Chelsea have issued a warning to supporters who are planning to attend the opening clash of the season against Crystal Palace.
Supporters who are seated in the Matthew Harding Lower Stand may be unable to attend as part of the stand could remain closed due to a delay in supply of parts needed to install rail seating.
An announcement regarding who will be impacted will be made at 3pm on Friday.
Rail seating was planned to be in place behind both goals, with 500 seats being lost in the area concerned, but now the Blues face the prospect of the work not being complete for the opening day.
Any fans who are unable to attend due to the issue will be provided with a pro-rata refund and any reasonable travel costs will be reimbursed. Those fans will also receive a complimentary ticket to one of the first three home Champions League Group stage games this season.
The club's announcement can be read below:
"Over the summer the Club has been replacing over 12,000 seats in the Shed Upper and Lower Stand and the Matthew Harding Lower Stand with rail seating.
"The Shed Upper and Lower are complete and the major parts of the Matthew Harding Lower are also on track. However, the manufacturer is currently unable to guarantee the supply and fitting of some remaining specialist parts in sections in the Matthew Harding Lower before the match against Crystal Palace on Saturday.
"This means certain sections of the stand may need to remain closed. We are doing everything we can to prevent this, including working 24 hours at the factory and on site, but we wanted to notify supporters of this possibility, so they can plan accordingly.
"The areas most at risk are: the Matthew Harding Lower blocks 8, 9, 14, 15 and 16. We continue to work with the manufacturer and our teams on site through tonight and tomorrow, to ensure as many seats as possible are available.
"In the event that we cannot complete these seats those affected season ticket holders will receive a pro-rata refund for the match plus a refund of any reasonable pre-booked travel costs. Affected members will receive a full refund, plus a refund of any reasonable pre-booked travel costs. In addition, after discussions with the Fans Forum and several supporter groups, affected season ticket holders and members will also receive a complimentary ticket to one of the first three home Champions League Group stage games this season. Those affected supporters will be contacted next week regarding the process for redeeming this."
We sincerely apologise for this situation, we should have done better. We have tried everything possible to avoid it, but due to the bespoke nature of the fittings we have no alternative but to wait and see if the supplier can meet our manufacturing and fitting deadlines.
A definitive announcement on which seats are affected will follow at 3pm Friday. This announcement will be published on the Club website, app and social media channels. We will also contact supporters affected by email and supporters are advised to look out for this communication. Please do not contact the ticket office as they have no further information at this point in time.
