happen to us.

I thought back to a classic City vs. Chelsea game in March 1989…both teams in the Second division again, we took 10,000 up to City, we won 3-2 and it was mad. I remember United were playing Forest in the Cup at the same time…90,000 fans in the city on the same day…I arrived by train at Piccadilly and we were told to make our own way, by foot, to Maine Road. We were dead lucky not to have been run all over Moss Side. This game was at the height of the inflatables craze, initiated by those mad fans at City and their bananas…crazy days.

Parked up at Piccadilly…couldn’t believe the weather – hot and sunny. We popped into a restaurant for an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet, accompanied by a couple of beers. The food was not only cheap, but bloody gorgeous. That set us up for the evening’s game. We popped into a nearby “Hurley’s”, a famous chain of Manchester menswear shops, to view their latest clothes on offer. Although not as marked as in the ‘eighties, there are still subtle differences between fans of the NW teams and the London teams. I’ve always said the London teams dress to look smart, but the originals from Manchester and Liverpool dress to be different. There was a whole room devoted to the wonderful Italian brand “Paul And Shark” and it was all good stuff. A couple of my mates, Daryl and Rob, have a few items, but “Paul And Shark” is still mostly favoured by the Mancs.

Found a local boozer, with some City lads spilling out onto the pavement…I popped in to get some San Miguels, only to spot Cathy, Dog and Mark sat right outside the door. We had a few laughs with the city lads at the expense of United, who we had discovered had lost 2-1. Oh joy of joys. Glenn, in his sky blue top, was getting asked by the City boys if he thought City would win and Glenn, not being too diplomatic, replied “no, I bloody hope not.” He was talking to a couple of chaps about the same age as us and they mentioned how great the 1983-1984 season was…four massive clubs ( us, them, Wednesday, Keegan’s Newcastle ) were locked in a battle-royale all season to get out of the division. Brilliant times, remembered with reverence and awe by all of us. They mentioned the game at Maine Road, Chelsea’s first-ever live game on TV, on a Friday night…we won 2-0 and the City fans said that they had never seen so many away fans at Maine Road.

We caught a cab to the stadium and I thought back to the game in April when Beth, Andy, Rey and Cynthia were with us. Spotted many City fans wearing towels on their heads – they were certainly getting into the spirit of things. Rather than buy a match programme, I decided to get a copy of the City fanzine “King Of The Kippax.” Back when fanzines came to the fore in the 1987 to 1989 period, I often bought other teams’ ‘zines…they were usually pretty funny and were more relevant to me than the bland programmes of the time. I wanted to get a City fans’ view on the Abu Dhabi takeover, especially since we had experienced a similar thing back in 2003.

The Kippax was the home of the city die-hards at Maine Road – along the side of the pitch, rather than the ends like The Shed, Kop, North Bank, and I noted that City’s most vociferous fans at Eastlands are along the side, too. By chance?

Soon into the stadium and I met up with Gary and Alan. I was gagging for a coke – while lining up at the kiosk, I wondered if they were selling milk-sheikhs.

This was a great Chelsea performance. Typical of Robinho to score, but the wall seemed to be ragged and too stretched out. Immediately after, Petr and JT were going at it hammer and tongs. The City fans erupted with Robinho’s strike, but thank heavens we weren’t put off. Thought we controlled the entire game and, after Riccy slammed the ball home, we could’ve been 3-1 up by the break. By the way, Glenn missed the equaliser – on the way back from the gents, he had been stopped and searched by the OB after a steward had claimed Glenn was on drugs! This is just crazy and typical of the stuff that us fans still have to go through after all these years.

We purred in the second period…thought Ashley and Bosingwa were great again, but my man of the match was Carvalho…a goal, plus several timely blocks. The man is wonderful. The only players not to perform, in my book, were the inept Malouda ( I was heard to shout “Go past someone – you’re a winger!” ) and Anelka, who seemed incapable of making the correct run at the right time…apart from the goal.

I took some nice snaps of the goal celebrations at our end and I will post some photos from the game on my Facebook page later in the week.

Joe Cole’s Dad was sat five rows in front and, as is always the case, once Little Joe was subbed, he left! But he’s always there when Joe plays, supporting his son. Top man!

City were in great voice for twenty minutes, but their support soon fell silent as our dominance continued. We were getting behind the team well – never easy at Eastlands, with our support cut in half, being in two tiers.

A few lads near us got the “Scolari – Scolari” chant going, but after a minute of that, God it hurts…that “hard C” really takes it out on your throat!

Met up with Glenn outside – he had been watching in the lower tier, quite near Lovejoy and Andy’s daughter Sophie. We had a nice chat with a City fan as we walked back to the car. We talked about the expectations that City fans now have. I was very pleased to hear him say to us “well, you lot are well liked up in these parts.” That was nice I thought – hands across the blue ocean.

We got back to the car in twenty minutes and I pulled out of Piccadilly at 8pm. Glenn soon fell asleep, until Brum, but I had New Order on the CD player to accompany me on the long drive south…I thought back on what had been a near perfect day out…and how I would chose which things to write about in this match report!

I dropped Glenn off at 11.45pm – the time had flown past. Home at midnight, a very happy Chelsea fan…a year ago, across Manchester at Old Trafford we were a club in disarray…in September 2008, at Eastlands, we showed we are once again a confident club, ready for any challenges that lie ahead.

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Tales From HQ

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Chelsea vs. Tottenham Hotspur : 31 August 2008.

So, not a great one to talk about this time, but here goes.

I had made contact with Scott, a CIA-contributor from Washington DC, who is in London for a fortnight, and made arrangements to meet up with him. He arrived into London on Saturday afternoon.

Drove into Frome, picked-up Glenn at 8.30am and then to Dave and Karen’s…Karen doesn’t mind driving and so she drove us up. We had to recalculate petrol surcharges in light of the increases of late. Negotiations were long and hard, but a compromise was eventually found!

Into the Yadana Café on Lillee Road, just as four other Frome boys were leaving. I sat myself down to my first Yadana Fry-Up of the season…just as Scott arrived on the scene. I launched into the breakfast ( for all the expats, I include this for you…do you miss home? Bacon, sausage, fried egg, fried bread, grilled tomatoes, baked beans, black pudding, bread and butter, £4.60, thank you very much, matron! )

Scott looked a bit queasy when I offered him some of my black pudding, with full explanation of ingredients of course.

I believe that this was Scott’s third game at HQ – we chatted about previous visits, then hot-footed it a few yards into the cozy confines of The Goose. Good news – as promised Scouser Reg had opened up early at 10am and a few of the boys were already on their second pint when we arrived at 11am.

Four pints in two hours isn’t particularly heavy, but they went down really well. The air was dead muggy outside and the occasional slight drizzle meant that the beer garden was sparsely-populated…most people were crowded inside. Only two hours “pre-match” meant that a lot of ground had to be covered. There was obvious chatter amongst a few of us about plans for European travel to foreign lands…Gary, Alan and me are off to Rome in November, but Rob from Essex is off to all three…can you believe this? He is going to Cluj via Dortmund and the LGW to Dortmund route via Easyjet is just £1. It’s obvious that all of the CL regulars are well-honed in European travel now and – if you look in the right places, bargains can be found! Alan had booked us into a good Rome hotel for our trip, so we were sorted.

Tried my best to include Scott in as many conversations as possible. Difficult to get to know someone while chatting to ten other chaps at the same time! I had brought up my NYC photo album and I went over to show it to Daryl and Neil ( brothers… Daryl a Yankee fan, Neil a Mets fan ) while Glenn took care of Scott. I think Scott was loving the pre-match beers – his Carlings were going down very well. I had brought Neil a few things over from New York. The pub got busier and busier. Had a quick word with the guvnor – I told Reg that his pub has now reached mythical status amongst the CIA board members. I should get a discount, the amount of Americans I have got to drink chez Reg.

Good news – the dodgy toilets have been refurbed over the summer. You no longer need to wear Wellington boots…and there is no longer a “shallow end” and a “deep end” in the Gents.

Happy days.

1pm soon came around and, with the taste of the lager still in my throat, I made a bumbling approach down the North End Road, chatting to Scott about the road’s brief cameo role in “The Football Factory” – the cab ride, in case you are wondering. We called by the stall infront of the town hall and I made sure Scott purchased a copy of CFCUK. I bought a copy of Mark Worrall’s “One Man Went to Mow”, on sale for just a tenner. It details the exploits of his bunch of mates in travels around the UK and beyond. It’s easy to read and doesn’t delve into the hoolie side of life which I guess is to be commended. Some fantastic photos in there from the dark ages of the eighties. I will enjoy reading it and may well do a review.

Got in to the MHU a bit late again…still problems with the new swipe cards. I have learnt my lesson – will leave the pub ten minutes earlier from now on.

Yeah, right!

A really warm, humid day in SW6.

Spurs had the larger 3,000 away allocation, but I spotted ( with my zoom lens ) many empty seats.

I had seen the opener against Pompey in the Shed Upper, so I said “hellos” to the familiar 15 or so faces around our seats in “Sleepy Hollow.” So good to see Tom again – he had suffered a heart attack just after the United league game in April…then again the day after Moscow. Two trips into the hospital over the summer has sorted him out though.

What shall I say about the match? I was surprised to see Belletti in the holding role. Overall, the performance by Chelsea wasn’t good at all…only Essien – possibly Belletti in his unfamiliar role – did OK in my book. It reminded me so much of the game, not long into Mourinho’s reign in 2004 – when they “came on the bus and parked the bus in front of the goal.” Certainly as frustrating as that game…but more so…we were without invention, without too much enthusiasm…this was almost a sub-Grant performance. And it wasn’t as if Tottenham were that great. In the second-half, they hardly threatened at all.

I couldn’t help but think about the positions of the two clubs going into the game…Chelsea Top Tottenham Bottom ( how good does that sound ) and how nasty it would be should we lose. February 1990 remember!!! Eighteen home league games unbeaten! Where were you in February 1990? I was in Canada…so – get this – the last time I had seen Chelsea lose at home to Spurs was in 1986 I think!

My second ever game, in October 1974, was against this lot…and although I am not sure, I think I have seen Chelsea play Spurs more times than any other team…maybe them and Liverpool.

There’s just something about them. They virtually relegated us in 1975. But there’s more than just one reason!

The game drifted along…we went 1-0 up, but the crowd didn’t seem energised. I commented to Alan that the place was dead…and he said that the pace of the game tends to die I the last few minutes of the first period…the crowd were certainly quiet. Then it happened – a mix up and the game is tied at 1-1.

Great to see Claude Makelele on the pitch at half-time. A true Chelsea legend.

The second period was worse than the first…I developed a four pint headache in the summer sun. I became annoyed with our lack of cohesion. The Wigan game was better – at least they gave us a fight.

I texted a few Americans – you know who you are – as the game petered out. Of course, the Spurs supporters celebrated as if they had won the league. Ho hum.

I walked back to the car and bumped into Dutch Mick again. We had a good old chat to each other about things…Beth – he can’t believe you are fifty!…but the talk was mainly of a poor Chelsea performance, one that leaves more questions than answers.

Got back to Frome at 6pm, just in time for me to play five-a-side in the Sport Centre. However, after just five minutes, I pulled a calf muscle and hobbled around for the rest of the game.

It was one of those days.

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Tales From The Away End

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Wigan Athletic vs. Chelsea : 24 August 2008.

I was up at 5.30am and I set off at 6.15am…an early start for me as I had a bonus detour into Merseyside for the Klimt exhibition at Tate Liverpool to squeeze in before Wigan.

It was a dreary, rainy start to the trip north, but as I steered my way through the old North Somerset coalfield towns of Radstock and Midsomer Norton, I saw something which cheered me and put a smile on my face…I spotted a poster for an evening concert starring “Suzi Quatro and The Wurzels” ( all of the expats will know how much that made me laugh! )

I know the route up to those NW towns for football like the back of my hand. Was it really 16 weeks ago I was headed for Anfield and the “Riise” game?

I thought about previous trips to Wigan…I saw a dear friend Rod Hockley attend his last ever Chelsea away match at the “Crespo” opening game in 2005 ( he eventually succumbed to cancer the next February )…I attended the December 2006 game with Jenni ( BlueBelle ) and this was her first-ever CFC game…then the two games last season, cheap tickets and vocal support. I have to say, despite the four wins, Wigan have given us a rough ride in these games, no doubts. They must hate the sight of us.

I mused on the geographical spread of teams in the Premiership this season…including Stoke, the north west provides eight of the twenty teams, a pretty high figure, but one which mirrors the original centre of professional football in England.

What is there to say about Wigan? I have only ever visited the town because of the above four games…with the JJB positioned towards the west of the town centre, I have only ever seen the approach into the town, the Queens Arms and the ground itself. There will be no town history from me this time either! However, Wigan has always been a strong rugby league town ( as opposed to rugby union, a slightly different game ) and I think the town has done well to support two big league teams. The population of Wigan isn’t great. Rugby Union is predominantly a middle-class game in the UK, though it has a working class base in Cornwall, the Welsh valleys and the Scottish borders. Rugby League however ( always a professional game ) has its geographical base in Lancashire, West Yorkshire and Hull. I wondered exactly how and why towns like Widnes, Warrington, St. Helens and Wigan are mainly RL towns, sandwiched between the footballing giants of Liverpool and Manchester. Yep, I had lots to ponder on the 200 mile drive north.

I stopped for a coffee on the M6 and then veered off along the M62, headed for the Albert Dock area of Liverpool. I reached Liverpool at 10am. I have often thought that I really ought to do more “touristy sight-seeing” on my travels around the UK following Chelsea. I go to London every two weeks and the routine is simple – “breakfast, pub, football, home.” A bit of a shame really. So, I have made a bit of a promise to expand my horizons a bit this season. I visited The Lowry art gallery on Salford Quays ahead of last year’s grim game at Old Trafford and it enriched my day.

The weather had improved as I drove into the city. The very mention of the name Liverpool seems to stir the very basest of emotions amongst the Chelsea support these days. I have to be honest, I like cities with a definite “sense of place” and Liverpool certainly has that. It has a rich ( and poor ) social history, a tough reputation and I think that at least separates it from blander cities such as Birmingham and Coventry. The demise of this once massive port is well known, but at long last the city seems to be getting back on its feet, with large-scale rejuvenation of the riverside. However, change has been slow…on the main road in to the city ( which seems to be revelling in its “City Of Culture” status in 2008 ), hundreds of barricaded house fronts welcome the visitor…however, these have been brightly decorated by urban artist Banksy to camouflage the grim scene. Bit of a metaphor for the city perhaps – making the best of an ugly townscape, however superficial.

So, I spent an enjoyable hour or so on the banks of The Mersey at The Tate. The Gustav Klimt exhibition was only £8 and I loved it. It did make me laugh that I would soon be away from the hushed surroundings of the gallery and be shouting abuse at a football stadium later that day…a day of contrasts!

I noted the symbol of “Liverpool 08” around the city – repeated pieces of public art, little statues of what I can only describe as “banana sheep,” decorated in various styles. I like public art, especially those with a sense of humour.

I left Liverpool at 11.45am and wended my way out of the centre via the famous Scotland Road ( or Scottie Road as it is known by the Scousers ). I have read that the housing estates of this main road were the initial starting point of the scally / casual revolution in 1977…limited to the Scousers, then the Mancs, it would eventually sweep through the terraces of Britain and beyond by 1982. So, a bit of social history for you all there.

I drove past towering main stand of Goodison Park and then Aintree ( site of the Grand National horse race ), then out past the new town of Skelmersdale and out onto the M58.

I was caught in traffic on the approach to the JJB, but parked-up at about 12.45pm. I popped into the Queens Arms to say hi to the Nuneaton lot – Andy, the two Neils, their kids, Woody and Chelsea legend Lovejoy…a brisk ten minute walk to the JJB ensued.

Another 18,000 crowd up there…the away end holds 5,000 and – judging by the empty seats I later saw on TV – I reckon we had around 3,000 up there…probably our worst support of the five games, but not by much. I thought our noise levels weren’t bad.

I was sat next to my two “away buddies” Alan and Gary high up in the middle. It was a pretty hot day and I made the point that it always surprises me that we wear all black on such occasions. Now, I know the all yellow kit isn’t officially launched until Thursday, but surely Chelsea could have used that one…what does anyone else think? If it helps the players keep 5% cooler, surely that is worth it. Or are we more concerned about selling the more “sexy” black shirts to the fans? What should our priorities be?

A dream start for us. Alan called it – the Deco strike – and I photographed it. Bingo.

Then we went to pieces and I have to say, apart from two long range efforts in the second-half, we hardly threatened.

Wigan were busy and I think very unlucky not to draw. I couldn’t help but think back to last Sunday…”maybe Portsmouth really were that bad!” Thought the midfield were poor…Joe was as ineffectual as I can remember…Ballack and Frank looked tired. The two plusses for me were the two full backs. Lovely saves from Cech too.

How come Heskey always looks a World beater against us? Pleased to see Wigan captain Mario Melchiot, ex-Chelsea, given a good round of applause as he was substituted.

I bought a copy of CFCUK from Dave Johnstone as I walked back to the car…it’s always a good read. Highlights in the current edition include Cathy’s tales from the Far East, a chap’s account of his trip to Moscow in a van and updates on various initiatives that several fan groups are involved in to improve the atmosphere at games. Good signs.

I was intrigued to read that Avram Grant met four Chelsea fans, including Mark Worral, at The Blues Bar in the summer and he came across as a really nice, decent guy.

Let’s wish him well.

I reached home at 8pm, 420 miles in the saddle, my car a complete tip, but three points in the bag.

Job done.

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Tales From The Frontline

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Chelsea vs. Portsmouth : 17 August 2008.

So, here we go then, let’s get this baby started.

I drove up to London on Saturday afternoon so I could attend Beth’s Birthday Party in the evening. My girlfriend Judy was with me for the weekend and we were staying at a nice hotel on The Strand…the one, in fact, where my parents honeymooned in 1957.

Not sure if we will have a full report elsewhere on Beth’s Party, but it was a great time, a perfect start to the new season. The restaurant was good fun…words can’t describe it…lots of gold, lots of mirrors, like a Turkish bordello…ahem, apparently. The etchings in the toilets were rather rude! Judy and myself were sat up in a raised platform with Andy Wray and Mick ( who posts on this site ) and his wife. The food was excellent. We left there at about 11.30pm and popped into a club for a couple more beers. A fine time. I’m sure Beth will update you all in more detail.

While staying in the hotel over the weekend, it dawned on me how it’s possible to tell if you are a real, bona fide Chelsea fan. This is the test, this is what matters…when I go away with Chelsea, especially, or stay at a hotel, once I have had a shower, the bathroom tends to get all steamed-up, especially the large mirrors. A true Chelsea fan will look at the mirror and see a blank canvas…I always write “CFC” on the mirror…always, without fail, like I’m marking my territory.

This is the test. Who else does this?

When I explained this to Judy, she said she had seen me do this before!

We had a great breakfast and left the hotel at about 10.30am…a beautiful sunny day, but with a cooling breeze. I looked straight ahead, along The Strand, Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square just peeking over the buildings,, a red Routemaster bus was approaching…a classic London scene, maybe one which my parents would have seen in 1957. There was a bounce in my step – I just had a lovely feeling of being in a beautiful city on my way to see Chelsea, just three miles down the road. Just wonderful.

We strolled into The Goose at 11.30am. Reg had opened it up early at 10am and would do so again for the Spurs game. Music to our ears.

The boys were in the beer garden…Judy and me sat down and we were entertained by my two mates Brian and Paul from Frome, full of cheeky innuendo! The beer garden soon got packed – it was a typical Chelsea scene, dominated by blokes in our forties, receding hairlines, Lacoste polo shirts and lots of jokes and laughter. Had a quick word with Dutch Mick ( Chicago 2006 ) who I last saw in Moscow. I said to the boys that Judy was my good luck charm…she had previously been to six other CFC games with me and had seen six wins. Also of huge importance to our story is that the day after we both met, Chelsea won 6-1 at Tottenham.

These things count!

As a lot of you know, I’m into Chelsea history and often think back on previous years, contrasting and comparing a few things. For chaps of my age, season 1983-1984 was a monumental season for Chelsea. After five years in the wilderness, we gained promotion under John Neal…our play was awesome, the players are loved to this day, we took over grounds wherever we went, I met a lot of my Chelsea mates that season, I went to more games, the casual thing kicked-off for me…it was a real rights of passage season. Of course, this season marks the Silver Jubilee of that amazing season. Our first game that season was a 5-0 drubbing of Derby County ( the pre-season favourites, they were a good team ) and The Bridge was absolutely buzzing. I bumped into my good mate Glenn ( also from Frome, I knew him from school ) in The Shed that day and we have been the best of mates ever since. Anyway, in light of the twenty-fifth anniversary of that game, I dropped into Ladbrokes and put a fiver on us to beat Portsmouth by the same score of 5-0 ( it also mirrored Beth’s new age, quite conveniently! )

Bumped into Cathy and Dog outside one of the souvenir stalls along the Fulham Road. A lovely pre-match buzz as we sauntered past The So-Bar. Saw a few people being interviewed by some TV cameras.

However, we got to The Shed entrance at 1.15pm and due to teething problems with the new swiping system, we didn’t get in until 1.40pm. There were a few irate fans. For once, I prayed we that we didn’t score! Apparently, Beth got in a bit late, too. Judy and myself were at in The Shed Upper for a change ( Gate 7, SW corner…mmm, just like against Derby in 1983 ) while Beth’s party were right next to the Pompey in Gate 3.

OK – you all saw the game. Great, wasn’t it? How nice of Chelsea to wait until we were in the stadium to score the first goal. Just a few comments…I was impressed, firstly by Jose Bosingwa, the new Jose of SW6…athletic and fast, not unlike Ashley Cole to be honest. Top marks. Loved Deco – not just his ball skills and vision, but the fact that he would often put his foot in and wasn’t afraid of the physical side. Our midfield just purred – great ball retention, lovely movement…superb. Yes, Pompey were dire, but we were good you know. In the second-half, I am sure I saw Florent Malouda go on a run and beat a few players, but this just might have been an optical illusion.

So, three-up at half-time and I’m dreaming of picking up £125 at Ladbrokes.

In the end, Deco’s wonderful strike ( I loved the fact he hardly had any back-lift ) gave us a deserved 4-0 win, but did the players not read my script!

Portsmouth – the reigning FA Cup holders, remember – only brought 1,500…poor, I thought…they didn’t sing too much.

What else? Thought the stadium looked fantastic…I definitely approve of the new look, the rather “darker-than-normal blue”, colour of the balconies, which have always been festooned with advertising hoardings. It really makes the place look sleeker, cleaner…liked the ultra modern pitch-side adverts too…very high-tech. Did everyone spot the lovely banner on the MHU balcony wall? “JT LEADER,CAPTAIN, LEGEND.” A nice touch…we’re getting a bit like Manchester United now, with their permanent banners at the Stretford End. I approve. Might have to do one myself…sign some Italians and I’ll hoist “VINCI PER NOI” once more!

Our support was mixed…some nice singing at times, our section did a few nice “Meadows”…definitely a game of two halves…The Shed won the first, The Matthew Harding the second. There were, though, many periods of complete silence. I know I don’t want to hark on about this, but the 17,000 against Derby in 1983 made more noise! A bloke who was sat next to me, didn’t sing or offer any encouragement the entire. This blog is not dedicated to him.

Met up with Beth and her brother Robert outside the Megastore…Clive Walker walked past ( he played against Derby in that game in 1983 ) and I realised how lovely it was for our former players to be involved still. I also spotted Peter Bonetti at the game ( our goalkeeping coach in 1983 ) too.

A new thing for this season is a montage on the long wall opposite the West Stand – a succession of images of new and old players has been super-imposed on the wall and fans can have their photos taken by them. Beth posed next to JT ( go figure ) and Judy posed next to Vialli ( who she adored! ). Oh – one thing made me laugh…in the programme ( much the same format to last year ), I saw an advert for a Chelsea toaster…but it spells out “CFC” once the bread has been toasted…mmm, a bit similar to my hotel bathroom antics!

We strolled back to The Morrison on the Kings Road, where we met up again with Jenni, Andy, Wobbly and all. Beth and Wobbly spoke to Judy on a few occasions over the weekend about joining me in NYC next summer…watch this space…she is my lucky charm after all!

A great start, top of the league – Wigan, you are next.

More match reports – from 1983 and 2008 – as the season progresses.

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