FA Cup: Chelsea v. Stoke City: Aston Villa's Undercover Reporter at the Bridge

When Chelsea entertained Stoke City in the FA Cup quarterfinal at Stamford Bridge, there was one particular spectator in the crowd who perhaps shouldn't have been there.

Seated in the upper tier of the Matthew Harding stand for the Chelsea encounter was Bleacher Report's Featured Columnist and Community Leader of their semifinal opponents in the FA Cup, Aston Villa.

And whilst the Chelsea faithful in the stand, and across the whole stadium, wanted their beloved blues to win, the guy sitting in Row J Block 13 was hoping for a Stoke City victory.

Thank God then he wasn't sat in the Shed End, where the real thugs and fans of West London's finest can be encountered.

For Aston Villa, who dumped Reading out of the FA Cup 4-2 following a John Carew hat-trick hero performance that emerged from the undergrowth of a 0-2 deficit, a tantalising fixture against Chelsea at Wembley beckons.

So for the undercover Villan at Stamford Bridge, here are his findings on Villa's FA Cup opponents:

• With the backing of almost 40,000 fans chanting "There's only one England captain," John Terry performs as well as we all know he can.
• With the ferocious backing of the fans, the Chelsea stars can really up their game when it matters, i.e. Frank Lampard, and John Terry especially.
• If the passage of play is in an area of the pitch where the Chelsea fans are (in this case, the opposite end to the away support), the referee can perhaps, at times, be more susceptible to succumbing to Chelsea pressure in awarding free-kicks, throw-ins, etc.
• Chelsea Football Club are so rich they can afford to pay three people to sit in front of the West Stand at Stamford Bridge and wave massive Chelsea flags at half-time, full-time, and every time the team scores.
• And needless to say (although incredibly hard to say for an Aston Villa Featured Columnist and diehard Manchester United fan), Chelsea are a very good football team, who can, despite talk of the contrary, deliver entertaining yet efficient performances.

On a final note, places like Stamford Bridge, Old Trafford, Anfield, the Emirates Stadium, etc, make a mockery out of the FA, UEFA, and FIFA's fight to stamp out ticket touting.

Especially at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, there were many ticket touts selling tickets at a relatively cheap price.

Then again, there were actually quite a few real fans who sold tickets for face value, meaning the expenditure for Aston Villa's Featured Columnist and Community Leader on Bleacher Report was only £25.

Whilst this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it still denies true fans the opportunity to watch their beloved team play, which is the fundamental point FIFA and UEFA are trying to make.