It is no secret that Chelsea has a fanbase that spans all across the world. The Stamford Bridge outfit has a plethora of fan clubs in India and in the latest installment of Certified Chelsea, Anant Tyagi gets into conversation with three members of the Chelsea India Supporters Club, Kolkata- Srijan, Rishiraj, and Avignyan.
CISC Kolkata was founded when three friends decided to open a national chapter for the Blues' fans on their side of the country and register a Chelsea India Supporters Club in Kolkata.
Rishiraj, Srijan, and Avingyan are all loyal fans of their local club Mohun Bagan as well. Srijan says that his family has ardently followed the legendary Indian side ever since its inception.
Avignyan says:
"It has always been Mohun Bagan, it will always be Mohun Bagan. You can start from lineage to family. The heritage of Mohun Bagan has influenced our families. So derby days are like an event in the house."
CISC Kolkata were chosen to be the hosts for the Blue Arena, the annual Chelsea India event. Rishiraj, who calls conducting the event one of the highlights of his stint with the supporters' club, says:
"Every supporters' club looks forward to hosting that particular event in that particular city. And I think we pulled it off really well, you know, with the response that we got. There were six teams and they were competing against each other. So overall, it was a really successful event and that is also my highlight of the whole thing."
Rishiraj claims to have a lucky Chelsea t-shirt in his possession. He says that Chelsea has never lost a game when he has worn it. The record, he claims, stands at 34 games, 16 wins, and 18 draws.
The trio of Rishiraj, Srijan, and Avignyan also took part in a special Chelsea quiz segment called 'How Blue Are You?' which features a handful of Chelsea supporters' clubs from across India pitted against each other.
The trio was able to answer five out of their seven questions correctly and bagged 25 points which put them third in the Supporters Club rankings, tied on points with the Hyderabad and Navi Mumbai chapters.