Me & Chelsea Football Club

Domestic Cup Double 06/07	Back to Back Premiership Champions 04/05 & 05/06	193 goals for Chelsea then Kerry Dixons' lifetime highlight... he meets me in the pressroom at stamford Bridge! (June 07)

Without doubt my biggest interest is Chelsea Football Club. I have been a season ticket holder since the 1987/88 season and have now been regularly attending matches at Stamford Bridge for 25 years. So 'why Chelsea?' I hear you ask. Well, to say 'because I was born there' seems a rather vague reason. The statement is true however but it is not really a reason in itself is it? I guess the best answer to the question is quite simply that my dad started taking me regularly to watch Chelsea when I was a boy of 11 or 12. My dad is a Chelsea fan because his dad took him as a boy. So when I say Chelsea is in my blood it is probably as near as you can get. My first Chelsea hero was Steve Finnieston and his last game for the club was in April 1978. I am not sure what my first match was but I can remember seeing players like Graham and Ray Wilkins, Micky Droy, Ian Britton and Ray Lewington. I would say my first match was probably in about 1976.

Stamford Bridge 2007

The picture to the left was taken from a helicopter on one of the most dramatic days of the clubs 102 year history. It was the day that Jose Mourinho left Chelsea Football Club. 20th September 2007 will go down in history... and not only because it was my 39th birthday! You can see Stamford Bridge towards the centre of the photo, with the gas works nearer the camera, the railway track to the right of the stadium (adjascent to the east Stand), the cemetry next to that and the Empess State Building (owned by the MoD) in the distance.

On Thursday 16th February 2006 Chelsea Football Club announced an intention to set up a Chelsea Disabled Supporters Association (CDSA) in order to improve the relationship between the club and its' disabled supporters. I subsequently applied to become a committee member of the CDSA and was selected a few weeks later. The formation of the CDSA was officially announced in a press conference at Stamford Bridge on 23th March 2006 and our first meeting with the Club was on April 24th. I feel honoured to be playing a part in Chelsea's exciting future and will be doing all I can to help the club improve facilities for disabled supporters at the club.

This picture was taken shortly after the 1997 FA Cup Final in which Chelsea beat Middlesbrough 2-0. Pictured with me are my sister, mother and father.

 

I have a large collection of Chelsea programmes as you can see on the right. At the end of the 2007/2008 season the collection consisted of 1546 programmes (plus 45 more on neutral grounds). Since World War 2, I now have the programme for every completed, competitive home match ever played by Chelsea's first team. I am now only missing one Chelsea programme from my collection. This match was played on a neutral ground (Villa Park). If you have this programme (listed below) then let me know! I will pay the approximate value. SEASON OPPONENTS MATCHTYPE DATE APPROX VALUE 52/53 W B A FA Cup 4R 2R 09/02/1953 £50.00 This match played at Villa Park. If you want to see a breakdown of the programmes in the collection season by season then Click here.