KEN BATES COLUMN

"Firstly, here is a special message to those few idiots who spoilt a great night out at Portsmouth on Tuesday: / really do not understand your mentality in doing what you did. I agree with those supporters who complained that there was an excessive police presence on the pitch. But that does not excuse the behaviour that once again brought Chelsea all the wrong kind of headlines and brought ourgreat club into disrepute. In view ofthe fact that you must have known that the newspapers would seize on your actions and exaggerate any inci dentoutofallproportion to the exclusion ofwhat was re ally a great night of football, you obviously do not sup port Chelsea. In the circumstances we don't want you; we think you're beneath contempt and you're not wel come at The Bridge. Ifthe FootballAssociation had taken heed ofmy urgent requestearlierthisseason andinstalledclose-circuit TV at all majorgrounds, we could have identifiedyou, had you arrested, hopefully jailed, and certainly banned from The Bridge. In case anyof you are daftenough to consider a repitition ofthat behaviour today, remember we have closed-circuit TV here, we are properly

stewarded with short-wave radios and we shallnothesi tate to take action against anyone who misbehaves. Having got that off my chest I'd like to thank the nearly 11,000 genuine supporters who travelled to Fratton Park on Tuesday and had a great night. I'm sorry that you were inconvenienced by being kept in the ground so long after the match, but this was explained to me by a senior police officer who said they wanted to get the Portsmouth supporters, who have a notorious though not so widely-reported reputation, well clear of the ground before letting our fans make their way home. They also admitted they'd made a mistake in not releas ing the coaches back early enough which caused a further delay. For that I am sorry, but the good news is that if we get three more points we shall be back in the First Division, playing in towns and grounds where proper arrangements are made for our large number of visiting fans. Both myself, and the senior police officer, would like to thank those many Chelsea fans who came up to me and disassociated themselves from the few mindless mo rons who spoilt a great evening. Turning to the game it self, once again we allowed a lapse of concentration to lose us two valuable points. This is the only regrettable weakness we have in an otherwise outstanding side, and it's something we must work on because in the First Division we'll really get punished for those sort of slip ups, as we saw against West Bromwich Albion in the Milk Cup. However, to put things in perspective, we have four matches to go and we need three points. I hope we will get them today, but if not there's still Manchester City, Barnsley and Grimsby to play and City and Grimsby have to win all their remaining games to overtake us should we fail, which is unlikely in view of their recent form. But we mustn't relax for a minute until we know we're there. At the time of going to press, I don't know how the Chelsea kids did against Gillingham lastThursday after noon, but ifthey didn't lose, then they clinched the South East Counties Senior League championship and are entitled to our heartiest congratulations. Unfortunately we will not be able to present them with their trophy this afternoon because as has been the case all this sea son half of them are playing in the reserves today, so we shall delay that ceremony until next month. I promised to let you know our end of season arrange ments as soon as they are decided and can therefore tell you that our last match ofthe season will be afriendly against Oxford United away on May 16th, and there will be no summer tours. John Neal feels that after the ten sions and pressures of the last two months, the best thing we can do is give the players a complete break until they report back for pre-season training in July. We print the season-ticket details today, and I urge you to buy one for the new season. If you can't afford it, then at least join the Chelsea Club. We really want to look after our regular supporters as distinct from our casual visitors, and with the best will in the world we can only do that if our supporters become Club Members. How else can we tell our loyal fans from the casuals? The membership fees of 5 and 3 are very good value for money. Finally this week, don't forget that we're planning a party here for the last home match of the season when we play Barnsley. It's going to be a very exciting afternoon, so get there as early as possible to enjoy the festivities. We will have a special 32-page programme on sale, av ailable only in a limited edition, which will commemorate this enjoyable season. Enjoy the game and I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the Chelsea Club dinner-dance on May 18th at the West Centre Hotel." KEN BATES