This past year I finally got to watch Chelsea play at Stamford Bridge, something I’d been dreaming of for years and a dream I’m sure many here share. I wanted to share some of my impressions and answer questions for those hoping to do the same.

I went to Chelsea-Brighton, specifically chosen because the hospitality tickets for this game was cheaper than others and it was during springtime. Hospitality Tickets are the best way to guarantee seats to a game far in advance, which is important for those traveling to see a match. They are really expensive (240 pounds at cheapest), and come with great seats. Mine were in East Upper, a more family-friendly area of the stadium, but I still experienced plenty of chants and atmosphere. Before the game, you get a very fancy meal and lots of drink tickets. As an American, I found it strange that drinks aren’t served after halftime and can’t be brought back to your seat. This results in an extremely packed drinks area where there’s no chance of getting and finishing a drink within the 15 minutes of halftime. We didn’t want to miss any gametime, so those drinks went to waste

Watching the game live you notice the tactics more clearly and see how players collectively shift to follow the manager’s instructions. For this game, it was clear how heavily Brighton overloaded Chalobah’s side and tried to get the ball to Mitoma. Chelsea had Mudryk making runs in behind and checking back constantly, but in general the team looked dysfunctional.

On TV the stadium and the players feel larger than life, in reality it feels casual and personal in the best way possible. It’s clear the players and staff are there to do a job and go home, and the fans are there to support the team for 90 minutes and go about the rest of their day. This seems obvious to a local fan, but for us traveling across the world for the occasion it was a surprise. When the game was up, stadium emptied fast and security barely let us stay for photos. This game felt like an afterthought compared to the Madrid legs it was sandwiched between, which was disappointing considering the effort we made to attend.

The players can absolutely feel the support, it’s no wonder teams play so much better at home. The stadium is so compact, even from the upper deck we felt so close the players. We tried our best to get behind the boys, definitely felt some judgment for our American accents from surrounding fans but nothing absurd. This was Frank’s first game back at the Bridge, and most of the chants were for him. For this game, the away support had a lot more to cheer about unfortunately, and they rubbed it in quite a bit on the tube after.

The biggest takeaway of the trip was just how much we enjoyed London overall. Obviously we didn’t fly for the game and fly back right after, we made a vacation out of it and it was incredible. London was such a great city with so much to do and see, so much history, museums, parks, and culture. Would gladly go there again, regardless of the footy. The trip made me jealous of Londoners both for the amazing city they reside in, and how easy it is for them to go and support their club week in week out, live. Hope to be back at the Bridge soon enough, and see a win this time. For those who are local or have done this trip before, please feel free to give me any advice for future trips. For those planning a similar type of trip, AMA

TLDR: KTBFFH