CONGRATS SUPER FRANK -

CHELSEA IN AMERICA'S FIRST

PLAYER OF THE YEAR!

CIA Chairwoman Beth Wild and Treasurer Andy Burbidge presented Frank with his award prior to the Club America match - a certificate and a CIA flag signed by the members! photo by Darren Walsh

SUMMER TOUR 2009 MEMORIES AND PHOTOSA word from the Editor

• Notes from the

Chairwoman

• Interview with

Tommy Langley

• Photos and

Anecdotes from

the Summer Tour

• August Dates to

Remember

• Tel's Season in

Question

• 5 Questions For...

• CFC Cathy's Tour

Diary

Chelsea have already come and gone - it all went by so quickly! Everyone involved should be proud of what became an entertaining and unifying 2009 tour. It was a great chance to come together, meet people and support our team, and I am already eagerly anticipating the next big CIA event!

We'll hopefully be welcoming lots of new fans thanks to the matches. I know I have at least two friends eager to join Chelsea in America after meeting everyone and witnessing our enthusiasm first-hand!

There will be plenty of thank-you's contained in the following pages, so I'd like to dedicate the front page of this Bluesletter to what can tell a better story than words - the photos.

Photo courtesy of Phil Watson aka Blueref

Photo courtesy of Stephen Rea aka stevo

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 4 AUGUST 2009

CONTRIBUTORS:

A big thanks to everyone who helps make the CIA Bluesletter possible.

Editor: Jamie EdwardsChairwoman: Beth WildLogo and Graphics: Raciel DiazDates to Remember: Tel Stevens

CIA Crest done in collaboration with Who Are Ya Designs - www.whoareyadesigns.com

Want to contribute or make a suggestion? Send Jamie an email at newsletter@chelseainamerica.com!

WOW! Honestly, that is the only thing I can think to say to describe the past two weeks. I don’t know about you but I had the best time ever! That was seriously the most fun, most happy, most celebrated summer tour ever. I got to finally see so many members, and yet I know I didn’t get to see all of you. To those I missed, I am sorry, and I just wish we had more time.

First and always let me thank all those that gave time, e!ort and more e!ort to planning, working and helping out. There is literally a blue army of volunteers that made the summer tour possible. And thank you from the bottom of my heart and on behalf of everyone for the hours and e!ort you put in. We could never have had such a successful summer tour without each one of you. I send you all my love, thanks and more thanks! As I told a few of you, generally the summer tours are more work for me and the other organizers than it is fun, and this year you gave me the best gift I could have ever imagined - enough time to actually enjoy the tour. You were all amazing and I still get very choked up thinking about how wonderful you all are that the jobs at hand were shared by so many that so generously gave. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Seattle was the kick o!, and honestly, I remember five years ago when that stadium was not even half full - look what has happened. It was the true harbinger of a tour of epic proportions, and it set the standard very high. The folks at Fado’s were incredible; what a great place to party. We might have been vastly outnumbered in Seattle but we were not out-spirited. And my hats o! to the Sounders supporters; how wonderful to see the support for their team and the game in my old stomping grounds."

Next up was Pasadena, and as much as I thought it couldn’t get better, what a party! The tournament was amazing. Though my football skills could only be called amazing in the lack of skill I have, despite the heat it was quite a great time! Mitch and Danny should run the FA, as surely we would have a better

schedule with them in charge. And what can you say about Lucky B’s? Amazingly wonderful place, and so glad so many of us got a chance to be there if not for what seemed like only a flash. And what about our seats? Hats o! to LAFC Chelsea for giving us the best seats in the house!"

There was quite a trek across the country to Baltimore and I just knew it couldn’t get any better after Seattle and then Pasadena, but the folks in Baltimore were awesome. We didn’t really do anything special, but Pratt Street Ale House is so wonderful! Our own floor of the pub and what a great time! Despite a real mess up with the practice, I think everyone made up for it by drinking plenty of Chelsea Bitter and having such a laugh! Also, what a brilliant night in the stadium!"

That stupid early flight to Dallas was not a good plan, but it all worked out. As we headed back to my home town, I was a bit worried that we could never live up to the other three venues. But I think we did! We got everyone to the practice and how fun was that? The Storm Cellar was great. The tailgate - well we almost made it through without running out of beer and the food was the best tailgate food I have ever had. Despite hearing from everyone that we would be vastly out numbered in a half empty stadium, was it just me or was that place nearly full and nearly half full of Chelsea! What a great sing-song, and it was great that we won again. Yes, the highlight in Texas was JT announcing he is staying at the club, but then I should have known he would wait until he was in my neck of the woods to say that!

"

And then there are our Legends (okay, two Legends and a wanker in a hat)! How amazing was that? Did everyone get to meet them, or at least one of them? The best refs ever! How incredible was it to have them stuck in with us at every pub, at every practice, at every match? You know they aren’t called Legends for anything, and they earned that title once again on the Summer Tour! I can tell you that each one of them must have thanked me and all of you about 100 times and said it was the best football tour they had ever experienced. How great you all were, how much fun they had, and yes, that they were going to tell the other boys that it was sh*t, horrible, that we were horrible, all because they want to come back again. But you do have to love them. And thanks to all of you, and I do mean all of you, that bought tickets, merchandise or event tickets etc. Thanks to your purchases and a few generous sponsors we not only raised the $15,000 to pay for their way over, but we also raised nearly $4000 for the Past Players Trust! YOU GUYS ARE TRULY AWESOME!"

And so for those of you that were there and those of you that weren’t - we did get to present our Player of the Year award to Frank on the pitch before the

Deep from the Heart - Summer Tour Reflection

Notes from the Chairwoman

Continued on Page 9

PAGE 2

Any favorite memories from the tour?

The tour was tremendous. LA was great in that we had a lot of participation in the 5-a-side competition. The weather was great and we had a lot of good fun at the respective bars. It was a good bunch of people, as it was in all three cities. Baltimore was a little bit more laid-back and we just had the Q&A and the game to go to. Probably LA best, because it was geared toward meeting people first of all and seeing them play football, and that was good fun. All three stadiums were very impressive, none more so than Dallas at the end, that was like the icing on the cake.

What was your impression of the US fans?

First of all, the amount - I just couldn't believe how many there were. There was a frightening amount of blue shirts at the two games in LA and Baltimore. We were a little bit outnumbered in Dallas, but that was understandable considering where we were in the country. I have never ever seen so many Chelsea shirts in a foreign country and that really impressed me. It's a cliche, but it really did blow me away. I just couldn't understand where all these people had come from and how they got the love of Chelsea Football Club. It's so nice for me being a Chelsea supporter as well as an ex-player to see that support now being blown apart all over the world. There's been a lot of criticism aimed at the Chelsea board for continually coming over to the States but I think it's borne fruit now because looking at what's gone on in the stadiums I was at, it's unbelievable. The Chelsea following in the States is second-to-none. That, combined with the expats, made for a fantastic atmosphere.

How surprised were you at the knowledge of the club that the fans over here had?

I thought it was great. The enthusiasm, the way they wanted to enjoy the games and get into the atmosphere - I go to American football games and it's not there, there's a bit of banter but it's not

the singing that we were getting up to. Obviously, quite a few have been over to the UK and seen it for their own benefits over here. They've read up on the history of Jock and myself in particular and knew quite a bit about it, which was nice. What they knew about Chelsea Football Club generally and the players and the sta! and the people involved in the present-day, if that knowledge and enthusiasm can continue, Chelsea's presence will be vast.

What would UK supporters find most amazing or startling about the support in America?

We're in our own little bubble at Stamford Bridge, about 39,000 people who love CFC there on a week-in, week-out basis at home. But to see the support we had in an 82,000 crowd in the Rose Bowl was phenomenal - that alone would blow their minds. Then the enthusiasm and the way they want to support the club and the players. And the knowledge they've got because yes, in the UK we're very football orientated and expect American people to be involved with baseball, American football, basketball, and the general knowledge of 99% of the fans there was fantastic. It's the three things, really (number of fans, enthusiasm and knowledge) - UK fans would be amazed of those three things going on in America.

So would you say the game's grown quite a bit since you played here?

I played at the end of the football era in

Tampa. Tampa was a dying ember - it was very sparse and not very atmospheric. That was 1989, I only had three months out there and unfortunately pulled my hamstring. I think the American people got sucked into getting high-profile old people out to play in the early 70s and 80s and they were milked for money. They were getting people more intent on building up their suntan as opposed to playing football. It's now been rekindled; the MLS has got stronger, Beckham's gone over, and I think it's better run and better organized financially. And yes, David Beckham is probably the major exception to the rule in the money that he's earning. But I think the popularity and awareness, he's earned that in those rights alone.

Any suggestions for where Chealsea in America can go from here?

No, because you're doing a fantastic job. It was so well organized and there were such great people. Continue doing what you're doing - if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I was speaking to Danny at the end of it, and he was saying to me that after the LA visit alone, there was another 300 or 400 hits on the website. If you look at all three bars we attended (well, we attended more than three bars which was fortunate!), we had a load of supporters there that weren't as aware of CFC as they are now. Keep spreading the word. It was so well-organized, it surprised me. I spoke to Jock today about it, and we're absolutely still gobsmacked. We just couldn't sing enough praises for you out there.

What is your favorite Chelsea memory, as a player or as a supporter?

As a player, there's a couple - Beating Liverpool at home in the FA Cup was fantastic because they were champions of Europe at the time and we were a young side trying to find our feet, so that was a memorable day. Also the Wolves game where I described the fact that there should be no crowd there, and we turned up and the far end was all Chelsea blue. We drew 1-1 and got the

The Legends (Tommy on the right) in Pasadena, photo courtesy of Julie Carlson

TOMMY LANGLEY - CAREFREE IN THE USAChelsea Legend Tommy Langley was kind enough to agree to do a post-Summer Tour

interview for our Bluesletter. Thanks to Beth for conducting the interview!

Continued on Page 4

PAGE 3

point we needed to go up. They were two very, very good days. Then, just after the Liverpool cup game, we played them in the league and I scored what I think is probably my best goal to equalize at 1-1. We won 3-1, so we beat them twice at home that year and, as I said, they were European Champions. But, let me be honest, every time you pull the blue shirt on, it's a great memory. And every time you stuck the ball in the back of the net, it was a great feeling.

What other non-Chelsea interests do you have?

Day by day I'm an agent and that is a very frustrating game to be in because you think you've got something, then someone wants one of your players, then for some reason they pull the plug on the money or change their mind, but that's what I do day-to-day. I love the horses - I work from home so I can have the telly on while I'm on the phone watching the horse racing. I play a little bit of golf although very poorly and when I've got enough money because I know they're gonna beat me anyway and take money o! me, so I have to save up to play golf now! And my love for football - I have to go to lots of football matches, not just Chelsea. I have young boys playing in youth team football, under-16s. I watch the young boys hopefully blossom into the new Didier Drogbas, John Terrys, Frank Lampards.

Or maybe a Daniel Sturridge?

He looked like he's got some ability - a confident boy, got a lovely left foot, not frightened to shoot, created some havoc in defenses, and I like the look of him. I think he's got a long way to go and a lot to learn, but he's got the basics in place. If we have to go into January and February without the likes of Didier and Salomon, at the end of the day he's not gonna be a guy I'm afraid of coming in and replacing them. I'm looking forward to it.

If you could bring any other player to Chelsea, who would it be?

Lionel Messi. Especially the way we're playing, we need a door-opener. We

played Reading at the weekend, drew 2-2; typical preseason game. They're a week ahead of us and it showed. Our inability to open doors in the final third when we had so much possession was one which we sat through a lot of last year under Scolari. When you're looking to open defenses, you need someone who's got that magical turn of pace or magical ability to beat someone. Joe Cole fits that bill to a degree but he's not fit. I know we've been linked to Franck Ribéry who is a similar sort of player, but if I had my wish it would be Lionel Messi.

Do you have any pre-game rituals?

When we were on our CL run last year - [in the studio] I have to wear a jacket, shirt, and tie. Obviously people only see the top half, below that I've got stockings and suspenders and high-heels on! Wait - no I haven't, I've got jeans... I got carried away there! I wore my jeans day one and believe it or not, I never washed them all the way through to the semi-final against Barcelona. I don't know why because I'm not superstitious. But I never wore them any other time, so they didn't stink! I said to my wife, don't wash them because I think they're lucky. And I'm not superstitious, it was just something I thought: "We'll keep the same habits." I tended to put on the same aftershave in a certain manner. I used the same aftershave, CK Summer, but it's blue! I wore that every game as well. I don't think it makes one iota of di!erence to John Terry or Frank Lampard that I'm wearing that aftershave, but it certainly in my mind was a helpful thing to do.

What is your favorite Chelsea song?

I like them all, to be fair. There's not one that stands out. I love the Celery one because it's been with us a long time. I love the Carefree one because I had a racehorse probably about four years ago that I called Carefree Girl. Unfortunately, she was useless so it didn't really fit the bill. Any song that the boys can hear us supporting them was great. I've actually come back and watched a few of the preseason games and it's amazing the amount of noise and one or two songs you can hear in the background. It's amazing how you guys have been up on the songs and know they're the anthems.

Anything else to say to the Chelsea in America members to sum up your experience?

Well first, I'd like to thank Danny for picking me up, because without him picking me up I wouldn't have seen what I saw - even though we had a 20 mile hike to his van and it was boiling hot! It was great. Thank you, Kelley, the Andys of this world, so many people - I don't want to leave anyone out because there were a lot of people who were helpful and friendly out there.

From Jock and me, we were unbelievably impressed. It was a fantastic atmosphere and the way we were treated was like the King and Queen of England - Jock was the Queen, obviously! You can't comprehend the way that we feel about you guys out there. The way we were entertained and looked after - the whole thing was just an exceptional experience and one when I was going out that I had hoped I was going to enjoy but could never imagine how much I'd enjoy it. A massive thank you to everybody who played their part, especially the gentleman attached to immigration who I met in LA. And you guys for raising money for us old so-and-so's out in England who hopefully will learn to appreciate what you've got out there because you've got something very special.

We were lucky guys, Jock and myself. We got to pull the Chelsea shirt on on a regular basis; we got to score goals for Chelsea. And now people like yourselves are making a fuss of us, and the hospitality was unreal in all areas I was at. It was just a credit to you all. If Chelsea Football Club were as organized as you people out there, I think we'd be winning everything because it was fantastic!

Photo courtesy of Phil Watson

PAGE 4

Tommy Langley,

continued from Page 3

CHELSEA 2 - 0 SEATTLE SOUNDERS

ATTENDANCE: 65,289

CHELSEA 2 - 0 CLUB AMERICA

ATTENDANCE: 57,229

Dallas photos courtesy of Charles Johnson aka icarus39

Seattle photos courtesy of Ian McNally aka ChicagoIan

PAGE 5

CHELSEA 2 - 0 INTER MILAN

ATTENDANCE: 81,224

All Pasadena photos courtesy of Julie Carlson aka ChelseaChickSoCal unless otherwise indicated

Mad Mark in JT's match-worn shirt!

This one is for the Chelsea Chicks...

There are so many, but if I had to pick one it was watching the whole match at the Rose Bowl from over the ESPN cameraman's shoulder next to the goal that Frank scored in.

My attractive young friend wrangled on field passes from a Chelsea in LA connection that were good up until kick o!. Before the game, we walked around to say hi to the referees. I had worked in Sioux Falls with George Gansner and had met Ricardo Salazar and Kevin Stott at the Referee Academy in Iowa. They were very gracious in taking a moment during their pregame warm up to talk to me!

We then walked slowly back towards our section, pausing to say hi to Lori Fair, doing hospitality for Chelsea. I then had a quick word with Bill Blood, who was

most appreciative of the flag that the CIA sent him 2 years ago.

A security man initially stopped us going back along behind the goal, but then let us through. We just stopped at the other side of the goal and hoped that no one would ask us to move....and no one did!We just tried to look as if we belonged there and not look at anyone else!

I think the security thought that I was a Chelsea team o#cial, as they asked me about that when I rejoined the fans section after the game.

The best bit was shortly before the end of the match when I waved to the CIA in the stands and they responded with "Who are ya? Who are ya?"!!!!

MEMORIES FROM THE ROSE BOWLby Phil Watson

Two above photos courtesy of Phil Watson aka Blueref

PAGE 6

Mad Mark and Mad Andy!

Where I live, other Chelsea fans are hard to come by. (Everyone seems to be a Man U fan in these parts, sad to say.) Sure, I’ll see the occasional jersey at the pub on match day, but that’s about it. So to be in Baltimore—at Pratt Street Ale House, the Sheraton, Pickle’s Pub and the stadium—surrounded by thousands of Blue shirts from all over the world was incredible. It felt like a home away from home, filled with distant friends and family. "

It’s been close to a week since the game, and still I can’t stop thinking about it. The extemporaneous bursts of song—at the pub, at the pool, wherever. (I’m still having dreams about singing!)

The march to the stadium passing out Chelsea gear to the kids and chanting “Who are ya?” at every Rossineri we came by. The way the stands erupted when Didier scored that first goal. And again at Zhirkov’s goal. Putting faces to the names I see on the board every day—Crowtrobot, Carolinablue and a whole host of others. Not just meeting Tommy Langley, Steve Finnieston and Neil Barnett, but walking with them to the meet-and-greet. "

But there’s one thing that sticks in my mind above all else. When my wife and I and a few others got back from the (disastrous) autograph session, a little upset we didn’t get to meet the lads,

Chris Axon stopped by our table and said something I’ll never forget. "“The guys on the team are all great, but they’ll be gone some day. But Chelsea, mate, Chelsea’ll be here forever.”*"

Right on. I’ll be keeping the Blue Flag flying high in my neck of the woods, counting down the days until the next American tour—and all the many exciting years of Chelsea still to come."

“Carefree, wherever you may be,We are the famous CFC…” "

*This is paraphrased, of course—I’d had a few pints of the Chelsea ale by then!

CHELSEA 2 - 1 AC MILAN

ATTENDANCE: 71,203

OVER LAND AND SEA (AND BALTIMORE!) by Josh Hampton

Above photo courtesy of Ben Horner aka NUHusky13

Above photo and right courtesy of Josh Hampton aka wordnerd1975

Above photo courtesy of Paul Peltz aka PaulUTKCIA takes over the Orioles dugout! Photo courtesy of Chris Axon aka VINCI PER NOIR

PAGE 7

In honor of Chelsea in America having two legends join us on the summer tour, I thought the first season in question should be our promotion season of 1976-77.

After finishing a mediocre 11th in the previous season, a big improvement was expected. Eddie McCreadie had a very young squad of players but still had three of his teammates in the side from the 1970 Cup Final win, The Cat, Chopper and the Wizard of the dribble. Some of the youngsters included Gary Locke, Ray Lewington and Steve Finnieston.

1976 was a hot hot summer in England and as always there was a bright sunny day to start to the footy season. Our season started with an away game at Leyton Orient and it started well with a 1-0 win thanks to a Steve “Jock” Finnieston goal. August was a good start to the season dropping one point from three games. September saw us start with a loss (0-3) to our “friendly neighbors” Millwall, but the rest of the month we went unbeaten winning all four games, Jock having now scored 4 times in 7 games.

With the winter months fast approaching Chelsea were looking in good shape, having only lost once and drawn once in our opening 8 games. October was going to follow September in terms of results as we again lost one game this time to the mighty Bristol Rovers away. Jock was still banging in the goals getting another 5. Kenny Swain was also getting a few, having scored 5 in 12 games. November saw us go unbeaten, winning two and drawing two which kept us top of the league entering December.

December saw us playing a total of 6 games. We lost the first and last of these games, drew three, but the one game we did manage to win was in our “local derby” with Fulham. In front of a crowd of 55,003 we got a 2-0 win thanks to goals from Mickey Droy and Kenny Swain.

January started with a 5-1 home win against Hereford Utd. We only had one other game this month due to the FA Cup, so we were looking forward to February, which started o! with a win but from there it went downhill pretty quick. We didn’t win another game in February and, to make matters worse, we started March o! the same way. Thankfully, by the time we had to play Cardi! away Eddie Mac must have told the boys we have a good chance of promotion as we promptly beat Cardi! 3-1, Bristol Rovers 2-0 and, in April, Blackburn 3-1. As the season was coming towards the home straight, Chelsea seemed to lose concentration as we couldn’t put a string of results together. We would win one, lose one, draw one. However, we did get a big win at the end of April, beating She#eld Utd 4-0, thanks to goals from Wilkins, Jock, Lewington, and Langley.

On May 7th we only need to get one point to guarantee promotion back to division one, and we got it thanks to a Tommy Langley strike. At the end of the game the Chelsea fans “rushed” the gate that was separating both sets of fans. Wolves were not happy with this, and there were a few unsavory scenes. But none the less we were going up, and we had one game to spare, which was the following weekend at home to Hull City. We won easily 4-0 with Jock bagging himself the only hat-trick of the season.

Seasons Stats:

POY Ray WilkinsLeading Goalscorer: Steve Finnieston - 24 goals in 39 gamesEver Present(s): Gary Locke, Ray Wilkins, Ray Lewington - 42 gamesFA Cup Rd 3:" Southampton (H) L 0-3League Cup Rd 4: Arsenal (A) L 2-1Average Home Gate: 30,633Highest Gate: Fulham 55,003Lowest Gate: Notts Co 17,426"Footnote: July 1st Eddie McCreadie quit due to a contract dispute. What might have been had he stayed!

August Dates to

Remember

The 1919-1920 season was the first season in which we started in August and it started with a 3-1 away win at Everton.

8/3/1989 - Sam Hutchinson's birthday

8/5/1985 - Salomon Kalou's birthday

8/6/1971 - Scott Minto's birthday - his last game for us for the 1997 FA Cup Final

8/12/1982 - This date saw us pound Dirty Leeds 4-0 at a 3-sided Stamford Bridge; somehow we still managed to get a crowd of 51,102 in there!

8/13/2000 - Chelsea beat Man Utd 2-0 at the old Wembley in the Charity Shield. Goals from Melchiot and JFH secures us the Shield for the first time since 1955

8/16/1968 - Slavisa Jokanovic will be 41

8/24/1982 - Jose Bosingwa's birthday

8/25/1984 - A day that meant Chelsea were back, back in the old 1st Division with a 1-1 draw at Highbury. King Kerry scored a great goal in front of a Chelsea-fan-packed Clock End. We played them o! the park and should have won!

8/27/1977 - Deco's birthday

Graeme Le Saux resigns for Chelsea just before the season started in August 1997.

TEL'S SEASON IN QUESTIONby Tel Stevens

PAGE 8

How did you become Chelsea, and when?

The ball started rolling a number of years ago when I saw a week old replay on a Fox sports channel." I can’t remember who we played and whether or not we won." But I always say I’ve followed Chelsea for years, but have been a true, proper, knowledgeable supporter for the last 4." That’s what counts for me.

If you could have any player from any other team play for Chelsea, who would it be?

Titus Bramble no doubt." I’m kidding of course." If this were Fifa for the Xbox, I would love to have Messi on the squad but there are so many things to consider when buying a player." Hunger, attitude, drama factor etc." They aren’t video game robots, though some say Essien might be.

Do you have any pregame rituals? If so what are they?

Interesting question." I don’t really have much going on before the matches." I suppose you could say my pregame ritual is waking up, showering and brushing my teeth." Yea, that’s the life for a West Coast supporter." 5:30am kick o!s." Lucky us.

What is your favorite (non-Summer

Tour) Chelsea memory?

It’s di#cult to pin it down to one, but I’ll keep it in the CIA realm." Winning silverware (09 FA Cup) for the first time as a group at the pub was something special." It brought us even closer that morning which is amazing considering how tight of a group we already were in So Cal.

What is your favorite memory from the Summer Tour?

I truly can’t give one favorite." There were just so many memories and classic moments on and o! the pitch from this tour." Mostly o! the pitch ;). "I believe most people would give the same answer to this question." I’ll just say that meeting so many new people and strengthening existing friendships was the best part." Seeing the lads in action is what we’re here for but I’d like to think that the tour is about us." We all deserved a party like this.

5 QUESTIONS FOR... PACIFIC COAST BLUE DANNY CAMPOS

game in Arlington. Yes, he did recognize me and, as you all saw, he did not run away in fear. I got the chance to tell Frank what the award was - our club flag, signed by members and flown at every venue during the summer tour - to which he said, “That is so cool, thank you so very much.” Then, in typical Frank fashion, he said, “Please tell everyone thank you, thank you for the support this summer, we heard you, and thank you for the support throughout the year. It is amazing!” So there you go, from Frank Lampard himself, he heard you, the whole team did, and they appreciate it. Now they know that, along with voices they hear every week, this growing Blue Army in America are lifting their voices as well during every match through the season. So stand tall and be counted, they know we are here. And then if you want to know what I whispered in his ear at the end: “Frank can you do me a huge favor? Can you please tell JT THANK YOU from all of us for making the announcement that he is staying. We are all so very happy!” Frank replied: “Of course I will. I promise to tell

him, and we are all very happy.” So there you have it. It was amazing. And yes, we did hear you! Possibly better than giving the award to Frank was hearing all of you when we got on the pitch. Honestly, I nearly broke down and cried at that moment - it was the greatest sound I have ever heard!"

So as Roy Bentley always writes, “Thanks for the memories.” I know everyone has them, and I hope that they are as wonderful as mine. We are still working because the start of the new season is upon us, and we have more stu! planned! We will keep you updated. For now the big push is on for membership and with less than two weeks of membership applications available we have over 100 members, and most of them, a vast majority of them are brand new! So come on you “vets,” be sure to renew. Just go to www.chelseainamerica.com and look for the banner ad at the top of the home page. We reduced membership from $20 to $8 for individuals and also made reductions for families and for youth members, so please renew! Also remember that if you are signing up for True Blue Membership you need to send

me an email or a PM with your True Blue membership number. You can’t get access to tickets without being both a CIA member and a True Blue member, and I need to know for sure you have signed up for True Blue membership as well. The ticket page for Chelsea tickets will be up shortly, as soon as it is we will let all True Blue members know the url and the password. We are working hard at catching up on membership and should have board privileges updated and on shortly, and member cards will be going out very soon for the first batch. We are already working on the editing of the video and will be sending a DVD out to all paid members as soon as that is done (if you have video footage PLEASE LET ME KNOW IMMEDIATELY!)."

Well that about does it for now. Again thank you to everyone!!! And don’t forget Sunday the 9th of August - Charity Shield Match against the Mancs, live on FSC at 10 am EDT, 9 am CDT and 7 am PST. The season starts the next week!"

KEEP THE FAITH!CAREFREE!

Deep from the Heart,

continued from Page 2

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"I had always wanted to travel to Vancouver and upon hearing Chelsea were heading for Seattle decided to drop into Vancouver before moving on to the first game." We stayed at the Four Seasons Hotel in Vancouver for three nights where a beautiful hotel room, bed, flatscreen TV and DVD player awaited us." We found the guided tours rather expensive at CAD 80-100 so decided to buy travel cards and do the tours ourselves to save some money." We visited Granville Island, Stanley Park, Robson Street for shopping, the Capilano Suspension Bridge and Grouse Mountain in two full days.

On the Friday morning, we left Vancouver by coach and arrived in Seattle at 12.00 noon." We attempted to check in to our hotel, and forgetting the “tipping” (or bribing policy as I would prefer to call it), we couldn’t check into the Sheraton until 3.30 pm so decided to dump our luggage and head for the Space Needle which gave us a wonderful view over the whole of Seattle." Seattle is another beautiful city and on every second corner, there was a Starmucks which we found rather useful ." We caught a taxi to Qwest Field, the Stadium where the team were playing the Sounders the following afternoon, for a training session with the team and took many photos before returning to Fado’s pub for a question and answer session with Neil Barnett and “Jock” Finnieston."" Jock went on to tell us of his debut and how his career was brought to an early end at She#eld United and how he felt honoured at being invited out to the States by the CIA (Chelsea in America)." Neil and Jock took questions from the audience which consisted of expats, Americans and fans who had travelled from England and there were signed photographs being auctioned o! for the Past Players Trust." It was a great evening but mindful of the game kicking o! at 12.00 noon the next day, we all had a reasonably early night."

The next morning Fados had laid on a breakfast at $12, but it was far too early for me." I was approached by a reporter from one of the local papers who saw me singing, tried to get an explanation out of me regarding the celery as I was

throwing it on the pavement (please give up and just accept the song) and could not believe my record of watching games etc." After two more pints we made our way to the ground which was a ten minute walk." The stadium was absolutely packed with Sounders fans and a small corner was reserved for us, although there were pockets of CFC shirts everywhere."

The game started o! with shiny ticker tape falling down which look really impressive followed by the two national anthems." I must say that Sounders were the noisiest of all the American teams we had previously played and started o! well before the impressive Sturridge scored and then Lampard tapped in." During the game Sheva or “Bruno” (as in the Sacha Baron Cohen character) as he is now called came on." I did not even recognise Sheva until he came close up and everyone then started the chant of “Bruno”!." After this easy game, we headed back to Fados and stood outside the pub talking to some locals and expats who were shouting “ACES” to Sounders fans." ACES, as I soon found out, meant “Any Club Except Seattle” so we chanted this a few times in a bantering exchange."" Wrayman, one of the Orange County CFC fans who is a great character and is well known to many at the Bridge for giving out his “hooligan” T-shirts, asked us all to join him for something to eat and we enjoyed local seafood specialities etc. and while sitting at the bar, I was approached by an elderly gentleman." “You sound like a fun bunch – would you like to come to a comedy club tonight – I have tickets here for you …”" - then this guy followed up with a laugh which was the strangest I had ever heard and was a kin to the high pitched “oooh, oooh” at the end of the Florent Malouda song – the more I laughed, the more this guy was highpitching “oooh oooh”." We were all crying as we left the restaurant and returned to the pavement outside Fados."

In Seattle there is a tour bus called the “Ducks” which looks like a rowing boat with wheels and a canopy which tours the City before going into the sea." We had seen these pass all day but now two

were coming along singing “Staying Alive” and were full of transvestites!" As soon as Delboy the QPR convert from Vegas saw these “guys”, he immediately took o! his shirt much to the delight and whistles of the trannies – this could only happen in America!

The next morning we departed with Alaska Air – an impressively roomy aircraft – to Bob Hope Burbank Airport for the next game in Pasadena which was 15 miles away."" We arrived at the Sheraton and were allowed to check in early and went to have a look around the town which was much smaller than we imagined and had a bargain meal in an Argentinean restaurant where the steak was the most succulent and tender steak I had tasted for years." I had a word with the proprietor who was Argentinean about Boca Junior and River Plate and he was telling me how this is now a tourist attraction etc." We later met all the others in Lucky Baldwin’s Bar in Pasadena and Jock and Neil Barnett were joined by Tommy Langley for another Q&A session." Tommy went on to tell everyone that he was Chelsea “through and through” – indeed his whole family were." He spoke of making his debut at the age of 16 and 64 members of his family, including aunts, uncles and cousins, coming out of the woodwork, wanting tickets to watch him play etc." He told a host of jokes and there was plenty of banter between him, Jock and Neil and the whole audience was thoroughly impressed and listening to their every word." There was another auction and Tommy upped the bidding by kissing some of the female fans for an extra USD 10 which built up the money raised for this charity." All in all a very good night was had by all, even though Mo got caught with her six bottles of Corona in her bag by the Security guards at the end of the evening!"

The next day Mo went to Los Angeles and Holywood and came back late." We had missed all the lifts to the stadium, the Rosebowl, which was 2 miles away and then saw an open topped sports car driven by Colin Davies, and he gave us a

CFC CATHY'S SUMMER TOUR DIARYby Catherine McDonnell

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lift which was two yards from the tailgate party." I have got to say I felt the Rose Bowl was showing its age and had expected more from the stadium." I had told everyone in the UK that I would starting singing the Zigger Zagger on 10 minutes and started this only for Drogba to score in the middle of it!" With Lampard scoring from the spot, this was another convincing win leaving Mourinho with a face like an Idris lemon and me smiling when I got a glimpse of Aston Kutcher (Phorrr!)." Whilst I was doing the zigger zagger, we were situated next to Italians and Mexicans who actually joined in on the songs!" One asked what all the deal was about the celery, I gave him an explanation which didn’t make sense and left a piece of celery in his hood." As we were leaving the ground, we noticed he had dropped his blackberry so handed it into security." All in all a great day for football fans!" We jumped into Colin’s car with the roof retracted and I insisted he played Laurel Aitken’s “Zigger” song which he duly did and we played it 3 times on the spin singing “Do you remember Greenaway..” “Kick o!, kick o!”; “Zigger Zagger, oi, oi, oi” – Colin’s daughters loved it and were still singing it 48 hours later and everyone else thought we were nuts!

The next morning was an early start to LAX for the 5.5 hour plane journey to Baltimore and the 3 hour time di!erence." I was finding it di#cult enough to sleep without all this – I had only managed 2-3 hours a night if I was lucky!" So we didn’t get to Baltimore until late in the evening with AirTran." On our flight was Pam Shriver – who looked taller and more of a man than John Drewitt who was accompanied by her three children, including George Junior, who looked a handful!" The next day Mo went into Washington while I chatted around the pool with Tommy and Jock and some other expats before going to the Pratt Street Bar where things were in full swing with Chelsea as well as there being a fireman’s convention in town." The pubs takings must have been astronomical that day and that evening we went to watch the team train only to be told it was cancelled so we returned to the pub before going on to Pickles Pub which

was to be our pub for the next day." Just as we started walking the heavens opened up and there was 6 inches of water and no drainage – I gave up trying to keep dry and started kicking the water “singing in the rain” before finally making it to Pickles." “Jock and Tommy Langley” was sung to the Juliano Belletti song and Chris Axon was trying to chat up two young birds before I approached with my “what are you doing chatting up my husband..” routine and I watched them disappear!"

We left there at 3.00 a.m. and had to get up early the next morning to do a tour of the Camden Yards/Orioles stadium where Babe Ruth made his name."" Later on that day, we resumed drinking at Pickles." “That was great last night,” said the owner of the bar, “Are you going to sing some more” – I was absolutely hoarse and was saving my voice for the stadium but had to force out another one for a pint a cider which although not strongbow, was a $3 alternative which tasted great!" We made the short walk to the M&T Bank Stadium." We were all shocked by Drogba’s early strike which was a stunner and Milan really gave us a game with Seedorf equalising before the impressive Zhirkov scored the winner for us."

Mindful of yet another early start, we left the ground for the hotel and got up at 6.30 a.m. for the 3 hour trip to Dallas Fort Worth." Our hotel was near the airport and without a car we really felt stranded here but had a shuttle service to take us to the main pub in Euless which was between the hotel and the Dallas Cowboys new ground in Arlington." We were lucky that Steve, an expat, and his wife from Florida drove us to the training at the stadium where we saw the fantastic stadium (cost $1.12bn) which was a magnificent structure with leather padded seats and which had the biggest TV set in the world hanging from the stadium roof which cost $40m." However, the cost of this TV didn’t deter JT from kicking balls skywards and hitting it – much to the annoyance of the groundsman." A few zigger zaggers and a “you started swine ‘flu” ensued during this training session and the next day we came back to reality by being seated in plastic seats." Ancellotti decided to rest the first team squad and played the youngsters for this game and they did very well, particularly di Santo who

scored late on and the much improved Malouda.

A trip Dallas where JFK was assassinated was only made possible by the kindness of Tel and Amy from Texas." I must say I found the whole experience of Deeley Plaza, the Grassy Knoll and the Museum most moving and eerie." From TV pictures you believe the street to be extremely wide but it is quite narrow and you could see how easy it was for anyone to assassinate Kennedy." We finally made a trip to Southfork where the Dallas series was filmed and finally got to see the settings for the poison dwarf."

All in all a great trip made possible by the great organisation of Chelsea in America, and in particular, the tireless work done by Beth Wild, and I would also like to thank Cary Eddy for organising the hotels and hotel shuttles."

Cathy's Tour Diary,

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Note from the Ed.: Cathy regularly writes for the UK Chelsea fanzine CFCUK. If you're ever out to Stamford Bridge, be sure to pick up a copy!

PARTING SHOTS

Photo credit for this page goes to Stephen Rea, Julie Carlson, Ian McNally, and Jamie Edwards.

A special thank-you to everyone who contributed their stories and photos for the Bluesletter!

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