Okay everyone,
Now a lot of us are in doom and gloom mode, we've hardly been in the best of form, we might have to deal with our manager leaving in the next few months, two of our best players haven't signed new contracts yet and our transfer activity isn't particularly pleasing.
But I was thinking and I feel it'd be a nice idea to share with others what the club means to ourselves, just something positive to distract us from the negative atmosphere. So please feel free to share your own personal stories.
I've always loved Chelsea, I remember watching us the night we lost to United in the final and how devastated I felt but as if by some fairy tale miracle, we beat Bayern in 2012 in a campaign filled with such spectacles e.g Torres goal against Barca, Drogba goal, Cech's saves and finally the King's "last kick as a Chelsea player". It was amazing, my entire family was around to watch and my grandmother couldn't believe that her Chelsea had become Champions of Europe. I even sometimes go back to the Match Day thread here to have a look at your reactions, it makes me wish I'd known about this place back then so I could celebrate with you.
Chelsea has also meant a lot to me on a personal level, going through loss and financial struggles, I'd felt like the sh*t has been metaphorically kicked out of me time and time again but a lot of what kept me going was knowing I had something to look forward to. Seeing the boys in blue play, whether that be on Match of the Day or Online Streams etc. When I finally was in a better position to start paying to go to matches again, it was almost a landmark experience for me.
August 2014 - Burnley v Chelsea
We won 3-1 that day, I got to see Thibaut play for the first time, Costa's first league goal, Fabregas' first Chelsea assist, my cult hero Schurrle scoring a terrific goal and the King himself playing once again. That match, I stayed behind as it was a Monday and sure enough, the crowds wouldn't be too big. I spoke to both Hazard and Matic briefly and while I didn't manage to get his attention, seeing Drogba in person again was an exceptional experience for me and it remains one of the best nights of my life, as it marked a new beginning for me seeing my team at matches again and while I don't have a season ticket like I used to (I've moved further North for work reasons) I've been to a lot more matches since and I always enjoy returning to Stamford Bridge.
So thank you for reading this and I'd love to hear about your experiences.

To quickly sum it up without going into detail it means enough to me that if we lose drop points it completely ruins my weekend.

I avoid the sports pages, social media and all.

Apart from family, the club is probably the single coherent thread that has run through my entire life. For over 35 years there's always been Chelsea there, and the summers have usually felt a bit empty.

When i started following us we weren't in the top flight, we hated Leeds more than anyone, and going to any away game was a life or death experience more often than not.

Here we are in 2018, VAR is here, this must be the future, and here we are competing on the top table, it's been a hell of a trip.

Not the biggest thing in my life (been a fan for 45 years) but it gives me a great deal of pleasure supporting this team - along with a bit of heartache.

I think we all need some constants in life outside of family and supporting 'my' team is one of them.

2 hours ago, coco said:

When i started following us we weren't in the top flight, we hated Leeds more than anyone, and going to any away game was a life or death experience more often than not.

Haha, I miss those Leeds games where it almost never finished with 22 players on the field.