Mag 153 by Chelsea Magazine

CHELSEA FC T H E

O F F I C I A L

C H E L S E A

F O O T B A L L

C L U B

Marcos Alonso was raised with a ball at his feet, and success is in his blood

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M A G A Z I N E

CONTENTS ISSUE 153 // MAY 2017

Words | Dominic Bliss Pictures | Darren Walsh

CENTRE STAGE Gary Cahill, David Luiz and Paulo Ferreira were the stars of last month’s An Audience With event at Under The Bridge. This season’s on-field skipper and his defensive partner were joined by former Blues full-back and club ambassador Ferreira to answer questions from the fans in attendance, with Chelsea TV’s Gigi Salmon taking on the role of question master. There were plenty of laughs along the way, with topics ranging from that memorable night in Munich, to Antonio Conte’s insatiable appetite for work and Cesar Azpilicueta’s superstitious streak

DOMESTIC HONOURS

Gary Cahill (GC): For sure, loads of memories and I agree, it has gone really fast. There have been a lot of highlights, some ups and downs in those fives years, and I have enjoyed my time here thoroughly.

Football League/ Premier League champions 1955, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2015

32 PIC OF THE MONTH

FA Cup winners 1970, 1997, 2000, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012 Football League Cup winners 1965, 1998, 2005, 2007, 2015 FA Charity/ Community Shield winners 1955, 2000, 2005, 2009

18 March

HAPPY FACES He has a knack of popping up with his fair share of goals, and Gary Cahill’s sixth of the season was certainly a timely one for the Blues. You can see what the defender’s 87th-minute strike at the Bet365 Stadium meant to the players by the emotions etched on their faces. It could also turn out to be hugely important in the title run-in, having earned us all three points against the Potters.

Full Members Cup winners 1986, 1990

EUROPEAN HONOURS UEFA Champions League winners 2012

07 Blues News 12 Marcos Alonso 20 Month Ahead 22 Photo Album 30 The Month That Was 32 Drawing On Experience: Erland Johnsen 40 Peter Houseman 42 An Audience With... 48 Tore Andre Flo 51 Match Action 54 Pic of the Month 56 Month In Numbers 58 Academy 62 Ladies 69 Chelsea Foundation 72 Fiona Phillips 77 We Were There 80 Message Board 82 King’s Road Boutique MESSAGE BOARD

Where fans show the Chelsea colours, wherever they may be

UEFA Europa League winners 2013

The Blues won our fifth FA Cup by defeating Everton in the final in 2009. How much do you know about that team?

ROSS MCQUEENEY Happy birthday to Ross McQueeney, from all the family. Ross turned 11 years old on 5 April and celebrated becoming another year older at Stamford Bridge by attending our Premier League home game against Manchester City on the same day.

08 05

Alex has supported Chelsea from his home in Singapore since 1996, where he always sings our name whether we win, lose or draw. Watching the legendary Gianfranco Zola play remains the personal highlight of his time following the Blues. Whenever he leaves Singapore, Alex is sure to bring at least two of his Chelsea shirts with him to show his love of the club around the world. As this photo proves, it was no different when he visited Spain in 2013.

European Cup Winners’ Cup winners 1971, 1998

Milan and his dad Bert timed their summer holiday to Austria last year very well, finding themselves in the country at the same time the Chelsea first team visited during preseason. As well as seeing the Blues in action in our first two friendlies, against Rapid Vienna and WAC RZ Pellets, they also visited our training camp in Velden, where they watched Antonio Conte putting the players through their paces in one of his first sessions with the squad. Naturally, Milan grabbed this photo with the Italian.

0371 811 1955 International +44(0) 20 7386 9373 (Mon-Fri, 8.30am-6pm) 03 numbers are charged at the same rate as local and national rate calls

She may be a teenager now, but this photo proves Mia’s love affair with Chelsea started when she was much younger. That is no surprise given she was born into a Blues household, with her dad Mark having been an avid supporter since he was at school and passing on his passion to Mia’s grandmother Pauline, meaning the whole family are now Chelsea fans and love a trip to Stamford Bridge.

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07 13 11

TEST YOUR CHELSEA KNOWLEDGE... 6 What shirt number did José Bosingwa wear for the Blues?

3 In which year did John Terry first

MIA DONEY

TOMMY GARRATTY Welcome to the Chelsea family Tommy, who was born on 13 December. Little Tommy is pictured here, aged just 10 weeks but already showing his support for the Blues. He is the fourth generation of his family to be a Chelsea fan and loves nothing better than cheering on the team while watching matches on television with his dad and granddad.

lead the Blues out as captain?

4 Frank Lampard scored 26 FA Cup goals for Chelsea. Can you name the other two players to pass the 20-goal mark in the competition for the Blues? 5 John Mikel Obi was part of three FA Cup-winning sides, but who was the first African player to win the competition with Chelsea?

0-5 EXTRA TRAINING SESSION REQUIRED! Send your details and a picture to: Message Board, Chelsea Football Club, Matchday Programme, Third Floor, Stamford Bridge, London, SW6 1HS

Or email them to: cfc.programme@trinitymirror.com

7 Which player joined Lyon shortly after Chelsea signed Michael Essien from the French club?

12 Chelsea was the third European club Juliano Belletti played for. Can you name the other two? 13 How old was Hilario when he made his international debut for Portugal?

8 During his Blues career, how many times did Petr Cech win the Premier League’s Golden Glove award, which is given to the goalkeeper who keeps the most clean sheets in a season? 9 Florent Malouda marked his Premier League debut in 2007 with a goal against which side? 10 How many goals did Michael Ballack score in 167 appearances for the Blues? 11 Didier Drogba netted 12 FA Cup goals for Chelsea. How many of these were scored at Wembley?

6-10 STILL ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT

11-13 EXCELLENT CHELSEA KNOWLEDGE

Chelsea Magazine produced by Editorial 020 7958 2168 Subscriptions 0845 241 6210 Email cfc.magazine@trinitymirror.com MAGAZINE EDITOR David Antill FEATURES EDITOR Dominic Bliss DEPUTY EDITOR Richard Godden STAFF WRITER James Sugrue SUB-EDITOR Harri Aston DESIGNERS Glen Hind and Ben Renshaw STATISTICIAN Paul Dutton PHOTOGRAPHY Darren Walsh, Getty Images, Hugh Hastings, Chelsea FC Archive, Mirrorpix, PA Images and Mark Sandom PRINTED BY William Gibbons DISTRIBUTED BY Comag THANKS TO Emma Wilkinson, John Barrett, Andy Jones, Ryan Brown and Daniel Wittenberg © Trinity Mirror Sport Media. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced by any means without the written permission of the Copyright owners. Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this publication, the publishers cannot accept responsibility for errors or omissions. In the interest of independence and impartiality, many features in this publication have been written by third-party experts. It should be noted that any opinions expressed therein are the views of the writers themselves and not necessarily those of Chelsea FC. Terms and conditions for all competitions appearing in this magazine are available on request.

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1. Five (Peter Shilton, Wayne Rooney, David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Bobby Moore) 2. Geremi 3. 2001 4. Bobby Tambling (25) and Roy Bentley (21) 5. Celestine Babayaro (2000) 6. 17 7. Tiago 8. Three (2004/05, 09/10, 13/14) 9. Birmingham City 10. 26 11. Seven 12. Villarreal and Barcelona 13. 34

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2 Nicolas Anelka started the 2000 Champions League final for Real Madrid. Which other future Chelsea player was on the bench for the Spanish side?

INGRAM PETERS JR

The following telephone numbers and email addresses are here to assist supporters.

02 01

1 How many footballers have won more caps for England than Ashley Cole (107)?

When Ingram travelled to Barcelona for a brief vacation, he couldn’t resist the urge to return to the scene of one of our greatest moments from his time supporting Chelsea. The Nou Camp was, of course, where we sealed our 2012 Champions League semifinal victory over Barca in the second leg, holding out with 10 men under immense pressure before Ramires’ deft chip and Fernando Torres’ breakaway goal secured our place in the final in Munich, where we lifted Europe’s top club trophy for the first time. As he unfurled his Chelsea flag for this photo Ingram agreed with Barcelona’s billboard, history did happen there!

MILAN STOLZE

ALEX SIM

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Paulo Ferreira (PF): I’m getting old! I had nine fantastic seasons playing for the club and still working for Chelsea is great. I feel really happy to carry on helping the club – it’s a different role but it’s always a pleasure.

Division Two champions 1984, 1989

UEFA Super Cup winners 1998

Paulo – nine years at Chelsea and you’ve now come back to work with the club. What’s it like on the other side of things, not playing but working for and with Chelsea?

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"We have a run of finals left now and every game is going to be very, very important" Read our Marcos Alonso interview on page 12

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BLUES NEWS

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Tickets now on sale for our big awards night Tickets are now on sale for the Chelsea FC Awards 2017, which take place on Sunday 28 May and celebrate all things Chelsea, as well as revealing who will collect the main honour and be crowned our Player of the Year. Season ticket holders and members were once again invited to enter a ballot to purchase tickets for just £60 per pair, with a limited number of tickets made available at the reduced price for this year’s event before the deadline on 7 April. Successful applicants will be notified by phone by Monday 17 April. The exact location of the Awards is still to be finalised but tickets are available now to guarantee your spot on the night with Antonio Conte and the squad, plus our Academy teams and Chelsea Ladies.

Willian won the 2016 Player of the Year award

BLUES PAIR RECOGNISED AT BLACK LIST CELEBRATION

MAN CITY AWAIT AS YOUNGSTERS BOOK PLACE IN YOUTH CUP FINAL Dujon Sterling, giving us a 7-1 win on the night and a 9-2 aggregate scoreline. We will have the chance to lift the Youth Cup trophy for the fourth year in a row when we take on Manchester City in the two-legged final, with fixture details available at www.chelseafc.com shortly.

Chelsea duo Michael Emenalo and Eniola Aluko were honoured with awards at the Football Black List celebration evening. More than 300 guests, including a host of top names within the sport, came together to recognise the spectrum of African and Caribbean achievement in the British game at all levels of the football community. Chelsea Ladies forward Aluko picked up a player award, while technical director Emenalo was recognised in the administration category.

• You can read more about our Academy starting on page 59

Photo: Mark Sandom

Chelsea’s Under-18s have reached a sixth successive FA Youth Cup final with a convincing victory over Tottenham Hotspur. We started well in the first leg at White Hart Lane, bringing a 2-1 lead back to the Bridge thanks to goals from Reece James and Ike Ugbo. The goals flowed freely in the second game at Stamford Bridge, as Ugbo scored a hat-trick in addition to strikes by Juan Castillo, Trevoh Chalobah, Callum Hudson-Odoi and

For the first time at a Chelsea FC Awards evening, supporters can also book a table hosted by a club legend. All proceeds from the night will be donated to the Chelsea Foundation and our official charity partner Plan International. Tickets are priced from £150 plus VAT per person, with all categories including a champagne reception, three-course meal with table wine, plenty of on-stage entertainment and entry to the after party. To book your place at the Chelsea FC Awards 2017 go to www.chelseafc.com/specialevents.

Michael Emenalo, top, receives his award, while Eniola Aluko was also honoured at the event Celebrating one of Ike Ugbo’s hat-trick goals during the second leg at Stamford Bridge

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BRIEF

This year’s Peter Osgood Award was presented to Chelsea Foundation coach Tom Horrigan by Ossie’s widow Lynn (right) at our FA Cup quarter-final win over Manchester United. The award honours the commitment and dedication of participants on Chelsea’s social inclusion programmes.

Our Premier League home fixture against Southampton has been rearranged for 7.45pm on Tuesday 25 April, and Middlesbrough’s visit to Stamford Bridge has been moved to 8pm on Monday 8 May. Both games will be shown live on Sky Sports.

PORTLAND KNOWS NO BOUNDS.

NEITHER DO YOU. Discover a new side of America and visit Portland, with Delta’s new nonstop service from London Heathrow. DELTA.COM

BLUES NEWS

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Total ticket price freeze at Stamford Bridge Chelsea Football Club is delighted to announce a total price freeze for every seat at Stamford Bridge for 2017/18. This will cover all categories of season tickets and individual match tickets including our hospitality packages. Supporters in regular home areas will be paying the same as they did in 2011/12 and these prices have remained unchanged in 10 of the past 12 years. This is the case for any seats that may go on general sale, as well as those for season ticket holders and members. As well as the price freeze, the following aspects of the pricing structure all remain in place for next season: • The extended junior ticket category which offers reduced match ticket prices to our fans aged under 20. • Concessionary rates for over-65s. • Concessionary season tickets for supporters in the under-20s and over-65s

age groups are available in all the regular home areas of the stadium. • The long-established discounted prices for tickets for home domestic cup games. • For fans attending away games, the Premier League’s £30 maximum price for a ticket in the visitors’ section of a stadium continues until 2018/19. • Subsidised travel to away games available to our fans for the past four seasons will continue in 2017/18. This together with the ticket price cap recognises the huge contribution away supporters make to the special atmosphere at matches up and down the land. Chairman Bruce Buck said: “These are exciting times at Chelsea and the support Antonio and the team receive is tremendous. “We keep our pricing structure and ticket policies under constant review and the cost

of match tickets is one of the subjects the club discusses most frequently with our supporters. “Fans going to away games next season will again be supported by our travel subsidies and the Premier League’s visiting ticket price cap will help keep costs down. “This season, your support has helped lift us to the top of the league and into the semi-finals of the FA Cup and we really appreciate your backing, home and away. We have ambitions to achieve more success next season and beyond and our fans will be vital to this. I am therefore pleased we have been able to freeze all our ticket prices for 2017/18.” Season ticket renewal forms will be delivered from Thursday 13 April with online renewals commencing and full ticket policies available the same day. 09

BLUES NEWS

Teddies to put smiles on faces of newborns Newborn babies will receive a Chelsea FC teddy bear as part of the club’s commitment to our community, creating a new generation of Blues fans. This latest initiative will ensure as many as 10,000 newborns per year at two of the biggest maternity units in London, at Chelsea and Westminster and Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea hospitals, will enjoy a gift from the club. Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital, part of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, is the only maternity and neonatal care hospital in our local borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, and houses the largest neonatal intensive care unit in the country.

Laura Kell, Acting Director of Fundraising at Imperial College Healthcare, said: “We’re thrilled that the Chelsea Foundation has offered a special teddy bear to all our newborns at Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital. “It’s a lovely initiative that Imperial College Healthcare Charity are proud to support.” Each Christmas, the first-team squad visit young patients at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, situated just down the road from Stamford Bridge. The players bring smiles to the youngsters by handing out gifts and taking time to be with the children and their families who are spending the festive period in hospital.

Rob Hodgkiss, Chief Operating Officer for Chelsea and Westminster, said: “Our hospital and Chelsea Football Club are both important pillars for the local community. “Many of our patients in hospital, and our staff who work hard to care for them, are avid Chelsea fans and we are always so grateful for the support we receive from the club, the players, the fans and the Foundation. “We are delighted that newborns will receive such a thoughtful gift and know that it will put a real smile on the faces of their parents, too.” Willian, Marcos Alonso, Pedro and David Luiz deliver Christmas gifts to a patient at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital

FORMER BLUES KEEPER PHILLIPS PASSES AWAY Chelsea Football Club is greatly saddened by the passing of our former goalkeeper John Phillips at the age of 65, following a long illness. Phillips spent almost the entire 1970s at Stamford Bridge and although for much of that time he was behind the great Peter Bonetti when it came to team selection, there was a period from the start of 1974 when he was the clear number one choice. In total, the Welsh international played 149 games for the Blues, including the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the victorious European Cup Winners’ Cup campaign of 1970/71.

CHANCE TO SHINE AT THE BRIDGE AS ASIAN STAR EVENT RETURNS Our Asian Star initiative will make its Stamford Bridge debut on 3 June as the ground-breaking event returns for a ninth successive year. Having been held at our Cobham training base for each of the last eight seasons, the event is open to players aged nine to 12 and Gianfranco Zola designed on stage to give a much-needed boost to Asian participation at all levels of the game.

NEWS IN

BRIEF 10

The first episodes of a brand new podcast documentary series retelling the story of the club’s dramatic 1996/97 campaigns are available for free now at www.chelseafc. com/news/blue-days or can be downloaded from iTunes, Soundcloud and many other podcast-hosting apps.

A fun, engaging and free event, managers and coaches from clubs at all levels of the game are also invited to identify talented youngsters. Players who excel on the day will be offered a year-long placement at one of our Foundation Development Centres. To apply to take part or for more information go to www.chelseafc.com/ asianstar.

Supporters are raising funds for a memorial to former Chelsea goalkeeper Jack Whitley to mark his grave in West Brompton Cemetery. If you would like to make a contribution go to www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ jack-whitley-grave.

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Bayern and Inter matches lined up in Singapore Chelsea Football Club will break new ground this year when we visit Singapore for the first time as part of our summer tour. Antonio Conte and the Blues squad will play two matches at the National Stadium in the Lion City as we return to Asia for our 2017/18 pre-season preparations. We will meet Bayern Munich on Tuesday 25 July before taking on Inter Milan on Saturday 29 July – both games are part of the International Champions Cup and follow on from our match with Arsenal at the Beijing Bird’s Nest in China on 22 July.

Tickets for the matches in Singapore are available now by visiting www.chelseafc.com/matches/pre-season. Conte said: “I am very happy we have our pre-season tour plans for next season

CARNEY AND LINDAHL COMMIT FUTURE AHEAD OF BIG KICK-OFF Chelsea Ladies duo Karen Carney and Hedvig Lindahl have both signed new contracts with the Blues ahead of the start of the FA Women’s Super League Spring Series. Goalkeeper Lindahl has extended her contract at the club until 2019, having established herself as the team’s first-choice between the posts since arriving in west London in December 2014. Carney is also an international centurion, with England, and has signed a new Chelsea contract until 2020. Her performances in midfield during her debut campaign with the Blues in 2016 saw her named as our Player of the Year, with that form now rewarded with an extended contract. Chelsea Ladies boss Emma Hayes said: “We’re really looking for continuity and stability with our squad as we look to challenge for honours, especially in European competition, and the pair of them are among our most consistent players. “Viggy has proved to be one of the leading goalkeepers in the WSL since we brought her in a couple of years ago and I think she is probably the best goalkeeper in the world on current form. “She’s started the season excellently, as have the defenders in front of her, and there are signs we are returning to the defensive solidity which was the bedrock of our Double success in 2015. “Kaz, like Viggy, is one of the best players in her position in the world. She joined us wanting to win honours and she feels this is the best place for her to do that. We are still to see the best of her at this football club, which is a big statement considering how well she performed last season.”

Chelsea goalkeeper Asmir Begovic (right) is hosting a golf day at Burhill Golf Club on Monday 12 June to raise funds for his charity foundation, with entrance for a team of three priced £1,500. To register or for more information, email events@asmirbegovicfoundation.com.

in place. Travelling to Singapore will give us excellent facilities to play and train, and we will face strong opposition. More importantly, I know Chelsea has millions of passionate fans in the region. I am looking forward to meeting them and I think we will play two exciting matches for them.” While in Asia, we will continue our Here to Play, Here to Stay initiative, the philosophy behind all our tours, which sees us working to improve grassroots football and promote health, fitness, diet, nutrition and education to leave a legacy long after the first team has departed.

STAGE IS SET FOR FANS TO QUIZ LADIES STARS Tickets are on sale now for the next An Audience With… event, a Chelsea Ladies special featuring four members of the team. Winter signings Ramona Bachmann, Erin Cuthbert, Crystal Dunn and Maren Mjelde will all be appearing on stage in Stamford Bridge’s Tambling Suite to answer supporters’ questions. The event will be hosted by Chelsea TV’s Gigi Salmon and takes place on Thursday 4 May, with tickets priced £10 per person and available from www.chelseafc.com/ specialevents.

Karen Carney and Hedvig Lindahl, below, have both signed new deals

Crystal Dunn, left, and Ramona Bachmann will be among the four Chelsea Ladies players speaking at the event on 4 May

Chelsea Ladies’ Millie Bright, Karen Carney and Fran Kirby have been named in the England Women’s squad for this summer’s European Championship, which begins in the Netherlands on 16 July. Gemma Davison and Claire Rafferty are on the Lionesses’ standby list.

Ma Marcos Alonso

RUNS IN THE FAMILY Words | Dominic Bliss Pictures | Darren Walsh

MARCOS ALONSO has come a long way since honing his skills on the sandy pitches of Madrid. Part of a proud footballing dynasty, the wing-back tells us about his journey to Stamford Bridge and why he feels the Blues are heading in the right direction

Marcos Alonso

Barcelona’s 1986 European Cup final team. Marcos Alonso’s father, Marcos, is pictured kneeling down, second right

arcos Alonso can’t remember his life before football, because there wasn’t a time when he wasn’t surrounded by the sights and the sounds of the game. His father and his grandfather – both called Marcos Alonso – each played at the highest level and young Marcos grew up listening to them talk about football and watching the teams his dad used to coach. Football was the family trade and one of his earliest memories is of walking out as a mascot at Rayo Vallecano, one of Madrid’s ‘other’ clubs, when his dad was in charge there in the mid-1990s. His father, who had played on the right wing for Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Spain during a glittering career, won La Liga with Barca under the management of former Chelsea captain Terry Venables in 1984/85, and later had a career as a top-flight coach. During school holidays, Marcos would go to work with his dad and run about excitedly on the sidelines as the stars of Sevilla, Atletico Madrid and Malaga trained. If he was lucky, they would invite him to kick a ball around with them at the end of the session. 14

I USED TO PLAY 24 HOURS A DAY BUT IT WAS NEVER ON MY MIND TO BECOME A FOOTBALLER. I DID IT BECAUSE IT WAS THE ONLY THING I LOVED TO DO. I DIDN’T THINK ABOUT BECOMING A PRO UNTIL MUCH LATER

“I used to love to go and train with the players when I was a little kid,” says the 26-year-old, breaking into a broad smile at the memory. “It wasn’t very often because I used to go to school every day, but I will always remember the few days when I went to train with the big teams because I really enjoyed that time. It was a great experience. “I’m still in touch with some of the players. I remember a Greek player from Sevilla, Vassilios Tsiartas. He was the best free-kick taker I’ve seen in my life. I learned from him in training. I used to hit the ball, like, five metres from goal because I couldn’t reach! But I remember him telling me, ‘When you are 14, 15 years old you will take free-kicks like me.’ I couldn’t even imagine that, but today I try to do my best.” Like Tsiartas, Alonso likes to practice putting wicked curve on his left-footed free-kicks at the end of training sessions. In fact, he made the headlines in Italy during his time at Fiorentina for a stunning set-piece that swung straight into the top corner against AC Milan, and he has come close a couple of times with freekicks since arriving at Chelsea. “Yeah, maybe I’m not as good as Tsiartas because he used to be one of the best,” he concedes, “but I’ve taken two this year that hit the crossbar, so hopefully next time I will be more lucky.”

Marcos Alonso’s grandfather, standing second right, and the other members of Real Madrid’s European Cup final squad in 1960

Although his father’s family are from the northern coastal town of Santander, where he spent a fair amount of time himself during his childhood, Alonso was born and raised in Madrid, where his grandfather is revered as a legend by Real supporters. Known widely by his nickname, Marquitos played right-back for the famous side which won five European Cups and five Spanish league titles between 1954 and 1962. He even scored in the first-ever European Cup final, notching Real’s third in a 4-3 win over French club Reims at the Parc des Princes in Paris. As a kid, Marcos had seen his grandfather’s replica trophies and photos around the house, but when he joined the Real Madrid youth ranks at the age of nine he began to realise the significance of his family heritage. “At that time my grandad was still alive,” he recalls. “He came to two or three games in my first year and everyone wanted a picture with him instead of watching us play! I used to feel very proud of that, of my grandfather being so popular there and so loved by the people. “I had met some of his famous team-mates before but I didn’t even know who they were because I was a little boy. I would hear they had played together and they had won five

European Cups, but I was used to that from when I was young so I didn’t see it as the great achievement that it is. “My father and my grandfather didn’t really give me too much advice, but with the example they gave me, and from spending all my life hearing talk about football, I think it’s been helpful to have them both.” Even as it dawned on him that his family were footballing royalty in Spain, it took Alonso a long time to acknowledge he might also enjoy a career at the top. While other kids watched their football heroes on TV and dreamed of one day replicating them, he grew up surrounded by the real thing. At home and at his father’s workplace he saw the reality of professional football and it became part of everyday life. His destiny was right there under his nose, but he was too busy enjoying the game to think about it as a potential occupation. “I didn’t really care a lot about football when I was really young,” he admits. “I used to play, like, 24 hours a day but it was never on my mind to become a footballer. I did it because it was the only thing I loved to do. I didn’t think about becoming a pro until much later. When I went to Real Madrid it all became more serious but I still used to play to enjoy it. 15

Marcos Alonso

Celebrating scoring at Leicester with Victor Moses and Gary Cahill

“I remember their old Academy and thinking it was amazing because all the pitches in Spain used to be sand and Real Madrid was the only team that used to train on 3G artificial grass. Before that, I used to play for the team that had the worst pitch in Madrid! So the change was very good, to be honest. Going from the worst pitch to the best was really nice, much easier.” During those days on the terrible pitch, Alonso had been a striker for his borough side, Alcobendas, and in his latter days with them he finished as top scorer of the local league he played in. But he was excited by the idea of playing on the left wing. When he played video games at home he used to select Wales as his team so he could control Ryan Giggs. Yet, as the years went by, this tall, athletic lad with the elegant left foot began to find his feet as a full-back. He had the stamina to get up and down the field, the power to be a force in the air and the intelligence to position himself correctly. Now he is a regular in Antonio Conte’s Chelsea side and all of those qualities are serving him and his team very well indeed, but there are still occasional flashes of the young striker who tore up the sandy pitches in his local Madrid community league. Four goals, including a brace in our 3-0 win at Leicester in January, is not a bad return at all for a wing-back

IT’S GREAT TO HELP THE TEAM WITH GOALS, BUT I KNOW ALSO I’M A DEFENDER AND THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO NOT CONCEDE – THAT’S MY MAIN OBJECTIVE

in his first season with the club, and he has popped up in goalscoring positions on many more occasions as well. Have the old forward’s instincts come in handy in those situations? “I guess so,” he answers. “There is still something about those years, even though I obviously play much further from the goal than in that time. I only played two or three years as a striker, in the beginning, when I was eight to 11 years old, but even at school I used to play always as a striker and never as a defender. “It’s great to help the team with goals, but I know also I’m a defender and the most important thing is to not concede – that’s my main objective. Games like Leicester, it was a great day and I was very happy, but the most important thing every game is to go out there and get the three points.” While Alonso is pleased with the way the season has gone up to this point, he won’t go as far as to say it has exceeded expectations. He knew he was arriving at a club set up to push for success. “I think there is a great team here,” he says. “We have to fight for every trophy and with the quality we have, the spirit we have and the way we are working, this is the place we have to be. “Every player wants to play in a big team like Chelsea. The team is working great 17

Marco Alonso

Up against fellow wing-back Victor Moses in training

and if we combine all that hard work with the quality we have here then we will keep going in the right direction.” On a personal level, Alonso’s immediate adaptation to life at Chelsea owed much to his previous experience of English football. Prior to excelling for Fiorentina in Serie A, he spent three years at Bolton Wanderers between 2010 and 2013 and also enjoyed a successful loan spell at Sunderland in 2014. He admits he learned a lot from those days, during which he felt the bitter disappointment of relegation from the Premier League with the Trotters before coming into his own and being voted the club’s Player of the Year by readers of the local press. “It has definitely been an advantage for me,” he says. “It’s never easy when you come to a new country. I remember the first years at Bolton when it was tough after living all my life in Madrid, leaving my family and coming to a new country and a new culture at 18 years old. Of course, having done that already was a great help this time and also my time in Italy, playing in a system similar to this one, was helpful.” With Sunderland, where he arrived on loan from Fiorentina to aid a struggling side in January, he was a key part of a team

EVERY PLAYER WANTS TO PLAY IN A BIG TEAM LIKE CHELSEA. THE TEAM IS WORKING GREAT AND IF WE COMBINE ALL THAT HARD WORK WITH THE QUALITY WE HAVE HERE THEN WE WILL KEEP GOING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

that launched itself out of the bottom three and into mid-table during a hugely impressive second half of the season, in which they also reached the League Cup final at Wembley. He returned to Florence to become a key player for his club, his confidence never higher, and he admits his eyes were opened to the charms of a certain club in west London by his manager on Wearside. “Yes, Gustavo Poyet!” his eyes light up. “I remember he told some stories about his time here with Zola and other big players. He used to talk a lot about Chelsea. He would speak Spanish with me and he loved telling stories about his time here.” Alonso now wants to emulate his former manager by lifting silverware with the Blues. “We have a run of finals left now and every game is going to be very, very important,” he says, discussing the remaining league fixtures. “We have to think game-by-game and prepare for every match as a massive one, to put everything into getting the points. Then, at Wembley, it’s going to be a massive London derby to get into the FA Cup final and give the fans a chance to see us win another trophy. I’m really looking forward to it.” 19

MONTH AHEAD FIXTURES & RESULTS 2016/17

ON THE PITCH

August Mon 15 West Ham United

H 2-1

Sat 20 Watford

A 2-1

Tue 23 Bristol Rovers (EFLC second round)

H 3-2

Sat 27 Burnley

H 3-0

September Sun 11 Swansea City

A 2-2

Fri 16

H 1-2

Liverpool

Tue 20 Leicester City (EFLC third round)

A 4-2*

Sat 24 Arsenal

A 0-3

October Sat 1

Hull City

Sat 15 Leicester City Sun 23 Manchester United

H 4-0 A

A 2-0

1-2

November H

5-0

Sun 20 Middlesbrough

A 1-0

Sat 26 Tottenham Hotspur

H 2-1

December Sat 3

Manchester City

A 3-1

Sun 11 West Bromwich Albion

H 1-0

Wed 14 Sunderland

A 1-0

Sat 17 Crystal Palace

A 1-0

Mon 26 Bournemouth

H 3-0

Sat 31 Stoke City

Wed 4 Tottenham Hotspur

A 0-2

Sun 8

H 4-1

Sat 14 Leicester City

A 3-0

Sun 22 Hull City

H 2-0

Sat 28 Brentford (FAC fourth round)

H 4-0

Tue 31 Liverpool

A 1-1

February Sat 4

Arsenal

Sun 12 Burnley

22 APRIL

H 3-1

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (N) – FA CUP semi-final The last time Chelsea and Spurs met in an FA Cup semi-final was five years ago. Blues fans shouldn’t need any reminding of the 5-1 drubbing we dished out that day.

We will have plenty of classic FA Cup coverage leading up to this mouthwatering tie against Tottenham, and we’ll also be reporting live from Wembley on semi-final day (see facing page).

4-2

January Peterborough United (FAC third round)

Wherever They May Be goes on air at 3pm for one of the most hotly anticipated games of the season. We’ll have the teams as soon as they are announced and full post-match reaction after the game.

A 2-0

Sun 30 Southampton Everton

APRIL

H 3-0

Wed 26 West Ham United (EFLC4)

Sat 5

MANCHESTER UNITED (A) – PREMIER LEAGUE Our win over the Red Devils in October meant we had won 70 points against them in the Premier League, which at the time was 20 more than any other team against United.

25 APRIL

SOUTHAMPTON (H) – PREMIER LEAGUE This will be the 18th Premier League meeting between the sides at Stamford Bridge, of which the Blues have won nine and lost only three.

After this clash was rearranged due to our FA Cup semi-final involvement, tune in from 6.45pm when Jason Cundy and Ben Andrews will be reporting live from the gantry at Stamford Bridge.

A 1-1

Sat 18 Wolves (FAC fifth round)

A 2-0

Sat 25 Swansea City

H 3-1

March Mon 6 West Ham United

A 2-1

Mon 13 Manchester United (FAC quarter-final)

H 1-0

Sat 18 Stoke City

2-1

EVERTON (A) – PREMIER LEAGUE Ahead of this season we had visited Goodison Park on 85 occasions, which is more than any other stadium.

APRIL

April Sat 1

Crystal Palace

1-2

Wed 5 Manchester City (8pm) BT

Sat 8

Bournemouth (5.30pm) BT

Sun 16 Manchester United (4pm) Sky Sat 22

Tottenham (FAC semi-final, 5.15pm) BBC One N -

Tue 25 Southampton (7.45pm) Sky

Sun 30 Everton (2.05pm) Sky

Mon 8 Middlesbrough (8pm) Sky

Sat 13 West Bromwich Albion

Sun 21 Sunderland

Sat 27 FAC final

TBC

May

Watford

Fixtures correct at time of going to press and are subject to change. All games kick off at 3pm unless stated. N - Wembley Stadium. EFLC - English Football League Cup. FAC - FA Cup. *After extra-time.

It’s a 2.05pm kick-off at Goodison, so our coverage will begin at 1pm, when you can watch exclusive interviews with the players. We’ll also have full commentary on the match and post-match reaction from the manager.

8 MAY

MIDDLESBROUGH (H) – PREMIER LEAGUE The Blues last faced Boro in a Premier League game at the Bridge in January 2009, when a brace from Salomon Kalou secured a 2-0 victory.

As with all first-team fixtures, a full re-run of the Middlesbrough match will be available to Chelsea TV subscribers, with a variety of highlights packages online for Fan Club members.

chelseafc.com

@chelseafc

OFF THE PITCH ALSO ON

30 APRIL – MEMBERS-ONLY TOUR We now offer special members-only tours of Stamford Bridge which will take place once a month. Exclusively for members, the tours are an absolute must for anyone wanting to delve a little deeper into the club’s illustrious history. A fully guided one-and-a-half hour tour will take you behind the scenes to areas normally reserved for players and officials, while your guide entertains you with stories and anecdotes from years gone by. The cost is just £22 for adults and £15 for kids, with all members eligible for two-for-one tickets by quoting ‘MEMBER’ in the promotion box at the end of the online booking form. Visit chelseafc.com for more info. 4 MAY – AN AUDIENCE WITH... Chelsea Ladies quartet Ramona Bachmann, Erin Cuthbert, Crystal Dunn and Maren Mjelde will be appearing on stage for the latest installment of our popular event, which will be hosted by Chelsea TV’s Gigi Salmon. Taking place in the Tambling Suite at Stamford Bridge, the new signings will be answering questions submitted by supporters. Tickets for the event, priced £10 per person, are available from chelseafc.com.

BLUES BIRTHDAYS

DAVID LUIZ 22.04.87 (30)

We’ve got the first leg of The Fallen Angels Tour coming up on Saturday 22 April, when multi-instrumentalist Eddie Jobson will be joined by Keith Emerson Band guitarist Marc Bonilla on what is being billed as an intimate evening of storytelling and songs, paying tribute to the lives of their longtime friends and collaborators John Wetton and Keith Emerson. The duo will perform a collection of classic progressive rock songs by UK, King Crimson and ELP, and there is also a meet-and-great opportunity for those who purchase VIP tickets. Following that on Sunday 30 April will be a performance from Nigerian singer-songwriter Timaya, who is the founder of hip hop group Dem Mama Soldiers and will be touring the UK in late April and early May. We’ve saved the best until last, as R&B royalty joins us at UTB on Tuesday 2 May in the form of Alexander O’Neal, one of the genre’s most iconic names. Alexander invites you to join him, together with his all-star band, in celebration of his 1987 masterpiece Hearsay, which is widely regarded as one of the greatest R&B albums of all time. Spending more than two years in the UK album charts, with sales topping 700,000, the album launched seven charting singles and started O’Neal‘s special relationship with the UK, where he still holds the record for an African-American performer selling out six straight nights at Wembley Arena. Visit www.underthebridge.co.uk for more information about all of our upcoming gigs and to book your tickets now. Alexander O’Neal

CESC FABREGAS 04.05.87 (30)

As the Blues prepare for a mouthwatering FA Cup semi-final against Tottenham, Chelsea TV are putting together a show not to be missed, broadcasting live from Wembley on the day of the game. We go on air just under three hours before kick-off, with Jason Cundy, Pat Nevin and Ben Andrews reporting direct from the home of English football at 2.30pm. The trio will have the latest news from within the Blues camp and will be assessing past fixtures between the sides, as well as looking how this semi-final could transpire. From 3.30pm until 4pm, the show also goes out live on Facebook, with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Eidur Gudjohnsen joining us to give their expert opinion. Then, from 4.15pm until the teams comes out onto the hallowed turf, we’ll be looking back on our run to the final, from the convincing early wins over lower-league opposition through to the quarter-final triumph against Manchester United. After the Blues have hopefully secured a spot in the final, we’ll have an in-depth post-match show, with detailed analysis and exclusive interviews from the manager and players.

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Eidur Gudjohnsen will be joining Chelsea TV for our FA Cup semi-final coverage

Chelsea TV is available on chelseafc.com with a Fan Club membership. Go to chelseafc.com/join16 for more information on how you can watch Chelsea TV online. You can also watch on television. To join via Sky, call 08442 410 201 or visit www.sky.com/chelseatv. 21

PHOTO ALBUM

Home heroes After we set a new club record by winning 13 consecutive home games in all competitions, we look at some of the best images from those victories, with each one numbered to show where that match came during our impressive run...

SPARKLING PERFORMANCE Fireworks go off around Stamford Bridge before kick-off at our game against Everton on 5 November, a match which gave us plenty of reason for celebration as we strolled to a 5-0 win over the Toffees.

PHOTO ALBUM

HEADING FOR THREE POINTS

Marcos Alonso heads the opening goal past former Blues keeper Petr Cech to set us on our way to a 3-1 win over Arsenal on 4 February.

LEAP OF FAITH Diego Costa jumps for joy in front of the Chelsea fans after breaking the deadlock against West Bromwich Albion to score the only goal of the game on 11 December.

FLYING HIGH Gary Cahill goes team-mate surfing during the celebrations for N’Golo Kanté’s goal against Manchester United in the Premier League on 23 October, which completed a 4-0 victory after Pedro had opened the scoring in the first minute.

MAKING A FIST OF IT

Antonio Conte celebrates with Chelsea fans in Stamford Bridge’s East Stand as we overcome Swansea City to win 3-1 and equal our previous best of 12 back-to-back home wins on 25 February.

DANCING FEAT

Kurt Zouma and Willian show off their dance moves while celebrating the latter’s goal against Peterborough United as we get our FA Cup campaign off to a winning start, triumphing 4-1 in the third round on 8 January.

PHOTO ALBUM

END GOAL

Diego Costa makes sure 2016 ends on a high note by firing the final goal of our 4-2 victory against Stoke City past a despairing Lee Grant on New Yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Eve.

FINAL FLOURISH 26

Branislav Ivanovic congratulates Michy Batshuayi on completing our 4-0 FA Cup win over Brentford from the penalty spot, having already marked his 377th and final appearance for Chelsea with a goal on 28 January.

PAYING THE PENALTY

Eden Hazard beats Bournemouth goalkeeper Artur Boruc from the penalty spot to put us two goals up on the way to a 3-0 win over the Cherries on Boxing Day.

HEAD OVER HEELS

Victor Moses gets acrobatic with a full somersault to celebrate his goal against Leicester City on 15 October, completing the 3-0 victory which started our winning run at Stamford Bridge.

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BRIDGE KINGS

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

Nâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Golo KantĂŠ and Cesar Azpilicueta celebrate the Frenchman scoring the only goal of our FA Cup quarter-final victory against Manchester United on 13 March, which made it a record-breaking 13 consecutive home wins.

Pedro shows his passion after netting our equaliser in the London derby with Tottenham Hotspur on 26 November. Victor Moses scored six minutes later to turn the game on its head and secure victory.

EYE OF THE TIGER

Gary Cahill beats the Hull City defenders to the ball to head in our second goal of a 2-0 win past Tigers goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic on 22 January.

M AY

19 MAY 4 MAY

The Blues lifted the FA Youth Cup for the third time, ending a 49-year wait to win the top domestic competition in Under-18s football following a 3-2 aggregate success over Aston Villa. More than 10,000 supporters were in attendance at Stamford Bridge for a second leg which was settled by skipper Conor Clifford. Since then, we have won the competition a further four times, including the past three in a row, and the current crop of Under-18s are in the final again this year.

Was this the greatest day in Chelsea’s history? Bayern Munich’s supporters unveiled a banner before the 2012 Champions League final in their Allianz Arena home: our city, our stadium, our cup. Two-thirds of that statement proved to be correct, but Didier Drogba (pictured) had the final say on the destination of the trophy, scoring a trademark bullet header to equalise late on and then converting the winning penalty in the subsequent shoot-out. London’s first Champions League winners were crowned – that’s what you call writing history.

7 MAY

On this day we witnessed the most important goal in Chelsea’s history in the eyes of many supporters. The Blues, managed by John Neal, were battling against the drop to Division Three, and with it the prospect of financial ruin, when we travelled to face fellow relegation battlers Bolton Wanderers. Clive Walker settled a scrappy encounter with the only goal of the game and a week later we drew against Middlesbrough to preserve our place in the second tier.

11 MAY

Clive Walker wheels away after scoring the crucial winner at Burnden Park

Contrary to popular belief, the goal scored by Jesper Gronkjaer to defeat Liverpool on the last day of the 2002/03 season did not secure the Blues a spot in the following campaign’s Champions League Jesper Gronkjaer was the Chelsea match-winner 14 years ago qualifiers. Only a draw was required from our final match, which meant Marcel Desailly’s equaliser was actually the decisive effort. Still, the Danish winger deserves his moment in the spotlight for saving us from what would have been the most nail-biting finale.

11 MAY

17 MAY

The Blues have lifted the FA Cup six times in the month of May, which meant we A Blue Day for Cup heroes Roberto Di were spoilt for choice for Matteo, Dennis Wise and Eddie Newton this one. In the end, we plumped for the victory over Middlesbrough which took place 20 years ago this month. From the moment Roberto Di Matteo’s 30-yard piledriver hit the back of the net after 42 seconds, Ruud Gullit’s side were destined to end our 27-year wait for the trophy. Eddie Newton scored late on to ensure it was most definitely a Blue Day at Wembley.

Frank Lampard scored more goals for Chelsea against Aston Villa than any other side, so it was appropriate he should become the club’s all-time leading scorer by netting a brace against the Villans, which took him past Bobby Tambling’s tally of 202. Overall, Lamps found the back of the net 14 times in 26 appearances against Villa.

Captain Ron Harris holds the European Cup Winners’ Cup trophy as he is carried on the shoulders of his team-mates

21 MAY

Athens played host to the 11th final of the now-defunct European Cup Winners’ Cup, with Chelsea taking on the mighty Real Madrid. A last-gasp equaliser by the Spaniards forced a replay at the Karaiskakis Stadium 48 hours after the game, and centre-half John Dempsey smashed in a blockbuster volley which was soon added to by Peter Osgood. Although Real pulled a goal back, we held on to secure the win which wrote the first chapter in what has become an incredible European story for Chelsea Football Club.

Frank Lampard is given a lift by Petr Cech after becoming the club’s record goalscorer

9 MAY

Chelsea’s quest to win a third Premier League title came down to the last day against Wigan Athletic – and what followed was the final thumping victory of a goal-laden season. Having hit seven against Sunderland, Aston Villa and Stoke City earlier in the campaign, the Blues went one better against the 10-man Latics, including a hat-trick for Didier Drogba, which sealed the Ivorian’s second Premier League Golden Boot award. Six days later, we completed our first Double by beating Portsmouth in the FA Cup final.

15 MAY

After missing the previous year’s Champions League final through suspension, Branislav Ivanovic was the hero in Amsterdam as we Branislav Ivanovic helped the Blues clinched the Europa League, complete the European trophy set becoming only the fourth side to win all three major UEFA trophies. Benfica were our opponents and with extra time looming, the Serbian defender – a regular scorer during his nine years at the club – popped up with a looping header to settle a thrilling final.

Carlo Ancelotti and Florent Malouda celebrate the Blues’ title success in 2010

Drawing on

EXPERIENCE

SPECIAL CONNECTION Words | Richard Godden

The Blues had only just returned to the top flight when ERLAND JOHNSEN left one of the biggest clubs in Europe to come to Stamford Bridge, but ‘Moon Man’ tells us why he had the best time of his career in west London

he last time we spoke to you for the magazine you were managing Lillestrom in your homeland. What are you up to now?

I’m working with the Norway Under-17s team and we’ve just qualified for the European Championship, which is taking place in Croatia at the start of May. I’m also starting with the Under-15s this month so these are going to be some very busy days. I actually work in the same office as my old Chelsea team-mate Frode Grodas. We will soon be marking the 20th anniversary of the 1997 FA Cup triumph, when the pair of you were both Chelsea players. That makes me feel old! I remember the occasion really well. It was on the Norwegian national day, 17 May, and I was in the stands at Wembley – so I haven’t got only good memories from that day! But I played in a couple of other games in the run to the final, including the semi-final against a very strong and physical Wimbledon team. And, of course, we’d have never won it without your barnstorming run in the final minutes of the fifth-round replay against Leicester City... That’s right, and I still get reminded about that incident. I had a meeting with a FIFA

representative in Hungary and it was a guy called Peter. I asked where he was from, to which he replied, “Leicester,” so I said to him, “I’m really surprised you want to talk to me!” Apparently he knows the referee from that game, Mike Reed, really well and he said he got slaughtered afterwards! He also joked that I invented diving. Are you admitting 20 years on that it was not a penalty? (Laughs) It was definitely a penalty! It was windy at Stamford Bridge that night. I honestly thought Spencer Prior was going to kick me, so I pulled my leg back and fell over. I never thought I was going to get a penalty, I didn’t go for it. Having played a big part in our run to the final, how disappointing was it to not even make the bench at Wembley? It was probably the biggest disappointment I had as a player. I thought I deserved to be on the bench, but I understood Andy Myers was selected as a sub in case the manager needed a man-to-man marker on that little Brazilian guy, Juninho. I probably would have signed for another two years if I played and I could see I’d be involved the next season, but that confirmed my decision to move back to Norway. It was the end of an era – I was there seven-anda-half years and my best memories as a football player came from Chelsea. 33

Drawing on EXPERIENCE

As a kid, I always found it strange that we signed a Norwegian centre-half from Bayern Munich. The two clubs weren’t even comparable then, were they? No, they weren’t. When I left Bayern Munich it was probably one of the biggest clubs in Europe, whereas Chelsea was starting up again after moving up from the Second Division. I never liked to be on the bench and Bayern signed Jurgen Kohler, who was the best centre-half in Europe. I thought it was time to move on after a year-and-a-half, but I met Jupp Heynckes many years later and he told me, “I can’t believe you didn’t stay.” He’d wanted to play zonal marking, and they’d never done that before, but he wanted to try it when Klaus Augenthaler retired and he planned to play me alongside Kohler. But he never told me that at the time, so after being on the bench for a few games, when Chelsea showed interest in me it was easy for me to decide. But I never regretted that – it’s probably the best decision I took as a football player. Frode told me you are 90 per cent Englishman and only 10 per cent Norwegian! Yeah, he’s probably right. I was privileged to play there and I still go back to England The Chelsea squad for the 1990/91 season

WE WERE SO CLOSE TO THE FANS AND I LOVED IT about once a year, and I always feel at home. In a couple of years I think I might try to come back and work there for a few years. I live in a small town in Norway, only 30,000 people, and I can get a bit bored here. I would like to move abroad again. I’ve got my UEFA badge and I speak fluent German as well. I’ve been with the Norwegian FA for three-and-a-half years and I’ve recently signed a new two-year contract; after five years in the job, you should look for something different to develop yourself. I’ve still got goals as a coach and a manager.

Bobby Campbell was the manager who signed you for Chelsea. What was he like? He signed me because I had ginger hair! Honestly, that’s what he told me. He was a funny guy and a good manager to work for – very tough. Everything was very old fashioned, it was two laps of the training ground before an eight-a-side game and that was it for training. It’s just how things were in that era, nice and simple. I miss that sometimes. Some of the coaches now have got so many ideas and I think they can confuse players. We won the Full Members Cup under Bobby and those were the days when you

Erland Johnsen Johnsen credits David Webb for saving his Chelsea career

could really celebrate. We could go out together and have a few pints, we could live as normal people. I’m really happy I played when I did. We had such good fun all the way up to when I left in ’97. We were so close to the fans and I loved it, they were all so nice to me.

getting my foot in, he wanted me to tackle more. I said, “That’s the first time I’ve heard that!”

Is that relationship what helped make your time at Chelsea so special?

When Glenn came in I was on a week-toweek contract. I had to prove every game that I deserved a new contract, and that was strange for me. I think it did something to me. Just one injury could have sent me back to Norway, but I played a load of games and they eventually offered me a new contract. I knew Glenn from a couple of years earlier when he had come to train with Chelsea. We used to stay on the pitch after training and knock a few passes, so he knew me from that time, even if I wouldn’t say we were exactly mates. But I still had to prove I was good enough. It was probably what I needed at that time: a kick up the backside. When I give talks to young players I tell them about my week-to-week contract, and how I got back and was doing all the running, extra training two or three times a week, and I ended up winning Player of the Year the following season. I learned a lot from that and I think I showed a bit of character.

Probably. That’s maybe the main reason for me having so many good memories, along with the players at the club. I joined a club which was mainly full of English players and by the time I left it was maybe a 50-50 split, and I made good friends with a lot of people, English and foreign. I didn’t feel like a foreigner by the end of my seven years at the club – like Frode said, I was only 10 per cent Norwegian by then! You had a few years when you really struggled for playing time, and then David Webb came in as caretaker manager... He saved my career. He really did. I thanked him for that two years ago when we met up at a do at the club. I said: “Thank you for restarting my career at Chelsea.” And he said to me, “Listen, son – you deserved it.” He was the only manager who told me to start

Glenn Hoddle was completely different as a manager, but you prospered under him as well.

FACTFILE ERLAND JOHNSEN BORN FREDRIKSTAD, NORWAY DATE OF BIRTH 05.04.67 CHELSEA CAREER 1989-97 CHELSEA APPS, GOALS 183 APPS, 1 GOALS POSITION DEFENDER 35

Erland Johnsen

TO BE VOTED FOR THE AWARD BY THE FANS WAS A PROUD MOMENT Johnsen was a big fan of Frank Lampard Snr

Before we get on to your annus mirabilis, let’s take a second to recall your first FA Cup final with the club, which took place in 1994. Obviously it didn’t end as well as in ’97... No, but playing at Wembley is still a big occasion. We were 0-0 at half-time, we’d hit the bar through Gavin Peacock, and we lost 4-0. It’s obviously disappointing to lose any game, especially a final, but it was better being in the team than sat in the stand. It was still a great occasion; all the build-up, recording a Chelsea song, it was just good fun. I’d watched so many FA Cup finals when I was growing up. Did you have an English team when you were a kid? I did. When I was really young I liked West Ham United. I’m not sure what it was, I think I just liked the names of some of the players. People like Billy Bonds and Frank Lampard (Snr). You must have been shocked to see Lampard’s son coming through in English football when you were finishing up here! I played against him once when he was in the reserves at West Ham. He must have

Coming up against his future team-mate, Mark Hughes, in the 1994 FA Cup final

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Erland Johnsen With Ken Monkou in 1992

only been 16 or 17, just at the start of his great career. I didn’t tell him I was a big fan of his dad when I was growing up – funnily enough, it didn’t come up, but I will tell him if I see him again. From one Player of the Year award winner to another – you took home the prize in 1995 at the end of a season in which we’d reached a European Cup Winners’ Cup semi-final. How much does that trophy mean to you? I already said how special it was with the fans, so to be voted for this award by them was a really proud moment for me. I was very thankful. I won the league with Bayern Munich and the FA Cup with Chelsea, but this was probably the proudest moment I had as a footballer. I’ve still got the trophy and I’m looking at it as I’m talking to you. That’s the only trophy I have on display in my apartment, which shows what it means to me. I had such a great friendship with the players and the fans during my time at Chelsea. That’s what I remember most. They were the best years of my career. Lastly, your nickname at the club was Moon Man. Why on earth did the players call you that?! I think it was because of the way I talked, but I really don’t know. I think Vinnie Jones

Looking on in training as Hughes and Dennis Wise fight for the ball

came up with the nickname. He called me Moon Man and it just stuck. Those early days at the club were mad – I’ve got so many stories, enough to write a book, but

I’m not going to and a lot of players should be happy about that – I don’t think you could publish most of them! 39

PETER

HOUSEMAN

SALUTING A BLUE HERO Following the 40th anniversary of his death in March, we remember former Chelsea winger Peter Houseman. He cut a familiar figure in our No11 shirt for many years, creating many of the goals scored by Peter Osgood and Co, as well as playing a key role as we lifted the FA Cup for the first time in 1970 and followed that victory by winning our first European trophy, the Cup Winners’ Cup, a year later. En route to the first of those historic triumphs, he scored our crucial equaliser in the fourth-round replay at Burnley, before finding the net again in the resulting extra time to book our place in the next stage of the competition. That was one of six goals he scored in the run, including our first equaliser against

Leeds United in the final at Wembley. Less than two years after Houseman left Stamford Bridge for Oxford United in 1975, departing with 343 appearances and 39 goals to his name, he was killed in a car crash in Oxfordshire which also claimed the lives of his wife Sally and two of their friends, as well as orphaning his three sons Matt, Daniel and Nathan. At the time, the 1970 and 1977 Chelsea sides played a benefit match at Stamford Bridge and for years afterwards collections were held at our stadium for Houseman’s sons. Ahead of the 40th anniversary of his death, Matt and Daniel – accompanied by Matt’s daughter Mair and Daniel’s son Peter – were guests of the club as we remembered Houseman at our FA Cup quarter-final victory over Manchester United at the Bridge. The family were introduced to the crowd on the pitch at half-time as both sets of supporters honoured

Peter senior’s memory with heartfelt applause. “It was incredible, it was a really warm welcome for us and it was absolutely fantastic. I want to say a big thank you to everyone involved, the United fans too,” said Daniel after the game. “There were probably a lot of supporters in the crowd who had watched my dad play week in, week out, and to share a moment with them in memory of him was very special. It was an incredible evening and it was a great result in the match. “It was very overwhelming for my son Peter when he went on the pitch, he was a little bit nervous. I have always shown him things about his granddad and Chelsea but he is quite young and has not really got into it yet. Normally he says ‘Chelsea’ this and ‘Chelsea’ that, but on the way home I asked him what his favourite part of the day was and he said when ‘we’ scored. So he changed from ‘Chelsea’ to ‘we’, which is a big moment. I think it was the crowd that did that!” Houseman’s sons were too young to remember their father playing for the Blues, but during their evening at the Bridge they also took a trip to the Chelsea Museum, where they saw Houseman’s 1970 FA Cup final tracksuit top and 1971 Cup Winners’ Cup winner’s medal on display, and were greeted by Chelsea legend Ron Harris, who captained both those sides. Daniel added: “It is the first time we have seen those in the current museum and they have done a great job there with them. It was a privilege to meet

Ron Harris again, he is great. And we met Lyn Osgood (Peter Osgood’s widow) too, as she was in the same box as us for the game, and that was a privilege as well. She said really nice things to us.” When he broke into the Chelsea team in the late Sixties, the reserved Houseman took time to win over the crowd at Stamford Bridge, who had fallen in love with his more flamboyant team-mates in Dave Sexton’s legendary side, but there has never been any doubt about the respect his colleagues had for the winger. “When Peter first came into Chelsea as a young lad he was very quiet, you would not have thought he was there,” explained another member of the team, John Hollins. “He was a local boy, from about 20 minutes away from Stamford Bridge, and as well as being very quiet, it looked as though he was always thinking about something, but once he got on that field he was a really forceful person. He was like an explosion. “The Chelsea supporters did take to him in the end. Every time Peter Osgood was asked about Peter (Houseman), he said: ‘I’m telling you, he is the best.’ Maybe that word got about as sooner or later the criticism disappeared. Whenever he got wide and whenever he was one-on-one, he would always deliver a ball to the near post or far post. The delivery was perfect nine times out of 10.

“As soon as the game was finished, he would go home, that was his job done. He was dedicated to the game and dedicated to his wife and family, he was a great person to have in your team. If you asked anybody in that side who they wanted as a team-mate, it would be Peter Houseman without a shadow of a doubt.” Top left, Peter Houseman and his team-mates on an open-top bus celebrating our FA Cup triumph in 1970 and, above, members of his family with our former captain Ron Harris during their visit to Stamford Bridge. Below, being congratulated after scoring against Arsenal in 1973

Words | Dominic Bliss Pictures | Darren Walsh

Gary, I wanted to start with you, because we have a show going out on Chelsea TV called Gary Cahill: Five Years at Chelsea. That seems to have gone really quickly and during that time there have been a load of trophies and some pretty good memories. Gary Cahill (GC): For sure, loads of memories and I agree, it has gone really fast. There have been a lot of highlights, some ups and downs in those fives years, and I have enjoyed my time here thoroughly.

Paulo – nine years at Chelsea and you’ve now come back to work with the club. What’s it like on the other side of things, not playing but working for and with Chelsea? Paulo Ferreira (PF): I’m getting old! I had nine fantastic seasons playing for the club and still working for Chelsea is great. I feel really happy to carry on helping the club – it’s a different role but it’s always a pleasure.

AN AUDIENCE WITH David – it’s your second spell with Chelsea. How are you enjoying it?

It was a league I followed a lot from Portugal and it was a dream to play in this division.

David Luiz (DL): Of course, I am enjoying it a lot. I feel at home here so I am very happy to be here again, playing for Chelsea. In football, sometimes you cannot choose everything. Sometimes cycles finish, sometimes cycles start again, so I am happy to be here, but I need to work hard because I have some business to finish!

GC: The Premier League is what we work day in, day out for. The cup competitions are fantastic as well, but the Premier League is dayto-day. You need to show great consistency to win it and I think that is the reason why it felt so good when I won the league. DL: I need to work hard because I want to have this feeling!

Part of the reason you wanted to come back, as well as loving the club, is because you want to win the Premier League. Paulo and Gary, can you tell David just how good it feels to win the Premier League?

David, both your parents are teachers so you had to be good academically, even as a teenage footballer. What were your favourite subjects at school? DL: Mathematics – I love numbers.

DL: Paulo can say something, but Gary needs to work with me to win it again! PF: It’s amazing! It’s a great feeling. For me, to come from Portugal and win the Premier League in my first season here was fantastic.

Ferreira, celebrating with Hernan Crespo in 2006, also won the Premier League in his first season in English football the previous campaign

Cahill enjoyed Premier League title success in the 2014/15 season

PF: For me, I liked the recess! It was all about playing football. I was interested enough in school to move on. When I was under pressure I would study a lot.

GC: It would have to be PE for me. Second to that was probably English, although David says he never understands any of my English. I think it must be the Yorkshire accent! What was your best moment in a Chelsea shirt? DL: Munich, the Champions League final. GC: It has to be the same for me, but close to that, winning the Premier League. DL: Paulo has won everything – the Premier League, the FA Cup, the Champions League... PF: For me, it’s all of them. Gary, you’ve told us before about coming off injured in the semi-final, second leg against Barcelona and how nervous you were after that. GC: It was crazy. I was more nervous than I was starting the match. I went off having pulled my hamstring and I was just pacing up and down constantly. The kit man asked me what was wrong and I just couldn’t settle because I couldn’t see the game and didn’t know what was going on. We went into the tunnel and there was a monitor in there we were watching it on. The celebrations were unbelievable; Ramires’ goal – what a finish that was. It was just a phenomenal night. DL: I was watching at the Nou Camp, in the middle of the Barcelona fans. Then Gary went off, then John went off and I feared the worst. The funniest thing was when it was 2-1 to Barca near the end and I was going down in the lift with Paulo. I heard a noise and thought Barcelona had scored to make it 3-1. I opened the lift and Torres had just scored for us! How did it feel to take one of the penalties in the final? DL: For me, to play that final was a bonus. I was injured so nobody was sure if I could play or not. For me and Gary it was the same situation – both back from injuries. He trained for one week ahead of the final, I trained for just a day-and-a-half. When it arrived at penalties, it was just a bonus because before the game I was just praying to play in the game. Afterwards, if my leg explodes or whatever, fine – I just wanted to play. I had to change my style a bit to play in that game, but I tried to take the penalty exactly how I would in training. I came, I shot and I celebrated in front of our supporters – no problem!

The jubilation after our Champions League triumph in Munich in 2012

IT WAS PAINFUL WATCHING THE SHOOT-OUT, BUT THANKFULLY IT HAD A WONDERFUL END. AFTER DIDIER’S PENALTY THERE WAS JUST AN EXPLOSION OF RELIEF. IT WAS UNBELIEVABLE Paulo Ferreira Gary, where would you have been on the penalty list? GC: I think after Didier it would have been myself, so if you see my reaction after Didier scored, it’s because of winning and also because he saved me from taking one! Having learned from that situation, I think that has got to be the worst place to be in a penalty shoot-out – the first in sudden death. Thankfully, you didn’t have to see me step up because Didier did the business. It was an amazing night. Paulo, how tough was it watching from the sidelines during that shoot-out? PF: It was painful watching, but thankfully it had a wonderful end. After Didier’s penalty there was just an explosion of relief from everybody. I could see players running everywhere, it was unbelievable.

The big moment: Didier Drogba’s strike saves Cahill from a sudden death spot-kick!

AN AUDIENCE WITH

Cahill receives a celebratory soaking from Munich hero Drogba

EVEN IN TRAINING, WHEN WE GO OUT, AZPILICUETA HAS TO BE IN THE SAME PLACE. IF HE GOES TO THE TOILET, HE USES THE SAME SPOT! Gary Cahill

GC: That night was full of joy. One of the best bits for me was to enjoy it with your team-mates who you have worked so hard with, as well as all the staff. But to then get back to the hotel and see all your family was an amazing feeling, celebrating the rest of the night with everybody all in the same room. You’ve probably seen the pictures from the swimming pool and it was just fantastic to be in and around all the lads, the staff and the families together, enjoying what we had achieved that night and throughout the whole journey. Who has or has had superstitions in the dressing room? PF: The only one I had was to wear a necklace that was given to me by my mum. She told me to kiss it three times just before I go on the pitch, so that is what I did. GC: Me personally, not too much, but the worst by far in our dressing room is Azpilicueta. DL: I tell Azpi I’m going to the toilet and he is like, “No, no,” pushing me out the way so he can go to the toilet on that side! In the tunnel, I say: “Let’s go, Azpi,” and he starts rearranging the order of the players saying: “You go there, you go there!” Azpi is the worst. GC: It’s true. Even in training, when we go out, he has to be in the same place. If he goes to the toilet, he uses the same spot! Who is the best striker you have played against? DL: Messi. GC: Ronaldo. PF: I have to say Didier. I played against him in the Champions League when he was at Marseille and I was at Porto.

The superstitious Cesar Azpilicueta

What are the training sessions like under Antonio Conte? GC: Hard. DL: Very hard! Is he the same on the training field as he is on the touchline, with the passion he shows? DL: He’s the same with everything – when you’re training, when you go for something to eat! I’m just joking, he is an amazing coach and he’s doing a great job, but we all know it isn’t finished yet. GC: The way we work now is really intense. We do a lot of physical training, a lot of tactical training. How is he making you a better player? DL: I think it is just through the work. That’s why we are improving game by game, day by day, because we really work hard. It is not a secret, if you want to win things, you must work. GC: It’s true, working hard comes first and foremost. You’ve seen him on the side of the pitch and he comes across as a guy who is constantly thinking about the game, about how he can do things differently or better and that rubs off on us. We do a

lot of physical work so we feel fit in the games, which is important, but tactically we know what we are doing. We know his preparation for each and every situation is very thorough. For us, it has been very enjoyable. Gary, what is the best advice JT has given you since you became captain? GC: He hasn’t said one particular thing, but I speak to him regularly and we get on really, really well. Even before I came to the club, he was the one who spoke to me so, as a captain, I don’t think there is anybody better than him. He’s done a massive job for me this season and will for whoever it is going to be in the future. To take hold of that armband, it is very, very hard to do what he has done and I don’t think anybody will. You just have to be yourself and do what you do. I don’t feel like I have had to change my game this season and the way I approach everything is still the same. Somebody as good as John, on and off the pitch, you can only learn from them. Paulo and David both know this as well, there is a lot of stuff that goes on away from the pitch and he really is 100 per cent the captain of this football club, so you just learn as much as you can from him. He’s given me a lot of good advice since I have been at Chelsea. 47

CLUB AMBASSADOR TORE ANDRE FLO

Why club’s Singapore trip will be about much more than pre-season preparation Tore Andre Flo with Hasan Salihamidzic and Francesco Toldo in Singapore

Last month, I travelled to Singapore on behalf of the club for the announcement of this summer’s International Champions Cup, which Chelsea will be taking part in along with Bayern Munich and Inter Milan. It was a really interesting trip and I think it is going to be a great experience for the team to play two matches in Singapore against such strong opposition, with a game against Arsenal in Beijing taking place beforehand. Pre-season tours are obviously a very important part of preparation for a new campaign. Antonio Conte will see these matches as the perfect way of getting his squad fine-tuned ahead of the 2017/18 season. He will already have had time working with the team back at Cobham, but you need to test yourself against good opponents and this will give him a great opportunity to see his players against quality sides, in top stadiums and nice, warm conditions. While in Singapore, I took part in a question-and-answer session with former Inter and Italy goalkeeper Francesco Toldo 48

and Hasan Salihamidzic, who spent many years playing for Bayern Munich. We talked about the importance of big clubs such as Chelsea coming to places like Singapore, where there is such a huge amount of support. I know Chelsea have previously travelled to other parts of Asia, such as Malaysia and Thailand, where they have a massive following and it is not far for fans from those countries to travel for these fixtures. I’m sure the people of Singapore – and China when we travel to Beijing to play Arsenal – will follow suit and give the players a fantastic reaction when they arrive. They are very polite, but you can also tell they are hugely passionate about their football and they will love the fact that such high-profile games are taking place in their country. While I was there, I also went along to a local football stadium, where I met some children from local football projects and took part in a kick-around with them. You could see their enthusiasm for the game and I know Chelsea do a lot of work to

promote the growth of football at grassroots level throughout Asia and around the world. A big part of our pre-season tours is the Here to Play, Here to Stay element, which means the club continues to work in those places long after the first team have left. Chelsea Foundation coaches work at our soccer schools and on Blue Pitches, helping youngsters receive top-quality coaching as well as giving coaches tips on how they can improve. In modern football, for a club the size of Chelsea, it is important that we have a profile in as many locations as possible around the world. Obviously, taking part in these international tournaments is a big part of that, but so is the hard work that club staff put in throughout the year, all over the globe.

IN THE HIGH PRESSURE MOMENTS SURE WONâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;T LET YOU DOWN

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MATCH ACTION

chelseafc.com

1-2

CHELSEA Fàbregas 5

@chelseafc

CRYSTAL PALACE Zaha 9, Benteke 11

STAMFORD BRIDGE

01.04.17, 3PM

FIRST-TEAM HEAD COACH

MANAGER

Antonio Conte

Sam Allardyce

CHELSEA

CRYSTAL PALACE

13 Thibaut Courtois

13 Wayne Hennessey

28 Cesar Azpilicueta

2 Joel Ward

30 David Luiz

5 James Tomkins

24 Gary Cahill (c)

12 Mamadou Sakho

11 Pedro

31 Jeffrey Schlupp

7 N'Golo Kanté

42 Jason Puncheon (c)

21 Nemanja Matic

28 Luka Milivojevic

3 Marcos Alonso

7 Yohan Cabaye

4 Cesc Fàbregas

10 Andros Townsend

10 Eden Hazard

11 Wilfried Zaha

19 Diego Costa

17 Christian Benteke

22 Willian

6 Scott Dann

h/t

23 Michy Batshuayi

27 Damien Delaney

14 Ruben Loftus-Cheek

90+7

34 Martin Kelly

UNUSED SUBS Asmir Begovic, Kurt Zouma, John Terry, Nathaniel Chalobah

(3-4-2-1)

13 30

3 10

2773C

Chelsea suffered our first defeat at Stamford Bridge since September despite taking an early lead in this London derby against Crystal Palace. The Blues got off to a perfect start in the fifth minute of the contest when Cesc Fàbregas prodded home from close range via the left-hand post, a goal which came after Eden Hazard had jinked and feinted his way to the byline before teeing up the Spaniard. However, the lead proved to be shortlived as the visitors drew level just four minutes later. The in-form Wilfried Zaha was the goalscorer as he found a yard of space to drive a low shot into the far corner of the net. The Ivorian winger was involved once again as Palace scored a quick-fire second, playing in Christian Benteke to dink the ball over Thibaut Courtois. Chelsea came close to an equaliser on numerous occasions throughout the remaining 80 minutes and a lengthy period of stoppage time, but the Eagles’ defence remained resolute and Wayne Hennessey was in inspired form to repel any shots which made their way through. Referee: Craig Pawson

11 5 4 9 12

POSSESSION %

Goal

Own goal

Booked

Straight red card

Attendance: 41,489

Sent-off for two bookings

First sub

SHOTS ON TARGET SHOTS OFF TARGET OFFSIDES CORNERS FOULS

Second sub

Third sub

3 5 2 3 14

UNUSED SUBS Julian Speroni, Joe Ledley, Sullay Kaikai, Bakary Sako

(4-4-2)

13 2

1783C 9

CROSSES

MATCH ACTION STOKE CITY Walters pen 38

1-2

CHELSEA Willian 13, Cahill 87

BET365 STADIUM

18.03.17, 3PM

MANAGER

FIRST-TEAM HEAD COACH

STOKE CITY

CHELSEA

Mark Hughes

Antonio Conte

33 Lee Grant

13 Thibaut Courtois

2 Phil Bardsley

28 Cesar Azpilicueta

90+4

17 Ryan Shawcross (c)

30 David Luiz

15 Bruno Martins Indi

24 Gary Cahill (c)

3 Erik Pieters

15 Victor Moses

10 Marko Arnautovic

7 N'Golo Kanté

20 Geoff Cameron

21 Nemanja Matic

4 Joe Allen

3 Marcos Alonso

32 Ramadan Sobhi Ahmed

22 Willian

9 Saido Berahino

11 Pedro

19 Jon Walters

19 Diego Costa

18 Mame Biram Diouf

4 Cesc Fàbregas

25 Peter Crouch

90+1

14 Ruben Loftus-Cheek

5 Kurt Zouma

UNUSED SUBS Shay Given, Marc Muniesa, Glenn Whelan, Charlie Adam, Ibrahim Afellay

(4-4-2)

33 2

6436C 36

POSSESSION %

A poacher’s finish by centre-back Gary Cahill gave the Blues a deserved win over Stoke City ahead of the international break to keep us 10 points clear of the chasing pack. After a thrilling 4-2 victory for the Blues in the corresponding fixture at the Bridge to close out 2016, this was another impressive performance against the Potters – and once again it featured a goal from Willian. After netting twice in that game, the Brazilian displayed his prowess from set-pieces with a clever effort to catch out goalkeeper Lee Grant at his near post. However, the visitors were gifted a leveller shortly before the break when Cahill was harshly adjudged to have fouled Jon Walters in the box. The striker, who once scored two own goals and missed a penalty in the same game against the Blues, made no mistake from 12 yards on this occasion. Our efforts, including a Marcos Alonso free-kick which cannoned off the bar, looked to be in vain until Cahill showed great composure inside the box to sweep home from close range. He, too, had scored in the aforementioned win over Stoke and this was a priceless late effort for his sixth goal of the season. Referee: Anthony Taylor

Attendance: 27,724

1 2 3 5 16

SHOTS ON TARGET SHOTS OFF TARGET OFFSIDES CORNERS FOULS

7 5 2 11 11

UNUSED SUBS Asmir Begovic, Nathan Ake, Nathaniel Chalobah, Michy Batshuayi

(3-4-2-1)

13 30

28 7

24 21

3 11

8317C 3

CHANCES CREATED

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CHELSEA Kanté 51

@chelseafc

MANCHESTER UNITED

QUARTER-FINAL

STAMFORD BRIDGE, 13.03.17, 7.45PM

FIRST-TEAM HEAD COACH

MANAGER

Antonio Conte

José Mourinho

CHELSEA

MANCHESTER UNITED

13 Thibaut Courtois

1 David de Gea

28 Cesar Azpilicueta

4 Phil Jones

30 David Luiz

12 Chris Smalling (c)

24 Gary Cahill (c)

5 Marcos Rojo

15 Victor Moses

36 Matteo Darmian

7 N'Golo Kanté

25 Antonio Valencia

21 Nemanja Matic

21 Ander Herrera

3 Marcos Alonso

6 Paul Pogba

22 Willian

18 Ashley Young

10 Eden Hazard

19 Marcus Rashford

19 Diego Costa

22 Henrikh Mkhitaryan 81

4 Cesc Fàbregas 5 Kurt Zouma

23 Michy Batshuayi

90+3

UNUSED SUBS Asmir Begovic, John Terry, Nathaniel Chalobah, Pedro

(3-4-2-1)

13 30

3 10

2773C

N’Golo Kanté capped a typically industrious display with his second goal for Chelsea, both of which have come against Manchester United, to secure our first FA Cup semi-final appearance since 2013. Much like our 4-0 win over the Red Devils back in October, this was another engrossing encounter between the sides at Stamford Bridge, and the visitors had goalkeeper David de Gea to thank for keeping them in the contest before half-time as he pulled off eye-catching saves to deny Eden Hazard and Gary Cahill in quick succession. The dismissal of Ander Herrera for two bookable offences shortly before the interval gave us a numerical advantage which Kanté took full advantage of early in the second half, as he utilised the additional space to fire home a brilliant strike from outside the box. Diego Costa and Willian had a couple of opportunities to further extend our advantage, while at the other end Thibaut Courtois was required to pull off a fine stop to deny Marcus Rashford an equaliser against the run of the play. A one-goal margin of victory was the least our performance deserved and we now go on to face Tottenham Hotspur in the last four. Referee: Michael Oliver

5 10 2 10 7

POSSESSION %

Goal

Own goal

Booked

Straight red card

Attendance: 40,801

Sent-off for two bookings

First sub

SHOTS ON TARGET SHOTS OFF TARGET OFFSIDES CORNERS FOULS

Second sub

Third sub

1 3 2 2 14

27 Marouane Fellaini

14 Jesse Lingard

UNUSED SUBS Sergio Romero, Eric Bailly, Daley Blind, Michael Carrick, Juan Mata

(4-4-2)

1 4

2773C 247

TOTAL PASSES

648

18 March

HAPPY FACES He has a knack of popping up with his fair share of goals, and Gary Cahillâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sixth of the season was certainly a timely one for the Blues. You can see what the defenderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 87th-minute strike at the Bet365 Stadium meant to the players by the emotions etched on their faces. It could also turn out to be hugely important in the title run-in, having earned us all three points against the Potters.

PIC OF THE MONTH

MONTH NUMB3RS IN

PRESENTED BY

Looking through the stats at play

38+62+C CHELSEA’S RECORD IN THE FA CUP QUARTER-FINALS

WON LOST

Our FA Cup win over Manchester United set a new club record of 13 successive home wins in all competitions. This beat the previous record of 12 which was originally set over the 2008/09 and 2009/10 seasons, and again in 2014/15.

Chelsea have scored in all 42 FA Cup games we have played at home since January 2000. Manchester United were the last team to keep a clean sheet in the competition at Stamford Bridge, in the quarter-final in 1999.

Victor Moses reached 50 Premier League appearances for Chelsea in our win against the Potters at Stamford Bridge.

15+24+61I

CHELSEA’S RECORD AT STAMFORD BRIDGE IN THE FA CUP

183 GAMES

DRAWN 44 LOST 27

GOALS FOR/AGAINST

404

We extended our unbeaten sequence against Manchester United to 12 games in all competitions. This is a club record against the Red Devils.

We reached the semi-final stage of the FA Cup for the 10th time in 21 seasons, and the 22nd time overall.

WON 112

165

The Blues locked horns with Crystal Palace for the 50th time in all competitions.

Diego Costa made his 100th start for Chelsea in all competitions in our match against Crystal Palace.

As of our game against Crystal Palace, the Blues were the only team to have used all three substitutes in every Premier League match this season.

At Stoke, Cesar Azpilicueta made his 150th Premier League appearance.

After our 9-2 aggregate win over Tottenham in the FA Youth Cup semi-finals, the Blues have become the first club to ever play in six consecutive finals in the competition.

Chelsea players represented their countries in the recent international break (Under-17s up to senior level).

The 7-1 win in the second leg against Tottenham, as well as the 9-2 aggregate victory, are club records for winning margins at the semi-final stage of the FA Youth Cup.

2016/17 PREMIER LONDON LEAGUE

8 6 6 5

6 POINTS

PLAYED

POINTS

PLAYED

POINTS

PLAYED

POINTS

PLAYED

POINTS

PLAYED

Chelsea players were called up in six England squads (senior, U21s, U20s, U19s, U18s & U17s) during the March international break â&#x20AC;&#x201C; more than any other club.

* Stats correct up to 04.04.17

ACADEMY Words | Dominic Bliss

THE FINAL RECKONING

DEVELOPMENT SQUAD Date Opposition Res AUGUST Sun 14 Sunderland A 1-1 Mon 22 Liverpool H2 4-1 Sun 28 Manchester United A 1-1 SEPTEMBER Fri 9 Tottenham Hotspur H3 3-1 Tue 13 Swindon Town (EFLT Group C South) A 1-2 Mon 19 Reading A 1-2 Fri 23 Arsenal H3 1-2 OCTOBER Fri 14 Leicester City H2 0-0 Tue 18 Exeter City (EFLT Group C South) A 2-3 Mon 24 Derby County H2 2-2 Mon 31 Everton A 1-1 NOVEMBER Tue 8 Oxford United (EFLT Group C South) H3 1-1# Mon 21 Southampton H1 3-2 Sat 26 Manchester City A 2-2 Tue 29 Feyenoord (PLIC Group D) H2 2-1 DECEMBER Fri 9 Manchester United H2 3-1 Fri 16 Dinamo Zagreb (PLIC Group D) H2 0-1 Thu 22 Swansea City (PLIC Group D) H2 1-2 JANUARY Fri 6 Tottenham Hotspur A 2-2 Fri 13 Leicester City A 4-0 FEBRUARY Sun 5 Reading H2 2-0 Sat 18 Manchester City H2 3-4 Fri 24 Arsenal A 1-4 MARCH Mon 6 Southampton A 0-0 Mon 13 Liverpool A 0-2 APRIL Fri 7 Sunderland H3 Fri 21 Everton H2 MAY Fri 5 Derby County A All games kick off at 7.05pm unless stated. H1 - Cobham Training Ground. H2 - Aldershot Town FC. H3 - Stamford Bridge. EFLT - English Football League Trophy. PLIC - Premier League International Cup. #Won 13-12 on penalties after 90 minutes.

APPEARANCES 2016/17 T Chalobah 22, Mount 20+4, Ugbo 20+4, Collins 20, Sterling 18+4, J Dasilva 16, Scott 15+1, Tomori 15, Quintero 14+4, Colley 13+3, Sammut 12+2, Dabo 12, Wakefield 8+4, Christie-Davies 7+5, Ali 7+3, Solanke 6, Van Ginkel 6, Maddox 4+10, Zouma 4, Muheim 3+4, Aina 3, Clarke-Salter 3, Kane 3, C Musonda 3, Nartey 3, Colkett 2+1, Baxter 2, St Clair 1+3, Grant 1+2, Batshuayi 1, Beeney 1, C Dasilva 1, Eduardo 1, Fàbregas 1, Gallagher 1, James 1, Panzo 1, Taylor-Crossdale 1, Terry 1, Thompson 1, Taylor-Crossdale 0+3, C Brown 0+1, Jameson 0+1, Uwakwe 0+1

The Blues are now one step away from winning a fourth successive FA Youth Cup, and Jody Morris has some tough selection decisions to make

helsea’s Under-18s progressed to the FA Youth Cup final for the sixth consecutive season last month after defeating Tottenham 9-2 on aggregate in a two-legged semifinal tie. In the decider – which will also be played over two legs – we will meet Manchester City, the team we defeated in the past two Youth Cup finals. After watching his side win the second leg of the semi-final 7-1 at Stamford Bridge, the team’s coach, Jody Morris, spoke about the importance of managing expectations when we have such rich recent history in the competition. “There’s always a bit of pressure coming into these games, trying to make the final again,” he said. “The older players always joke and say we can’t disappoint everybody but it’s a good pressure for us as a team. We were a bit

disappointed with the result after the first leg but we came out with the right mentality because we wanted to score more goals and we did.” One of the most striking aspects of the run to this year’s final has been the number of different faces to have featured. Morris has called upon 21 players in the six games up to this point, demonstrating the strength in depth at his disposal. It has enabled him to pick the players in best form, or those who best suit the game-plan, ahead of each match. “We’ve got a lot of players missing who are in extremely good form and that’s the toughest part of the job, picking a 16-man squad let alone a starting 11,” he said after the second leg of the semi-final against Tottenham. “I like to make changes because I think it keeps people fresh but I also want to play

Juan Castillo, left, is congratulated by Marc Guehi after scoring in the second leg of our FA Youth Cup semi-final

GOALS 2016/17 Ugbo 8, Quintero 5, Mount 4, Sterling 4, Ali 3 (1 pen), own goals 3, Batshuayi 2, J Dasilva 2 (2 pens), Solanke 2, Tomori 2, Christie-Davies 1, Maddox 1, C Musonda 1, Scott 1, Van Ginkel 1, Wakefield 1

Trevoh Chalobah

Team 1 Everton 2 Man City 3 Liverpool 4 Arsenal 5 Chelsea 6 Tottenham 7 Sunderland 8 Man Utd 9 Southampton 10 Derby 11 Leicester 12 Reading Stats correct up to and including 01.04.17

Pld W D L GD Pts 19 14 2 3 +25 44 19 11 6 2 +17 39 18 10 3 5 +16 33 19 9 2 8 +6 29 19 6 8 5 +6 26 19 6 4 9 -4 22 19 5 7 7 -7 22 19 5 6 8 -10 21 19 5 5 9 -9 20 19 4 6 9 -10 18 18 4 6 8 -12 18 19 5 3 11 -18 18

Photo: Dan Davies

PREMIER LEAGUE 2 - DIVISION 1

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George McEachran’s injury-time goal gave our youngsters the three points against Manchester United

people who are in good form, whether it’s in the Youth Cup or a league game.” Whatever formula Morris settles on for each game it is working. In the four games leading up to the semi-final, we didn’t concede a single goal and scored 15 of our own. When the defence was finally breached against Tottenham, it was as part of a 9-2 aggregate win over two legs. The road to the final has been paved with goals. “The boys have got better and better as the season has gone on and hopefully that stands us in good stead for the final, as well as the Under-18 Premier League which we have six more games in,” added Morris. “This competition gets all the hype and prestige but we haven’t just focused on one tournament or had one group of players involved all the time and I think that’s a big part of why we’ve improved as a team.” Morris has been keen to highlight the importance of the youth team’s league campaign throughout the season and, after winning the south section of the Under-18 Premier League, his side began their elite stage campaign last month as well, getting off to a positive start. West Ham were familiar opponents for the opening fixture of the eight-team group, having been our final opponents in the southern section. After winning that previous game 3-0, Morris was keen to do

better the second time around, conscious of the importance of making a statement from the outset at the elite stage. “We wanted to make sure we started well this time,” he said, having stated his disappointment at a slow start on the last occasion the two clubs met. “West Ham brought a few players down from the Under23s team so they were stronger than they had been the previous week, but we ended up as worthy 4-0 winners after an excellent performance.” The following week, Manchester United made their way to Cobham for the second game, and this time it was less straightforward. The Blues had to recover from going a goal down early on, and then being pegged back after going 2-1 and 3-2 up. Eventually, the game was won deep into injury time when Juan Castillo – scorer of our first goal on the day – made a lung-busting run down the left flank before picking out the arriving George McEachran for a tap-in to make it 4-3. “They are a very good team and it was a tough match but I thought we showed great character after going behind to a deflected goal,” Morris said afterwards. “It was a real test for us and we responded to it well to show what we are capable of. We looked the stronger of the two teams and showed that the late equaliser hadn’t knocked our confidence.” That confidence will be a vital ingredient in the decisive weeks ahead.

Date Opposition Res AUGUST Sat 13 Fulham H1 3-2 Sat 20 Southampton A 2-3 Fri 26 Swansea City H1 5-0 SEPTEMBER Sat 10 Norwich City A 4-5 Sat 17 Arsenal H1 4-2 Sat 24 Aston Villa A 1-1 OCTOBER Sat 1 West Ham United H1 1-0 Sat 15 Reading H1 2-0 Sat 22 Tottenham Hotspur A 1-1 Sat 29 Leicester City H1 2-0 NOVEMBER Fri 4 Brighton & Hove Albion A 3-1 Sat 19 Southampton H1 4-1 Sat 26 Fulham A 2-0 DECEMBER Sat 3 Arsenal A 2-2 Sat 10 Norwich City H1 3-1 Tue 13 Cardiff City (FA Youth Cup 3) H2 5-0 JANUARY Thu 5 Swansea City A 5-0 Sat 14 Aston Villa H1 0-0 Wed 18 Birmingham City (FA Youth Cup 4) A 5-0 Sat 28 Tottenham Hotspur H1 3-2 FEBRUARY Wed 1 Sheffield Wednesday (FA Youth Cup 5) H2 4-0 Sat 4 Reading A 2-0 Sat 11 Leicester City A 3-0 Wed 15 Leicester City (FA Youth Cup QF) A 1-0 Sat 18 Brighton & Hove Albion H1 13-0 Sat 25 West Ham United A 3-0 MARCH Fri 10 West Ham United (Merit Group A) A 4-0 Tue 14 Tottenham Hotspur (FA Youth Cup SF 1) A 2-1 Sat 18 Tottenham Hotspur (FA Youth Cup SF 2) H3 7-1# APRIL Sat 1 Manchester United (Merit Group A) H1 4-3 Sat 8 Manchester City (Merit Group A) A Sat 22 Blackburn Rovers (Merit Group A) H1 Sat 29 Liverpool (Merit Group A) A MAY Tue 9 Arsenal (Merit Group A) H1 Fri 12 Reading (Merit Group A, 7.05pm) H1 TBC Manchester City (FA Youth Cup F 1) A TBC Manchester City (FA Youth Cup F 2) H3 All home games kick-off at 11.05am and away games 11am unless stated. H1 - Cobham Training Ground. H2 - Aldershot Town FC. H3 – Stamford Bridge. #Won 9-2 on aggregate.

APPEARANCES 2016/17 James 22+7, McCormick 22+3, Taylor-Crossdale 21+6, C Dasilva 21+2, Grant 21+1, Guehi 20+2, G McEachran 18+6, Uwakwe 17+5, Hudson-Odoi 17+4, Maddox 17, Cumming 16, Gallagher 15+9, St Clair 14+9, Nartey 14+1, Castillo 13+9, Thompson 10, Colley 9+1, Mount 8, Sterling 8, Ugbo 8, T Chalobah 7, C Brown 5+13, Bulka 3, Panzo 2+4, Medley 1+1, Baxter 1, Jameson 0+3

GOALS 2016/17 Taylor-Crossdale 19 (3 pens), C Brown 10, Ugbo 10 (2 pens), McCormick 8 (5 pens), Hudson-Odoi 7, St Clair 7, Uwakwe 7, G McEachran 6, Mount 5, C Dasilva 4, Gallagher 4 (2 pens), James 3, Castillo 2, T Chalobah 2, own goals 2, Guehi 1, Maddox 1, Nartey 1, Sterling 1

U18 PREMIER LEAGUE – MERIT GROUP A Team 1 Chelsea 2 Liverpool 3 Reading 4 West Ham 5 Blackburn 6 Man Utd 7 Arsenal 8 Man City

Pld W D L GD Pts 2 2 0 0 +5 6 3 1 2 0 +3 5 3 1 1 1 0 4 4 1 1 2 -4 4 3 1 0 2 -3 3 3 0 2 1 -1 2 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1

U18 PREMIER LEAGUE - SOUTH Team 1 Chelsea 2 Arsenal 3 Reading 4 West Ham 5 Fulham 6 Aston Villa 7 Tottenham 8 Norwich 9 Southampton 10 Brighton 11 Swansea 12 Leicester

Pld W D L GD Pts 22 16 4 2 +47 52 22 12 5 5 +20 41 22 12 3 7 +11 39 22 10 4 8 +6 34 22 9 6 7 +7 33 22 9 6 7 -8 33 22 9 4 9 +12 31 22 9 4 9 +8 31 22 7 5 10 -13 26 22 5 8 9 -23 23 22 2 6 14 -37 12 22 2 5 15 -30 11

Fixtures correct at time of going to press.

Photo: Mark Sandom

UNDER-18s

Stats correct up to and including 01.04.17

ACADEMY INTERVIEW

RICHARD NARTEY D.O.B. 06.09.98 BIRTHPLACE Paddington POSITION Defender

The 18-year-old discusses defensive improvements, juggling his studies and coming up against England internationals

How do you reflect on the season up to this point? At the start of the season I just wanted to prove myself, get fitter, physically stronger, and we did a lot of fitness at the start. We started off a bit slowly in the first two games for the youth team, but we picked ourselves up, Jody gave us some good advice and since then we’ve gone on the longest unbeaten run. With the development squad, there’s only a few games left now, but we’ve had some tough opposition recently, we’ve faced a lot of first-team players, so that’s been good experience for us and we’ve also picked up some points along the way. You’ve been heavily involved in the Under18s team that has won the south section of the Under-18 Premier League two seasons running. How has it been the second time around? I think, as a second year now in the youth team, you have to be much more of a leader. You have to lead the way for the first

years, especially at the start of the season when it’s all new to them. How did you go about turning things around after two defeats early in the campaign? In those two early defeats we weren’t treating the games as we should have been and Jody reminded us that every match is important, and not to underestimate any opposition. I think the two defeats showed us that all the teams are extremely strong,

so we knew we had to give 100 per cent, play just as hard as they would and then, technically, we should beat them. You’ve also been around the Youth Cup squad this season, making your debut in the competition away to Birmingham City. What was that like? It was a great experience. I watched all the games last year and I wanted to at least be able to say I’d played in the FA Youth Cup after watching all these great players in it. So knowing I contributed to the run this season was a proud moment for me. Considering we’re known as an attacking side, defensive solidity has been a feature of our play this season. Why is that do you think?

Nartey made his FA Youth Cup bow at Birmingham

Again, it all stemmed from those two early defeats, when we conceded five against Norwich and three at Southampton. We did a lot of work as a unit after that. Jody reminded us that defending is a team thing and focused a lot on our work off the ball, so pressing from the front, not the back, and sliding together as a team, so when the forwards push up, we go up. Instead of defending individually, that reminded us it was a team effort, and we haven’t looked back since.

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The defender has learned a lot from training with the first team

WHENEVER WE TRAIN WITH THE FIRST TEAM YOU SEE HOW EASY THEY MAKE IT LOOK. THEY KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON, THEY NEVER STOP TALKING AND YOU WANT TO IMITATE WHAT THEY DO

As a defender you must take pride in that defensive record. Every clean sheet means a lot. I can remember when we conceded really near the end against Norwich in December, when we knew we were going to win the game. Even though we won 3-1 it hurt me. I was really disappointed and felt it would have been so much better if we had kept the clean sheet. We’ve now conceded less goals than we have played games, which was the target we set ourselves at the beginning of the season. You’ve also played a bit with the development squad recently, marking the likes of Danny Welbeck and Jay Rodriguez. How was that step up for you? I knew it was going to be tough. Adi Viveash told me to go out there, be confident, keep talking and not be nervous. I was always going to be a bit nervous when I saw the teamsheet, but as soon as the match starts you just treat it as a normal game. It was a great experience for me to play against some top-class players. What difference does it make to know that you could be playing a 16-year-old one week and an England international striker the next? I think the biggest difference is not the physical side, although that was a big thing, but the technical side of it and the amount of time you have to think about defending was so much less. You have to think about communication and reading the play. With the top-tier first-team players, it’s not just the fact they are bigger, stronger and older than the players you face in the youth team, but the fact they have got their movement and everything sorted out by that stage in their careers.

We have great centre-backs at this club, from the first team through to those players who have come through the Academy and had success out on loan, such as Andreas Christensen and Nathan Ake. Is it useful to look at their performances? I’ve always looked up to all of them. I remember when I was 15, I watched Andreas play on the youth-team pitch and that was the level I wanted to get to. He’s so confident on the ball and in how he reads the game. Whenever we get the chance to go and train with the first team you see how easy John Terry, Gary Cahill and the others make it look. They always know what’s going on, they never stop talking and you want to imitate what they do to help you make the most of your ability.

programme when I was 17, so the first few months were tough. I had to get used to training every day, not being at school. It flipped to football coming first when it used to be education coming first. I had to work my education around football, but after the first few months I got used to the routine and it has become easier. I have another year of A-Levels to do and I haven’t had any issues so far. I would always want something to keep me occupied if I do have a long career in football, and if I don’t it’s something to fall back on. Have the Academy staff helped you to structure that?

You’re still studying as well, which you have to juggle with football. How is that going?

They’ve been really helpful. They’ve sorted out the tutors, kept in contact with my parents about timings and tutors. They’ve been a great help.

It was tough last year, adapting. I left school and I only came into the full-time

Interview | Sam Poplett 61

LADIES

SETTING THE STANDARD The new season is only two matches old, but Chelsea Ladies are just one step away from a return to Wembley Stadium after a goal-laden start to our Women’s FA Cup campaign. Thumping home victories over Doncaster Rovers Belles and Sunderland ensured the Blues reached the semi-finals for the fourth season in a row, with two of those last-four appearances followed by a trip to the home of English football as we beat Notts County in the 2015 final and then lost to Arsenal 12 months later. Birmingham City, who we lost to in the 2012 final after a penalty shoot-out, await us

in the semi-final, which is to be played in the Midlands on Easter Monday, and Hayes will be hoping her side continue their fine start to the season. After an unbeaten pre-season campaign against predominantly top-class European sides, a dazzling display by our attacking players caught the eye against Donny. New signings Crystal Dunn and Ramona Bachmann both found the back of the net on their competitive debut for the club, and a brace from Ji So-Yun was added to by an own goal and second-half efforts by Katie Chapman and substitute Drew Spence to give us a resounding 7-0 victory.

Although there was plenty of quality on show, Hayes felt the scoreline was justified by the hard work put in by each and every player on the pitch. “I asked for the team to set the standard in terms of demonstrating that we’d worked hard throughout pre-season,’ said the manager. “That was my first priority. It’s clear the fitness levels of the squad are increasing to a level we haven’t seen before, and we expect that to continue. “I know how hard we are working to hunt the opposition and how hungry we are. I know the standard we’ve set. The pressing game from the team is improving and it was Celebrating one of our seven goals against Doncaster Rovers Belles

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Hannah Blundell was on the scoresheet twice against Sunderland

LADIES Date Opposition Res MARCH Sun 19 Doncaster Rovers Belles (Women’s FA Cup 5) H 7-0 Sun 26 Sunderland Ladies (Women’s FA Cup QF) H 5-1 APRIL Mon 17 Birmingham City Ladies (Women’s FA Cup SF) A Sun 30 Yeovil Town Ladies H MAY Wed 3 Reading Women (7.30pm) A Sun 7 Notts County Ladies H Sat 13 Women’s FA Cup final N Wed 17 Arsenal Ladies (7.30pm) H Sun 21 Sunderland Ladies A Thu 25 Manchester City Women (7pm) A Sun 28 Liverpool Ladies H Wed 31 Bristol City Women (7pm) A JUNE Sat 3 Birmingham City Ladies A FA Women’s Super League 1 Spring Series fixtures unless stated. Home games are played at Staines Town FC unless stated. All games kick off at 2pm unless stated. N – Wembley Stadium.

a great start from the new signings. They really wanted to make an impression in front of their home crowd and their work rate showed why we have brought them to the club. I felt we showed an improvement on last season.”

I KNOW HOW HARD WE ARE WORKING TO HUNT THE OPPOSITION AND HOW HUNGRY WE ARE. THE PRESSING GAME FROM THE TEAM IS IMPROVING AND IT WAS A GREAT START FROM THE NEW SIGNINGS

Emma Hayes

After calling for more of the same against Sunderland, the manager cut a frustrated figure for the opening 40 minutes as the visitors scored from a penalty awarded on their first foray into the Chelsea area and her players struggled to click into gear. Suddenly, it was if someone flicked a switch, and the intensity went up a notch. Two wonderful goals from Bachmann snapped her team out of the slow start, almost single-handedly turning the game on its head. While the Swiss star’s brace was not unexpected, the same could not be said of Hannah Blundell. The wing-back had not found the back of the net since the tail-end of the 2014 campaign, but two superb finishes in the space of 10 minutes put that statistic right. Spence also netted for the second game running after appearing from the substitutes’ bench. “We cannot afford to play as we did for the first 40 minutes against a better opponent,” insisted Hayes. “If we do that, we will be punished. I was certainly more pleased with the second-half performance; we were slow and sloppy in the first half and it took us around 40 minutes to get going. “We showed a little complacency, which I wasn’t happy with. It was a test, once we went a goal down, to see how calm we would be and I think it showed just how many leaders we’ve got in this team that they could step up in difficult times and they didn’t lose their composure.”

Ramona Bachmann has three goals in her first two starts for the club APPEARANCES 2017 Bachmann 2, Bailey 2, Blundell 2, Bright 2, Carney 2, Chapman 2, Dunn 2, Ji 2, Lindahl 2, Mjelde 2, Rafferty 2, Cuthbert 0+2, England 0+2, Spence 0+2

GOALS 2017 Bachmann 3, Blundell 2, Ji 2, Spence 2, Chapman 1, Dunn 1, own goal 1 Stats correct up to and including 01.04.17

Words | Richard Godden 63

LADIES INTERVIEW

KAREN CARNEY D.O.B. 01.08.87 BIRTHPLACE Solihull POSITION Midfielder

After winning Chelsea Ladies’ Player of the Year award in her first season at the club, Karen Carney has signed a new three-year contract with the Blues. The midfielder is desperate to win major honours during that time, starting with the Women’s FA Cup and the WSL Spring Series

This hasn’t been a bad year for you so far: a new contract last month and an MBE to receive at Buckingham Palace later in April. I have to credit so much to Chelsea, for taking a risk on me when others didn’t want to and for investing in me as a person and a player. I have to thank my family as well and I think the MBE is for them. Obviously I’m proud of it as well, it’ll be a special moment going to Buckingham Palace. But I think anyone in professional sports will know that while it’s me playing the sport, you simply cannot rely on yourself – you lean on your family, friends, team-mates, your whole support system. We couldn’t do it without them so moments like this are a great reward for all the times my family have been with me. Thanks to them, and also to everyone at Chelsea. I’m so happy I came here – it’s the best decision I ever made.

You’re the latest person at the club to receive an MBE, following on from the manager. Has she given you any advice? She hasn’t, to be fair. She was on holiday at the time I found out about it, and when she got back she just said, “I’m so proud, I’m really happy for you.” It’s really starting to sink in now. It’s so rare and when I found out about it, it was something I just felt, “Wow, I’ve done something really good here.” Out of everything, this is pretty big. Getting in some shooting practice on the training ground

It’s not something you can ever really begin to think you’ll win, is it? Not at all. Someone has to put you forward and then someone else decides if you’ve got a good claim. I didn’t even know I’d been put forward, it was someone from my local town in Birmingham. This woman worked really hard, reached out to loads of different people, and then put it forward. How nice is that? It’s amazing, really overwhelming. Congratulations on your new threeyear contract, too. It shows a big commitment by both you and the club, doesn’t it? Yeah, and just before I’m about to turn 30, too. I’ve got to give credit to Chelsea for wanting me to sign for that long. It gives me, and them, some stability. I think they’re trying to tie down quite a few players so they know the squad they’re working with going forward. I’m really happy with how it’s gone, I’ve enjoyed my first 18 months and I feel very much at home here, which I thought would be unheard of given I was at my childhood club before, but it’s been a great move and hopefully it will keep progressing.

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@chelseaLFC LADIES Congratulating Ramona Bachmann after her goal against Sunderland in the Women’s FA Cup quarter-finals

You had a similar connection with Ji So-Yun from the word go last season.

To be offered a three-year contract shows just how far the women’s game has come in this country – a few years ago it was rare to get anything longer than a year. Not even that. When I first started playing it was a game-by-game fee, so if you got injured you didn’t get paid. Where it has gone now is just remarkable. Again, I’ve got to give credit to Chelsea, the whole club, for supporting women’s football and giving it the opportunities and the platform to succeed. Our facilities are so good, what we are given is brilliant, and you can see just how far the game has come because we are getting support we didn’t previously have. The new season has started positively, with a Women’s FA Cup semi-final on the horizon. The new signings have bedded in well and I’ve noticed you seem to have already forged a good link with Ramona Bachmann. She’s so good. We seem to have built a connection straight away, I can easily find her. I think she’s really clever, she’s agile, she’s quick and she’s a goalscorer. The thing with Ramona is that she’s been around a long time, despite her young age, and she’s experienced a lot. You look at her work ethic and it’s just inspiring. She’s world class, she really is.

I JOINED CHELSEA TO WIN THE LEAGUE, THE FA CUP, ALL THE MAJOR TROPHIES. THE BEST THING WOULD BE TO HAVE THE WINNERS’ MEDALS TO PROVE IT AND FOR ME THAT WOULD BE AN AMAZING FEELING

Sometimes you get that with certain players and you can’t explain it. I’d never played with Ji before last season, never played with Ramona before the Donny game, but it feels like you’ve been playing with them for years and years. You know where they’re going to be, what they’re going to do, and they seem to know what you’re going to do. It just happens and I’ve had that with a couple of other players. Lastly, looking at the bigger picture, what would constitute success for you by the end of your new contract? Well, I joined Chelsea to win the league, the FA Cup, all the major trophies. The best thing would be to have the winners’ medals to prove it and for me that would be an amazing feeling. If I don’t win anything during my time with Chelsea, I’ll feel unfulfilled. I definitely want trophies. I’ve sacrificed a lot, personally, and lost out on some big things in my life, by coming to Chelsea, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. If we win something, it will be the best feeling ever. Interview | Richard Godden 65

LADIES INTERVIEW

HEDVIG LINDAHL

D.O.B. 29.04.83 BIRTHPLACE Katrineholm, Sweden POSITION Goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl is another key member of the side to commit her long-term future to the club ahead of the WSL Spring Series. She looks forward to our Women’s FA Cup semi-final and the new league competition, as well as outlining her goals for the duration of her new contract

Congratulations on signing a new contract until 2019. There have been quite a few renewals ahead of the Spring Series. I think we are all feeling more inclined to want to stay a long time because this is a very good environment. I love it here and what we’ve got going on, the process we are in and the goal we are heading towards. It’s a no-brainer for me. I think it shows from the club’s side, ‘We believe in you and we want to work with you.’ The profile of Chelsea has really raised over the years and there are players looking to come here. Being one of the 23 players here is an honour and that they want us to sign longer is something we are very thankful for.

After you signed your new contract, Emma Hayes said you’re the best goalkeeper in the world on current form. How does that make you feel? That’s very nice to hear. It’s been my goal since I was a young girl and I have heard a few people say I am the one they hold Keeping sharp in training

highest right now. My goal is to stay at a high level, keep performing and show I am at this level to stay and it is not just a case of having one good year or one good Olympic tournament. My goal is to show I have acquired so many techniques and methods over the years, that I have control over my emotions and I have the routine needed so people say this is my level now. That’s my ultimate goal and I hope I can deliver. We’re only two games into the new season and already there is a Women’s FA Cup semi-final on the horizon. It goes so quickly in the FA Cup, it doesn’t take long until there is a place at Wembley at stake. I’m very motivated for the semifinal and I think playing Birmingham away is going to be a really hard task for us. I have so much respect for them and especially their defence. We’ll have to prepare really well to make it through to the final. People might have us down as favourites, but it means nothing when you play the game. If a team is a little bit off on the day... Just look at our match against London Bees in the Continental Cup last season. It was probably 80-20 in our favour, but we still lost. Once a team feels they have a chance in a game, their confidence grows and they over-perform, in a sense. I think what’s needed from us is a massive performance. I

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In action for Sweden during the Olympic Games in Rio

remember playing against Manchester City in the last two semi-finals and both games were intense and not easy at all. I expect something similar from Birmingham. The Spring Series is going to be a new experience for you all. I suppose having one-off matches against each side in the WSL1 will give the games a bit of a cup-tie feel, won’t it? Yeah, it’s almost like a bit of a cup competition in itself. You’ve got to be on it in every single game. Saying that, there is also not so much pressure on teams because none of them will fall out of the division at the end of the Spring Series, but it’s still a trophy to win and with that comes prestige. All of the teams want to position themselves in a good seat coming into the next season, especially if it can help you draw new players to your squad. If you don’t perform and all of a sudden you finish fourth or fifth, but you were hoping to go for the trophy, you’re in a harder place when it comes to motivating someone to join. There is a lot at stake. After that there is a European Championship. Sweden have got a tough group with Germany, Italy and Russia, but are you confident after winning silver at the Olympics last year? This will be my fourth Euros and I think coming off the Olympic success we had, we’re in a good place as a team. But it

AS A TEAM, THE GOAL I HAVE IS TO WIN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE WITHIN THE NEXT TWO YEARS. THAT’S THE MAIN TARGET FOR THE CLUB AND I WANT TO BE PART OF THAT. I WILL DO WHATEVER I CAN TO MAKE IT HAPPEN

won’t be easy at all. A lot of the teams are highly placed in the FIFA rankings and if we take that as how everyone will do then Sweden should reach the semi-final. But we know football is not as simple as that. The competition at this level is similar to what we face in the club matches in England. Take the Birmingham semi-final – yes, people might have us ahead on paper, but if we’re not on it that day we are going to be smashed. And if you’ve done well at the last tournament, people really want to beat you. It’s also Pia Sundhage’s last tournament as our coach and we all want to give her a good farewell. Lastly, do you have any targets for the duration of your new contract? Personally, I want to stay at a very high level and make sure I am following whatever trends are coming into the women game, sharp to what is happening. Whatever I have done in my career, whenever something has become easy, I’ve tried to challenge myself in another way and I’ll keep doing that. Even as a 34-year-old, I can still find new ways to become better. As a team, the goal I have is to win the Champions League within the next two years. That’s the main target for the club and I want to be part of that. I will do whatever I can to make it happen. Interview | Richard Godden 67

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How we are helping children to raise their game The Chelsea Foundation joined forces with the Premier League as Gary Cahill helped launch the Primary Stars programme and we delivered an educational and practical day of fun at Franciscan Primary School in Tooting. The Primary Stars initiative uses the appeal of the Premier League and professional clubs to inspire children to learn, be active and develop important life skills. It aims to support 10,000 primary schools by 2019. To help promote the nationwide programme, Cahill visited Park Walk Primary School in Chelsea to film the advert and meet youngsters from the school enjoying a session with the Foundation. The England defender said: “As a dad I know the importance of education so I was delighted to take part and raise awareness for the fantastic programme. “The Premier League and Chelsea do a lot of great work in the community and, as players, whenever we get the chance to meet with kids and help in some way it is important we do so.” As part of the Premier League Primary Stars initiative, staff from the Premier League hosted a football-themed assembly for students at Franciscan Primary School, whose teacher Britt Wilson had won a nationwide competition to receive a visit, before Foundation coaches took the reins with PE lessons.

Gary Cahill with some of the youngsters from Park Walk Primary School

Joining representatives from the Foundation and Premier League on the day was Labour MP for Tooting and Shadow Minister for Sport Dr Rosena Allin-Khan. After delivering part of the morning’s assembly, she said: “It is fantastic to see first-hand the great work being done by Chelsea FC and the Premier League in the community. I am very happy to have been invited and it is brilliant to hear about what you are teaching them in terms of sport, maths and resilience training. It is really special that you are showing local boys

and girls they can take part in the Chelsea narrative.” The Premier League Primary Stars programme is open to schools up and down the country, with resources available for girls and boys aged five to 11 years old, promoting equality and diversity, encouraging life skills such as teamwork and resilience as well as delivering key messaging around anti-bullying and other subjects. More details on Premier League Primary Stars and how to register can be found at www.plprimarystars.com.

Pupils show their class in battle to represent Blues so it can only get bigger over the next month nice to come down to such a great facility Chelsea Ladies pair Crystal Dunn and Millie or so. The girls aspire to be professional here in Cobham. Bright were on hand to meet the winners players so it’s incredible for them to be able “It has inspired our girls. The buzz is there as the Blues’ representatives for this year’s to meet the Chelsea Ladies as well.” already about representing Chelsea in May Premier League Schools Tournament were confirmed. Our Cobham training ground played host Crystal Dunn and Millie Bright at Cobham with the players who will to the Chelsea Foundation’s area final as represent Chelsea at this year’s Premier League Schools Tournament teams from London, Surrey, Essex, Hampshire and Wiltshire did battle for the right to represent our club. Two competitions ran simultaneously, with John Keble Church of England Primary School (London) coming out on top in the Under-11s mixed-gender tournament and Blenheim High School (Surrey) being crowned champions in the Under-13s girls’ event. The two teams will now go on to face their counterparts from the 19 other Premier League clubs in the national finals at a yet-tobe confirmed top-flight ground in May. Blenheim teacher Stuart Millard said: “The day is a real festival of football. It’s been really 69

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ONCE A BLUE, ALWAYS A BLUE

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FIONA PHILLIPS The TV presenter, writer and journalist reveals her fondness for Italian managers at the Bridge, her enduring love for the game and the unfortunate ending for her beloved Chelsea mascot...

How happy are you with the way things have gone so far this season?

Italian managers tend to do pretty well at Chelsea, don’t they?

I’m so, so happy. Last season was horrible and when Guus Hiddink came in to steady the ship – as much as we all love Guus – I think we were all thinking, “Where do we go from here?” I thought we might end up with Pep Guardiola, but when he went to Man City I was left scratching my head wondering who we would get in. We couldn’t have made a better choice than Antonio Conte. The signs were there when he did so well at the Euros with arguably the worst Italy team there has been in a long, long time.

Yes, absolutely. Carlo Ancelotti was brilliant for us a few years ago and I’ve got a bit of a soft spot for him. He was like a big teddy bear, but he gets results wherever he goes. Claudio Ranieri was another one who was good for us – he signed Frank Lampard, so he did a hell of a lot for us. I felt like Gary Lineker after Claudio was sacked by Leicester, I was a bit tearful and heartbroken. But not as heartbroken as when José left us in 2007; I was inconsolable and I even wore a

black armband on GMTV! The viewers were saying, “Tell her to pull herself together!” Let’s not forget Roberto Di Matteo, who was another successful Italian manager for us in the short time he was in the dugout. I wasn’t in Munich for the Champions League final, but it was such a brilliant night. You’re a journalist; if you could interview Antonio, what would you ask him? How have you made the difference? What have you done? I’m sure he’d be really modest in his answers, but I really want to know. I think so much of it is how he understands the human condition. These guys are playing in front of a worldwide audience, the pressure is on and I know everyone says they are paid well for this, but no money in

ONE OF US

Antonio Conte’s touchline antics are a highlight for Fiona

the world can change how humans feel about pressure. Money doesn’t guard you from any emotions as a human being. The strength of mind of footballers is formidable. I can’t speak highly enough of his impact this season and I absolutely love him. He’s also giving us another show alongside what is on the pitch – and I mean that in a good way. I’ve never seen a man in so many positions in 90 minutes! He’s like an air-traffic controller, his arms are everywhere. I find him fascinating. I went to the King Power Stadium for the game against Leicester and I was sat at the front and Antonio was just to the right of me. I hardly saw the game – I was mesmerised by him. He didn’t run over to celebrate with us in that game, but I love it when he does that. I’ve got a picture of the best one, which was hilarious, and you can just see his legs and his bottom sticking out from the crowd! He seems to be hugely popular with the supporters of most of the clubs he has managed. We go to Italy quite a lot – I love the country – and we regularly visit a place near Siena, and I think I may have seen them play while Antonio was manager. He did very well there, but the club went bankrupt a few years ago and the stadium is a really sad sight. Anyway, the last time we were there, in February, there was a festival going on and they do these amazing donut things called frittelle, which I think are made from just rice, egg, flour and orange zest. There’s this wooden hut, at the famous Piazza del Campo, where they serve them and

Fiona uncovered this picture of our head coach while on holiday in Italy

I LOVE WALKING UP THE STEPS OF THE STADIUM AND GETTING OUT TO SEE THE PITCH FOR THE FIRST TIME, ALL THE BRIGHT LIGHTS – IT NEVER FAILS TO GET ME whose photo should I see there while we’re in the queue? It’s Antonio! He’d obviously been there recently. Let’s go back to your formative years – didn’t you grow up supporting Southampton? I’ve always loved football. I think that comes from having brothers. I always wanted to play football, but girls didn’t really have opportunities when I was growing up. I used to play with the boys at break time and they weren’t kind to me! But there were no girls’ football teams and I felt really frustrated and hard done by. I did lots of other sports, but I really loved football. My younger brother thought he was Martin Chivers and I’d be Gordon Banks. He just used to kick balls at me! I was quite good, but not up there with Banksy. Anyway, we moved around a lot and ended up in Southampton during my teenage years. I loved it at The Dell and I saw them win the FA Cup in the Seventies, so it brought back some really nice memories seeing them in this season’s League Cup final. Ossie was there when they won the Cup and he was one of my favourites. I always loved Chelsea in the Seventies as well, they were the real glamour side of English football – I found them

attractive and exciting. But it wasn’t until I moved here that I started going regularly. I’ve got two season tickets and my sons take it in turns to come with me. You’re clearly someone who enjoys the match-going experience, then. What makes trips to the football so special? It’s just special every time you come. I love walking up the steps of the stadium and getting out to see the pitch for the first time, all the bright lights – it never fails to get me. I always say to my husband, “I just love this feeling.” That first glimpse of the pitch brings out so many emotions. It’s a huge thrill and a privilege to be able to go to the football. I keep telling that to my boys. We’ve only got two season tickets because I don’t want them to feel spoiled and only one can come at a time. There are always fights – but there always are anyway with teenage boys! My eldest son, Nat, is 17 and he is more passionate about it than Mackenzie so he comes more often.

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ONE OF US Earlier on you mentioned that there weren’t many girls-only teams when you were growing up. That has obviously all changed and Chelsea Ladies are a big part of this football club now. Are you a fan? Yeah, I watch them on Chelsea TV whenever they’re on and I think they’re amazing. What gladdens my heart now is that they’re really part of the club, which is how it should be. More and more people are watching women’s football and it’s getting shown on the telly more often. It’s been a real upward curve since England’s success at the last World Cup. My youngest son did a Chelsea soccer school at Cobham and some of the girls were training. It was really

something to see a young boy, whose idols are JT, Hazard and Co, watching the women play and admiring them. It was brilliant to hear my son speaking so positively about them. Chelsea Ladies stars Hannah Blundell and Katie Chapman

Finally, a quick question about the last time you appeared on our pages, which was almost nine years ago. You bought a Chelsea gnome from the Megastore – have you still got it? Unfortunately, he met a terrible demise after he had a football kicked at him in the back garden and his head fell off! I’d taken him with me to GMTV one morning and the television environment was too hostile – especially with Ben Shepherd, a West Ham fan, alongside me on the sofa – so I thought he’d be okay in the back garden with two boisterous young boys playing football. He was brilliant, so much so that it became a big family drama. Who killed our beloved gnome? To this day, neither of them has confessed.

CHELSEA FIVE-A-SIDE TEAM

MANAGER

FIONA PHILLIPS The goalkeeper position is tough to choose, because Thibaut Courtois has been brilliant for us but we also had Petr Cech, who performed over the course of more than a decade. I know he plays for Arsenal now, but he was solid for us for so many years. In the end, I flipped a coin and ended up with Petr Cech. Ashley Cole has got to be in there at the back. I was a big fan of his and he was so consistent at left-

Petr Cech; John Terry, Ashley Cole; Frank Lampard; Didier Drogba

back, plus he’d be perfect for five-a-side as he’s used to getting up and down the pitch. And obviously John Terry will play alongside him and wear the captain’s armband. He has shown such strength of character throughout his career, he has been an absolute lionheart and he leads by example. Frank Lampard will be there to score goals from midfield and we can rely on him to take the penalties. In fact, he can do anything – what a player he was.

Centre-forward was another tough position to choose, but I couldn’t look past Didier Drogba, who was always on hand to deliver in the big moments. It also means I’ve gone back to the same spine of the team for the best part of a decade, during which time we won so many trophies and enjoyed many special moments. It’s a pretty good team and I’m sure it would take some beating.

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WE WERE THERE! WE WERE THERE! Each month we look at Chelsea’s history from a fan perspective. In this issue, we relive a match that came to represent the Blues’ transformation into a major force...

REACHING A NEW LEVEL Dennis Wise’s goal in the San Siro was quickly immortalised in song by the Chelsea supporters after it secured us a 1-1 draw away to AC Milan during our first-ever Champions League campaign in 1999/2000. It was the penultimate game of a tightly contested group stage and it left us needing just a point from our final match, at home to Hertha Berlin. We duly won that game 2-0 and progressed as group winners. That the mighty AC Milan had missed out on progression as a result showed everyone just how far Chelsea had come over the previous halfdecade. Five years earlier, Milan had been champions of Europe as Chelsea finished 14th in the Premier League and lost 4-0 to Manchester United in the FA Cup final. At that time, the idea that we would soon meet the Rossoneri on equal terms in Europe’s premier club competition would have been unthinkable to all but the most ardent optimist. That we qualified from that group at their expense was the icing on the cake.

Although we drew both games against Alberto Zaccheroni’s side – the opening match of the group stage ended in a 0-0 stalemate between the two teams at Stamford Bride – the late leveller in Milan could have been the difference between qualifying and exiting the competition. After all, defeat would have left us a point behind the Italian side with one match remaining. In the end, we finished the group stage five points clear of them. Some goals don’t just change games; they change the entire complexion of a competition. The result also came in the same month that we had beaten Manchester United – then European and English champions – 5-0 at Stamford Bridge, Suddenly, Chelsea were involved in the biggest games in domestic and European football again. AC Milan had long been one of the teams that people named when reeling off the top clubs in Europe. Now they were failing to hang on to our coat tails in the Champions League, and Dennis Wise’s goal became the symbol for that new dawn.

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RUPERT BURKE-GAFFNEY

I went to the game with my now-wife Nicole. It was actually a romantic trip away that incorporated the game and it was brilliant, a very memorable occasion. We’d drawn the home fixture with Milan 0-0 in our first game of the group stage and the away game was probably the toughest looking for us. The atmosphere was extraordinary, absolutely incredible, and we were quite low. I usually sit in the Matthew Harding Upper at Stamford Bridge and at the San Siro we were behind the goal, slightly to the left, but pretty much at pitch level. So it was an unusual view for me and I couldn’t see the other end of the pitch. There was a firework or a flare that went off at the other end of the pitch at half-time and it was as if it was a really foggy day – you could basically see about 50 yards in front of you. I just couldn’t see what had happened when Oliver Bierhoff scored for Milan with about 15 minutes to go. The Milan fans are legendary and it was an intimidating place to go as a fan of the away team. Before the game they gave Marcel Desailly a great reception because we had recently signed him from Milan and he was an absolute hero for them. But they still had an incredible team, with a basis of Italian players, and we didn’t expect to get any sort of result at all. When we went a goal down we thought, “At least we’re only going to lose by a goal to nil. We can still leave with our heads high.”

Siro equaliser at the San Dennis Wise scores the

Then, when Dennis Wise scored, it was just incredible. People just went absolutely wild because this was the most difficult team in our group, it was away, and it was the San Siro. We realised we would actually get something out of the game. Wise was a real hero to the club. He obviously still gets a big reception now when he’s at games and his song is sung, but a lot of the more recent fans probably don’t appreciate what kind of role he played for the club in that period. He was an absolute stalwart and for him to score on that occasion really symbolised what was going on then.

Afterwards, we were making our way back to our hotel, which was in the centre of Milan and we stopped off at this restaurant which was obviously owned by a mad AC Milan fan, with memorabilia all over the place. He came over and was chatting about the game and there were scarves and pendants. The whole thing was incredible. I’m a natural optimist and I thought we were breaking through at that time. There was enormous optimism that this kind of game and result would put us on the map and that people would come to recognise us.

The captain shows his delight after resc uing a point

TRACY DUCHENE SAN SIRO, MILAN, ITALY I can remember feeling quite thrilled about being in the Champions League for the first time. It was the first time that I’d had the opportunity to go to some interesting European destinations with Chelsea. I’d been to Milan a couple of times before, but to go and watch football in such an interesting place was great. I combined it with a week’s holiday in Lake Como and got the train in to Milan for the match. The stadium was quite something as you approached. It was probably the first time I’d been in such a large stadium because it had a capacity of 80-odd thousand. We were facing their main, heavy supporters and it was really quite an electric atmosphere. The game was quite fast and furious as well. It was such an exciting ending to the match. We had played really well, then they scored quite late, but Dennis Wise equalised within a few minutes. So the things I remember most are that chant, the goal and the pass to Wise to set him up. It was a tremendous pass from Roberto Di Matteo, that Kanté or Fàbregas would be happy with these days. My other memory is of all the flares that went off. I couldn’t believe it. At half-time I was thinking the ref surely couldn’t start the second half because we couldn’t see the pitch at all through the smoke, but it did clear after a few minutes.

NEXT MONTH

The ground was fil led with smoke af ter flares were le t Of course, that game is the origin of the Dennis Wise chant, which is slightly inaccurate I think – there were 13 minutes to go! On the metro back into the city I remember people singing that song. They were all bouncing up and down singing it and I thought, “This train driver is not going to leave!” But he did. We were kept behind for about an

off by supporters

hour-and-a-half after the match, so we missed our train back to Como and ended up staying in Milan all night. Perhaps it was during the wait in the stadium that someone came up with the song, but everyone was singing it on the metro. Given how long ago it was, it still remains one of the most significant, memorable Chelsea matches I’ve been to.

Next month it will be 20 years since we lifted the FA Cup in 1997, ending our 26-year wait for a major trophy. Were you at Wembley as we defeated Middlesbrough 2-0? If so, email dominic.bliss@trinitymirror.com with your memories.

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Where fans show the Chelsea colours, wherever they may be

MILAN STOLZE

ALEX SIM Alex has supported Chelsea from his home in Singapore since 1996, where he always sings our name whether we win, lose or draw. Watching the legendary Gianfranco Zola play remains the personal highlight of his time following the Blues. Whenever he leaves Singapore, Alex is sure to bring at least two of his Chelsea shirts with him to show his love of the club around the world. As this photo proves, it was no different when he visited Spain in 2013.

INGRAM PETERS JR When Ingram travelled to Barcelona for a brief vacation, he couldn’t resist the urge to return to the scene of one of our greatest moments from his time supporting Chelsea. The Nou Camp was, of course, where we sealed our 2012 Champions League semifinal victory over Barca in the second leg, holding out with 10 men under immense pressure before Ramires’ deft chip and Fernando Torres’ breakaway goal secured our place in the final in Munich, where we lifted Europe’s top club trophy for the first time. As he unfurled his Chelsea flag for this photo Ingram agreed with Barcelona’s billboard, history did happen there!

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MIA DONEY She may be a teenager now, but this photo proves Mia’s love affair with Chelsea started when she was much younger. That is no surprise given she was born into a Blues household, with her dad Mark having been an avid supporter since he was at school and passing on his passion to Mia’s grandmother Pauline, meaning the whole family are now Chelsea fans and love a trip to Stamford Bridge.

Send your details and a picture to: Message Board, Chelsea Football Club, Matchday Programme, Third Floor, Stamford Bridge, London, SW6 1HS

Or email them to: cfc.programme@trinitymirror.com

The Blues won our fifth FA Cup by defeating Everton in the final in 2009. How much do you know about that team?

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TEST YOUR CHELSEA KNOWLEDGE... 1 How many footballers have won more caps for England than Ashley Cole (107)? 2 Nicolas Anelka started the 2000

Champions League final for Real Madrid. Which other future Chelsea player was on the bench for the Spanish side?

3 In which year did John Terry first lead the Blues out as captain? 4 Frank Lampard scored 26 FA Cup goals for Chelsea. Can you name the other two players to pass the 20-goal mark in the competition for the Blues? 5 John Mikel Obi was part of three FA Cup-winning sides, but who was the first African player to win the competition with Chelsea?

0-5 EXTRA TRAINING SESSION REQUIRED!

6 What shirt number did José Bosingwa wear for the Blues? 7 Which player joined Lyon shortly after Chelsea signed Michael Essien from the French club?

12 Chelsea was the third European club Juliano Belletti played for. Can you name the other two? 13 How old was Hilario when he made his international debut for Portugal?

6-10 STILL ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT

11-13 EXCELLENT CHELSEA KNOWLEDGE

’S KING D

ROAique Bout

Football’s – n finest fashio ux pas d fa and the od

Former Chelsea defender Jason Cundy is a man who takes his fashion seriously, which makes his decision to wear this tan leather and fur jacket in public all the more confusing. “I just love big furry collars, the bigger the better, although it does have a big rip inside that gives it three arm holes,” said Cundy, when questioned about his choice of attire. Maybe that is why one of his hands is slipped inside it here, but it still gives the impression he’s about to try and sell us a watch he’s hidden in the lining.

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