Chelsea supporters expect an overwhelmingly positive response to Jose Mourinho’s remarks on the atmosphere at Stamford Bridge this Saturday.

The Premier League leaders play West Brom in their first home match since Mourinho said he felt his side had been “playing in an empty stadium” during the defeat of QPR.

Chelsea have played since – drawing at Maribor in the Champions League and beating Liverpool at Anfield – but not yet at home.

Mourinho’s comments created a stir, but Chelsea Supporters’ Trust chairman Tim Rolls told Press Association Sport: “He’s very, very popular with the fans; I would expect people would respond to it.

“I would anticipate at the start of the game he’ll get a big cheer, they’ll chant his name and there will be lots of chanting.

“I would expect a good atmosphere on Saturday.”

Mourinho’s comments sparked a debate about possible reasons behind any crowd apathy.

Ticket prices have been put forward as mitigation, as have all-seater stadiums and a growing number of day-trippers to grounds.

“If it’s a very sterile game the atmosphere does tend to die off these days,” Rolls added.

“That’s a by-product of the changing demographic of football.

“There’s less young people, people are seated. It’s less conducive to an exciting atmosphere.

“It’s the same at all the top clubs. Old Trafford and Anfield in the ’70s were pretty hostile places.

“It’s a lot less now, certainly at Liverpool. Chelsea were on top for large periods of the game and Liverpool weren’t getting the support from the Kop that they’d have got a generation ago.

“Maine Road was a pretty vibrant place. The old days at Highbury, at White Hart Lane. It’s just different now.

“Clubs that have come up, (with) smaller, more tightly packed grounds like Burnley, there’s probably more atmosphere.

“The design of modern grounds, plus the changed demographic and the fact people have to sit, means it is less vibrant than it used to be.”

In a bid to try to see if Mourinho’s words were true of other Premier League grounds, Press Association Sport armed its reporters with a ‘Sound Meter’ smartphone application which would attempt to record decibel levels.

Some may associate Old Trafford more with prawn sandwich eaters than hearty singers, but Manchester United’s match with Crystal Palace registered highest.

While this level of research can in no way be considered scientific and is nothing more than a rough guide, it does indicate that United and Palace fans made a greater din than any others by as many as six decibels, although for balance there were 30,000 more fans there than anywhere else.

In the interests of fairness, all samples were taken from kick-off to the 60-second mark, the highest recorded point has been used and, as no goals were scored in this period, the decibel levels can be considered to have been generated in similar circumstances.

Old Trafford recorded a decibel level (out of 120) of 84, while Southampton’s St Mary’s stadium reached 78.

Those marks give Chelsea fans something to aim for as the recordings will be repeated this weekend in order to gather readings from every Premier League ground.

Meanwhile, The Chelsea Supporters’ Trust has called for the introduction of ‘Safe Standing’ areas to improve the atmosphere at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho recently complained it felt like his team were “playing in an empty stadium” when they beat QPR 2-1 at home three weeks ago.

And a survey by the CST shows Chelsea fans share the Portuguese’s concerns.

Atmosphere was listed as one of the top concerns in the findings of the survey, along with ticket prices.

“Atmosphere continues to be a major concern for supporters and the manager,” the report reads.

The 660 members surveyed felt the return of standing areas at Stamford Bridge would be the best way to improve the atmosphere at the stadium.

The Football Supporters’ Federation is leading a campaign for the introduction of “safe standing” areas at football grounds.

Currently, the Football Spectators Act 1989 requires safety authorities to ensure fans attending games in England’s top two divisions are seated.

Tim Rolls, chair of the CST said his organisation backed the FSF’s policy and also called on the club to reduce ticket prices too.

“The results of the second CST members survey reinforce the view of the board that there are a couple of fundamental issues the club need to address as a matter of urgency,” he said.

“The recent publicity following the manager’s comments about the lack of atmosphere at Stamford Bridge led to a healthy debate about the reasons for this.

“The need for more affordable ticketing for young supporters, the desire for Safe Standing to be introduced and concerns about over-zealous stewarding are all are highlighted as significant member concerns in the survey results, and support the CST board view on these matters.”

The report adds: “The CST campaign for safe standing last season has put this in the forefront of supporters’ minds with this being the most frequent suggestion for improving the ambience at Stamford Bridge.”

Press Association Sport will gauge the noise at Stamford Bridge this weekend, when Chelsea host West Brom in their first home game since Mourinho’s comments.

The highest adult ticket price at Stamford Bridge is B£87 while juniors can pay up to B£27.50 for ‘Category AA’ games.

This is a big concern to CST members according to the survey, which reads: “the current price of tickets makes it almost impossible to cultivate the next generation of matchgoers.”

Overall satisfaction with the club among supporters has improved, the survey found.

The replacement of Rafael Benitez with Mourinho is thought to be a big factor in this, as is the club’s commitment to subsidising travel to away games.

Chelsea have regularly subsidised away travel for their fans this season.

Next month, the club will subsidise away supporters’ trip to Derby for their Capital One Cup quarter-final tie at Pride Park.

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