Hey guys

 

I've lurked here for ages.  Supported the Blues since I was 11 years old, I'm now 34 (35 in June).

 

I just wondered, what is our global reach like now?  The reason I ask is because this forum seems very quiet - isn't this the main Chelsea fan's forum as well?  If you look at places like RAWK and RedCafe, they are bustling with people.

 

Why is this place not the same?  I'd go as far as saying we're bigger than Liverpool now?  Maybe not bigger than Man Utd yet but who knows what will happen whilst they've got David Moyes?

I don't use any of the other's but I'm not sure this is the busiest. Also the official chelseafc.com message boards are pretty busy.

 

With this being an English speaking forum, and Chelsea not having as much support in the UK compared to Liverpool and Man Utd (my opinion, not a fact) I guess that would also be another reason why our forums aren't as busy as the others. 

 

I think our world wide support is pretty impressive though. I'd say were up there with the top 3 from the BPL at least. 

Edited February 11, 201412 yr by Sharpy

Glad it isn't busy as the other forums. Although I'm a big fan of Red Cafe. Certainly not as bias as Bluemoon / Arsemania / RAWK.

 

Sense of community on this forum. 

Hey guys

 

I've lurked here for ages.  Supported the Blues since I was 11 years old, I'm now 34 (35 in June).

 

I just wondered, what is our global reach like now?  The reason I ask is because this forum seems very quiet - isn't this the main Chelsea fan's forum as well?  If you look at places like RAWK and RedCafe, they are bustling with people.

 

Why is this place not the same?  I'd go as far as saying we're bigger than Liverpool now?  Maybe not bigger than Man Utd yet but who knows what will happen whilst they've got David Moyes?

closet utd fan?

I live in Australia these days and the amount of Chelsea fans out here compared to United/Liverpool/Arsenal fans (in that order) is still minuscule.

Edited February 11, 201412 yr by Jonty

In South Africa its all united and liverpool an Arsenal (only noticeable when they are winning usually) but you do find some Chelsea fans here and there to meet up with for beers and the match.

in the far east in the past the likes of manure,real, barca, liverpool and arsenal will you find the support eclipsing ours! then it is only because of there shirt colour and marquee players! the last time i was back the likes of the drog, lamps, terry and along with our achievements have eclipsed the scouse and goons and i daresay we will soon only be behind real and barca. the reasoning behind this is because we have players who can fill their boots and above all else the world wants to see the charismatic Jose Mourinho in action and in person with his team. the scouse will soon lose suarez and the only other marketable player is the aging gerrard, manure have only a wantaway shrek and an increasingly prolong injury basketcase in van persie and what have goons got?! as far as i can see the future is blue and it will keep expanding. 

In the middle east and especially in the Gulf region its mostly Barca and Real, closely followed by Man U and (recently) Bayern. You'd find a few Chelsea fans here and there but from what I see the numbers of those is similar to liverpool and Arsenal fans (and AC Milan and Juventus)

I was in Colmbia last September and I saw two clubs feature on Colombians - 2 guys with Chelsea stuff (one with a hat, the other a top), and one guy with a Wigan top!

Edited February 12, 201412 yr by Zola

Hey guys

I've lurked here for ages. Supported the Blues since I was 11 years old, I'm now 34 (35 in June).

I just wondered, what is our global reach like now? The reason I ask is because this forum seems very quiet - isn't this the main Chelsea fan's forum as well? If you look at places like RAWK and RedCafe, they are bustling with people.

Why is this place not the same? I'd go as far as saying we're bigger than Liverpool now? Maybe not bigger than Man Utd yet but who knows what will happen whilst they've got David Moyes?

This isn't the biggest or most popular Chelsea board by the way, not by some distance.

It is the best though...

Its massive, absolutely massive, utterly incredible and a sight to behold....

 

 

Now, about our worldwide support. Its pretty good.

This isn't the biggest or most popular Chelsea board by the way, not by some distance.

It is the best though...

 

That's interesting mate - do you know which one is the biggest?

I don't understand why a lot of our lot go on other teams boards. Personally I couldn't give a toss what they say or think. I'm glad were not like Man United and the rest. 

Chelsea are absolutely huge in Thailand, the rest of South East Asia and India. As big, if not bigger than Manchester United in terms of supporters.

I've only been to ghana and gambia in africa, but I saw lots of kids and older guys wearing Chelsea tops. Also, another thing that surprised me was, they actually get to watch live games on t.v. at 3pm, whereas we have to stream the matches in our own bleeding country!

I've only been to ghana and gambia in africa, but I saw lots of kids and older guys wearing Chelsea tops. Also, another thing that surprised me was, they actually get to watch live games on t.v. at 3pm, whereas we have to stream the matches in our own bleeding country!

 

Yeah in South Africa we pay for DSTV which has Super Sport which in a football sense shows basically EVERY PL and CL, and the pick of FA, EL and CC games. Also shows the pick of La Liga (basically every madrid and barca game), Italian and more recently German leagues. The only time they don't show Chelsea is one early CC round. It's nifty. Big PL following here.

 

Spoke to a newcastle fan on a boat cruise and he was also shocked that we get everything under one network.

I think this forum and TalkChelsea are the biggest. The official shed.chelseafc.com is the busiest, I think.

I've only been to ghana and gambia in africa, but I saw lots of kids and older guys wearing Chelsea tops. Also, another thing that surprised me was, they actually get to watch live games on t.v. at 3pm, whereas we have to stream the matches in our own bleeding country!

the drog is the biggest african football icon there is! he is the pele of africa who inspires every african.

I've only been to ghana and gambia in africa, but I saw lots of kids and older guys wearing Chelsea tops. Also, another thing that surprised me was, they actually get to watch live games on t.v. at 3pm, whereas we have to stream the matches in our own bleeding country!

Yarp having lived in Uganda for a year and also travelled to their neighbours (Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda), the 3pm games are pretty awesome. You feel like you are cheating the system. I had many great saturdays in my videohall watching 3 live games in a row.

I can only speak from the village/town I was in (an atypical southern Ugandan village). There were two video halls which showed football. One for mainly Arsenal fans, but also Liverpool and the other mainly for Man United fans as well as Chelsea. The Arsenal games were packed but the video hall had to close down as the team had their usual spring slump and the owners could no longer pay the bills. Man United games were packed further and for the 2011 CL final I have never seen more people per square meter in one room for 90 minutes. Where I was Man United were for the city and 'more educated' types, whilst Arsenal were the villagers team.

Chelsea fans were sparse and only 20 people used to watch games (opposed to the 200 or so for United) and weren't overly popular. However, in the school I worked at, about half the children supported Chelsea, but didn't watch them play due to the financial cost. Make no mistake about we are growing, and fast.

 

Yeah in South Africa we pay for DSTV which has Super Sport which in a football sense shows basically EVERY PL and CL, and the pick of FA, EL and CC games. Also shows the pick of La Liga (basically every madrid and barca game), Italian and more recently German leagues. The only time they don't show Chelsea is one early CC round. It's nifty. Big PL following here.

 

Spoke to a newcastle fan on a boat cruise and he was also shocked that we get everything under one network.

Yeah DSTV is the bomb. I love the World Premier League program with Winterburn and Don Hutchinson. Though DSTV is pretty expensive. Same price as the UK if I remember correctly!However they have come under a bit of competition lately, with a new Arabian decoder which offers a yearly subsciption for just $100.

 

 

the drog is the biggest african football icon there is! he is the pele of africa who inspires every african.

Yeah Drog really must have helped our standings on the continent. Like you said, he is the Pele of the continent. He has the ability to captivate people in a unique way which is somewhat indescribable.

Edited February 12, 201412 yr by mactheknife

There are actually a lot of Americans who support Chelsea. Whenever I play a pick up match there are usually at least 3-4 guys in Chelsea shirts(that's a lot for over here). I think that maybe there aren't a lot of foreigners on this board because some of the members here are harsh to us sometimes. Calling us Johnny-Come-Latelys, plastic fans and ridiculing us for not knowing things that happend 50+ years ago isn't exactly a good way to encourage new foreign members to stick around. Just my two cents..

Edited February 12, 201412 yr by Kage

Yeah DSTV is the bomb. I love the World Premier League program with Winterburn and Don Hutchinson. Though DSTV is pretty expensive. Same price as the UK if I remember correctly!However they have come under a bit of competition lately, with a new Arabian decoder which offers a yearly subsciption for just $100.

 

Indeed. They just need to make a supersport only package but they probably make too much bank forcing you to take the full range of channels.

There are actually a lot of Americans who support Chelsea. Whenever I play a pick up match there are usually at least 3-4 guys in Chelsea shirts(that's a lot for over here). I think that maybe there aren't a lot of foreigners on this board because some of the members here are harsh to us sometimes. Calling us Johnny-Come-Latelys, plastic fans and ridiculing us for not knowing things that happend 50+ years ago isn't exactly a good way to encourage new foreign members to stick around. Just my two cents..

Agreed. Support in the States is picking up. Now that NBC broadcasts every BPL game, it's going to make huge strides. Metlife Stadium and Yankee Stadium were packed with Chelsea supporters for the pre-season and post-season tours last summer.

We seem to get a lot of lurkers.  

There are a decent amount of Canadian supporters. I go down to this pub in downtown Toronto to watch the games and theres always a good amount of Chelsea supporters. Funny story: Recently I was told by a Canadian guy who supports Everton that I was just a glory hunter and not a true fan. Absolutely bizarre that people automatically question you for being a Chelsea fan. Had a good laugh over that though. 

Indeed. They just need to make a supersport only package but they probably make too much bank forcing you to take the full range of channels.

Yeah true regarding SS only, but like you said, they probably make too much from all the pomp you have to buy on top of Supersport. But most of the DSTV sales will be from bars and video halls in Africa who just want sport. Hence the chance for competition.

Have you heard about the new middle eastern decoder which is a yearly subscription? Any truth in it? Some of my african pals have been talking about it...

Also what is the perception of the cost of DSTV in SA?