Chelsea plan to write to supporters who attended Monday's 3-2 win at Fulham, threatening them with bans over an offensive chant heard from the away end.
Club to contact ticket holders
The club will respond to the behaviour of some fans after a sectarian chant, known as the 'Flute for 50 pence song', was heard during the west London derby. The chant includes the line 'F*** the Pope and the IRA'.
According to the Daily Mail, Chelsea will email all fans who bought a ticket for the game and ask them not to sing the song at future matches. The club will also point out that a ban from attending games is a possibility for anyone who does chant the song.
Previous action against sectarian abuse
In 2021, Chelsea released a statement condemning the actions of a fan who aimed sectarian abuse at Aston Villa's John McGinn. The club said at the time: 'We are aware of a video circulating on social media showing an individual using abusive language of a sectarian nature in the crowd at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.'
'Chelsea Football Club finds all forms of discriminatory behaviour totally unacceptable and we condemn the language used. The club is working to identify the person involved and will take the strongest possible action against them.'
Alonso reflects on winning start
On the pitch, it was a positive start to Xabi Alonso's tenure as Chelsea head coach, with goals from Joao Pedro, Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer securing the victory, though there were concerns at the back, particularly around goalkeeper Robert Sanchez.
'We know how tough it is to win any Premier League game, and any away Premier League game,' said Alonso. 'We prepared for an intense game, and I feel it was a very professional, solid performance, showing maturity and managing the difficult moments.'
'We got the lead quite early, had chances to score the second one, but after the equaliser we were through ten minutes when we didn't choose the right moments to press and the movements. We corrected this well and in the second half, we felt comfortable without the ball, controlling the game. It was a performance to build for the future. There are things to improve for sure, but it was a good first day.'
He added: '[It's important] to manage in difficult moments, not to lose this emotional control. We know the Premier League is fantastic because sometimes the games are out of your hands. You don't control them, so the players on the pitch need to know how to manage it – it's as important as the tactics being right. It's a process but today we went through good moments on that and we need to carry on that.'
