[mosta]

thanks all for the insights. it looks like I can get Chelsea-Birmingham for GBP100 from more than one online broker. Tottenham-Newcastle was about the same (I thought it would be cheaper...). and it only goes up from there (Arsenal-Man U was close to GBP300). if I sign up to be a member at Chelsea, it's something of a rigamarole (passport photo!), and it costs GBP47, for tickets that would cost GBP50 and might not even be offered to me anyway.

I could shell out the GBP100 now, or wait and take my chances when I arrive over there. The one thing I don't want to happen is to show up at Chelsea and find the best offer on the street is some hundreds of pounds--or that nothing is left at all--and not even have time to fall back on Tottenham or one of the others. hmmm. (also, I have to factor in whether to buy another one for the girlfriend, or leave her on her own and risk suffering consequences.)

I don't rule out going to a lower division (and I still need to look more carefully at Fulham West Ham Charlton Tottenham), but plan A would have to be Chelsea-Birmingham on Sat and West Ham-Chelsea on Mon (Arsenal not being in town until the exorbitant Man U match).