In other words, very soon all you will be able to do is sit there and clap!
Celery banned at the Bridge
'The throwing of anything at a football match, including celery, is a criminal offence for which you can be arrested and end up with a criminal record'
Paolo Bandini
Friday March 16, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
Some celery, yesterday
Some celery, yesterday. Photograph: Public domain
Chelsea have banned celery from Stamford Bridge and ordered fans to stop throwing it during matches after the Football Association launched an investigation into instances of salad tossing at their recent matches.
Two referees have now mentioned celery being thrown onto the pitch during their official reports of Chelsea matches, while Arsenal's players complained of being pelted with the vegetable when they tried to take corners during the first half of the Carling Cup final.
Blues fans have been bringing the vegetable to games for over two decades in homage to their terrace chant 'Celery', but the club reminded them today that throwing the vegetable was, in fact a criminal offence.
"The throwing of anything at a football match, including celery, is a criminal offence for which you can be arrested and end up with a criminal record," read a statement on the club website. "In future, if anyone is found attempting to bring celery into Stamford Bridge they could be refused entry and anyone caught throwing celery will face a ban."
The statement went on to direct fans to a hotline they could call to report others seen carrying celery, promising that "all calls will be treated in confidence".
Celery Banned From Stamford Bridge!!!
IMMORTAL HERB
IMMORTAL HERB
By dixon9 - March 16 2007
CELERY RIP! “Celery! Celery!” “If she don’t come I’ll tickle her bum with a lump of celery!” Immortal words indeed but the club has now decided that no more celery will be allowed in Stamford Bridge and anyone caught bringing it into the ground could face a ban!
Apparently, celery is now deemed dangerous to fans and players alike – presumably celery now counts as a dangerous missile!
This legendary herb (it’s not a vegetable is it?) has been a Chelsea tradition for decades now (started around the 80´s) and I’m proud to say that I was there when it started.
There is some argument as to the origins of this tradition (and they say we have no history! ;-) ). Some say that it was due to renowned Chelsea fan, Mickey Greenaway (RIP) who heard the song from somewhere and decided to start singing it at the Bridge - although the act of actually throwing it around was definitely started by Chelsea fans in the Shed. Others contend that its origins are from Gillingham FC when celery started to grow on the pitch during pre-season and that it was the Gillingham fans that started the celery tradition. Maybe it was a combination of both? Maybe quite a few Chelsea lads watched Gillingham during midweek or when cash was a bit short and then brought “Celery” to Stamford Bridge? I never spoke to Mickey although I used to see him around – no doubt those that knew him well could shed more light on the matter?
What am I rambling on about I hear you ask? Well, I can tell you that many many Chelsea fans are quite put out at what is seen as a Kenyonesque erosion of a famous club tradition. The story has even made Bloomberg:
By Ryan Mills
March 16 (Bloomberg) -- Chelsea, the London soccer team owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, set up a confidential phone line to catch fans who take part in the ritual throwing of celery onto the field.
"The throwing of anything at a football match, including celery, is a criminal offence for which you can be arrested and end up with a criminal record,'' the club said in a statement on its Web site today.
The origins of salad-tossing at Stamford Bridge stadium are unclear, though supporters' Web sites and the Guardian newspaper suggest the practice began in the mid-1980s. It's usually accompanied by a crude chant (Love the "origins of salad tossing" and “crude chant” bit!)-
When Bloomberg News dialled the hotline, a member of Chelsea's security staff answered but declined to comment further or give his name. All calls will be treated in confidence,
Chelsea says:
`In future, if anyone is found attempting to bring celery into Stamford Bridge they could be refused entry and anyone caught throwing celery will face a ban,'' the west London club said.
So there you have it! Not only is celery banned from the Bridge but the club has actually set up a supergrass (or supercelery?) hot-line!
I wouldn´t be surprised if the club agreed to take a tough stance on celery after complaints from Arsenal after the Carling Cup Final – this would have been some kind of condition agreed to by the club in order to placate the FA after facing charges on the matter. If that is the case, then well done Arsenal! You can no doubt be smug about stopping what essentially is just a bit of harmless fun! Well done lads! Hope you’re proud!
Still, away matches are free-reign, and don’t forget that old famous saying:
“YOU CAN´T BAN A CHELSEA FAN!”
Bring Celery Into Stamford Bridge; and Euro Vase Quarter-Finals
Tom Lutz and Paul Doyle
Friday March 16, 2007
Guardian Unlimited - The Fiver
CHELSEA FINALLY IMPOSE CELERY CAP
The Fiver has always had a thing for vegetables. The illicit zing of ginger, the bulb-next-door charms of garlic, the earthy eroticism of the turnip, the ample charms of a pendulous pumpkin, the tumescence of an aubergine - a single bead of water trickling down its purple length. But nothing beats a stick of celery - all smooth lines and contours topped by a ticklish head of leaves. So the Fiver's blood was rushing in only one direction today when it found out that Chelsea fans had been caught tossing celery on video.
Fortunately for Britain's Kleenex mountain, it turned out that, rather than indulging in vegaphilia, Blues fans have been taking time out from their French chateaux to lob lumps of the green stuff at opposing players. And, perhaps fearing that such hi-jinks might create something vaguely resembling an atmosphere at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea have put their foot down. "The throwing of anything at a football match, including celery, is a criminal offence for which you can be arrested and end up with a criminal record," bah humbugged the most pompous club statement in the history of Association Football, carelessly overlooking the fact that footballs occasionally get thrown at football matches without the perpetrators getting their collars felt. "In future, if anyone is found attempting to bring celery into Stamford Bridge they could be refused entry and anyone caught throwing celery will face a ban." It gets better - there's even a hotline you can ring to stop this scourge - 020 7915 1919 - and you needn't worry about grassing anyone up because all calls will be "treated in confidence".
But that gem wasn't the only story rocking the Bridge today. A matter of nanoseconds after telling the press he wasn't going to speak to them anymore, the Special One was busy detailing the ongoing "tensions" between himself and Roman Abramovich. "There were some problems to solve [in the January transfer window] and if you see the owner of the club's money, you would expect those problems to be solved, but that didn't happen," he huffed. "I said, who am I to question the owner of the club. Abramovich is the almighty in Chelsea." So there you have it, the Special One really is only second to God.
Celery banned at the Bridge
'The throwing of anything at a football match, including celery, is a criminal offence for which you can be arrested and end up with a criminal record'
Paolo Bandini
Friday March 16, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
Some celery, yesterday
Some celery, yesterday. Photograph: Public domain
Chelsea have banned celery from Stamford Bridge and ordered fans to stop throwing it during matches after the Football Association launched an investigation into instances of salad tossing at their recent matches.
Two referees have now mentioned celery being thrown onto the pitch during their official reports of Chelsea matches, while Arsenal's players complained of being pelted with the vegetable when they tried to take corners during the first half of the Carling Cup final.
Blues fans have been bringing the vegetable to games for over two decades in homage to their terrace chant 'Celery', but the club reminded them today that throwing the vegetable was, in fact a criminal offence.
"The throwing of anything at a football match, including celery, is a criminal offence for which you can be arrested and end up with a criminal record," read a statement on the club website. "In future, if anyone is found attempting to bring celery into Stamford Bridge they could be refused entry and anyone caught throwing celery will face a ban."
The statement went on to direct fans to a hotline they could call to report others seen carrying celery, promising that "all calls will be treated in confidence".
Celery Banned From Stamford Bridge!!!
IMMORTAL HERB
IMMORTAL HERB
By dixon9 - March 16 2007
CELERY RIP! “Celery! Celery!” “If she don’t come I’ll tickle her bum with a lump of celery!” Immortal words indeed but the club has now decided that no more celery will be allowed in Stamford Bridge and anyone caught bringing it into the ground could face a ban!
Apparently, celery is now deemed dangerous to fans and players alike – presumably celery now counts as a dangerous missile!
This legendary herb (it’s not a vegetable is it?) has been a Chelsea tradition for decades now (started around the 80´s) and I’m proud to say that I was there when it started.
There is some argument as to the origins of this tradition (and they say we have no history! ;-) ). Some say that it was due to renowned Chelsea fan, Mickey Greenaway (RIP) who heard the song from somewhere and decided to start singing it at the Bridge - although the act of actually throwing it around was definitely started by Chelsea fans in the Shed. Others contend that its origins are from Gillingham FC when celery started to grow on the pitch during pre-season and that it was the Gillingham fans that started the celery tradition. Maybe it was a combination of both? Maybe quite a few Chelsea lads watched Gillingham during midweek or when cash was a bit short and then brought “Celery” to Stamford Bridge? I never spoke to Mickey although I used to see him around – no doubt those that knew him well could shed more light on the matter?
What am I rambling on about I hear you ask? Well, I can tell you that many many Chelsea fans are quite put out at what is seen as a Kenyonesque erosion of a famous club tradition. The story has even made Bloomberg:
By Ryan Mills
March 16 (Bloomberg) -- Chelsea, the London soccer team owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, set up a confidential phone line to catch fans who take part in the ritual throwing of celery onto the field.
"The throwing of anything at a football match, including celery, is a criminal offence for which you can be arrested and end up with a criminal record,'' the club said in a statement on its Web site today.
The origins of salad-tossing at Stamford Bridge stadium are unclear, though supporters' Web sites and the Guardian newspaper suggest the practice began in the mid-1980s. It's usually accompanied by a crude chant (Love the "origins of salad tossing" and “crude chant” bit!)-
When Bloomberg News dialled the hotline, a member of Chelsea's security staff answered but declined to comment further or give his name. All calls will be treated in confidence,
Chelsea says:
`In future, if anyone is found attempting to bring celery into Stamford Bridge they could be refused entry and anyone caught throwing celery will face a ban,'' the west London club said.
So there you have it! Not only is celery banned from the Bridge but the club has actually set up a supergrass (or supercelery?) hot-line!
I wouldn´t be surprised if the club agreed to take a tough stance on celery after complaints from Arsenal after the Carling Cup Final – this would have been some kind of condition agreed to by the club in order to placate the FA after facing charges on the matter. If that is the case, then well done Arsenal! You can no doubt be smug about stopping what essentially is just a bit of harmless fun! Well done lads! Hope you’re proud!
Still, away matches are free-reign, and don’t forget that old famous saying:
“YOU CAN´T BAN A CHELSEA FAN!”
Bring Celery Into Stamford Bridge; and Euro Vase Quarter-Finals
Tom Lutz and Paul Doyle
Friday March 16, 2007
Guardian Unlimited - The Fiver
CHELSEA FINALLY IMPOSE CELERY CAP
The Fiver has always had a thing for vegetables. The illicit zing of ginger, the bulb-next-door charms of garlic, the earthy eroticism of the turnip, the ample charms of a pendulous pumpkin, the tumescence of an aubergine - a single bead of water trickling down its purple length. But nothing beats a stick of celery - all smooth lines and contours topped by a ticklish head of leaves. So the Fiver's blood was rushing in only one direction today when it found out that Chelsea fans had been caught tossing celery on video.
Fortunately for Britain's Kleenex mountain, it turned out that, rather than indulging in vegaphilia, Blues fans have been taking time out from their French chateaux to lob lumps of the green stuff at opposing players. And, perhaps fearing that such hi-jinks might create something vaguely resembling an atmosphere at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea have put their foot down. "The throwing of anything at a football match, including celery, is a criminal offence for which you can be arrested and end up with a criminal record," bah humbugged the most pompous club statement in the history of Association Football, carelessly overlooking the fact that footballs occasionally get thrown at football matches without the perpetrators getting their collars felt. "In future, if anyone is found attempting to bring celery into Stamford Bridge they could be refused entry and anyone caught throwing celery will face a ban." It gets better - there's even a hotline you can ring to stop this scourge - 020 7915 1919 - and you needn't worry about grassing anyone up because all calls will be "treated in confidence".
But that gem wasn't the only story rocking the Bridge today. A matter of nanoseconds after telling the press he wasn't going to speak to them anymore, the Special One was busy detailing the ongoing "tensions" between himself and Roman Abramovich. "There were some problems to solve [in the January transfer window] and if you see the owner of the club's money, you would expect those problems to be solved, but that didn't happen," he huffed. "I said, who am I to question the owner of the club. Abramovich is the almighty in Chelsea." So there you have it, the Special One really is only second to God.
Comment