The Shed End

From TheChels.info - The Chelsea Football Club Wiki

The Shed End is the south stand of Chelsea's Stamford Bridge stadium. The current stand was built in the late 1990s, and continued the name of the old Shed End, which was a large, curved terrace set back from the pitch, originally constructed in 1930.

Going back to at least the 1960s, the Shed End had been the area where Chelsea's most vocal fans congregated, but after the terraced stand was demolished in 1994, many vocal fans moved to the Matthew Harding Stand. In recent years however, the Shed End has become increasingly vocal, and has joined the Matthew Harding Stand as a primary area of concentrated vocal support.

The original Shed End

In 1930, a new terrace was built on the south side of Stamford Bridge, in order to accomodate a greater number of standing supporters. About one fifth of the terrace was covered by a corrugated steel roof, which would seem to have inspired the later nickname of the Shed End.

Previously known as the Fulham Road End, the stand was nicknamed the Shed End by fans by the 1960s. Famous Chelsea supporter Mickey Greenaway had encouraged vocal supporters to congregate in this area to amplify their songs and chants.

Over the following three decades the Shed End was the primary source of singing and atmosphere at Stamford Bridge, with songs specific to the stand such as "We're the Middle of the Shed", and "The Mighty Shed" underlining the unique importance of the stand among vocal Chelsea supporters.

Following the Taylor Report into the Hillsborough disaster, all top-flight clubs were compelled to convert their stadia to all-seater in the early 1990s. The Shed End terrace was demolished in 1994, to be replaced with a seated stand. The last game in front of the Shed End was against Sheffield United on 7 May 1994, though this was not known at the time.

The current Shed End

The current stand, opened in 1997, consists of two tiers and has a capacity of 6831. Though the stand is mainly occupied by Chelsea season ticket holders, the east part of the stand currently houses away supporters, with allocations of either 1500 or 3000 depending upon demand from the visiting club, though the entire stand is often allocated to away supporters for domestic cup matches.

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