Steven Gerrard Is Right: It's Nice When Chelsea Fans Turn Up at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea fans had a message for Steven Gerrard this weekend—one that came ironically in the form of plastic placards to remind him of that slip last season.
Gerrard had a few things to say himself.
"It was nice of them to turn up for once today," was his retort when speaking to the Sky Sports cameras post-match.
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Gerrard's quip ended a surreal afternoon at Stamford Bridge.
The crowd may have "slaughtered" the Liverpool captain all afternoon, yet the rousing applause he received as he departed the pitch on 79 minutes told its own story about the true feeling on the terraces.
It was a fitting, if brief, tribute from the Chelsea supporters, one that paid their respects to a player making his west London bow after a career of epic bouts against them.
More encouraging than that brief pause of hostilities was the atmosphere at Stamford Bridge. It felt like a football stadium for once.
It was in stark contrast to some other games this season.
"Everybody was sleeping [...] Playing here is like playing in an empty stadium," Jose Mourinho said in early November after his team had defeated QPR 2-1.
The Chelsea team may have performed that day, but the fans were disappointing.
Indeed, they have been for much of 2014/15 and Mourinho's words have since fuelled the debate—they've even been used by the opposition to taunt Chelsea supporters at times.
It's only when the big boys come to town that Chelsea fans seem to perform these days; moments when they're significantly roused to take the roof off.
When they do, it's quite the spectacle, as Cesc Fabregas found when being serenaded during a break in play against Liverpool on Sunday.
The sound of 40,000 fans passionately singing about his magic hat was spine tingling enough for those present, so we can only imagine what the player himself must have thought as he clapped the Matthew Harding Stand in appreciation.
Fabregas felt it, only now too few do.
Even when going for the title against Crystal Palace the weekend ahead of Liverpool's visit, Mourinho was left applauding the away support over his own fans, frustrated at a perceived lack of spirit.
It was only when the title was wrapped up that the Chelsea faithful announced themselves. Until then Stamford Bridge was more Glad All Over than Care Free.
Which is disappointing. Football stadia were once the fabric of a football club, yet in the modern age they're becoming soulless.
It's not just Stamford Bridge. Travel across the Premier League and the impact of all-seater venues can be seen, or heard as it were.
Save for the odd exception, it's the away supporters—including Chelsea's—that create the atmosphere, get the place going.
Chelsea's problems are many. It's the best part of 15 years since the redevelopment of Stamford Bridge was completed and the stadium is still trying to eke out an identity.
We can get technical and talk acoustics; however, outside of that remain issues such as ticket prices, football tourists and the traditional home end.
The Matthew Harding Stand has taken on that mantle these days, yet what has become of the Shed? Standing on the old terrace was a rite of passage for every Chelsea supporter—it's even ingrained in the club's anthem, Blue is the Colour.
"Come to the Shed and we'll welcome you," sing those great names of the past that built an aura around the club in the 1960s and 1970s.
Half the crowd aren't wearing blue now, though—they're in claret, yellow or, like Liverpool, red.
Being the most successful club in England this past decade, there is an element of Chelsea fans being spoiled. It's almost theatre when they turn up these days, especially as they pay West End prices to watch their team every week.
Whereas it's left to the likes of Andrew Lloyd Webber to get stage audiences on their feet and applauding, that role is Mourinho's. He's the director, the man pulling the strings.
Football isn't scripted, though. And what separates sport from theatre is how those watching can impact what plays out before them.
It's shouldn't be "dance, then we'll applaud" but quite the opposite.
The easy mistake for any football fan to make is thinking they're attending a game to be entertained. That's part of it, sure, yet there's so much more, namely supporting your club and belonging to a movement.
Supporting a team is about forming a collective, showing your colours. You do it by cheering every goal, singing the anthems, being that 12th man.
Perhaps that view is rooted too deeply in the romance of it all, although a rapturous Stamford Bridge is a better place to be than a dull concrete jungle.
Even Steven Gerrard admits it.
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