5 crazy Chelsea facts that will blow your mind

#3 Chelsea once played in the arctic circle

The Blues lost the game 3-2

Chelsea fans will be ruing the fact that their team has to travel far to play their Europa League opponents this season but it doesn’t even come close to the difficulty the Blues faced on October 24, 1997, when they played inside the Arctic Circle against Tromsø - a Norwegian club with part-timers.

The game in Norway was the first leg of the tie and the home side pulled off a memorable 3-2 win but the match is infamous for the conditions in which it was played.

There was heavy snowfall during the game and play had to be suspended twice so that ground staff could redraw the lines by dragging large brooms through the snow.

Chelsea manager, Ruud Gullit, was angry because the match went ahead in the dreadful conditions. However, the Blues won the return leg 7-1 to put their first leg misery behind them.