Chelsea are refusing to panic after Stamford Bridge witnessed
its lowest crowd for a Champions League game since the Rosenborg
boycott of 2007.
Just under 34,000 spectators turned up for Tuesday
night's Group E opener against Bayer Leverkusen, manager Andre
Villas-Boas' first European match in charge.
The attendance was still 10,000 more than for the group game
against Rosenborg four years ago, a fixture that represented a
nadir in club-supporter relations over ticket prices.
But Tuesday's figure did follow a 33% rise in Champions League
ticket prices, which has upset some fans and has sparked a campaign
on Twitter for a boycott of next month's home match against
Genk.
Chelsea Supporters' Group vice-chairman Michelle Shaw wrote on
her organisation's website on Sunday: "Not only am I boycotting
Genk, I am also boycotting Leverkusen and Valencia.
"My choice, I know, but I made the decision as soon as the
ticket prices were announced.
"Why? Because I don't want to wake up one May and find I can't
afford my season ticket any more.
"The only way to send a message to the club is by a low
attendance at the Genk game."
Chelsea slashed their Champions League prices almost in half
after fans baulked at paying £48 per ticket for the Rosenborg
game.
But they went back up to £40 this season, with tickets for other
competitions also increasing for the second straight year following
a four-year season-ticket price freeze.
It is understood Chelsea are remaining calm about last night's
attendance figure, part of the reason for which was the short
window between the group-stage draw being made and the fixture,
with clubs always preferring to play their opening game away to
give them longer to sell tickets for their first home match.
It remains to be seen how the Blues will respond to a
significant boycott of the October 19 Genk game as they attempt to
balance the demands of UEFA's new Financial Fair Play regulations
with maintaining an expensively-assembled squad and keeping
supporters happy - all the time playing in a 42,000-capacity
stadium dwarfed in terms of matchday income by Manchester United's
76,000-seater Old Trafford and Arsenal's 60,000 Emirates
Stadium.