The fans had just packed out the local Brothers Bar & Grill to listen to our former goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini answer questions on all things Chelsea, his career and the current US tour under Enzo Maresca.

There is barely space to move as supporters pack into the traditional American sports bar. 

Player names past and present dominate the backs of shirts: Eden Hazard and Reece James’ names popping up more often than not. 

Daniel, with his arm around his son, is sporting our new Nike 2024/25 home shirt.

‘I think this jersey is proper cool,’ he says. ‘It’s different of course, but we like it. It feels summery, you know.’ 

‘Who is your favourite player?’ We ask the young boy. 

‘Reece James,' comes the immediate response.

Of course, our club captain is a popular figure among the fan base around the world, having come through the academy of his boyhood club.

But in the States, the full-back seems an even more popular fan favourite. 

He had just been named captain for the game against Celtic, with Enzo Maresca naming another strong side to take on Brendan Rogers’ men. 

With just over an hour until kick-off, fans spilled out onto North Eddy Street which leads right the way up to the 80,000-seater stadium, filling the day with song.

As we march through the campus, we reach more fans eagerly anticipating the 4pm kick-off. 

David, in the States for the duration of our 16-day tour, had travelled to the game from San Jose, California on Friday evening, with four other Blues fans. 

‘This should be a good game, but they’ve just beaten Man City haven’t they? We’ll see.. 

‘We’ve just come from London, then to California so let’s hope for a good game. This is my third tour with the Chels,’ says David as one of his friends shouts ‘Come on Chelsea!’ directly into his face. 

‘We did the tour two years ago, the one in LA and Vegas [USA Tour 2022]. We had some memories on that tour, didn't we lads!,’ he adds, beaming.

He leaves and enters the stadium with his mates, laughing and joking, queuing for the concourse that eventually reaches the designated Chelsea fan zone area. Hundreds, if not thousands, of bright blue flags had been placed on the benches that perched above the goal beforehand. 

This was the Celtic’s final test of pre-season, while being Chelsea’s second run out Stateside. That told during the game, as Celtic ran out 4-1 victors.

One of those in Blue to catch the eye though was Noni Madueke.

After the game we spoke to Alice, at the match with her husband, and she said: ‘I thought Noni was fantastic on the right wing. He just couldn’t find the net today. He was great though and Marc Guiu looks young and energetic too. I like him!

‘We’re going to the game in Atlanta on Wednesday too. That should be exciting, the stadium looks cool and it is only a short trip south.’

We’ll see Alice, and tens of thousands more Blues fans, in the state of Georgia next week as we continue our summer tour of the United States. 

And you can join us by buying your ticket here.