VOLUME 2, ISSUE 2FEB 2010

Hi guys,

TOP OF THE LEAGUE, WE’RE HAVIN’ ALAUGH! Okay, well maybe not a laugh,but a guarded smile and a bit of nervesand still relief. It is, as they say thebusiness end of the season, loads of games, still in 3 competitions, and topof the league (no I can’t say it enough).And why not, I think if you look backthrough our history there were more notso great times than there were times likethese. I was reminded of that by a text Igot from Chris Axon after the matchyesterday: “Last time we came here, welost 3-0 and were staring relegation toDivision Three in the face. Can’t be thesame club, can it? ;-)” It made me smilebecause how many times I have thoughtthat? So I replied with the ﬁrst thing thatcame to mind: “Yes, my dear, there is aSanta (Roman Abromovic).” And youknow that is sort of what I believe thesedays. Most days it is like waking up onChristmas morning when I was ﬁve.Seeing the wonder of the tree and themagic that is Christmas for littlechildren, and the feeling of how lucky Iwas to be able to have all of that! Andthat about sums it up, how lucky I am.

I had a brilliant month since last I wroteall of you. Work is coming quick andstrong, so keeping me plenty busy. Iknow I have heard from some that theyare in the same boat, working their tailso

, but also from a few more that theyhad found jobs. What a relief! I hatehearing about part of the “family” out of work, facing hard times, so those of youthat are still trying: heads up, thingsseem to be getting a bit better. And asin most years, I had a business trip inlate January, and luckily it once againbrought me to Southern California,home of the OC Hooligans! What a joy itis to join them for a match. Last year itwas an FA Cup game, but we weren’t ontelevision, so we set up my laptop andstreamed the match on the radio andeven at stupid-thirty in the morning,sharing it with a few die-hards is alwaysgood.This year started out about the same,with the game not being shown and thenit was... with a little organization, it wasdecided: MEET UP. I have to tell you,there is nothing I would trade to have tolive through that time zone - it ismurder! I was up at half 2 in themorning to be ready for Sarah to comeand pick me up to be at the pub at 4:30!That is ridiculous, and to think thesenutters do it week in and week out. Forall of us on the right side of the country:no complaining until you face a 4:30amkick o

! Sarah and I were the first to thepub and were greeted by the soleemployee, who looked us in the face andtold us "YOU GUYS ARE CRAZY!" with asmile. Quickly the pub filled up, and Imean filled up, weren’t there about 20or more of us? Unbelievable! Co

ee anddoughnuts (provided by Huby and Julie)at the ready, a song in our voice andChelsea in our hearts, we were ready togo. It was great to see everyone, and justsad it wasn’t longer. I can tell you if youever get to within 100 miles of SouthernCalifornia, let them know, they treat youlike a VIP. I love those guys!And we had a few other meet ups -Danny and I for dinner, to catch up sinceour trip to London, then Monday forHuby’s birthday get together. Therewere about 10 of us back at the pub at anormal time. And we laughed, drank,laughed, ate, drank and laughed somemore. You know it is the thing I miss themost on match day, that get-together inthe pub before and after the match. Andthat night reminded me so much of it.The chatter, the banter, the goodnatured teasing and the laughter, andluckily Huby didn’t arrive in his birthdaysuit and Cech helmet; we were saved

DEEP FROM THE HEART

Notes from the Chairwoman

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•Deep from the Heart•My FirstChelseaMatch•5 QuestionsFor...•Boston BluesMeet-Up

Danny and Beth at the Chelsea CPO Luncheon, presenting the money the CIAraised for the Past Players' Trust!

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CONTRIBUTORS:

A big thanks to everyone whohelps make the CIA Bluesletterpossible!Editor: Jamie EdwardsChairwoman: Beth WildLogo and Graphics: Raciel DiazDates to Remember: Tel StevensProofreaders: Dorothy Cooperand Sarah DrakeCIA Crest done in collaborationwith Who Are Ya Designs -www.whoareyadesigns.comWant to contribute or make asuggestion? Send Jamie anemail at newsletter@chelseainamerica.com!

from that. So that is a reminder to all of you - if you get a chance, when you geta chance, get together for more than amatch! Sitting with friends over a beer ora Coke and having a chat, it is the besttime. You ﬁnd out how great yourChelsea family is, you ﬁnd friends thatbecome even more dear, you shareinterests, debate issues and have a placeto call your own, in the company of friends! And if you are travelling forbusiness or whatever, what a great wayto break the drag of working long hoursaway from home then meeting up andhaving a laugh!

So just a little bit of business:1)

We have posted the ﬁrst version of our member survey. We are interested inwhat you liked and didn’t like about lastsummer and a few other things. This isyour chance to help us make the nexttour even better. We can’t do that if wedon’t hear from you. Please take amoment to tell us the pluses and theminuses. You can ﬁnd the survey bygoing tohttp://www.ChelseaInAmerica.com/surveyThanks to Chris and Daniel for creatingthe survey!2)

We are getting ready for the DallasCup! In the next few days or so, I will betrying to ﬁgure some things out, so staytuned to the board for more information.If you are planning on making the drive/ﬂight for it, please let us know.3)

Our spring trip is decided, and I haveheard from the club that loyalty pointswill not be needed (yes we had a scareabout that), so Stoke at home it is. Forall True Blue and registered a

liates (if you registered with Chelsea not just gota CIA membership), ticket info will be upsoon.4)

The DVD is nearly ﬁnished, THANKSTO BILL! What a mess we gave him, buthe has been such a star getting stuck inand sorting it out and turning out agreat product. We are just about to get itall done, then burn them and get themin cases and in the mail to you. Sorry forthe delay but it was our ﬁrst try andeverything that could go wrong did gowrong. Hopefully the next time it will bea bit more organized.5)

We are talking to the Megastore andshould have news very soon aboutChelsea crested, CIA embroideredmerchandise. This ﬁrst run will belimited, but I think expanded comparedto what we have had in the past. As soonas I get word, it will be on the board.6)

We have ﬁnalized membership. If yousigned up and have not gotten yourpermissions on the board, please barewith us a couple more days while we getall of that data from the database to theboard to get you all your permissions.But if you notice you don’t have yourability to see the members section,attached avatars and that stu

, let meknow. Rich is working as fast as he can!7)

And I hear there is a great new set of competitions from our Twitter guru! So if you haven’t signed up for us on Twitter,you could be missing out. I hear thismonth we are starting a competition fora signed ﬁrst team player photo! Justlook for CFCInAmerica on Twitter andfollow us. And don’t forget the Facebookpages we have, CIA and locally.8)

I also have been talking to NeilBarnett and it looks like we could behearing loads more from him on theFootball Show on Sirius 125. If you haveit, tune in Wednesday afternoons; hewould love to hear from you! If you don’thave Sirius but have XM instead, Ibelieve it is free (even without the Siriusextra package) and running on channel421, but I am not sure of that number, Iwill post it on the board. But listen in!

Okay, I think that is about it for now. Iam sure I am forgetting something, ormaybe even many things. There is muchgoing on, and you can be as involved asyou like. So if you are wondering whatyour membership beneﬁts get you,besides the upcoming DVD, and morestu

on the board, then get involved andﬁnd out, help with the newsletter, signup for the podcast, join us on Facebook,help plan the Dallas Cup, get ready forthe Spring Tour... none of this happenswithout you!

CAREFREE!

Beth

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“Why do you support Chelsea, then,Chris?” is a question which I have beenasked at least five-hundred times Ireckon. Well, I started primary school inmy Somerset village at Easter 1970. TheCup Final was earlier than usual thatyear because of England’s preparationsfor the Mexico World Cup. Not sure of the exact dates, but school began for me just as Chelsea beat Leeds in the FA CupFinal. I have no recollections of eitherthe first game at Wembley or the replay.But I do know that I used to watch theolder schoolboys play football in theschoolyard at break times. One teamwould be Leeds, one team would beLiverpool or the next week, ManchesterUnited and Arsenal. I think (and this isthe story I always tell) I heard that eitherChelsea were a good team or they had just won a big game, so one team wouldbe Chelsea on one particular day. I thinkthat is how it all began. Who knows…maybe on that fateful day, I perhaps joined in with the bigger boys for thefirst time. It would be nice to think so.Anyway, from the littlest of acorns domighty oaks grow – from that initialmention of the name Chelsea, theybecame my team.Andy Cox was Arsenal, Paul Seviour wasLiverpool, Tony Heywood and DavidRideout were Leeds, but I was Chelsea.From 1970, I began looking out for theirresults, but my memories are notparticularly great about individualgames. I can’t remember the 1971 gamein Athens for example. To be honest, myparents weren’t particularly big sportfans…I think my football genes camefrom my maternal grandfather who hadplayed football and cricket for the villagein his youth (and incidentally, visitedStamford Bridge when he was a youngman, the only ground he ever went to…if I am right, he favoured Newcastle andVilla for some reason.)An important event happened around1971 or 1972. A friend of ours inWindsor worked with Peter Osgood’ssister Mandy and he said he could gethis autograph. I was so excited. The twonames I knew at Chelsea were the twoPeters, Osgood and Bonetti. I still havethat signed photograph and it reallycemented my a

ection for Peter Osgoodand Chelsea Football Club.I have no recollection of the 1972League Cup Final loss to Stoke, but I doremember hearing “Blue Is The Colour”on the radio and that really a

ected metoo. I guess I must’ve seen Chelsea onTV – I only have vague recollections of the old East stand which came down inthe summer of 1972, though. The firstFA Cup Final I saw was the 1972 one.The first Chelsea game I can honestlyremember seeing on TV was the 1972opener against mighty Leeds. Theirgoalie was injured, I think Peter Lorimerreplaced him and Chelsea won 4-0. Ithink Ossie scored.I remember – specifically – the build-upto the March 1973 FA Cup game withArsenal. I remember Ossie’s goal in thefirst game and then watching the actionon the 9.30pm news of the replay atHighbury. I remember Bobby Charlton’slast ever game – at Chelsea - beingshown on TV highlights in May 1973.Anyway – you get the picture…I lovedplaying football at school break times,on Saturdays, in the street, I was afootball fan and Chelsea was my team.Imagine my absolute elation when –without prompting from me – myparents announced (either on ChristmasDay 1973 or soon after) they would takeme to see Chelsea play. In London. AtStamford Bridge. I still get chills when Ithink of that feeling 33 years later.By a cruel twist of fate, of course, bothmy idol Peter Osgood and Alan Hudsonleft Chelsea in February of 1974, amonth ahead of my Chelsea debut onMarch 16th. I was upset, but the thoughtof seeing the team in the flesh morethan made up for this. My mother wroteto the club asking for ticket and travelinformation and I still have the letter theclub sent back, nicely embossed with theclub crest. It was signed by an o

ce junior called Jackie, who I believe laterbecame Ray Wilkins’ wife. In due course,the West Stand benches tickets arrived…price 60p each.I don’t think any of my school pals couldactually believe I was going to seeChelsea live. This was unheard of amongst the village kids. I was onlyeight remember. At last the great dayarrived and it is amazing I remember somuch. My father was a local shopkeeperand so he pulled a few strings to get theSaturday o

. Unfortunately, he wasn’t ingreat health at the time. He had beendiagnosed with throat cancer and wasdue radiation treatment in May.Thankfully, this was totally successful,but he was feeling a bit under-the-weather on this momentous day.He drove to London via the Wiltshirecountryside and then the M4 motorway.We had arranged to park our car at anursing home at Park Royal, where anuncle had recently been staying. Isuppose we reached there at around12.30pm. We then walked the shortdistance to Park Royal tube station andcaught the train to Fulham Broadway. Irecently visited Park Royal station and itdid bring back memories…I recalledwalking over the footbridge over thetracks and the art deco façade of thestation. In March 1974, my heart musthave been beating fast as we boardedthe eastbound train. I had been on atube train before, but this felt soexciting – doing what thousands of Chelsea fans do each week…this is whatstuck with me the most I think; a smallboy from Somerset being a Londoner forthe day.My ﬁrst game sticks with me so manyreasons. I can recall waiting in line at thebottom of the West Stand steps at theturnstiles. As the West Stand was thestand with the TV gantry, I wasn’tparticularly sure what the stand lookedlike. I distinctly remember walking upthe banked steps as if it was yesterday…I can recall the sense of anticipation, thenoises of the crowd and speciﬁcally theblue paintwork at the back of the stand,the turnstiles, the souvenir huts…justwriting these words I am transportedback to my childhood. I realise that thisday was such an important day in my lifeand I am so grateful my parents tookme. We bought a match programme,which I still have. I remember thesmudge from my mother’s wet leatherglove is still visible…strange, though, I

MY FIRST CHELSEA MATCH: 1974

By Chris Axon

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