Thread by @brienwulff

This is going to be a long thread on the state of our current fanbase & the utter dogpile we are see on a daily basis.

I harbor no illusions that anyone will read this or care, and I’m not posting this to get views, likes or become famous. Peruse at your own pleasure...or not.

It would be easy to say the CFC fanbase is more divided than ever looking at all of the various views around the Internet, but the reality is more encouraging: the prevalence of social media, particularly Twitter, has made it easier than ever to spread such views. It’s not that

There’s a greater amount of idiots running around, but that EVERYONE has a microphone to use now to espouse their bullshit. It may be easer to unite us through the world’s game but the opinion pieces certainly give us a headache.

The narrative is that we are divided - by Sarri, by certain players, by attending matches, by certain elements of our fans. We all hold opinions but this In/Out narrative is an easy way to divide people into camps to make friends or take on opponents. As an international fan who

Has followed Chelsea across three continents, home and away, and watches weekly with fans here in the USA, I feel confident by first tackling this issue.

The majority of fans were not booing Sarri, Joringho, any specific player or singing racist songs this season. The majority

Of fans are not not old age alcoholics do care nothing for football. The majority of fans DO want their team to succeed, their manager and players to give a shit, and enjoy a bit of banter with other clubs. If someone is telling you the opposite or campaigning on one of

These agendas, they are A) lying and/or B) not there. The majority simply want what’s good for the football club and yes, many times we all disagree on how to achieve that. It’s been happening since the day the club was founded and said earlier, the prevalence of tech has only

Now made it easier for everyone to have a say.

I think the majority of international fans are the same. They want what’s best for the club, they have the right to an opinion, many times they speak well and are valid. I can say again with confidence the majority of match going

Going fans welcome international fans, treat us well and actively welcome us into a community that frankly didn’t exist even 15 years ago. I can count on one hand the number of times match going UKers have treated me poorly, and for those that know me, I can be difficult 😁

What’s been going for a while now is that a lot of these debates, these camps, have been turned into a match goer vs international fan debate. It’s sad to see, but there are some valid points that should be covered before moving on. First, CFC wouldn’t exist without match goers.

Their butts were in seats when people were still riding horse and buggy. And they literally there spare change into buckets to save the club. They follow the club around the country sometimes 2x weekly to support us. They are the cream of the crop.

It’s at about this time many on the international side start chiming in “Well, you were lucky to be born there, we don’t have that luxury!” OK, one, many of you are from the USA or countries like us - literally privilege from the moment you were conceived. Stop whining. And two

You made the conscious decision to support Chelsea, they are overseas, that won’t change but you can, it’s up to you.

Other fans will also chime in “But I wake up at 6am or 10pm to watch them, and that’s admirable (I do the same BTW) but it should be known - that’s literally

The bare minimum. If you support a team you SHOULD be watching them and again, if you value a normal schedule more than other priorities, hey...you do you, but Chelsea may not be the best fit for you.

Next is usually an argument pertaining to “I pay X amount monthly to watch...

Them on cable, etc. Overseas money generates huge sums of £ for the club!” Like the time argument, I would expect you are watching them and you have to pay to do so. The cost of a ST for home league matches alone is well over $1000, which doesn’t include cups, aways or travel.

It’s also good to point out that ALL overseas money from TV deals is split EVENLY among all 20 clubs. If you insist on your contributions being counted, then also realize you are contributing the same share to all of our rivals as well and perhaps look for one of those football

Shirts that’s an amalgam of all 20 club shirts put together.

Speaking of shirts, this is a popular one: “I buy two shirts a season, and we can buy enough shirts together to sign a player.”

Almost all of shirt revenue goes to Nike - that’s why they pay us what they do up front

We are lucky to get perhaps 10% of shirt revenue and even then only past a certain threshold of sales. That $120 shirt you bought at most sends $5-10 to the club. 👏 Last, you will find that most match going fans advise to save your money for a trip to England instead! You’ll

Enjoy yourself far more and discover the reality that at Chelsea, most of our fans don’t wear club colors at all!

So I point out these things as examples of the divide between match goers and internationals because I see them popularized in a lot of arguments around here and

When I do it’s an easy sign to tell that someone has no clue what they are talking about. And from a match going perspective, that’s probably the biggest insult - to have someone 10K miles away who has never sniffed Stamford Bridge in their life telling someone there every week a

A blatant lie or trying to put themselves on that same pedestal. The thing though, is that there’s no pedestal. People go the games because they love Chelsea, love a day out, love life - not to brag about it on Twitter or defend themselves at people having a go at them (yer das!)

So, we are seeing this a lot lately, where people who have absolutely no clue what they are talking about, no experience, no knowledge, no first hand accounts or intelligence trying to drive the conversation and it really begs the question - why are they doing this? Why are they

Shouting into their phones blaming players? Why are they making pathetic crusades about journalists and fans? Again, I believe it’s the rise of technology. It’s given people something “to care about” so they try to invent themselves as an influencer in this community to feel good

About themselves, for whatever personal reasons I won’t speculate. But I will say loudly that these people are without a doubt the WORST our fanbase has to offer. They may call themselves fans, but they don’t put the club first. They create divide for personal gain. They offer

No intelligent dialogue and critically, make no effort to actually be a worthwhile, contributing member to this community.

The goal of every fan should be to go to Chelsea. For many, I know that’s probably one of the toughest things to do in a lifetime and slugging pints in a

Bar with other fans is the best it will get - and that’s OK. You’ve nothing to prove and no one is asking you too, provided you’re not on Twitter pretending you’re someone you’re not and telling people who do that they don’t know anything or blatantly lying about how those people

Act at games.

Obviously, it’s unrealistic to think that any of the rancor will end soon, as in typical Chelsea fashion we win win against all odds and here we are just days later still divided.

I encourage you to tune out the shit and the personalities /people in this only to make a bigger name and a bigger wallet for themselves because they are the ones giving everyone a bad name. Unfortunately they are staining all of us with the same shitty brush.

There are going to be stupid things still said on Chelsea Twitter, that will never change. But it would be nice for people to take an actual stand against these people that do absolutely nothing to contribute to the club or community in a meaningful and positive way.

Some of the best fans I have ever met are halfway around the world. They’ve never moaned or called other fans alcoholics or started a Twitter video. Absolutely no one fucking cares if they have been to a match because they’re amazing people and amazing fans and by the way in

Which they carry themselves and treat others, no one would ever ask or question it.

I wish people like them got more credit and attention than the pervasive, twisted element that currently does.