Chelsea fan Frank Jokic - English-born but now living on the other side of the pond - becomes the latest supporter to discuss his memories of following the Blues in the USA.

I first moved over to the United States in 1992, but grew up in Oxfordshire and have been a Blue ever since the 1970 FA Cup final.

Chelsea have always been my passion and always intertwined with my life. My brother loves the club as well. I think we first visited Stamford Bridge in 1971 for a game against Crystal Palace - it was jam-packed even two hours before the game started.

Coincidentally, I also went to school with a former Chelsea player in Kevin Wilson, who played alongside Kerry Dixon and co back in the early 1990s.

Around that time I was living and working in London. One day I was taking a train back to Oxford, which I would do often on the weekends to go back to my family home. I sit next to these two American tourists, and six months down the line I was married to one of them, Sherri.

Suddenly I was moving to Pennsylvania and my whole world changed.

I’ve loved living in America, obviously now that is where my family are from. I do watch American football, but football and Chelsea will always be number one.

I’d always watch games with my two daughters Gilina and Annalisa. Growing up they loved football, even when it wasn’t hugely popular over here. So when Chelsea came over on tour for the first time ever in 2004 we were desperate to go to a game.

Thankfully for us they were going to play AC Milan at the Lincoln Field in Philadelphia, which is just over half an hour drive away from home.

At the time the girls were just so excited. As soon as they arrived at the ground I could just see they were caught up in the atmosphere and the buzz of the game.

The prospect of going to a fixture back in England just wasn’t an option for us back then, so obviously it made a huge difference. This was our chance to see the team that over the next two years won two Premier League titles.

My daughters simply couldn't get enough of it. I remember the next time we played over here it was on the West Coast and they were like, ‘Can you get us tickets? We need to go again!’ Reluctantly I had to say no we can’t make that one!

But the whole experience was incredible. The stadium in Philly was brand new as well at that time which added to the magic.

We had some great seats close to the touchline, with a perfect view of the players as they came out for a warm-up.

Didier Drogba had just signed, as had Petr Cech, so it was our first time seeing them in person. Drogba in particular was just such an imposing athlete, he looked like a beast.

At the end of the warm-up I called over to him - I don’t know why - but he waved back over. So then Sherri was encouraging me to do the same with Mourinho, who was standing not far away from us.

I shouted out, ‘Hey, Jose Mourinho!’ He turned around and put his thumb up, with a smile - my girls couldn’t believe it! That was my claim to fame for a year afterwards!

My youngest daughter wanted to go behind the goal because she could already see that was where the majority of the singing and everything else was. I said we could try but might get stopped.

Luckily there were a few empty seats when we got there, so we got to enjoy being part of a really loud atmosphere. She still likes to go behind the goal now.

On the pitch we lost 3-2 to a great Milan team. But in a way that almost didn’t matter, it was the shared experience of being alongside so many fans who had never seen Chelsea play in person before that made it for us.

I mean, it was my first game in over a decade and my life had changed so much during that time – so it was always going to be a special day.

Since that first game we’ve always tried to go as much as possible as a family.

In total, I’ve seen nine matches on a US tour. In 2015 we were in New Jersey for the game against the New York Red Bulls, while only last year we managed to get to the Brighton match which was again just down the road in Philly.

I've met so many people over the years on different tours, from California, Florida, Georgia...all over. You don’t even need to know the name, you’ll just recognise the face.

We’re all brought together by this one football club. It’s what being a fan is really all about.

Last year, my wife Sherri sadly passed away at the young age of 59. She loved going to the matches just as much as I did and was always so excited to watch the team.

I'll always treasure those memories of watching Chelsea together. If anything they mean even more to us a family now.

Following the club has changed so much since I first moved. Back then it would be a case of calling my Mum on a Saturday afternoon and asking how we got on. Now you can watch every Premier League game over here, never mind just Chelsea.

Even going back a few years there would be just the one bar in Philadelphia who would open up at 7am on a Saturday and there would be 50 or 60 fans lined up outside ready to get in and watch the game with a pint of beer at 8am in the morning.

I’m lucky in the sense that nowadays I come back to England on a more regular basis than I used to so we're able to get back home for a league game every year or so.

But for an exiled Blue, the tour games will always have a special place in our hearts.

Chelsea’s USA Tour 2024

Don't miss your chance to make your own unforgettable memories when Chelsea visit the USA this summer.