We get lots of questions. So, thought we'd run through the checklist of why and why not to join Chelsea in America (CIA).
Why join: We are a coalition of 5 Platinum and 40+ Official Chelsea Supporter Groups working together to share admin functions while bringing supporters together match days, for summer tours and to assist members seeking to see a match in the UK.
Why not: Chelsea in America is NOT a ticket broker. The five Platinum Level Chelsea Supporter Groups have unique ticket access for members of BOTH their group (join through CIA) and with the Chelsea FC £30 membership.
• Priority is given to continuous members over first time members when requests exceed Chelsea FC allotment for worldwide supporter groups. (This just happened for the Man U match of Nov 28 where only a % received tickets).
• Members must follow all Chelsea FC requirements for loyalty points, proper address and the linking of CFC and your Platinum group memberships. This is a manual process and takes at least 14 days from the time you have done both memberships and request CIA to ask CFC to link your accounts.
• Ticketing for Premier League matches closes 'at least' 65 days before a match and prior to CFC offering public sale.
• Factor in these steps are you are looking at minimum 80 days prior to a match date, must have any required loyalty points and, where demand outstrips supply, may need continuous year x year membership (no breaks) before you would likely be able to successfully order tickets through your Platinum supporter group. CIA is not a ticket broker and only charges actual costs for ticketing.
Please do not join just for ticketing as that is not what your groups exist to do. Further, at this point (October 15), it would be highly unlikely you could complete the steps outlined above in time for any ticketing opportunity through the LIverpool match of January 1st.
Why join: Chelsea in America is in our 15th year of bringing Chelsea supporters together. We're here to add to supporters and supporter groups experience.
Follow CIA on Twitter (over 41,000 followers), Facebook (over 10,000) and our growing Instagram (over 4,000) pages for regular activity, fun discussions and some laughs.
How to maximize your CIA/local supporter group experience?
• Join/renew both CFC and CIA memberships each June. Lowest price and earn 5 massively important CFC loyalty points needed for the big PL club matches or local aways in London.
• Do this annually so as to maintain your place in the queue in case demand does exceed supply that year you head over to the UK.
• If you live near a group, get to the pub on match days. You'll enjoy the match far more than at home or staring at your phone.
To all that have joined for 2021-22, it's great to be back at our pubs and just beginning to cross the pond for matches again. Membership is up 20% this year and we look forward to offering many more contests and memories throughout the season.
We look forward to the long overdue next Chelsea US Summer Tour. No word yet but it's been 5 years and those 'night before' pub gatherings and match day groups singing to our Blues are legendary.
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Follow up: What are loyalty points and what is needed?
CFC use a 'loyalty point' scheme to thin demand and last second ticket seekers for high demand matches each season.
• What matches require points? Home or away vs the Big 5 (Man U, Man City, Liverpool, Spurs & Arsenal) + local away (Cry Palace, West Ham, Watford, and others like Fulham when in the PL) + the spring home European knockout matches.
• How many points needed for overseas supporter group members with Platinum status:
• Mid-Sept thru Dec matches: 5 points
• Jan thru following mid Sept matches: 10 points (+ new membership for Aug/Sep)
How do you earn points:
• Early CFC membership is worth 5 points. That's why you renew by mid July every season, just in case.
• Through ticket purchases to other matches varying from 1 point (the big clubs) to 5 points (Carabao Cup or European home fall matches).
• This is Chelsea's policy and is excellent and overseas supporters have better access than any big club in Europe.
CIA membership for the 2021-22 season will close before Christmas and reopen for next season in May.