BLUE BLOOD

It’s hard for me to not get emotional and nostalgic when I talk about the best football club in the universe, Chelsea Fc. Absolutely not in terms of trophies and league titles won, but in terms of the way they inspire me to have become who I am today. I can honestly say that my favourite club had a pivotal role in the shaping of the man that I have become.

My love affair with Chelsea Fc. started almost immediately after I started following the EPL, I think it was around 1998-2000. Before that I hated the premier league because it was just too predictable with Man United winning almost every year. My attention shifted Spain where Deportivo were just killing Barca and Madrid, and they even won the la liga that year to become the smallest city in Spain to have won the title (anyone remember Djalminha, Fran, Roy Makkay? I was so inspired by the David vs. Goliath story of Deportivo, but I hated the Spanish style of playing. I loved the faster more physical game of the EPL, but I just didn’t have a team that I could say was an extension of me. Man U was for losers and women (Come on they had Beckham), Arsenal were…ummmm… al right  Liverpool were…Liverpool!

Being a fan Zola I decided to pledge my allegiance to Chelsea, but little did I know that I would fall in love with the club. Over the years great players have come and gone, we have shown promises and glimpse of brilliance and on many occasions had the title at a hands reach, only to let it slip away. This is very human in nature; to almost be there and falter. And I have said it many times over, “Being a Chelsea fan is frustrating”.  But all these heart breaks and disappointments is what brought me closer to the club. There have been so many times I almost reached my dreams, but because of a single moment of carelessness let it slip away. Right from my high school days I was always labelled as a promising young chap. Well spoken, good manners, good in studies from a decent family, but somehow I never really lived to any of these labels. I was a rebel without a cause. I remember selling all my books right before the final exams when I was in 10^th grade and also the final year of my college. I don’t know why I did it, but I just did. I guess it was the expectation to be great that scared me and pressured me. And I realize now that I was running away from it all. But enough of my short comings for now, and back to why Chelsea Fc.?

You see all those times that I was struggling with myself, trying to find my identity was the time Chelsea we’re looking for their championship. People made fun of Chelsea Fc. coz they were neither good nor bad, they were neither a championship team nor a bottom half team. Now you would ask why go for a team that wasn’t winning anything? Well coz I wasn’t winning anything either, I was still a smart kid with no direction. We (Chelsea and me) had potential, but lacked the experience, drive and determination. And it was this very human nature of the Club that made me fall in love with it. Plus everyone I knew were either Man United, Arsenal, Liverpool and New Castle fans and I, as always wanted to be different. 

I know that my statements may make Chelsea sound uninspiring but believe me they’re not. Look at what we've achieved, after years and years of struggling, we finally got our due. It takes time to be a champion, you have to fall, crawl your way back up and fall again. You have to get your dreams shattered, hearts broken, make mistakes, be laughed at, be told that you can’t do it and finally rise above it all.

I’m excited to be where I am today and where we as a football club are, as much as I’m excited about the challenges that lay ahead. Expectations are high, critics come in hoards and haters in flocks. I know the road is tough and maybe I will fall again, Chelsea may lose the title, come close and falter again, maybe we’ll stay champions and win ever possible cup and maybe we won’t, but we will never stop fighting, never back down and forever keep the blue flag flying high!