- See the match on 38 screens
- Central location in the heart of Moscow, just facing the British Embassy and within walking distance of Luzhniki Stadium
- DJs and live music, other entertainment
- Special information point for British Chelsea supporters in Moscow
- Russia’s famous Tinkoff premium beer, brewed on the premises
- Open from 12 noon till the last guest on 20 and 21 May

Entrance only 250 rubles (£5), including all entertainment

Tinkoff Bar - Home Away from Home for Blues Supporters in Moscow!
Tickets at the door - subject to availability. Come early to avoid disappointment!

Click here for map to the venue and other details

The Moscow chant, a true Blue in-your-Scouse-face version of the dreadfully monotonous ‘We’ve won it five times’ dirge, gained momentum on that fabulous evening at Stamford Bridge when Chelsea finally laid the grim spectre of those painful Champions League semi-final defeats at the hands of the Hubcap Thieves to rest.

The Scousers love a bit of Johnny Cash. Oh how the world has grown tired of the nasal whine of ‘In Istanbul we won it five times’ or worse still the ‘Der Der Der Der Der Der Der Der’ crucifixion of Johnny’s most famous contribution to modern popular music ‘Ring of Fire’. Thanks to Avram Grant’s Blue and White Army the ‘Ring of Fire’ has been extinguished for this season. Goodbye Rafa, goodbye Liverpool … bring on the Devilish Reds of Manchester.

The destination of the Premiership trophy has now been decided. It was beyond the realms of gloriously unpredictable possibility that humble Wigan Athletic could have jack-knifed the United juggernaut on the final day of the season. In the end, it didn’t matter, Chelsea failed to destroy Bolton Wanderers by a humongous score-line … in fact the Blues failed to win. Ahh if only we hadn’t squandered that 3-1 lead against Rottenham Dropspur at the venue we used to call Three Point Lane when Avram Grant was still at a stage of trial and error with his tactical substitutions.

Despite the Premiership crown remaining at Old Trafford for another season, there can few Blues fans, particularly those amongst the sparse crowd at the Bridge on that fateful night back in September when Jose’s colourful trophy-laden reign came to an acrimonious end, who would have believed that come 3pm on Sunday May 11^th 2008 Chelsea would find themselves at the summit of the Premiership level on points with Manchester United … let alone in the final of the Champions League!

So who can we thank for the spectacular change in fortune which has evolved during the course of the season? Avram Grant? The players? Steve Clarke and the rest of the coaching staff? Or did Chelsea just get lucky? It’s a question that’s consistently guaranteed to provoke fierce debate. Everyone has an opinion, and these opinions have changed as regularly as night follows day, more often than not mirroring the Blues results.

Personally, I’m just glad to see that some semblance of order has been restored at Stamford Bridge. People are slowly beginning to focus once more on the football that Chelsea play rather than the Machiavellian off-field shenanigans that blighted the recent past. I loved Jose Mourinho for what the Blues achieved under the first two years of his stewardship but the megalomania that followed soured my sweetness towards the man and there was only ever going to be one ending given the autocratic regime of our true saviour Mr Abramovich.

Avram Grant, by virtue of his non-descript footballing pedigree, his lugubrious demeanour and the fact that more often than not in his early media appearances he appeared to be as happy as a leper contemplating a day of high winds, has faced an uphill battle to establish his credibility. Even now, there are those who will argue until they are Chelsea Blue in the face that when the team wins it’s down to the players and when they lose it’s down to Avram Grant.

Openly vilified by many, the Israeli has stuck doggedly at his task, bouncing back from the nadir represented by that Wembley defeat at the hands of Sp*rs, and the ‘shock’ FA Cup defeat at the hands of mighty Barnsley, the man dubbed Average Grant, when all seemed lost, conjured up an inspired suite of substitutions which saw Chelsea dramatically overhaul ‘the’ Arsenal in that pivotal league match at the Bridge on March 23^rd.

It would take the consecutive victories over Manchester United in the Premiership and Liverpool in the Champions League coupled with

his sensitive handling of the tragedy surrounding the death of Frank Lampard’s mother to finally mute Mr Grant’s vociferous detractors who have hastily been retracting the vile epithets they had bestowed on him when all was not rosy in the SW6 garden. Well it’s all blooming marvellous now.

‘I am a little embarrassed by what I did on the pitch,’ quipped the mild mannered Israeli in response to his uncharacteristically jubilant celebration of Chelsea’s victory over Liverpool which had seen him sink to his knees on the soaking wet Stamford Bridge turf … arms aloft, fists clenched, head raised to the heavens. Praise Be to God? Don’t worry about it Mr Grant, you’re only human just like the rest of us. And do you know what? That’s what I’ve always liked about the man.

‘Shut up Avram. Stop singing that song,’ cried Mrs Grant in the small hours of the morning that followed the Champions League victory over the hub-cap thieves. You can almost imagine it can’t you? Avram Grant shuffling around his living room, too happy to go to bed, treating himself to another glass of wine and chirruping away to himself. ‘We’re going to Moscow … we’re going to Moscow oh oh … f*ck your history we’re going to Moscow.’

Whether or not he remains at the helm next season may well be determined by the outcome of the Champions League Final and no doubt we can look forward to a summer of frenzied speculation unless an official statement is forthcoming from the Club with some degree of immediacy following the game.

Personally, I believe that Avram Grant is deserving of a position at the Chelsea Football Club. Whether that is as manager or Director of Football is not for me to say, it will be up to Mr Abramovich to decide. In the meantime … ‘We’re going to Moscow … we’re going to Moscow … F*ck your history we’re going to Moscow.’ Cheers Avram!

See you at the game!

Mark Worrall is the author of cult terrace classics ‘Over Land and Sea’ and ‘Blue Murder … Chelsea till I die’, his new book ‘One Man Went to Mow’ is out now. Copies are available to buy with a discount of 30% and free postage within the UK at http://www.overlandandsea.net/

so whither Chelsea now? Let’s not look ahead to Moscow just yet, as I’m sure that the protracted grind of build-up will be starting any second now. So let’s plough an entirely different furlough of tedium as we make wildly uninformed speculative remarks about the shape of Chelsea’s squad this season. Why, you ask? Well, everyone else seems to be doing it.

So, who’s moving on? Let’s zip through the obvious suspects: players who may or may not move, but whose place in the team seems to have gone the way of the dodo, or perhaps Hilary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Sorry, Steve Sidwell, but that attempt to show the world that you were as good a player as Michael Essien seems to have reached its inevitable conclusion. The former Gooner and Reading midfielder will surely find a suitor in the Premier League - more than one, if the rumours are to be believed - but a midfield berth at Chelsea seems to have proved beyond your reach.

Up front, both Claudio Pizarro and Andriy Shevchenko must surely be wondering where to buy their next executive home, with neither getting much playing time, nor impressing when they do. Having said that, a late goalline clearance from the Ukrainian has undoubtedly cemented him a place in my affection, whilst at the same time giving me an object lesson in how far it is possible to fall in professional football. Thank you both, and surely goodbye.

Tottenham, if you believe the papers, want Tal Ben Haim - a mighty statement of intent from Juande Ramos - and, with Paulo Ferreira signing a long-term deal this year, Jose Bosingwa’s arrival probably means curtains for long-range goal specialist and awful, awful defender Juliano Belletti. Rarely have I seen a right-back get caught out of position so frequently, or make such half-hearted attempts to recover when a zippy left-winger brushed past him. The last right-back we bought from Barca - the majestic but understated Chapi Ferrer - turned out so well. Perhaps the blaugrana were getting their own back for letting the Catalan go by squeezing £4m for a Brazilian with a blind spot instead of a positional instinct. Sneaky.

The off-again on-again saga of Frank Lampard’s contract must surely be resolved this summer, with unconfirmed reports of a change of heart and a provisional decision to stay in west London for our midfield talisman. Michael Ballack, I’m sure, will hear that news with all the relish of a man asked to pickle and eat his own crown jewels, but the elegant German must also be looking at the button marked “contract extension”. A barn-storming finish to the season has masked his slow start, but he’s now beginning to elicit joy and affection from a crowd that had hitherto felt alienated by his casual style. Retaining that pair, along with the terawatt energy of Essien and the still-developing skills of Mikel, leaves us well catered-for in the middle. Makelele still has some time left in him, as a both player and elder statesman of the squad, and has agreed to stay for at least another year.

Both Florent Malouda and Shaun Wright-Phillips have large question marks next to their names. The Frenchman hasn’t had a bad end to the season, but has comprehensively failed to live up to the impressive billing he brought from France. Given that we’ve persevered with SWP for 3 years despite his consistent underachievement, I find it hard to believe that we’d cut Malouda loose after just a year, but stranger things have happened. Ask Asier del Horno.

Which brings us to the big, big question. It’s Drogba-shaped, and it comes with added uncertainty. I think it’s fair to say that Didier Drogba is a master of the mixed message: from sullen misery to cheerful optimism in a matter of days, or even sentences. Being in a relationship with him must be a thrill a minute. If the big lad is on his way - and my instinct tells me he probably is - that will be 3 strikers out of the door in one summer, leaving only Nicolas Anelka as a recognised target man in the squad. I say target man, but his strengths do not lie in the archetypal English centre-forward zone. The Frenchman prefers the stiletto to the sledgehammer, to put it mildly. There may well be room for Scott Sinclair to finally make the leap to the senior squad - it’s also rumoured that the promising centre-halfMichael Mancienne will be doing the same this year - but that leaves Anelka, Joe Cole, Salmomon Kalou and a promising teenager as our only options up front.

In terms of Premiership pedigree, we’ve briefly seen names like Kenwyne Jones (author grits teeth) linked with a move to the Bridge. Dimitar Berbatov is another name consistently linked with a move away from his existing club, but the Bulgarian shares Anelka’s languid style and his nature would demand a shift in team strategy. This isn’t to say that Chelsea couldn’t accommodate him - in fact, a buy like this could be Grant’s best chance of imposing his own style on a team that still feels full of Mourinho conservatism - but the question is how long that new approach would take to bed in. It might have the advantage of reducing our dependence on a single goalscorer, and bringing Lampard, Ballack and Joe Cole to the fore as goal-getters, but it would take time. Across Europe, the usual names crop up: Mario Gomez, David Villa… perhaps even Samuel Eto’o, who is rumoured to be flirting with Ramos at Spurs. We’d humbly suggest that one of those three, with Sinclair and Kalou as options both central and wide, might be enough, with the possibility of another left-winger should the club decide to cut its losses with Malouda.

With Ferguson doubtless ready to spend another £60m, it’s going to be another long summer of conjecture and flirtation. But where Ferguson is looking to bolster a winning combination, Chelsea may very well be looking for a new style and ethos. It’s going to be interesting.

The Carling Pub Football Awards, now in its second year, will celebrate some of the often overlooked sporting triumphs taking place every weekend on pitches across the UK.

The Awards, judged by a sporting panel that includes ITV Football Pundit Robbie Earle and Daily Mail Columnist Des Kelly, gives footballers nationwide the opportunity to nominate in the following eleven categories:

• Player of the Year
• Manager of the Year
• 11-a-side Team of the Year
• 5-a-side Team of the Year
• Administrator of the Year
• Referee of the Year
• Supporter of the Year
• Pub Football Website of the Year
• Dodgiest Kit Award
• Team Spirit Award
• Pub Football Legend Award – Services to Football

Football players, fans and all of those associated with the great game can log on to Carling’s Pub Football website www.carling.com/pubfootball to nominate, as well as register their team on the site.

Carling has created its online Pub Football site in a bid to create a community owned and shaped by pub and amateur football teams nationwide. Teams that register can create their own website for free, complete player profile profiles, add blogs and upload footage and pictures.

Robbie Earle, ITV Football Pundit and one of Awards’ judging panel said: “We want as many people to nominate – players, managers, fans, and everyone associated with amateur clubs up and down the country. It’s great to see Carling giving everyday footballers the recognition they deserve.”

Rich Smith, Carling Marketing Manager, said: “Pub football is all about getting together with your mates every week and enjoying the game. For most of us, pub football is how we play football and the awards are the perfect opportunity to the team spirit which keeps pub football an important part of the British game.”

Last year Ian Holloway visited the winners of the Team Spirit Award category ‘Lynam Athletic FC’ the training session of a lifetime. He put the boys from Birmingham through their paces for the day as part of their prize. Other prizes included Carling football kits and beer.

Nominations can be placed up until 23rd May, and winners of each category will be announced during the last week of May 2008.  To nominate visit www.carling.com/pubfootball

Add to that the tens of cup games, both domestic and European, (with the exception of Barcelona when we were down to ten men) and we are talking of well over a hundred games in which the opposition hasn’t managed to win at Stamford Bridge.

We have reached the stage were practically no team in the world comes to The Bridge and realistically expects to win. All true, but there are plenty who come here looking for just a draw and getting away with it. Despite our impregnability at The Bridge, at the end of the day it is our home form that ended up handing the title to United last Sunday.

Our seven draws have meant fourteen home points dropped to United’s five (one loss and one draw at Old Trafford). Do the maths yourself to work out where we would have finished in the league this year had we at least matched United’s home record.

You could also look at it in another way, but I’m afraid it still doesn’t make good reading. United won seventeen of their nineteen home games, that’s nearly 90% of their games. We, on the other hand, won twelve out of nineteen, a paltry 63%. Even just matching Arsenal’s home record of fourteen wins and five draws would have seen us over the line. The bottom line is that out of every three games we play at The Bridge, the opposition manages to come away with a draw once.

It could be that our unbeaten run, rather than working for us, has become some psychological impediment to the players and coach, and in the last few minutes of the game the players go into a sort of panic trying to hold on to what they have.

Everton, Villa, Bolton and Wigan were definitely winnable games and we were literally seconds away from victory in all four matches. I would discard the Bolton (players knew the league was lost) and Villa (crazy game) matches, but the goals we gave away in the other two matches were criminal.

You could see a goal coming from miles away. We just sat back and defended poorly, if truth be said. And it could have been worse. We were lucky to win the Boro game and there were others against Birmingham, Newcastle, West Ham and Reading when I distinctly remember chewing my nails and looking anxiously at the clock during the last five minutes. This against two sides who ended up relegated.

So while bemoaning the fact that we dropped points in the last minutes of certain games, points that ended up costing us the league, it could have very well been much worse. So besides having a good look at the squad, the powers that be should also have a good look at the playing style.

Our so called 4-3-3 formation may look like an attacking formation but in reality it’s not much more than a 4-5-1, a system we so abhor and sneer at when used against us. Whoever has played in the wide “forward” positions has always been expected to do more than his fair share of tracking back, often doubling up as an extra full back.

This 4-3-3 fad was born during season 2004/5 when we had arguably the two best genuine wingers in the Premiership at the time – Arjen Robben and Damien Duff. Both were expected to muck in at the back but their main duties were up front. Despite various changes in personnel we stuck to the system, except for a few games towards the end of last season (2006/7) when we played 4-4-2. Since then we have tried Joe Cole, Malouda, Anelka, Kalou, Shaun Wright Phillips and, very rarely, Shevchenko. With the exception of Coley, few could argue that anyone of them has set any houses on fire playing wide.

I hope that next season whoever is in charge will adopt a horses for courses policy. While stuffing Derby 6-1 the coach still felt the need to play a holding midfielder for all of the game (Makalele played 72 minutes and was replaced by Essien who played in the same role for the remaining 18 minutes). Same goes for matches against the other minnows. Did we need a holding midfielder when playing Wigan, Sunderland and Bolton at home who scored 13 goals each in 19 away matches?

So it’s on to Moscow now. At the risk of contradicting what I just said above, a boring one nil win like that in last year’s cup final will do us all nicely thank you. In fact it is not a contradiction but rather a confirmation of my “horses for courses” policy. I don’t want us going flat out leaving the door open for United to exploit. Ashley Cole just needs to keep tight on Ronaldo as he always does.

Maka has to stay back and snuff out any danger before it reaches Carvalho or JT. Yes Joe Cole and whoever plays on the left will have to track back. Yes our best bet is to chuck high balls at Drogba to keep Vidic and Ferdinand on the back foot, hoping the Frank and Ballack exploit the spaces. It doesn’t have to be pretty, just effective. But against the likes of Reading, Birmingham, Wigan, Sunderland and their ilk, I do expect more.

One last word that has nothing to do with all I have written above. As I write this, the Boswinga deal looks done and dusted. All well and good, but am I alone in thinking that since Michael Essien has been playing at right back he has looked the best full back, left or right, in the Premiership by a mile? Just thought I’d ask. Answers on the forum please.

You have to be quick off the mark to order these as they want to ensure you receive this in time for the biggest game of our life! [ Order now!]

So the cut off time for ordering is midnight on Tuesday the 13th. So you only have a little over 24 hours to place your order via this link.

The shirt will be available in S/M/L/XL/XXL for men and women’s fit is available in S/M/L/XL. Any questions re sizing, delivery etc please contact goalfood directly by emailing info@goalfood.com

The selling price is £19.99, please note this is all-inclusive and includes VAT and, most important of all, GUARANTEED NEXT DAY DELIVERY FOR ALL UK ORDERS.

It is intended to mail the shirts out on Thursday 15^th and Friday 16^th May.

Al Habsi was fit to start in goal for Bolton, though Megson was unsure enough to include two substitute goalkeepers in Ian Walker and Jussi Jaaskelainen. Nolan, Davies and Diouf were to provide the attacking impetus for the visitors, whilst the workmanlike Gary Cahill and Andy O’Brien were the centre halves, in for a busy day.

However, Chelsea were rocked when after 10 minutes, a collision between Petr Čech and John Terry, with Kevin Davies in close accompaniment, causing the Chelsea skipper to lie in obvious pain on the pitch. The Chelsea keeper took a tremendous catch on the edge of the box from a Gary Cahill long ball, but his knee smashed into Terry’s elbow. He was eventually stretched off with what turned out to be a partially dislocated elbow. Juliano Belletti was his replacement, Essien shifting to centre back.

Chelsea rallied for their skipper, and when Chelsea were awarded a free kick 25 yards from goal, Drogba and Ballack again discussed who would take it. It was the Ivorian who pulled rank and his resultant effort flew inches wide of the far post with Al Habsi comprehensively beaten.

Midway through the first half Drogba threatened to burst through the middle, though he was denied by a Steinsson challenge which allowed Al Habsi to collect the loose ball. Chelsea applied the pressure, but were unable to breakthrough for the rest of the first half.

At half time, Grant gambled with nothing to lose, sending on Shevchenko for the ineffective Makelélé and switching to 4-4-2. Malouda half volleyed off the bar via a fingertip of Al Habsi early on, before Belletti has an effort from in the box blocked.

Al Habsi made another smart save to deny Drogba, but Chelsea weren’t to be denied any longer, and who would have guessed that Andriy Shevchenko would score, netting his first goal since the 4-4 Boxing Day draw with Aston Villa.

Joe Cole’s shot was blocked, Lampard’s was going wide and Alex’s flick missed the ball entirely. Johnny on the spot was Shevchenko, who shinned the ball past Al Habsi, to the relief of himself, his teammates and the entire crowd. You couldn’t help but smile.

Cole himself had a chance to double the lead, only for Al Habsi to save again, before Stelios replaced Diouf. Not long after, Cole was replaced by Mikel, the formation switching back to 4-3-3.

With ten minutes to go, the visitors nearly equalised, as Čech’s punch was headed onto the bar by Matthew Taylor. The rebound fell to Stelios, who’s “shot” was cleared off the line by Ashley Cole.

Bolton weren’t to be denied though, as in stoppage time, Taylor struck to equalise. Alex’s clearance was poor and the former Portsmouth man latched onto a left footed strike that went through the legs of Alex and Čech. It was poor defending by the Brazilian centre back, but perhaps could be attributed to a lack of match sharpness.

There was still time for Shevchenko to shoot into the side netting, before referee Foy blew full time on Chelsea’s season. United’s 2-0 win at Wigan crowned them champions, yet Avram Grant was rightly proud of his players, following their gutsy challenge that lasted until the final day. There’s still on very big trophy on offer…

Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Essien, Alex, Terry (c) (Belletti 13), A Cole; Ballack, Makelele (Shevchenko h-t), Lampard; J Cole (Mikel 77), Drogba, Malouda.

Bolton Wanderers (4-5-1): Al Habsi; Steinsson, A O’Brien, Cahill, Samuel; McCann, J O’Brien, Nolan (c); Davies, Diouf (Stelios 68), Taylor.

Referee Chris Foy.
Crowd 41,755.

Your Sporting Challenge have confirmed English based aircraft for the Champions League Final. We have confirmed landing slots and parking rights at the relevant airports.

AEU 789 London Gatwick (LGW) 04:00 Moscow Domodedovo (DME) 09:45

AEU790 Moscow Domodedovo (DME) 03:30 (+1) London Gatwick (LGW) 05:30 (+1)

ENGLISH BASED AIRCRAFT WITH SECURED LANDING PERMISSION

Although we have confirmed flight timings the please expect delays on the return flight. The traffic in Moscow is notoriously bad, and with thousands of supporters departing from the same airport there are bound to be delays.

As you will appreciate Chelsea have been allocated 21,000 tickets, and there is only a limited number of aircraft available. To ensure you get to the Champions League Final we are now open and taking bookings at £699.00 Now £649.00 per person for all CFCnet visitors. (Please mention CFCnet when you book.)

VISA
All supporters will be required to hold a valid Russian Federation visa which needs to be sourced from the Russian Embassy. We recommend you apply for these as soon as possible, although we understand further announcements will be made shortly.

Please keep checking our website for updates. General information about visas is available from www.fco.gov.uk. Although we will endeavour to make every effort to assist you with your visa application NO REFUND will be made for those who were unable to source a visa. You will be liable for any costs associated with not holding a visa, including any fees which may be levied by the authorities.

CALL 0845 121 2018 TO BOOK

*We do not offer match tickets; these should be sourced from Official Sources only

Play 18 holes under Stableford rules (includes Nearest the Pin and Longest Drive Trophies)

The evening entertainment will consist of:

• 3 course meal
• Q&A with Alan and Ron
• A Sporting Auction
• Top Comedian

Team of 4 players only £270 - Individual players £70

For more information contact Lana on 07967 055358 or 07182 377358

Please note: Buggies are available and can be hired from the CLUB ONLY. They are not included in the package.

Venue:
Woldingham Golf Club
Haliloo Valley Road
Woldingham
Surrey
CR3 7HA

To get your hands on one for free all you have to do is to purchase all 5 of our previous magazines, which will cost you just £16.

So for just £16 you get all 5 CFCnet magazines and a brand new copy of the Blue Revolution DVD (Worth £19.99. Not bad is it! What are you waiting for! [ www.cfcnet-magazine.com ]

Limited stock. First come first served.

(Sorry UK residents only as we can’t afford to send the DVD anywhere else.)