It was roughly 10 years ago as of today that I started supporting Chelsea Football Club and over time come to become a huge fan that loves this club. My support started as a result of Ballack joining *[CFC]: Chelsea Football Club , who by the way is one of my all time favorites. What started as a joke went on to become an obsession for me. I wasn’t into Premier league or any kind of league, the only thing tying me to football was my love for German national team. Apart from that I never really followed any league or club.
Right after 2006 worldcup, I heard the news about Ballack joining CFC. Even then I didn’t really quiet follow the matches that closely or care that much about Chelsea. Once, I entered college everyone seemed to be into Premier league and when asked about the team I supported, I uttered “Chelsea”. I didn’t know who the manager was, who were the players, their ranking in the table nothing! All I knew was Ballack had just joined and that they wore blue jersey(which happened to be my favorite color).
When I was mocked for supporting Chelsea I got pretty bumbed and felt stupid for uttering Chelsea without thinking(and at that time it was just because Ballack joined them), that is when I started following Chelsea matches and it might sound stupid but prayed for them to win. At the beginning watching Ballack play was a good enough reason for me to not reconsider my support for Chelsea. And slowly I started learning the names of other players in the team. By the end of that year I was started supporting Chelsea, I stayed up late to watch the Champions league matches. I enjoyed watching the reruns for the matches that they had won every time it was replayed on the television, fun fact they replayed literally everyday. It felt good. Chelsea winning matches gave me joy.
I realized then why people enjoy sports and follow it. It is one of the easiest way to attain happiness(that is if your team wins :P) and over time knowlingly or unknowingly you form a bond with the team.
With every passing match, month, year, I learned more and more about the game, about the team, the tactics. Over the years I have come to enjoy many things about Chelsea and premier league. The excitment of transfer rumors, anticipation of deadline day transfers,the sadness of seeing your favorite player part ways with the club which you have come to love over time, the blood rush of derbys, heartbreak of losing, the excitment of goals, its just a unique experience. Imagine this is just as someone watching it live on television I am sure these feelings would get mutliplied by much higher factor if you were to watch it live in the stadium(one of th bucketlist items).
Anyways, these 10 years of following this club has been amazing. I have had my set of heartbreaks, excitments, joy, and anger. The happiest moment obviously Drogba’s kick at Munich which got us the holy grail on May 19th 2012. It gives me goosebumps every time I watch that match.
Unfortunately, this season was the most disappointing one that I have witnessed since I started supporting Chelsea. Hopefully, Conte can change this and am hoping this is a freak one off season that I am sooo glad got over!
I look forward to a rocking next season and many more seasons with more silverware and great football. KTBFFH!!