Chelsea Fans Corner: Chennai Fans

For episode 8 of Certified Chelsea, television presenter Anant Tyagi was joined by Ashwin, Subash and Abuzaid from CISC Chennai. The Blues are amongst the most followed Premier League clubs in India and have fan clubs across the country, with Chennai being one of them.

CISC Chennai was formed unofficially in 2012 and has grown steadily over the years to become one of the most recognized fan clubs in the country. Subhash shed light on how the idea of making a fan club came about and narrated an interesting story about the same.

“I’ve been a Chelsea fan since 2003 and in 2012, the idea of meeting fans and watching games together came about. I got in touch with Chelsea FC India accidentally through a friend of mine, so unofficially, Chelsea Chennai began in 2012.”

“We used to get probably 4-5 people per screening at the time, but right now we are able to get around 500 people. We’ve been growing steadily since then.”

Ashwin and Abuzaid also weighed in on the matter and narrated their experience with CIFC Chennai so far.

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“I joined Chelsea Chennai in 2014 and that was a bad season for us. It has been a great journey so far, because we’ve grown so close and spoken about so many things. I feel so blessed to have been a part of this” said Ashwin.

“I joined Chelsea Chennai in 2017 when I got to know them from social media. My favorite moment was the FA Community Shield encounter against Manchester City in 2018. We lost the game, but that was the first time I met all of my fellow mates. It was a great moment, since then it’s been a great journey as we talk about a lot of things” said Abuzaid.

CISC Chennai has been a brilliant initiative, as the fan club has grown steadily over the years. When asked about their experiences with the group over the years, all three members of the fan club spoke about how they’ve grown so close to each other, indicating that their bonds lay well beyond Chelsea and football.

When asked about their allegiances with regard to the Indian football scene, Ashwin and Subhash revealed that they've supported Chennaiyin FC since the start of the Indian Super League, while Abuzaid said that Bengaluru FC is the club of his heart.

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