The club Museum and Chelsea Megastore were open longer than usual especially for fans visiting open training, while mascots Stamford and Bridget were on hand for photo opportunities in the build-up, as was our trophy collection in the Museum.

Immediately before the players arrived, some of the supporters in attendance took part in a quiz pitchside, with two teams competing against each other to answer four questions on Chelsea Women.

Team One were crowned the winners with their impressive knowledge, meaning fans Mason, Carter and Sian took home the prize of four tickets to watch Emma Hayes’ side take on West Ham United at Stamford Bridge in the opening game of our Women’s Super League campaign.

The Blues squad were then led out onto the pitch by captain Cesar Azpilicueta to loud applause from the supporters at the sell-out event, before Thomas Tuchel and his players were presented to the crowd one by one and formed up for a special team photo with the fans.

Head coach Tuchel then welcomed the fans to the Bridge before overseeing his team’s training session, as they took part in a light warm-up and quick drills before a small-sided game and some long-range shooting practice in front of the Matthew Harding Stand.

‘Thank you to everybody inside the stadium for coming, I hope you enjoy watching our training,’ he said. ‘It is a light training session because we played a tough game two days ago, but I hope you enjoy it and thanks for coming.’

Every goal was cheered enthusiastically by the supporters, as was an impromptu crossbar challenge instigated by Mason Mount.

The day was brought to a close as the players lined up to show their appreciation to the fans in the West Stand, where Azpilicueta took the microphone to bid them farewell before the squad left the pitch.

Azpilicueta said: ‘First of all thank you for coming to watch our training session. Your support is massive and we feel it every single day, so it’s nice to have a day here with the fans.

‘We are all disappointed with Sunday’s result and we want to play straight away, so hopefully when we are back here at the Bridge on Saturday we can turn things around and get the win for you.’