Special guests were swamped with signatures when they visited Chelsea’s training ground in January, as part of Chelsea Foundation’s community days.
The community days, which were the first to take place in 2024, were an invitation to Chelsea supporters who have been going through tough times to visit Cobham for an unforgettable experience.
Their day began with a question-and-answer session led by Chelsea TV’s Lee Parker along with Chelsea legend Carlo Cudicini and coach Ed Brand, who is currently within the club’s Loans Department.
Brooke Rushby, Mike Sardo, Joe Jones, Jamie Codd, Freddie Wilmot, Roman Murphy, Harrison Lovell and Freddie Kearton then stepped out onto the training pitch to watch their heroes in action, before meeting the squad after the session with memorabilia signed and photos taken.
Brooke was especially excited to meet her favourite player, Raheem Sterling, who signed her shirt, while Harrison was delighted to meet his idol Ben Chilwell.
Reece James did not take part in the training session due to injury but took the time to greet the guests, much to the surprise of superfan Jamie who said: ‘Meeting Reece was the highlight of the day as we weren’t expecting it.’
Both Freddy and Freddie thoroughly enjoyed their day, while Roman’s best part was meeting Enzo Fernandez.
Mike and Joe were particularly thrilled to see Thiago Silva. Joe said: ‘My favourite Chelsea memory is the 2012 Champions League final, when I was about 8 years old, but I was very excited to meet my favourite player, Thiago Silva.’
Mike said: ‘Thiago Silva inspires me the most because of his longevity at the club and the fact that he's been able to maintain that quality for so long. It's just amazing.
'So many players came to take pictures with us and sign our shirts. I wasn't expecting the whole squad to show up and my shirt is filled with signatures.’