The Guardian reports:
‘Chelsea fans yesterday launched a campaign urging their club to cut ticket prices. Seats at the ground now cost £48 a time and on Tuesday only 29,575 watched their Champions League win against Anderlecht, more than 12,000 under capacity.
‘The gate was 411 fewer than attended the Championship match between Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds on the same evening and led to the Chelsea Supporters Group launching a "real prices for real fans" campaign after becoming alarmed at feedback over fees. "Despite the current period being a golden one in the history of Chelsea, [we] remain concerned that thousands of loyal and long-standing Chelsea supporters are being priced out of attending matches at Stamford Bridge," it said in a statement.
‘“Over the course of the past three weeks every major Chelsea fanzine and website has been inundated with correspondence from Chelsea supporters expressing their frustration at recent pricing policy and their dissatisfaction with the club's recent ticket-advertising campaign. We are greatly concerned by this level of unrest among supporters and the consequence that it is having on recent attendances at Stamford Bridge."
‘The cheapest available seat for Chelsea's next match, against Aston Villa, is £45 for club members (£48 for non-members), with an extra £1.50 a ticket for debit or credit card bookings. Chelsea counter that their prices are in line with other London Premiership clubs and that fans were widely informed of 2005-06 price levels before the season started.’