General view of a corner flag inside Chelsea's Stamford Bridge stadium
With away tickets in high demand, 3,000 Hoops supporters will descend on the west London venue this week for the final League Phase match with both sides having already secured progression to the knockout stages after Christmas.
It will be the first time that the two-time Champions League winners will host an Irish side in a competitive fixture.
In October, Chelsea also issued a statement to confirm that home tickets for the game would be sold on a loyalty points basis, due to “police advice regarding high demand from away supporters and the prospect of them trying to infiltrate home areas of the stadium on their first visit to Stamford Bridge.”
And now, the Premier League club have again warned home fans that they may face severe punishments if they are found to have transferred tickets for the Chelsea section to travelling supporters.
“At this stage of the season we wish to remind our supporters that all tickets sold for the home areas of Stamford Bridge and Kingsmeadow are for use by fans of Chelsea Football Club only,” read a statement released by the club this afternoon.
“They are not for use by the supporters of any team in opposition at a match.
“This applies to hospitality seating as well as general admission areas, and to all season tickets and individual match tickets. This policy is in operation for all competitions, including European matches such as the one against Shamrock Rovers in the UEFA Conference League this week.
“The only tickets permitted to be used by fans of the visiting club are sold via their own club only.
“Anyone who is found to have transferred a ticket for use by a supporter of an opposition team will face sanctions. This may result in a 12-month ban from attending all Chelsea matches and the loss of a season ticket should the person involved have one.
“A higher level of ticket fraud, such as any involvement in ticket touting (scalping) can lead to an indefinite ban. Ticket touting is a criminal offence.
“There will be extra measures in place at our coming home matches to check tickets are used in accordance with our ticket policy. Any ticket usage found to have potentially breached our ticket policy will be thoroughly investigated.
“Please help us keep the Blues’ parts of Stamford Bridge blue!”
Chelsea are currently top of the 36-team league table and are set to feature in the Last 16, while Rovers have secured a play-off spot for the Last 16 having taken 11 points from a possible 15 so far.
A draw on Thursday would hand them an outside chance of automatic progression. Chelsea, Rovers, and Portugal’s Vitoria remain the only unbeaten sides in the competition after five games.
Stephen Bradley’s men arrive in London tomorrow and will train at Stamford Bridge later that evening ahead of Thursday’s 8pm kick-off.