VOLUME 2, ISSUE 1 JAN 2010
DEEP FROM THE HEART
Notes from the Chairwoman
!First and foremost, I hope you all had a
wonderful holiday season full of the
laughter of little children, the warmth of
family and friends and wishes coming
• Notes from the true. I would also like to take a moment
and wish all of you and your families all
Chairwoman my best wishes for love, hope, peace
and success for this New Year. I know it
• Austin Blues has been a trying year on many of us,
Give Back and I hope that 2010 settles the
problems that have troubled any of you
• Tel's Season in recently.
! our U19 team in the Super Group, and
Question So, on to all things Blue. I hope you
didn’t miss the deadlines. As of the 31st
• 5 Questions of December, Chelsea has not only
For... closed their True Blue membership
applications for this season, but also
• Brief Spotlight taken down the a"liated form for
registering o"cially as a member of our
on the Beltway club if you are not a True Blue member.
We have also closed the membership
Blues application process as well for Chelsea
• January Dates in America for this season. And we will
open it up again for next season towards
to Remember the end of this campaign.
! and all the rest. So if you don’t have
• Blogging Just so that you all know we ended this
Bridgeviews season with 417 members of CIA! That
is far larger than I anticipated, and how
wonderful is that? We have members
representing 35 states and the District
of Columbia, and that is truly amazing.
We are starting to cover the country! And
of our 417, we have 73 youth members,
so a big welcome to the future of our
club. I guess I could say that as Chelsea
grows the club’s academy, we are doing
what we can to raise our youth to be
The Bluesletter isn't possible True Blue. We also registered 107 True
without your help! If you have Blue members, and I wish I could report
an opinion, idea or something how many in total we have registered
o"cially with Chelsea through the
interesting regarding Chelsea
a"liate program, but I haven’t gotten
or football to share, we'd love that number yet; it could be as many as
to include it! Just send an email 150!
to ! also allowed access to tickets to our
newsletter@chelseainamerica.c The New Year has brought great hope
om! after our FA Cup win over Watford, and it
is also the start of the mini silly season
(enough for me to say about that!). But
we are also very busy as we clean up our
membership data, make sure everyone
that is entitled to permissions on the
board get them and all of that. We are
working on some new initiatives and
more on those as we sort them out. And
of course the Spring Tour is rising on
everyone’s radar. So let’s go over some
news for the New Year.
!
It is true that the Dallas Cup will feature
those of us near North Texas are getting
very excited. I have been told that the
young boys are very excited about
coming to Dallas, as they have been told
how great the support was the last time
they were here, and I sure don’t want to
let them down! It was a great time the
last time Chelsea were here, and we are
hoping for just as good a time. Full of all
our young players that can qualify, and
maybe if they are not needed too badly
for the first team, include the likes of
Borini, Matic, Kakuta, Bruma, Cli#ord
anything to do towards the end of
March, first of April, mark that in your
calendar. You can find more information
on the dates and venue by going to the
o"cial Dallas Cup page at
www.dallascup.com
!
And of course the Spring Tour. There
has been a poll on the True Blue
members area of the board for a couple
of months and I think we have come to a
decision that it will be for the home
match against Stoke towards the end of
April. All True Blue members are of
course welcome and will be eligible for
tickets. I also want to remind all of you,
as has been posted and included in
emails, that all non-True Blue members
that have registered with the club are
continued on Page 2

Continued from Page 1
Spring Trip match without being a True
Blue member. The only thing is that it is
limited to availability for a"liated
members, and no ticket can be assured
like it will be for True Blue members,
and that spouses and children of True
Blue members are given priority. There
is a thread on the board for raising your
hand if you are a definite or a maybe for
that match. I do have to notify Chelsea
of our choice and a rough head count,
so if you have not posted to that thread
your intention, please do and help this
move along smoothly. In the near future
we will be posting more information
about the trip, so keep checking the
board.
! club's e#orts to help those that have
And speaking of the board, please be
sure to sign up. You don’t have to read
everything, but it is a great way to check
what is going on quicker than waiting
for emails and the newsletter, so please
sign on and use the board as it is best
for you.
! there amongst fellow supporters and the
I also want to remind you about the
podcasts as well. Danny and I were
recently at the CPO and had an
opportunity to speak to more Legends,
and we are working at setting up some
additional Legends podcasts as well as
the entertaining weekly podcast. Don’t
be shy - call in sometime, it is a laugh.
And we have been watching our listeners
grow in number on that and are among
one of the top rated “amateur” sports
podcasts o#ered on iTunes. We might
not be professional but we do have fun,
please join us! Or at least listen in.
! many of the legends - well at least for as
We are also talking to the US Megastore
about making available to members
shirts with the crest and our club name
on it. Hopefully the details will be
worked out shortly and I will have
information on that. Again, it will be
posted to the bulletin board first, so
check in from time to time.
! hours, as after the luncheon we all
And of course I want to let you know
that all of our hard work and fundraising
on the summer tour last year was met
with much excitement at the club.
Thanks to our corporate sponsors like
Phoenix Autographs, the US Megastore,
Who Are Ya Design?, Setanta, Adidas and
our special sponsor Cory Caouette, the
generous support of all our regional
PAGE 2
clubs in CIA, and of course the NYBlues
as well, along with all of your generous
support, we not only raised over
$15,000 to bring Spy, Tommy and Jock
to America to join us on the summer
tour, but we were able to present to the
Chelsea Pitch Holders a check for
$5,000! Danny Campos and I were in
attendance and asked to present the
check to Bruce Buck during the
luncheon. It was not just exciting but the
applause for your e#orts was amazing.
We were so proud and made sure that
Bruce and everyone knew that it was the
e#ort of hundreds of you, that you were
there in spirit as we are each match to
support the team. That we at Chelsea in
America not only love our first team, but
we LOVE OUR LEGENDS! Helping in the
served our club is very near and dear to
our hearts. Danny and I were welcomed
by many people we had never met with
kind words of appreciation for all of your
e#orts, and it was an honor to represent
you all. It was a fantastic day, not just
because of that, but because of being
60+ legends that were in attendance. It
is one of the most special events on the
Chelsea calendar. This was my fourth
time to attend, and they just keep
getting better. And Danny, I think, was a
bit overwhelmed. We enjoyed the
company of Lynn Osgood (Ossie’s wife),
Hugh Hastings (club photographer in the
good old days), and Rick Glanville (club
historian and author) at our table. CONTRIBUTORS:
Tommy and Jock were at the table right
next to us, and bragging about all of you A big thanks to everyone who
and what an incredible time they had helps make the CIA Bluesletter
this past summer. They were the envy of possible!
long as Jock was standing and able to Editor: Jamie Edwards
talk. The list of legends is so long, but
Chairwoman: Beth Wild
some of my favorites were there: Kerry
Dixon, Clive Walker, Paul Canoville, Ian
Logo and Graphics: Raciel Diaz
Britain, Gary Stanley, Gareth Hall, Peter Dates to Remember: Tel Stevens
Bonetti, Roy Bentley, Bob Tambling, the Proofreaders: Dorothy Cooper
list really does go on and on! And we and Sarah Drake
were able to chat to them into the wee
CIA Crest done in collaboration
carried on celebrating until the wee with Who Are Ya Designs -
hours of the morning, finally finding a www.whoareyadesigns.com
place for Brits and Stanners to crash (you
will have to ask Danny about the details, Want to contribute or make a
or listen to the podcast). And of course
suggestion? Send Jamie an
Spy was there, and it was the first time
email at newsletter@
Continued on Page 6 chelseainamerica.com!

THE AUSTIN BLUES GIVE BACK... AND TAKE THE CUP!
by Jens Busch, Jr.
I was fortunate enough to grow up in
London.! Our home was on a street
called Gloucester Road.! Luckily, our
home was closer to the Bridge rather
than to Craven Cottage, otherwise I
would more than likely be a Fulham fan.!
In 1967, I went to my first match with
me mum, dad and brother and I was
hooked.! Although it was a fairly tight
game with a 1-1 draw against Newcastle
that day, the season ended up to be
quite a mixed bag.! This was the year we
lost to Leeds Utd 7-0, and my best mate
was a Leeds fan...never will forget the
grief I got that day.! Nor the grief when
we lost to Spurs in the FA Cup final at
Wembley...but anyway I digress.
! sure they were given to the Bridge so
1977 found me moving to Texas and
goodbye to everything Chelsea... no
internet in those days.! I tried to keep up
the boys!with foreign newspapers and
the occasional phone call to me old
mates back home.! About 25 years later,
a pub here in Austin called Fado starting
showing a game or two every now and
then and I felt the passion come back.!
Then the games started up on a much
more frequent basis.! My brother went to
a summer tour and mentioned that he
met some Chelsea nutters calling
themselves the Texas Blues and as fate
would have it, I met the Legend JR at
Fado the following weekend.! Once I
found the Texas Blues, I noticed a few
more Chelsea regulars at the pub.!!I
called ourselves the!Three Amigos... Lalo
Salinas, Tim Pugh and I.! Lalo and Tim
would become dear friends.! I started
recruiting every Chelsea fan I saw,
getting emails and phone numbers and
encouraging folks to become members
of the Texas Blues... our little supporters
club grew and grew.! And before I know
it we had 10-15 regulars at the pub for
all the Chelsea games.! My desire to
continue to grow the group was
solidified when Tim and I took the
misses to London to watch a game.! Due
to some passport issues our amigo Lalo
couldn't go.! We missed our friend as we
attended the Chelsea
Centennial!celebration at the Victoria
and Albert Museum, the amazing game
against Spurs and mourning the loss of
the King of Stamford Bridge at the
makeshift memorial outside the Bridge.!
Ossie had passed away just a few days
before our arrival.!!It was on this trip!I
discoverd what a huge heart Lalo had.!
He had already purchased his tickets to
the match and asked me if I would make
they could be provided to some less
fortunate Chelsea fans who could not
otherwise attend a live match.! He had
the ability to turn a negative experience
to a positive one for someone else.! This
touched me.
! great!partner!of our events.!!The last
Shortly after returning from our trip,
Lalo mentioned to me that the Austin
Blues was getting fairly large and
perhaps we should think about doing
some things for charity.! I'll be honest, at
first I wasn't sure how we could even do
something like this... then the
opportunity raised its head.! The Arsenal
contingent who came to the!pub were
always giving us some stick.! They were
having a great spell in the prem at that
time and were strutting around the pub
on the weekends.! After some post-
game analysis as to how great their team
was... the suggestion was made to have
an Arsenal!fan scrimmage against the
Austin Blues fans.! This was the start of
the fan charity games.! I mentioned to
Lalo and Tim!that we could do
PAGE 3
something!with this!by!asking folks to
bring a donation, it worked out well and
we raised just over $100 for a fellow
Blues member,!Jenni Jones, and
her!marathon run in London in the
summer.! The event was fun and this
lead to several other charitable events
over the last couple of years.! We had a
tournament called "Give the Red Card to
Hunger", which we were able to raise
over $1500 to the Capital Area Food
Bank. Our pub Fado stepped up
and!provided us with burgers to sell.! We
hosted a Texas Blues Christmas party
where we had ra$es to benefit
Capital!Area!Food!Bank!and a Toys for
Tots box.! Since then we have had two
more annual Fan Charity!games which
has now become known at the Arsea
Cup.! I am happy to say, the Austin Blues
have won both of them 3-2 and recently
6-3.! We have also been able to raise
over!$1000 per game for the Miracle
Foundation,
www.miraclefoundation.org!and Colin's
Hope, www.colinshope.org.! Both
charities were formed by local Austin
residents and are in place to help
children... this seems to be a theme for
us.! Helping others simply while having
fun.
!
As!the Austin Blues continues to grow,
we have 74 members at this point, more
opportunites to help those not
as!fortunate!become available.! Our new
home Cuatro's!has become in essence a
footie!bar/restaurant and a
two!charity games we have had, they
have generously provided all participants
with a complimentary bu#et!after the
game.! The!Arsenal fans aren't strutting
around much anymore but we all get the
chance to mingle
and discuss the
great game!we
all love.!Who
would of ever
thought that
three guys who
have passion to
support a team
could also put
together a great
group of fans
and individuals
with big hearts.

TEL'S SEASON IN QUESTION: 1988-89
This Month's Season In Question was
picked out by BlueAgain, and the season
is 1988-89.
With the American sports world still in
shock over the trade two weeks previous
of Wayne Gretzky from the Oilers to the
Kings, Chelsea kicked o# the season in
the old second division, having been
relegated via the playo#s, with a
home!defeat against Blackburn.
Now, normally the first game of the
season is either a!sellout or at least very
full, regardless of the opponent, but not
this time as Chelsea had to play their
first 5 home games with the Stamford
Bridge terraces closed. This was because
of the shenanigans that went on after we
had been beaten by Middlesbrough in
the playo#s the previous season.
Our next fixture took us across!London
to play at the Palace - Crystal not
Buckingham. Thanks to Kevin Wilson, we
came away with a point. Four days later
it was time to grab the knotted hankies
and bucket and spade as we headed for
a day at the seaside to play
Bournemouth. Unfortunately after
frolicking on the beach, we lost 1-0.
September wasn't proving to be a very
good month for us as we still hadn't
registered a win and after six games we
only had 3 points on the board. We were
near the bottom of the table. Next we
had a trip up North to play the Dirty
Boys from Elland Rd, and thanks to goals
from Johnny Bumstead!and Jukebox
Durie we came away with all the points.
Our next two games were both at home;
again the terraces were closed, crowds
of 7,050 and 6,747 saw us grab another
two wins against Leicester City and
Walsall. King Kerry grabbed his first of
the season against the latter.
After a 1-1 draw away at Swindon, we
then played Oldham (a) and!Plymouth (h)
and all of a sudden goals were flying in
all over the place - 9 in two games with
8 di#erent scorers. Hull brought us back
down to earth with a 0-3 loss at
Boothferry Park.
The last game of October was the start
of something spectacular in the history
of Chelsea FC; we played and beat
Brighton 2-0. "So what?" you're thinking.
This was the start of a pretty decent run
of results. November's fixtures saw us
beat Watford (a) 2-1, draw with the Black
Cats (h) 1-1, draw with Bradford (a) 2-2
and beat Shrewsbury(h) 2-0.
King Kerry was!was leading the way in
goals having banged in 6 in 12 games,
great backup from Kevin Wilson with 5
and Jukebox with 4; even Darren Wood
had got on the score-sheet.
With Lake Erie having its coldest winter
in over 100 years (don't ask me where I
come up with this stu#, I just
do)!Chelsea headed up to the Potteries
to play a middle of the table Stoke City,
and that's just how they played, with
Chelsea grabbing all the points in a 3-0
win. Next up!saw us against Pompey,
who at the time were struggling, but
played above themselves to nick a point
in a 6 goal thriller in front of our biggest
crowd of the season!at the time, 20,221.
Goals came from our 3 leading
scorers .Christmas was not far away and
soon-to-be relegated Birmingham had
decided to go to the Bullring shopping
center to do some shopping!instead of
turning up for a game of footy, as we
cruised to a 4-1 away win - a brace each
for King Kerry!and Jukebox. Five days
after the Lockerbie Disaster, Boxing Day,
Chelsea played host to Ipswich, and
thankfully defenses were still handing
out belated gifts as we banged in
another 3 goals. Again the Double D's
were!on the score sheet. The end of the
year saw us draw at home to the Boing
Boing Baggies 1-1. Going into the last
year of the colorful 80's, we were putting
PAGE 4
a decent team together and with a string
of good results were a force to be
reckoned with.
Up to the turn of the year we had played
23 - won 11, drew 8 and lost 4. We had
knocked in 45 and let in 24. There had
only been two games in which we failed
to score, both defeats.
1989 was upon us and we picked up
where we had left o# with a 3-2 win at
Oxford. Next up was a foray into the FA
Cup, which was over before it got going,
losing 4-0 to Barnsley away, so back to
concentrating on the League. With Mark
Bright and Crystal Palace flying as high
as an eagle this was going to be a test;
but the Blues won 1-0 with a goal from
Tony Dorigo. Next up was two away
games, one at Blackburn 1-1 and the
other, which was the first game in
February, against Walsall. In a tight
game we managed to win in a 7-goal
thriller - oh yeah, Walsall got a big fat
zero. Jukebox was one short of getting a
double hat trick; all this in front of a
crowd of just 6,860. The rest!of February
saw us have three home games and one
away game, nothing spectacular really,
especially after the 0-7 thrashing we
gave Walsall, three wins and a draw saw
us go into March at the top of the
League.
March saw us start at home with a 1-1
draw with Watford, not a bad result as
they to were pushing for promotion. It
was however the only points we would
drop in March as we won all of our five
remaining games, one at Maine Road
2-3 against Manchester City, who were
also challenging for top spot. The
winning goal in this game was scored by
Tony Dorigo. If you were at this game,
you will remember this goal -Dorigo,
who at the time was playing with a very
heavy bout of the flu, practically ran the
whole length of the field to score the
decisive goal.
On to April - the first game was on the
first, and what does April the first mean?
April Fool's Day, and that's exactly what
we did to visiting Barnsley, slapping
them down 5-3 with King Kerry
grabbing 4 goals. We had two more
games that week, both against Black
Continued on Page 5

5 QUESTIONS FOR.... Texas Blue
Dave Braley
How did you become Chelsea, and
when?
I became a Chelsea fan in January of
2008. Until that time I had only had a
passing interest in football, but it was
starting to grow. One evening I was
watching TV and happened to flip over
to FSC as they were replaying the
Chelsea v Reading match from the past
weekend. I was enthralled at watching
how beautifully and dominantly Chelsea
played and I actually screamed in
surprise and delight at the cracking goal
scored by Michael Ballack in that game.
How do you generally watch the
games?
I used to watch quite often at Cuatro's
with my fellow Austin Blues but
unfortunately due to scheduling conflicts
and not having a car I now usually
stream the game online and chat it up
with everyone in the CIA Chat.
!
Have you ever been to Stamford
Bridge, or when are you hoping to go
for the first time?
I have not yet had the pleasure to go to
the Bridge, or even to England. I am
trying to have enough money to go at
the beginning of the 2010/2011
campaign, so get ready now because it
will be on!
The Beltway Blues Get Off the Ground
Blues fans in the DC area are taking over
Murphy's in Alexandria! Beth's visit to
DC in December came in time for the
Everton match, so we gathered our
fellow Blues together for an East Coast
Chelsea meet-up! The Beltway Blues are
! breaking 27 games without defeat; in
If you could have any player from any
other team play for Chelsea, who
would it be?
This is a really tough question, there are
so many talented players in so many
leagues that it is tough to narrow it
down to just one man. If I had! to choose
I would probably go with David Villa.
Watching him in the 2008 Euro and
when he plays in La Liga I am impressed
by his overall skill and pace. I really
think he would be a good fit.
! 1-1 left us on 99. But we were Top of
Do you have any pregame rituals? If
so what are they?
Not really rituals per say, though I do
like to have! plenty of co#ee handy and I
make sure I'm wearing some piece of
Chelsea clothing. Frequently I wear my
Peter Osgood kit pictured here.
now truly on their way, with a pub
willing to show matches for us. Now we
need to get the word out to Blues fans in
the area! For more information, please
email me at
newsletter@chelseainamerica.com!
PAGE 5
Season in Question,
continued from Page
4
Country opposition, and yet again we
kept on winning, this time 3-2
against Birmingham and 1-3 vs. the
Boing Boings. Then disaster; we went
up to Filbert Street AND LOST 2-0!
It's not like Leicester were that good -
okay, their defense was ranked fifth
best in the league at home, but
nevertheless we lost. It was our first
defeat since Hull beat us 3-0 in
October. We had gone a record-
that 27 games we had won 20, 8 of
which were in a row, but it didn't
really matter as we already knew we
would be in Division One next
season.
The rest of the season was a bit of an
anticlimax, we did beat the Dirty Boys
from Elland Road. The one blotch on
the remaining four games was a 1-1
at Shrewsbury. If we had won this,
like we did our final three games, we
would have topped 100 points but a
the League and "avin a larf".
!
Stats for 88-89:
Most League Apps. Graham Roberts
46 from 46
Leading Goalscorer: Kerry Dixon 25
From 39
Player Of the Year: Graham Roberts
Highest Home Attendance: 30,337 vs
Leeds Utd
Lowest Home Attendance: 6,747 vs
Walsall
Average Home Attendance : 15,957
We ended the season clear of Man
City by 17 pts with a goal di#erence
of +46. We scored 50 times at home
and 46 away, yet our defense was
ranked at home as the 16th best -
16th and we only lost twice at home,
figure that one out.
One other thing, the last game of the
season, against Portsmouth, we
introduced a young!sub called
Graeme Le Saux - wonder if he'd
make it!
 PAGE 6

JANUARY DATES
TO REMEMBER
1/4/1985 - Ross Turnbull's birthday
1/6/1943 - Happy birthday to Terry
Venables; he will be celebrating his
66th.
1/12/2000 - George Weah was signed
on loan for us!from AC Milan; he was
named as a sub as we entertained
Spurs and with 3 minutes left he came
on and grabbed the only goal of the
game.
1/18/1979 - Paulo Ferreira's birthday
1/24/1935 - JT Robertson, the scorer
of Chelsea's first ever League!goal,
passed away.
1/28/1953 - Happy birthday to Kenny
Swain who will be 57.
Mickey Thomas was signed from
Stoke City in Jan 1984 for 75,000 gbp.
Our greatest ever goalscorer Bobby
Tambling left us in Jan 1970; he went
o# to play for Crystal Palace for
40,000 gbp.
Continued from Page 2
he was able to hang with us after the
event! But the highlight of the luncheon,
was the presence of first time attendees
Torre Andre Flo, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbank
and my favorite, DENNIS WISE! It was so
thrilling to finally meet Wisey, and yes, I
did get a photo of him and I together,
along with a nice kiss and a hug! He is
so wonderful. But then if that wasn’t
enough excitement for one lunch, who
should appear as a very special guest...
our Captain, JT! It was his first
appearance, at least for a little bit, at the
CPO and he was joined on stage by Roy
Bentley, Chopper, and Wisey for a short
Q&A session with our four cup-winning
captains! What a day!
! and on, and then Jamie will have a load
My trip to London was awesome! Five
matches, some we won, some we didn’t.
Only one at home, but how sweet to win
away at the Chelsea Reject Sponsor
Stadium! Danny got in one home and
one away match as well and did you all
proud as I think he really was singing for
all of you! I also had a lovely few days in
Porto and enjoyed that match and the
city as well. Danny and I braved the cold
and wet and even fit in a reserve match
at Brentford. What a great place to watch
our youth - small stadium, still some
terracing - in the freezing cold of a crisp
November evening. After Danny left I
was also able to attend the Star on the
Stool with JT and Frank, and if you
thought the Youtube videos were funny
of that night, you should have been
there. It was, for me, 17 days full of
The Special One Returns!
Chelsea, but then again, it is what you
make it. And I urge all of you to check
out the website when you head over to
check if the youth, academy or reserve
teams are playing, is the women’s team
playing, or the legends? What other
events are on while you are there? Take
full advantage, and some of these events
are very cheap. Was only five pounds to
see the reserve team and worth every
penny! I think the only disappointment
was having the first round of the FA
Youth Cup match postponed because of
a waterlogged pitch at Charlton, as I was
ready to go, and sad when it was called
o#.
!
Well this has gotten long enough, and if I
don’t make myself stop I could go on
of editing to do. So again my most
sincere best wishes for the best for each
of you in 2010 and I know you share my
wish for all the best for our Chelsea! Just
the thought of winning some cups this
season warms my heart on this cold
winter’s day.
!
CAREFREE
!
Beth
!
P.S. And yes, I was told by the club that
they are making plans for coming out
this summer with the first team. It looks
like it will be the East Coast this summer!
No idea how many games, but they are
coming, so be sure to start saving now...
CHELSEA ARE COMING!

In case you hadn't heard yet, the Blues were drawn against Jose Mourinho's
Inter Milan in the next round of the Champions League. In December, the
Special One stopped by Stamford Bridge to take a look at what he's up
against.... though he probably has a decent idea already!
 PAGE 7

Growing Up Blue, And the Birth of a Blog for Thinking Fans!

by Russell Saunders
In November, Russell blogged about hard and knowledgeable fans than me.
Chelsea in America and us Blues fans But I wanted to create something a little
on the other side of the pond, so di#erent: an unashamedly pro-Chelsea
we've asked him to do a write-up blog, yes, but one that wasn’t blindly so.
about his own history as a Blues fan I didn’t want it to become a swear-word
and how his blog came about. filled rant box wildly spitting venom at
all other clubs, rather something more
Playing football at school it became
reasoned. I wanted to write what I like to
quickly clear that I was better suited to
read about my club: analysis of tactics,
watching the beautiful game than taking
balanced comment on the club’s
part myself. As it turns out, having two
strategy and place within the game,
(or more) left feet is more than a slight
But being a Chelsea fan has never been detailed player stats and issues a#ecting
impediment to any aspiring midfield
that simple. In the face of often the supporters. !
general. !
mesmeric passing football under Gullit
and Vialli there also were unfathomable So in June 2009 I started
Despite a mammoth lack of ability,
capitulations. Next to cup wins and www.bridgeviews.co.uk – the thinking
playing football remained far more
titanic performances in Europe there fan’s Chelsea blog. The ‘thinking’ part of
interesting to me than watching it until
were inexplicable losses. A slice of luck the name isn’t designed to sound
my teens, when BBC’s Match of the Day
(I was a penniless student at the time) arrogant, rather just reflect that the blog
and the odd televised game started to
meant I first got my hands on a season is aimed at people who want to look a
catch my eye.! Growing up in Streatham
ticket ahead of the 03/04 season. In the little beneath the surface.! While other
– for Americans not familiar with London
same month Abramovich bought the blogs are probably better at stirring up
it’s south of the river – I was never more
club but, even after his injected millions excitement and passion for the club, I’ve
than five miles from Stamford Bridge
and the resultant changing fortunes on got my fingers crossed that
and, being surrounded by a Chelsea-
the pitch (especially under Mourinho), bridgeviews.co.uk provides something a
mad Grandad, uncle and sister, there
being a Chelsea supporter remained a little bit di#erent, and somewhere
was only ever one club I’d end up
frequent ride between the sublime and Chelsea supporters either side of the
supporting. !
the ridiculous. Atlantic can visit to share their thoughts
! on either the sublime or the ridiculous.!
A football obsession grew gradually
Ranieri somehow contrived to surrender
from there. My uncle would take me
a place in the Champions League final. Since June I’ve written not just match
along to Stamford Bridge only
A year later it was Liverpool that layered reports and transfer rumours but also
sporadically throughout my teenage
on the heartache in Europe, only a posts on the merits of Ancelotti’s
years (mostly in a roofless West Stand) to
matter of days after the elation of the diamond. I’ve written on Chelsea’s youth
mainly lower profile league games or the
club’s first Championship in fifty years. policy and changing coaching regimes.
odd European tie and football banter
Chelsea began to get criticised for a I’ve lambasted the club’s ridiculous
became the order of the day at school.
more defensive, conservative ethos. Just ticketing system and argued for selling
Chelsea shirts were bought – one with
over two years later Mourinho was fired, the naming rights to Stamford Bridge.
Zola on the back, another with ‘The
and the atmosphere turned funereal at And, maybe unlike any other Chelsea
Colonel’ (a nickname at the time – don’t
the Bridge. Ovrebo wrecked Champions blog, I’ve also written about entirely
ask) and my parents were frustrated with
League hopes in May 2009 and, just as separate topics, for example the damage
endless VHS tapes being used to record
everything seemed to be improving, increasing TV coverage could be
matches and highlights shows. !
August brought Kakuta-gate.! inflicting on the English game and
Drogba’s diplomat-like e#orts to bring
Waking up to the game in the mid to late
But this is football. The way the highs peace to civil war-torn Ivory Coast.!
nineties, I was growing up on a
intertwine with the lows is why we keep
footballing diet of Zola, Gullit, Vialli,
coming back. The banter with mates I’m lucky enough to have had thousands
Petrescu, Di Matteo and then
supporting rival teams and the into- of visits to the blog from Chelsea fans
Gudjohnsen and Hasselbaink. And what
the-night discussions in the pub about stateside, and really value the views of
a diet it was. I, like all Chelsea fans, was
tactics, formations, substitutions or C.I.A. members. If you swing by the site,
getting fat watching a rapidly changing
transfers elevates a game originally do drop me a note with any thoughts or
Chelsea side, made almost
played with a pig’s bladder on a pitch suggestions on the blog in the feedback
unrecognisable by the swathes of
between two oak trees to something section, or get involved in a debate after
European talent coming to the Bridge in
else altogether. And eventually, all that a post. And if you’re heading to the
the last few years of the century, playing
is why I decided I wanted to write about Bridge from the States, I’ll happily give
some of the best football seen at
it all day in, day out.! you some tips on local pubs… !
Stamford Bridge for years. And there was
success too – FA Cups, the League Cup
There are lots of great Chelsea blogs Thanks to C.I.A. for its support. You
and the Cup Winners Cup. Plus, there
out there, probably written by older (I’m know where to keep the blue flag flying.!
was Champions League football. !
still at the tender age of 26), more die-