Empty seats in FA Cup a visible reminder of Chelsea’s present reality | Jonathan Wilson

Riverside’s sparse away end a symbol of visitors’ ongoing crisis, but also of the deep dysfunction at the heart of the game

The Riverside has been no stranger to the sight of empty seats in recent years, but on Saturday those that surrounded the 700 or so Chelsea fans who had managed to buy tickets before Roman Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK government told not of Middlesbrough’s troubles but a more poignant story of the state of English football.

Football’s capacity to normalise the most ludicrous scenarios is remarkable. It is only three weeks since Abramovich declared his intention to hand over “stewardship and care” of the club to its trustees and yet that already feels at least two major news cycles ago. The idea that Chelsea have to be parted from their owner because they have, for almost two decades, been a pawn in a far greater game has been generally assimilated.

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