Hello to everyone! I joined to engage with those that are as Chelsea-afflicted as I am! As I'm neither a native of the UK nor a resident of London, I guess I'm due for a quick backstory on why I follow Chelsea, well, the answer is fairly simple: My childhood team that I follow with religious zeal is Sporting Clube de Portugal (Sporting Lisbon to the rest of the world), but as a football addict, I've always loved the English Premier League and needed an English club to follow. Growing up and living in both Portugal and the U.S. the English clubs that were always talked about were Manchester United and Liverpool, and neither of those clubs interested me as they were "too popular" and I didn't want to be another non-English Manchester United supporter, and no good Sporting supporter could ever have an affinity for a club that wears red (the color of Benfica, our fiercest and most hated rival), so in the 90's I had the chance to watch a few Chelsea games from the Zola and DiMatteo era, and that was what sealed it for me, I had found the English club for me. When Mourinho announced he was the "Special One" and took the helm at Stamford Bridge, I really started following the club, and that has been the case to this day. Two of my fondest Chelsea moments include my fellow country man, Raul Meireles scoring in the 2012 CL semi-finals against Benfica:

 

and watching Frank Lampard lift the Champion's League trophy that year, pure magic!

Anyway, that's my story, looking forward to the banter!

Cheers

Edited September 27, 20178 yr by Leo Atrox

Welcome Leo.

I've just visited Lisbon and - like you, abhorring anything red - shuddered when walked past Red Cafe in the city centre!

We have quite a few members on here who are not UK born or Lindon residents, I'm one of them. We just know a good club when we see one 

Edited September 28, 20178 yr by Valerie

7 hours ago, Valerie said:

Welcome Leo.

I've just visited Lisbon and - like you, abhorring anything red - shuddered when walked past Red Cafe in the city centre!

We have quite a few members on here who are not UK born or Lindon residents, I'm one of them. We just know a good club when we see one 

Thanks for the welcome Valerie! I too have shuddered when walking past the Red Cafe, lol.

21 hours ago, Leo Atrox said:

Hello to everyone! I joined to engage with those that are as Chelsea-afflicted as I am! As I'm neither a native of the UK nor a resident of London, I guess I'm due for a quick backstory on why I follow Chelsea, well, the answer is fairly simple: My childhood team that I follow with religious zeal is Sporting Clube de Portugal (Sporting Lisbon to the rest of the world), but as a football addict, I've always loved the English Premier League and needed an English club to follow. Growing up and living in both Portugal and the U.S. the English clubs that were always talked about were Manchester United and Liverpool, and neither of those clubs interested me as they were "too popular" and I didn't want to be another non-English Manchester United supporter, and no good Sporting supporter could ever have an affinity for a club that wears red (the color of Benfica, our fiercest and most hated rival), so in the 90's I had the chance to watch a few Chelsea games from the Zola and DiMatteo era, and that was what sealed it for me, I had found the English club for me. When Mourinho announced he was the "Special One" and took the helm at Stamford Bridge, I really started following the club, and that has been the case to this day. Two of my fondest Chelsea moments include my fellow country man, Raul Meireles scoring in the 2012 CL semi-finals against Benfica.

Welcome Leo,

Good intro too.

9 hours ago, Strider6003 said:

Welcome Leo,

Good intro too.

Thank you! 

Welcome to this great place.

It takes some time to get used to it.

22 hours ago, erskblue said:

Welcome to this great place.

It takes some time to get used to it.

Thank you for the welcome!