About

We are Chelsea Chicago, the home of Chelsea fans in the Windy City. Our members hail from six continents and come from diverse nationalities, religions, orientations, and creeds and have even been there in person for some of our greatest victories - Munich, Porto, London, Baku, Amsterdam, New York and everywhere in between. We’re united by our passion for football, Chelsea, and enjoying the carefree spirit that is the foundation of our club's global supporter community. We love singing, drinking, more singing, more drinking, and gathering together with friends, old and new, to cheer on our Chelsea. Football is best enjoyed with friends, and we welcome everyone who wants to share in the Chelsea experience.

Our contribution to the global Chelsea community has been a leading model for what engaged fans can do from anywhere in the world. We’ve helped design flags, banners, and displays for match days at Stamford Bridge and work with the highest levels of leadership at the Club on ticketing, commercial, and fan advisory issues.

We meet for every match at The Graystone Tavern, located just one block south of Wrigley Field. We also travel to see Chelsea play home and away in the UK, at European Away Days, on summer tours in the US, and across the country to visit fellow groups and supporters throughout the season.

Questions? Contact us at admin@chelseachicago.com

History

The story of Chelsea Chicago began during the 2005 summer tour when Chelsea FC lost a 1-0 friendly vs the MLS All-Stars. As the popularity of the Club and our parent organization, Chelsea in America, began to grow nationwide, we saw the first organized turnouts of supporters for that match and then continuing through the subsequent season.

In 2007, the Chicago Blues were formally established under the umbrella of Chelsea in America. Match parties grew into regular events as local bars began to show more Premier League and Champions League matches. Highlights from this era include the 2008 Champions League final and a 2010 8-0 win, both spent at the Globe, our unofficial first home base.

As our community continued to grow, we moved our homebase to AJ Hudson’s. Incredible memories from this time include the 2012 FA Cup Final and 2012 Champions League final, with Chelsea supporters packing the pub for both matches.

Summer tours have always been a natural catalyst for attracting new support, and the 2013 tour in particular proved to be one of the most impactful for the group. Before the UEL final in Amsterdam, the Club played Manchester City in St. Louis. Just two months later, they returned to the Midwest to play Inter Milan in a friendly in Indianapolis. As the closest supporters club at the time, Chicago Blues played a pivotal role in organizing fan support for both matches and were front and center of a growing love of the Club in the US.

That summer of 2013 transformed the group. With a larger, energized supporter base, weekly matchday parties began at AJ Hudson’s, attracting more and more interest with each passing season. The league win in 2015 was a massive highlight, with several of our members in attendance at Stamford Bridge and a packed house back in Chicago.

But around 2016, we realized it was time to find a new home; we needed a larger space to accommodate our growing membership and a place that we could truly call our own. Fortunately, our current President, Carlos Del Pozo, had an existing relationship with Kyle Bagley (Kyle was his favorite bartender). Kyle was also one of the owners of Graystone Tavern. Carlos mentioned that we were looking for a place to call our own and Kyle thought his pub, which had recently opened, might be the perfect fit.

After a few more conversations (and a few more beers), it became official: Graystone would become our new home for the 2017 - 2018 campaign. Rebranded to Chelsea Chicago, Graystone welcomed us with open arms, allowing us to make the bar our own, raise our flags and show our pride, and giving us the freedom and flexibility to provide the best possible experience for Chelsea supporters. We had found our home.

We’ve witnessed amazing matches and created lifelong memories at Graystone, including becoming Champions of Europe for the second time in Porto, 2x World Champions, winning it all (again and again) while growing the Chelsea Chicago family to the largest membership we’ve ever had. We look forward to many more amazing years to come and creating indelible memories with amazing friends.