Only prawns and yawns at Blues’ Bridge of sighs

THERE’S a saying ‘you can’t buy class’ and this was particularly evident on Saturday. Chelsea may have poured millions of pounds into their stadium, their team and the club, but this is not football. In fact, it’s not even close. The house that Roman built is a poor imitation.

On Saturday I paid £48 (€66) to sit in the corner of what appeared to be Fulham Broadway library, watching millionaire footballers that barely look bothered, breezing past Sunderland without even getting out of second gear. There was so little passion both on and off the pitch from Chelsea that sometimes it was difficult to believe that you were watching a football match. Wine bars, coffee shops and hotels all belong in city centres. Chelsea have them built into their ground.

Ticket touts line the streets outside the ground, eager to rip off foreign day-trippers desperate to see Roman Abramovich’s assembly of superstar footballers. If any of Chelsea’s board wonder why the ground is devoid of any atmosphere, they should visit a real club. Instead of clapping and cheering their team on, Stamford Bridge is bathed in the flashlights of disposable cameras when they attack instead of roars of encouragement from the home crowd.