We’ve seen the true power of football fans over the course of the last week. While we may not have mega-yachts or own a handful of the world’s most valuable sports franchises, we do have one thing: our game. Football was created by fans, for the fans. Some have tried to take the game away from us and others will undoubtedly try in the future, but any cause that leaves supporters behind will die on the same pathetic, lonely hill The Super League did just a few days ago.
The greatest thing about football is its inclusivity. It’s often dubbed ‘the beautiful game’ because it doesn’t matter who you are, what you look like, where you’re from or how much money you have, football is your game. That is what our site is all about.
The Pride of London, a Chelsea site for the FanSided network, published its first article on January 13, 2014. We’ve had Site Experts and Contributors alike from all walks of life during that time. We have tried to embody what it means to not only be a football fan, but also a Chelsea fan. The events of the last week have inspired us to share our origin stories as a part of our larger product, The Pride of London’s 10,000th article.
You’ve read all of our pieces, but this milestone article will serve as an insight into who we are as individuals and what, or who, caused us to fall in love with Chelsea Football Club:
Khaled Abdallah (Founder and former Site Expert)
I launched The Pride of London in 2014 after noticing that FanSided only had sites for the more traditional powers like Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal. FanSided even had a Spurs site, but no Chelsea site, and that just felt like a gross injustice.
So, I put in the request with management, helped brainstorm the name, approved the logo and PoL was born. I had modest goals at first and even 10,000 views in a month excited me. I must have underestimated the love for Chelsea around the world, as soon we were hitting 3-4-500k views in a month and the site was growing like wildfire. I never imagined that the site with a name I thought was just a clever play on words would become a mainstay in the Chelsea community. It’s gone from a one-man show to a well-oiled machine with Experts and Contributors chipping in from literally around the globe.
Much like Chelsea, this site is driven by and succeeding because of the fans and their endless love for this club, its traditions and everything it stands for. I’m so incredibly proud of what this site has become and I thank each and every one of you who has written or read a single article for letting my baby, The Pride of London, in to your lives.
George Perry (Former Site Expert)
One of my favorite books as a kid made a single, incidental reference to Chelsea Football Club. 10 or so years later, probably within just a few months of Roman Abramovich supposedly flying over London, pointing down at Stamford Bridge, saying “that one,” I spent a 12-hour overnight layover in London wandering on foot around the city. My ambulation took me within a mile or so of the Bridge en route to the Tube station at Hammersmith, where I caught an early train out to Heathrow.
So there, I have two pre-Roman touchpoints to the club, even though neither had any conscious influence on my journey to being a Chelsea fan, which started around 2008.
That may not be enough to win the approbation of the match-going supporters, who are, depending on the day, the true heroes or victims in all of this. But to the extent they value an international fan base, even in this post-Super League world, they should be glad I had those earliest interactions with the club through a book in America, a solitary trek in nocturnal London and in front of a TV in Bahrain. We’re all better off that I came to identify with the club in the days before Twitter, instead forming my bond to the club as I caught up on their history and recognized that a club founded partly out of pique by two businessmen who acquired a lease on spec is a club with whom I could share a heart. That as I moved into a new career, I had the words to understand that I was surrounded by specialists in failure and that I was not and am not like the others. I am a Special One.
Had the gatekeepers of fandom or the FIFA fanboys had a chance to repulse me in those formative days—as they nearly did when I spent four years sharing the helm of this site—you, loyal reader, would have been deprived of those four years, 1600+ articles and countless tweets. Without those, you might have missed some of the 8,400 other gems (excluding the only one I regret publishing) that Khaled, Aj, Travis and Gabe and a few dozen Blues worldwide have all brought into being.
Congrats, PoL. To 10,000 more.
Vansh Ambashta (Contributor)
I spent my early childhood in India and was not connected to football at all. Instead, I spent my days playing and discussing cricket like every other kid in the country. In 2011, at the age of 10, I moved to Belgium and started watching football to blend in with the crowd. At that time, I used to watch only the big games with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. When I saw Chelsea win the Champions League in 2012, I felt a bit of a connection, a bit of a purpose, but I still didn’t pick my club. I was still a casual fan that liked watching the “big games.”
I have always had a knack for opting for the underdogs, the outsiders, the lesser-known names. Back in those days, Eden Hazard was the talk of the town in Belgium, he was regarded as the next big thing, and he announced that he would be moving to Chelsea. This was the moment, the exact moment, when I decided that I would start supporting the Blues. In a world where teenagers were drooling over Ronaldo and Messi, I chose Hazard.
Since that particular moment, I have watched each and every Chelsea game, irrespective of the opposition. Be it Krasnodar or Barcelona, all I have cared about is watching my beloved club, sometimes until four in the morning.
In the beginning, I always feared the when that Hazard would leave the club, I felt that it would weaken my bond with Chelsea. The Europa League final victory in Baku was one of the most challenging moments for me as a fan as Hazard announced his departure. But as it turns out, Hazard was only the trigger, and my love for Chelsea has only grown in the past few years. When I watch Chelsea, I genuinely feel free of everything going around in the world, and football has been on my driving forces in these difficult times. This pandemic has genuinely shown that Chelsea will always be a part of me, despite all the problems going on, and I will be a Blue for life!
Scott Brant (Contributor)
The first soccer or football I witnessed was in the World Cup during the late ’90s when Ronaldo and Brazil lost to France then beat Germany in the next one. I had no clue there was such a thing as club football at that time. The first time I heard about club football and the English Premier League was when I caught an article about John Terry and some of his early exploits. Which I am sad to say, at that time, sounded like my type of player. The rest, as they say, was history.
I feel lucky to have attached myself to Captain, Leader and Legend because I honestly don’t like any other team in the league. And it makes it all the better that none of my immediate friends that I grew up with are Chelsea fans either. I watch more soccer than any other sport over the last decade, it has kept me out of some trouble, and made me a bunch of new friends at The Pride of London that have taught me so much.
Chelsea has changed my life and mostly in positive ways. Sure, they do some things that can drive one crazy, but as a Philadelphia sports fan, it’s like I’ve been breed to be a Blue. There will always be good times and bad, but having other fans to get through it with is what makes it all worth it – and winning, definitely winning.
Varun Dani (Contributor)
Growing up in India in the 2000s, we didn’t have a whole lot of sports other than cricket televised, let alone football. Back then, the only teams on TV were United, Liverpool and Arsenal until this rebellious team in blue showed up. Football to a kid then seemed to be governed by some kind of red monarchy, so to see a team finally hunting the hunters really drew me in, along with the majestic blue theme. Didier Drogba’s craziness, Terry’s grit and Petr Cech’s calmness made me an instant fan, but watching Frank Lampard truly made me fall in love with this club. It’s been all Chelsea ever since; the good, the bad and everything in between. I even got a tattoo that connects to this team for crying out loud, I’m a Blue for life.
Michael DeVito (Contributor)
Why would a Boston man decide to become a staunch and somewhat rabid Chelsea fan, and later commentator thereof, when he had no pressing reason to do so other than the sheer enjoyment?It’s really not a difficult question to answer in this case.
First, as a former ice hockey goalie in high school and college—and also having done some hockey coaching, as well—there are some basic similarities. As a goaltender in ice hockey, you really have an opportunity to not only participate fully as the keeper does in football, but also to observe the entire rink, as the keeper does the full pitch. Both are excellent vantage points from which not only to view, but also to grasp the game from a unique viewing perspective. One might point to Cech’s stepping from his all-time great Blues goalkeeper’s boots into an ice hockey goaltender’s skates in the UK. There was somewhat of a grounding here in a kind of similar game in some respects.
That being said, a colleague in the government in Massachusetts was a rabid “soccer” fan. Let’s call him Patrick (a New England Revolution fan, no less). This is central to the discussion, also a fan of Fulham (a.k.a Fulhamerica). It was he and my friends at a coffee house on Beacon Hill in Boston that introduced me to “soccer” or “football” in the case of my friends at the coffee house who were Serie A fans. Another colleague had indicated that a watch of the Premier League (what was that?) on Saturday mornings was well-worth the take in.
One Saturday morning, on the treadmill, I switched channels to a Premier League game. No recollection of who played, but an impression was made. It was like nothing I had ever seen before and as a sports enthusiast, I loved it. Though this was not my thought at the time, now I can say, it was a beautiful game—that was the draw. The way they played in the Premier League, was like nothing I had ever seen before. There was the acknowledgment.
Why Chelsea though? Over any other club like Fulham of my friend or any other side nonetheless. Frankly, it came down to two clubs, both magnificent and both top sides in the Premier League. They were Chelsea, of course, and Manchester United. It was two world class players, Didier Drogba and Wayne Rooney, that drove my decision. Both were favorites, but Drogba would win out. Though, it was a difficult choice for a novice, indeed.
Drogba’s ability to score in abundance from any angle, any way, any time was a marvel to behold. Chelsea was top of the table, as I recall, and that helped too. Though that makes me look like something of a front-runner, that’s hardly the case. Who doesn’t like to root for a great team populated by such terrific players as Drogba, the anchor, Terry and Super Frankie Lampard (who ironically I hadn’t even seen because he was out with an injury at the time).
That’s the story of how this writer came to be a Chelsea fan and has never looked back. Through the good times, bad times and back, a Blues fan through and through. Enjoying every minute from the transfers to the Cup games and the managerial sackings. The best part is, it’s a story a minute—there is never anything dull about Chelsea. For this humble American fan, Chelsea is my team, always.
Anthony Gatt (Contributor)
I have been a football fan since I was very young, but living in Canada, football wasn’t really shown on television in the early 2000s. My early memories came from the World Cup in 2006 when Italy won. Being half Italian and seeing what it meant to all my family members made me love the sport from there forward. Playing on all the FIFA games and when I was child exposed me to teams I didn’t know and in 2009, I came across the club I support today: Chelsea.
It was the Champions League semifinal where the Blues got robbed against “UEFAlona” and I was surprised to see it on the television when I came home from school. The passion of Drogba, Lampard and Michael Ballack even after defeat made me fall in love with this club and from that day forward, I have supported this club in the good, bad and ugly moments.
Nate Hofmann (Contributor)
2007: Randomly saw Drogba’s 30-yard turnaround half-volley against Everton in a late-night highlight package on a foreign TV channel while on vacation.
2010: USA vs. England in the World Cup group stage. The big topic was Lampard vs. Steven Gerrard in the England midfield. Didn’t like the cut of Gerrard’s jib; Lampard seemed much cooler.
Also 2010: Bought that weird 09/10 third kit—with the neon trim and two-tone thick blue hoops—for no real reason other than misplaced adolescent fashion. Still occasionally wear it.
2011: Happened to channel surf into Fernando Torres making one of his first Chelsea appearances as a sub. Was told he would be excellent, favorite Chelsea player established.
2012: Happened to channel surf into the last few minutes of the second leg of Chelsea vs. Barcelona. Saw Torres round Victor Valdes to seal the tie, favorite Chelsea player cemented.
Also 2012: Didn’t get around to watching the Champions League final, but I’m told it was quite good. Beat some no-name German side, apparently.
2013: Bought a Fernando Torres home shirt. Excellent investment, still occasionally wear it.
I wish it was a sexier origin story, but here we are. Wouldn’t change it for anything, could’ve used a few more Torres goals though.
Mike Malley (Contributor)
Growing up in the United States, I had my pick of which Premier League team to support. I started watching the Premier League during the 2013/14 season, which was definitely not Chelsea’s best year in recent memory, but the team had a lot of big name players who represented the badge well. I think the moment from that season that really solidified my Chelsea fandom was the legendary Gerrard slip.
4-year-old me was terrible at making decisions, so I was content to let the fates choose whether I would support Chelsea or Liverpool depending on who won the match. I was pretty confident that the Reds would come out on top, as Luis Suarez was on an absolute scoring tear at the time, but of course, that is not what happened. Demba Ba neatly sliding the ball past Simon Mignolet was a sign to pledge my allegiance to the Blues, a decision that I have never regretted. The next season was even more incredible, with Jose Mourinho leading Chelsea to its fourth EPL title. My love for the club has only grown since, and I doubt there will ever be a team in any sport that captures my imagination as much as that 2013/14 Chelsea side did. Up the Chels forever!
Olaoluwa Nwobodo (Contributor)
When I was 7 years old, I wanted to participate in a silly football game that required everyone to pick a player and a club. I love Drogba, so I asked what club Drogba played for, they told me Chelsea. Since then, I have been a Chelsea fan.
This was around 2003/04 (not sure if I remember the year), I started consistently watching the Blues’ games long after I started supporting them. I was following their results and goings-on, but I only started watching the games around 2014 consistently. I watched the second leg of the 2012 Barca semifinal and the final against Bayern Munich. I remember the time on the clock when Drogba headed home and kept us in the tie against Munich. I remember my heart in my mouth when Chelsea conceded a pen in extra time, only for Cech to simply refuse to lose to Bayern. It was glorious.
I love everything that Chelsea stands for, I love the fact that the Blues can show up anywhere and beat anyone and win whatever it is they came to win, regardless of whether they were outgunned. Watching Chelsea play, for me, is like therapy. For those 90 minutes, I can just relax and forget everything else, regardless of how bad their form is or who the manager is at the time. It’s just a means to escape, even if for just the 90 minutes.
Abhishek Pancholi (Contributor)
Watching the 2002 FIFA World Cup on television was my first proper introduction to football. I was dazzled by the array of superstars on show, and when the tournament ended with Ronaldo putting two past Oliver Kahn, I was left with an emptiness inside me. I wanted more but I didn’t know where to go. As far as I knew, these events only take place once every four years. What was I supposed to do until then?
It took me a few months before I discovered the thing that would change my life forever—club football. This wasn’t something that you needed to wait years for, it was on every weekend. You could turn on the TV, switch to a sports channel and there they were, 22 elite sportsmen battling for the control of the ball on a lush, green pitch. Turn up the volume and the fans could be heard cheering on their beloved team, bellowing out chants I could barely understand. All of this felt surreal. I couldn’t stop watching it, I was hooked.
Back then, the Internet was a luxury few could afford, with speeds slow enough and the resulting phone bills high enough to make a grown man cry. Instead of getting my football fix off Twitter, Youtube and what-not—like I do today—I would spend hours watching anything that involved the English Premier League on TV. Ironically, that would not include the matches themselves because I did not have control of the TV remote in the evenings. I watched highlights, talk shows (like Football Focus with John Dykes) and even the preview shows during the daytime. This carried on for a year or so, the only time in my life I have been one of the neutrals that are ruining football. It wasn’t until I caught a glimpse of a team in blue smashing a team in red and white stripes, that a switch was flipped. I didn’t know it back then, but those were the final few days of Claudio Ranieri’s tenure as Chelsea manager. I had just watched Chelsea dismantle Southampton by four goals to nil, and I had loved every minute of it.
I started looking out for the Blues’ results, their players, their history and making the best of whatever I could find on my super-slow Internet. I went down a rabbit-hole from where I am yet to emerge. I didn’t choose the club, the club chose me, is what I believe. Supporting Chelsea wasn’t even a carefully thought out decision; it just happened. It completely changed my life, sometimes for the worse, but mostly for the better.
Over my years of supporting this club, I have completed school, passed out of college, fallen in love many times over, had my heart broken, broken a few hearts along the way, found the love of my life, became a husband, became a father, all while keeping my schedule clear for the two to four hours a week when Chelsea play. Unless Roman Abramovich decides to move the club to a fancy new stadium and rename it to Gazprom London Blue or some other horrific name, I’ll bleed blue for as long as I breathe.
Kevin Peacock (Contributor)
As a 7-year-old, it was somewhere in my conscious that, having recently won the FA Cup and European Cup Winners Cup, Chelsea was a good football team. That was way back in 1972 and I can recall the disappointment of losing to Stoke City in the League Cup Final. The point at which I chose Chelsea as my team is less clear though. There was no parental or sibling influence, I don’t remember having any friends that were Blues supporters. That was something that carried on throughout my childhood in rural East Anglia.
In my head, I can well remember Chelsea appearing on Top of the Pops (google it kids) singing Blue is the Colour. That’s, romantically, how I like to think the link happened and I am happy to claim it as so. Maybe I was just a glory hunter. However, if that was the case, I was an exceptionally bad judge of football teams. It would be another 14 years until Chelsea tasted any real success, winning the magnificent Full Members Cup Final at Wembley in 1986.
Fast forward many years and I’m happy with the choice I made all those years ago. Even with all The Super League nonsense that has gone on, I could never change my affiliation. Other than family, it’s the longest relationship I’ve had in my life. Blue really is in my blood and what’s more, it is the colour.
Tan Yi Hao (Contributor)
I remember back in 2015, when I was just 15, I struggled a lot to fit in with my new classmates within a new classroom environment. In an attempt to have something in common to initiate conversations with, I decided to pick a football team of my own to support as a lot of my classmates adored football. Not wanting to go with a team that everyone else supported to avoid the risk of being labelled a “try-hard” (toxic, I know), I decided on Chelsea because it finished 10th that season. Therefore, I cannot be labelled a “glory hunter” and because, well, I liked the color blue.
Then the 2016/17 season rolled along. The Blues, under Antonio Conte, blitzed their way to the top of the league, despite being massive underdogs with the odds stacked against them. The determination and grit on display by the players, coupled with a certain level of romanticism with that being Terry’s last season at the club, captured my imagination and solidified my bond with the club. Although the Blues have hardly hit the heights achieved in that season since, the spirit of the team and what Chelsea stood for deeply resonated with me at a time when I struggled badly within the environment I was in. I was convinced there and then that no other club or sport could ever make me feel the same. That’s why I am Chelsea through and through to this very day.
Barrett Rouen (Contributor)
When my family first moved to London, it was a very busy time. Eventually though, as things slowed down and we started to grow into our life as Londoners, we finally had an off day on the weekend and my father asked if we should go to a football match. There were only a few clubs that we could walk to from our house at the time: Queens Park Rangers, Fulham Football Club and Chelsea Football Club.
The Blues were the home team and so we set out to walk to the match. I can’t describe the feeling of coming around every turn and corner in the little west London streets, seeing more and more blue shirts starting to appear. People were singing on the way and hugging friends who they had met up with. I remember walking past a pub and seeing people laughing and hugging as they met up with their mates before the ever famous walk through West Brompton cemetery where it all came together. It seemed peculiar that a walk through a cemetery should be as joyous as it was, but I remember falling in love with these people and this place very quickly.
The Blues played Southampton on that day. It’s why I have an affinity for the Saints, as well. We sat in the Upper West Stand and watched Chelsea get hammered 4-2. It was awful!
That explains why, for such a long time, I was convinced James Beattie was one of the best players in the Prem. I appreciated how hard Eidur Gudjohnsen worked to get us back in the match, though even if it proved not to mean much in that shocking loss. That said, I had already decided this was my home now and this was our club. Win, draw or lose, it was the club for where we were from and I was all the way in. I had started playing football for a club side and my school and been told I would be a centreback. Chelsea just so happened to have a young one I could model my game on in John Terry at the time. Then the rest built on itself. I walked to matches to meet my friends and family dozens of times following that fateful day and that really was that. Blue till I die and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Gabe Henderson (Site Expert)
I have always been a sports fan. One of my earliest memories included me firing off stats and random sports trivia to my best friend’s dad, he responded by promising to one day take me to Las Vegas to win him some money. My family has always had a rich connection with football though. My grandfather invested a lot to bring his beloved English football to America as an owner of the Cleveland Force. My father, who also grew up in London, played football for a lot of his life, even sporting the shirt of his college in the U.S. Despite these ties, it was American Football I fancied as a youngster.
The 2010 World Cup peaked my interest as I watched with curiosity from my bedroom. However, once the tournament was over, it was back to admiring American sports. Fast forward to 2014, I took my first trip overseas during that summer. I was able to watch three World Cup teams on television from the country they were from. I saw the USA play from my home, I joined dozens of England fans in watching the Three Lions from a Teddington pub and I watched France advance in the tournament from a small cafe in Paris. It was on this trip that I got my first two football jerseys: a United States three-stripe kit (the last of its kind from Harrods) and a Brentford home kit. My family has ties to both the Blues and the Bees. Nevertheless, I still couldn’t quite get into club football.
One day, it finally clicked. I had seen my father watch Chelsea from time to time, but it was on a day where I was away from him, ironically enough, that my Blues fandom was born. I was looking for something to watch while at my friend’s house and I stumbled upon the Chelsea match. Drogba, Jose Mourinho and Co. secured the title with a win against Sunderland. Watching “The King” celebrate his final trophy as a Blues player had me instantly hooked.
I haven’t missed a match in six years since. I have woken up earlier than any individual should, stayed up late and tried to not miss a moment of my beloved Blues. I’ve watched preseason friendlies against Perth Glory from the car on road trips, Premier League clashes from class and even Champions League games from the doctor’s office. The only part of a contest I’ve completely missed was the first half of the Champions League Round of 16 second leg against Paris Saint-Germain in the 2015/16 season; I was taking an English test and there was simply no way I could get out of it. Rest assured, I caught the entirety of the second half.
As a student and life-long fan of Louisiana State University and the Houston Astros, I’ve been lucky to have enjoyed my fair share of championships. However, celebrating the 2016/17 Premier League title from the floor of my bedroom after school, as Michy Batshuayi’s goal found the back of the net, was special. There is a noteworthy place in my heart for Conte and crew, but as a club, Chelsea has become something much bigger for me.
I wrote the occasional piece on the Blues as a part of FanSided’s main site (which I joined in 2017 while in high school), but it wasn’t until the following year that I joined The Pride of London. I contributed as often as I could between school and work. Truth be told, I was close to giving up on sports writing at the beginning of 2020, until one day, I received the offer of a lifetime from George Perry and Travis Tyler. Knowing full well my intention to major in mass communications, George reached out to be about the soon-to-be vacant Co-Site Expert position at The Pride of London and the rest is history. One year into my tenure, here we are, contributing to this landmark piece.
The Pride of London will always be Khaled’s baby and a site George, Ajitesh and Travis elevated to new heights, but it’s now something I can attach my name too, as well. That’s an unbelievable feeling. That being said, we couldn’t have reached 10,000 articles without the assistance of our wonderful contributors across the world and our amazing readers. A big thank you to y’all (I’m a native Texan, sue me) and congratulations to The Pride of London team—past and present—on this amazing achievement.
Travis Tyler (Site Expert)
I think of how I became a Chelsea fan as a series of micro events shaped around one main event. That main event was the 2006 World Cup. I remember we had gone to Orlando for vacation and I, having already been there before and being a teenager, opted to stay back in the room and watch the United States play Italy. The U.S. crashed out of that tournament but something had clicked. I opted to watch Italy the rest of the time for no other reason than they wore blue. Them winning the whole thing (ironically against Les Bleus) only justified my decision.
Fast forward a few months and I was looking for something to watch on a Saturday morning having outgrown cartoons (mostly) by that point. I found a game on TV being played between one blue team and one red team. I picked the blue team again, this time Chelsea, and it went from there.
That was the big event but micro events solidified the choice. I was a left back and the world’s best left back, Ashley Cole, played for Chelsea. The team was named Chelsea and I’ll admit there were more than a few in my high school that helped justify the decision. I got some version of FIFA, not really knowing anything other than how to make a pro, and the first club that signed my player was Chelsea. And so it went, just a few little things piling on to turn into something that is a major part of my life.
I can remember the days of finding dodgy streams that I was sure were going to kill my computer. I can remember being a freshman and rushing back to my room to watch Fernando Torres score that goal against Barcelona. I can remember being utterly destroyed by Arsenal beating Chelsea 3-0 in 2016, having no idea what was about to come down the line with Antonio Conte’s revolution.
They say football is the most important of the unimportant things and to that I can agree. Football, and specifically Chelsea, has been a touch stone for nearly 15 years now. It has been there for me during some dark times and has been something to share during good times. I can’t properly put into words what the club has meant for me or even how betrayed I felt with the Super League news feeling as though all of that was being taken from me.
The Pride of London has given me a chance to lend my voice to the conversation around this club. It all started with being bored and writing a fanpost about youth involvement across the top clubs. Ajitesh Rasgotra reached out, I joined The Pride of London, and half a decade later, I’m still here trying to ask questions, point out contradictions, and love this club in my own way.
10,000 articles are checked off the list and we appreciate every single person that has ever taken the time to read our thoughts and opinions. Here is to 10k, and here is to the path to 100k.
What is your Chelsea origin story and what does all of this mean to you? Let us know in the comments and on Twitter! If you’d like to be a part of our team and have your voice heard, make sure to check out the link to apply back on the first slide.