Our US Tour fan stories continue with New York Blues member William Hartley next in the chair. Here is his story of a memorable first Chelsea experience in an iconic sporting venue...

My first game was not exactly where you’d expect to watch football – at Yankee Stadium in New York City.

It was against Manchester City on May 25 2013. But I had never expected to even get tickets.

To go back, I first started following Chelsea on a regular basis in 2010. Up until that point it wasn’t actually readily available on most US televisions.

I was watching the FIFA World Cup that summer and remember watching one particular player for Ivory Coast, who I instantly thought was a star. That, of course, was Didier Drogba.

He was so sleek and dominating, I was immediately like ‘I wonder who this guy plays for’. When I saw it was Chelsea – hey, boom, that's my team right there.

Three years later and out of nowhere my wife, Lisa, bought me tickets to the match against Manchester City quite late in the day. It was a total surprise and not totally confirmed until the day of the game.

We started talking about the plans and realised I was down to work so I had to beg my general manager to put me on an earlier shift, just so I was able to make it. Being the great guy he is, he agreed to let me work a half day and I'm still thankful to him to this day.

So I came dressed in my Chelsea shirt, did my five hours and caught the subway over to the Bronx.

The thing Lisa hadn’t told me was that we had tickets in the hospitality box. This meant we were treated like VIPs.

We had padded seats, an incredible view of the pitch, unlimited drinks and food. I couldn’t believe it. It almost didn’t feel real.

To watch Chelsea at the same time was a beautiful thing. It was a little strange watching the game in a baseball stadium but that made it, if anything, more magical. A unique experience.

At one point I went to get my wife some food and while I was gone she saw club captain John Terry signing shirts for fans at the front.

She went down but just missed him, as he went back in to get ready for the game. That would have been amazing to have Terry as my first signature – but we said after ‘you can’t have everything on your first game!’

I was just happy to watch our team in person. It was one of those experiences you know you’ll never forget.

Manchester City actually won the game 5-3, it was really entertaining. Details of the actual game are almost a blur – I just couldn’t believe I had seen Chelsea in person. There was such a vibrant, energetic buzz to the crowd.

From that point on I was desperate to get over to Stamford Bridge and watch a game, even if logistically it would be a challenge.

I came to London for the first time the year after that Man City game. We had a tour of the Bridge and went to the match against Sunderland.

Sadly we lost 2-1, Jose Mourinho's first home Premier League defeat, with ironically an American – Jozy Altidore – helping Sunderland.

But my experience of Stamford Bridge was something else. Me and my wife make sure we go every year now and we’re never let down.

Even in the decade since that first game, Chelsea's US tours have become so much bigger.

I’m a member of the New York Blues, but on the last tour we saw them in Philadelphia for the match against Brighton at Lincoln Financial Field.

We had a great time. We were familiar with the city so knew all the best spots to go get a proper cheesesteak and everything.

Then we took a taxi to the stadium, where there was such a buzz around the pre-game festivities.

The atmosphere around the match seems to get bigger and better every year. The supporters' clubs have done a great job in terms of getting Chelsea out there and making sure its packed out with Blues.

I often go with the guys to Legends in NYC to watch Chelsea play on the screens, or I watch the matches with my wife, and the last ten years in particular have shown how much support has grown for the sport in the States. Hopefully the next tour sees that continue!

For anyone considering going to see a Blues game this summer, I would say definitely go! Seeing our beloved Chelsea on tour is a must for any fan based in the US!

Chelsea’s USA Tour 2024