The Pre-Season Thread

[Liquidator 5,176]

ASIA TOUR 2013 ANNOUNCED

Chelsea Football Club is delighted to announce the details of our 2013 Here to Play, Here to Stay tour of Asia, which will see us play matches in Thailand, Malaysia, and for the first time, Indonesia.

We will play games in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta. The first team last visited Asia in 2011 as we began our preparations for a season which ended with Champions League and FA Cup success.

The year's first match is against a Singha Thailand All-Star XI in the Singha Cup on Wednesday July 17 at the Rajamanagala National Stadium in Bangkok, which will act as a celebration of our partner's 80th anniversary.

We then travel to Kuala Lumpur to face a Malaysia XI at the Shah Alam Stadium on Sunday July 21.

We make our debut in Jakarta on Thursday July 25 against an Indonesia XI at the 88,000-seater Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, as we compete for the BNI Cup, marking our relationship with Bank Negara Indonesia, which has issued more than 60,000 Chelsea-branded payment cards since August 2012.

Upon announcing the tour, Chelsea Chief Executive Ron Gourlay said: 'It is fantastic that we will be returning to Asia for what promises to be an excellent pre-season tour.

'South-east Asia remains home to an ever-growing and passionate Chelsea FC support and it gives me great pleasure that we will again be able to experience that wonderful hospitality. In particular I look forward to visiting Indonesia for the first time, a country where we have an extensive fanbase that is eager to see Chelsea play.

'I am sure we will face strong opposition in packed stadiums as we celebrate the successes of some of our important regional partners and we will once again leave an important legacy in terms of the community work we conduct during the tour and for long afterwards.'

As well as helping us reach our supporters in the region, this summer's trip will also see us continue the important community work we have undertaken across Asia, with a Chelsea FC Soccer School, incorporating a Blue Pitch facility, due to open prior to our arrival in Indonesia.
This will provide a centre for local coaches to help further the development of grassroots football in the area, following on from similar projects in Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Korea and Singapore, as well as Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur.

Chelsea also has several dedicated local language websites and Twitter and Facebook feeds serving our Asian fans, which attract around half a million page views each month.

Ticket news for this year's Here to Play Here to Stay tour will appear here on the official Chelsea website in due course.

[Spike 12,049]

None of those countries are Australia.

[xPetrCechx 13,570]

AGAIN ASIA?!

[We Hate Scouse 10,326]

AGAIN ASIA?!

That's where the moneys at apparently...Next year they won't go anywhere cos of the World Cup, the year after they'll go to American, then 2016 no where because of the Euro's then back to Asia......

[Beirut_Blues 306]

None of those countries are Australia.

You can go see United

[Rmpr 8,977]

Not one single club goes to Brazil whatsoever...

[blu35_army 551]

FOR GOD SAKE!!! MY ANOTHER DREAM COME TRUE.....

[communicate 2,703]

Not one single club goes to Brazil whatsoever...

Rmpr, just want to know how popular epl in south america ?

[Rmpr 8,977]

Rmpr, just want to know how popular epl in south america ?

As popular as Brazilian League in group ages of 25-30 and under. Above that it aint much popular, Italian football gets the edge there (probably because EPL was shit in the 60s, 70s, and 80s). But European Football is quite popular overall.

People also love Barcelona and RM, but they dont watch it, they say it to look cool. Very few people follow Bundesliga and La Liga, they only watch El Classico, UCL, etc.

[Jase 43,479]

Asia again?! And United are going to Asia this summer too.

[DH1988 1,346]

I hate it when we go to Asia on pre-season! Players always complain they are tired etc.

[Stingray 9,441]

Dumb question but what does this mean for the viewing time here in europe?

I missed much of the US tour already ...

[dave30 728]

Asia and America ffs can't see it ever changing...

[DONI. 1,291]

Why always America and Asia ? Why not on the other countries

[Ollie 4,400]

Boring. Be nice to see us tour Australia tbh, we have quite a few fans over there. This is hardly exciting news.