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Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck believes the atmosphere at Stamford Bridge suffers because "young people" are unable to buy tickets but ruled out the use of artificial crowd noise. Jose Mourinho complained in November that home games could seem like an "empty stadium" because supporters were not generating enough noise. The comments sparked anger from sections of the Chelsea support, and Mourinho later said he may have gone "a little too far," but the matter sparked a debate over whether the club's more vocal fans had been priced out of the game. Club captain John Terry promised one fan he would lobby the board for cheaper ticket prices, and Buck has now said in the London Evening Standard: "Our manager, for some reason, decided a few months ago to say that the fans were quiet at moments. "One of the problems is it's very difficult to get tickets when the stadium is sold out every week. It's difficult to get young people to visit because it's hard to buy tickets." However, Buck said there was no possibility of the club using pre-recorded crowd sounds to enhance the atmosphere. "Every club is looking to improve the matchday experience, but we can't have recorded fan noise -- our fans just wouldn't accept that," he said. "We don't have cheerleaders. We have to do what's right for our home environment. You have to understand your marketplace." Buck also echoed comments Mourinho had made suggesting UEFA's financial fair play initiative had served to protect the interests of the game's established giants. Chelsea established themselves as one of the sport's elite clubs after Roman Abramovich invested heavily in the squad following his 2003 takeover, and Buck said that UEFA was preventing others from following the same path. "It would be hard to do today what Mr Abramovich has done because of FFP," Buck said. "The FFP model that exists is not the best model. "Chelsea believe in financial stability and in suitable laws and investment but FFP preserves the status quo -- you can't buy a club and invest in new players. "If you're in Dagenham and Redbridge, you still go home at night and say: 'Someday, I'll be in the Premier League.' Well, in Dagenham, you can still dream of the Premier League, but you won't get there."
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