‘It was a really special time for the club, and an amazing experience growing up with that team and going to watch them every other week.’

Dot Major isn’t wrong. Born in February 1991, the London Grammar multi-instrumentalist started attending Chelsea matches with his father at a time when a clutch of exciting European imports – Gianfranco Zola, Roberto Di Matteo, Frank Leboeuf et al – were plying their trade at Stamford Bridge.

‘My dad went through some pretty bad periods supporting Chelsea, but my whole life we’ve been good!’ he laughs.

Dot is one-third of London Grammar, a critically-acclaimed, London-based indie pop band known for their ambient electronica and the soaring vocals of lead singer Hannah Reid. Their third album, Californian Soil, is released on April 16, and they have already sold out a UK tour in the winter, including two nights at Alexandra Palace.

London Grammar have been on critics’ radar for the best part of a decade now, but for Dot, their percussionist, his love of the Blues long predates the band's existence. He holds a season ticket in the Matthew Harding Lower - ‘right at the back with the letterbox view’ – and still finds time to go on away trips, too.

‘I was at PSG away when we got teargassed, I saw us play in the Nou Camp, and more recently we did Budapest in the Europa League. It was a dead rubber, the last group fixture, but it was so much fun going to a game like that with just the core group of supporters there.

‘I go with a group of friends now but I make sure I still make it to a few games with my Dad,’ adds Dot, who lives in Queen’s Park and can’t wait to get back to the Bridge when supporters are allowed in again.

Of course, touring all over the world means he can’t go as often as he used to. There have been plenty of scrambles to find venues showing Chelsea games.

‘I remember we were in Sydney and we were playing PSG in the Champions League. It was 6 o’clock in the morning.

‘I got up early and went to this other hotel where it was being shown. You could tell who the Chelsea fans were and who the Paris fans were because every single Paris fan was drinking coffee, and every Chelsea fan was on pints!

‘It was the one we lost when David Luiz scored a header. I did about two or three pints pre breakfast, went back to the hotel, had breakfast at the hotel, and then went back to bed before the show!

‘It is hard. I find it even worse in the States. When you’re on the West Coast our games always seem to be in the middle of the night. There have been a couple of times when I’ve had a game in my in-ears when we’re doing soundcheck so I can follow it!’

The other band member, guitarist Dan Rothman, is also a Blues fan although not quite as ardent as Dot. They were honoured to perform at Under the Bridge in October 2014, and Dot takes great pride in knowing there is a photo of the band up on the walls there.

Asked to compare their roles in the band to that of a Chelsea player past or present, Dot says Dan resembles his hero Jody Morris, skilful and tenacious in equal measure.

‘I would compare Hannah to Zola,’ he continues. ‘She has a lot of vision, she is a great passer, threads everything together, and sees the big picture.

‘I can’t compare myself to anyone, it feels a bit arrogant! Okay, I’m a bit of a Frank Sinclair. I score an own goal once in a while but hold it together the rest of the time, and of course I came through the ranks at Chelsea!’

Had the global pandemic not struck, the new album would likely have been released six months ago. As it is, the delays have afforded the trio extra time to fine-tune the songs and work on new material. In similar fashion to football teams, they formed a bubble to record, and now Dot and his bandmates cannot wait to perform in front of crowds again.

‘It feels weird at the moment. It’s very hard to distinguish a palpable response, it’s all just figures and it’s quite toxic to look at.

‘We are doing shows in November. Twenty-two thousand tickets to London sold out in a day. I was blown away. Actually knowing 22,000 have put their hand in their pocket and are coming to see you and will be in a room with you is a real palpable thing. It’s a really special feeling.

‘Ally Pally is a warehouse, everyone is standing on the floor, so it is as big as it gets in terms of one floor space. I can’t imagine a less socially-distanced environment for 11,000 people. Who knows what it will be like then. Will people be wearing masks? It doesn’t really make sense to my brain!’

As well as strutting his own stuff in front of thousands of adoring fans, Dot is desperate to be among fellow Chelsea supporters once again, cheering the team on. If things go to plan, that might well be possible for the final games of this season, and if recent weeks are anything to go by, Dot will be celebrating more good times for the team he loves.

Californian Soil is released on April 16 on Ministry of Sound.