The Guardian:
Aston Villa's chairman, Randy Lerner, has come up with a novel way to solve the problem of falling attendances in the Premiership by paying for 6,000 supporters to travel to Stamford Bridge next week. The US billionaire was so impressed with Villa's support at Leicester last week that he has pledged to cover the cost of the coach fare to west London for all the fans with tickets for the fourth-round Carling Cup tie against Chelsea on Wednesday.
Lerner's gesture is born out of goodwill as opposed to any fear that fans are disenchanted with Villa but elsewhere there are concerns that supporters are beginning to lose interest in Premiership football. While Villa's attendances at home have improved this season, the picture is much bleaker at several other top-flight clubs. Blackburn and Wigan are among those to have cut the cost of ticket prices recently in an effort to improve crowds.