Number Twenty-Three — Jalon Nichols

See Chelsea In Person

(aka *we love you Chelsea, we do)*

I remember when I first heard of soccer. It was in 4th grade PE. I was not ready to play this game. My shoes, while cute, were abysmal for running and kicking. They were black with animal print and matched my outfit just right. They were perfect — just not for today in PE class. Today was soccer day AND the day after a rain storm. I don’t even know if we were told any rules before we started playing. I can’t remember how we picked teams, or even what team I was on. But I do remember the ball rolling towards me and then I kicked it far. That rush…stayed with me for years.

Cut to the 2014 Men’s World Cup

For whatever reason, in 2014 I became OBSESSED with the World Cup. I think it’s because it was in our time zone, so the games were always on at a reasonable time. But there is one game in particular that solidified my love of football. One player. Hell, one moment.

Robin Van Persie’s header in the 2014 World Cup.

My goodness, what a moment.

During the Olympics and occasionally the World Cup, I would pop in and watch a match or two. I wasn’t committed and definitely didn’t have a favorite team.

I watched with intent from that moment forward. I rooted for teams that had the most Black people on it and thusly was fascinated with the countries we were in — and I fell in love with the game. When it was all said and done, I wanted more football in my life and decided to find my team(s) and become a real fan.

Picking my MLS team was easy. I live in Dallas. FC Dallas. Boom.

But for the Premier League…that was gonna take some research. In the end, it was clear it was going to be Chelsea.

Hottie Eden Hazard helped.

From that season on, my love for Chelsea has only grown. I’ve been up at the crack of dawn to watch a match. I cried when they won the Premier League, when Eden left and when Olivier Giroud did too, and then again when they won the Championship League against Eden and Real Madrid. I did all of those things, but the one thing I had left, was to see them in person.

When 2020 started, I had planned on spending a month in Europe. Spending a week in different countries. And one of those was England so I could finally see my beloved Chelsea. But you know what ended up happening. That damn Corona Virus.

The Universe Will Always Provide.

Something amazing happened this year, though. The Premier League scheduled some of their pre-season games stateside! And Chelsea was going to North Carolina! I invited my parents (they live there) and made my way to Charlotte! Sat through a rain storm (that damn rain!) and rain delay…but I finally got to see my boys. AND IT WAS EVERYTHING!

EVERYTHING.

We lost, but…it didn’t matter. I got to see them and man what a night.

Next time, I’m gonna go back to London and doing this proper. I just need to learn all the songs…

It goes without saying, that the Women’s USA team is my top-tier favorite favorite team and I love those Ladies so much.