CSS info: CSS i nya numret av Chelsea Magazine.
Den svenska supporterklubben presenteras i det rykande färska oktober numret av Chelsea Magazine, under artikelserien Blue Planet.
Chelsea Supporters Sweden
President: Harri Hemmi
Club Secretary: Inger Blidfält
Formed: 1994
Favourite players: Frank Lampard, John Terry
E-mail: fluffo55@hotmail.com
Not many football fans can boast playing against their heroes, nor can they boast gracing the hallowed turf at their team’s stadium. Well, the Swedish supporters club can claim both.
Way back in 1981 when Chelsea were struggling under the guidance of John Neal, even before Ken Bates’ infamous purchase of the club for a solitary pound a year later, the Swedish supporters did the unthinkable and fulfilled a lifelong dream for any supporter: they played against their heroes. The Chelsea team of the time included the likes of Clive Walker, John Bumstead and Colin Lee who were visiting Sweden on a pre-season tour when the Swedish were given their moment of glory.
Club president, Harri Hemmi remembers: “We had a match between the Chelsea players and the supporters laid on by John Neal at the training camp here in Västerås, where our club is based which many of the older fans might remember. They are great memories. We were thrashed, but still, we played against Chelsea. Does it get any better than that?”
The Chelsea team destroyed their passionate supporters, with the score so high people lost count. On the day, Michael Fillery proved the difference in a game that may have looked tight on paper, but in reality was always going to finish one way. Unfortunately the game was not a sign of things to come for the Blues who went on to finish a lowly 12th in the old Division 2.
The lucky Swede who had the opportunity to grace the pitch at Stamford Bridge was Oscar Karlström, a member of Chelsea Supporters Sweden. Rather than presenting a player with a trophy however, he went one step further and provided the team with the pitch.
“One of our junior editorial staff members for our website did his work experience at Stamford Bridge in November 2005, helping out with the pitch,” Harri explains. “Judging by the way it has looked recently, perhaps he should come back to help Scott and Kevin with the surface. He really enjoyed it.”
The Swedish supporters’ infatuation with Chelsea dates back beyond recent successes to the glamour of the 1970’s, so inevitably there are many more stories to tell. One in particular involves current club secretary Inger Blidfält and former Chelsea captain, Dennis Wise.
Wise was voted Player of the Season for 1999/2000 by the Swedish fans and Inger had the honour of presenting him with the trophy before the home match against Coventry. She soon became very popular with Chelsea supporters following an innocent kiss from the cheeky captain.
Inger is engaged to Harri Hemmi, who laughs: “She got a kiss on her cheek from Dennis, and when people got to hear about that in the Imperial after the match, she suddenly became London’s most popular female. She had more than fifty male Chelsea fans kissing the same spot that Dennis had previously kissed, and turned to me for help. I was busy singing Chelsea songs in the pub and left her to it.”
Till artikeln finns tre bilder. 1. Gruppbilden vi tog utanför Mumbai på CSS träffen i Stockholm i samband med Wigan matchen ifjol. 2. Oscar, Theo och Mikaela under anslaget, "Next home match v Charlton, Sat May 7th 12.30, Sold out" utanför Stamford Bridge. 3. Sten och Lars drickandes en öl inför match på puben Purple.
Kontakta gärna tidningen och kolla upp om ni kan få den hemskickad. Pris £3.25.
chelsea@profilesportsmedia.com
Chelsea Magazine finns till försäljning i Megastore. Om det går att köpa den i välsorterade tobaksaffärer i Sverige har jag ingen koll på.
