Being a UK based fan of Chelsea doesn’t come with many perks these days. A chance to interact with the players is rare. Even if you pay the vast sums required to attend the Player of The Year dinner, you’ll end up roped off from the players in their VIP area. There is usually an open training session at Stamford Bridge pre-season, but this comes with a stentorian warning that…
I was doing the ironing this evening. No, don’t laugh. And whilst I iron, I usually listen to the radio. Five Live Drive is an excellent digest of the day’s events, co-hosted by one of radio’s finest voices, Peter Allen. This man is a Spurs fan. And he was thrilled when we beat Barcelona in the Champions League last year. That’s how much of a chap he is. Given Andy…
“We are delighted to agree this deal to acquire what is already one of the top clubs in Europe. We have the resources and ambition to achieve even more given the huge potential of this great club.” (Roman Abramovich, 1st July 2003) “I want to know whether this individual is a fit and proper person to be taking over a club like Chelsea. Until that question is answered, then I’m…
The Church of SS Giovanni e Paolo in Venice was founded in 1246 when Doge Jacopo Tiepolo donated some swamp land to the Dominican Brothers after dreaming of a flock of white doves flying over it. The first church was demolished in 1333, when construction on the current church began. It was not completed until 1430. One of the largest churches in the city, it has the status of a…
In our final ‘Natters With The Chels’ this season, we had a chat with Interim Chair of the Chelsea Supporters Trust, Tim Rolls, after our final home game of the season against Everton last Sunday. TC: Are you pleased with the generally positive reception that the Chelsea Supporters Trust has had? TR: I am. We’ve only been in existence three or four months. We’ve got over a thousand members, we’ve…
So, here we are, talking about another trip to a European final, exactly 12 months to the day after the Blue & White Army made its way back to Blighty following that epic night in Munich. Munich was history, chaos and ultimate triumph. Other than the result, Amsterdam was different in every way. It started on the morning of the draw for the semi-final, when I had an attack of…
Chelsea’s road along the knockout phase of the Champions League to the Final in Munich had been tough. A thrilling round of 16 win against Napoli was succeeded by a slightly more comfortable tie against Benfica. Then, in a thrilling, epic, two-leg semi-final, the Londoners overcame the tournament favourites, Barcelona, in their own back yard. Saturday 19th May saw tens of thousands of Chelsea fans stream into Munich via air,…
If you’re a Chelsea fan and you can’t remember what you were doing this day 12 months ago, you were probably either under five or consuming illegal substances. I remember very clearly, and wrote a ‘Travels’ (published here in a slightly abridged version) to prove it…. This night had it all. There was hope. There was despair. There were tears. There was joy. And that was just the three and…
Thanks to all those who’ve offered their Munich Memories. Today’s readers’ recollections are:- Prabheek Rajbhandary (@prateek423) remembers ‘getting my head shaved and not remembering it the next day due to drunkenness’! Ken Barkway was in the top tier of Chelsea end when DD rolled the ball into the net – he recalls there was silence, an almighty roar then sobbing. Finally, Martin Wickham had a brush with the stars:- ‘At…
OK, so you might barely have recovered from Chelsea’s triumphant trip to Amsterdam to lift the UEFA Cup, but at TheChels we have no hesitation in celebrating the first anniversary of that extraordinary night in Munich 12 months ago – OK, 363 days ago, to be pedantic. On Sunday we’ll be revisiting a classic ‘Travels With The Chels’ and on Monday there’ll be a special ‘What C ‘IF’ C’ on…