The Blues play Western Sydney Wanderers at the Accor Stadium on Tuesday 28 July and then face London rivals Tottenham Hotspur at the same venue on Saturday 1 August. Chelsea Women are also in action in Australia this summer, playing A-League Women All-Stars at the Allianz Stadium on Wednesday 12 August, with tickets for all three matches on sale now.

For our men’s side, it heralds a first match in Sydney since 2015. On that occasion, the trip to the Southern Hemisphere came at the end of a season, one in which we had lifted the Premier League for the fourth time.

After an international break at the season’s end, Jose Mourinho led a squad containing the likes of John Terry, Eden Hazard and Diego Costa first to Bangkok, and then Sydney. We beat the Thailand All-Stars 1-0, courtesy of a Dominic Solanke goal, and touched down in Sydney – where the squad were mobbed by waiting supporters – on the morning of Sunday 31 May 2015.

Later that day, Mourinho, Hazard and Terry were joined by three of their counterparts from Sydney FC at a press conference.

‘Firstly, you are enthusiastic but so are we,’ Mourinho told the assembled reporters. ‘We feel the responsibility to play well and use our best players. We feel the responsibility to win and give the fans a good experience.’

That was a sentiment echoed by the skipper.

‘It was excellent as we came off the plane, their faces lit up and it was overwhelming,’ said John Terry.

‘We’re used to it now, everywhere we go in the world we get that and we experienced it in Bangkok as well. We’re delighted to be here, it’s a beautiful place and for many of us it’s our first time here.’

Sydney boss Graham Arnold, who went on to manage the Socceroos for six years, underlined what a significant and positive impact the visit of the Blues would have.

‘The A-League is only 10 years old, it’s still young, so to have Chelsea here and playing in front of 85,000 people is mind-blowing,’ he said.

‘For Chelsea to be here and add the extra to Australian football is huge for us. The A-League is young and developing and getting further on the sports scale here in Australia with a lot of competition from other sports. For Chelsea to add to the game of football here is mind-blowing, and you can guarantee we’ll give it our best shot.’

The following morning, a beautiful one in Sydney, Mourinho embarked on a boat tour of the Harbour and posed for pictures with a baby koala bear and a kangaroo, Aussie symbols. Then attention turned to training with around 10,000 supporters heading to the Accor Stadium – then sponsored by ANZ – to watch the players put through their paces for the final time of a memorable campaign.

‘I didn’t realise we had so many fans in Australia, it was unbelievable to see so many people for a training session,’ Nathan Ake told the Chelsea website.

The Dutchman, who had just turned 20, had started at left-back against the Thailand All-Stars, and was pleased to have a positive impact.

‘It’s good for the young boys to play, everyone wants to play and we’re enjoying the trip,’ he said. ‘I’ve never been to these places and it’s nice to get the experience.’

Ake was named in the starting XI again the following evening as we took to the field in front of over 83,000 supporters at the stadium which was the centre-piece of the 2000 Olympics – and where the Blues will return this summer.

It was a record crowd for a football game at the stadium, and a dedicated Shed End in the south stand gave it a distinctly London feel.

The Chelsea team that night, lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, was: Petr Cech; Cesar Azpilicueta, Branislav Ivanovic, John Terry (c), Nathan Ake (Andreas Christensen h-t); John Mikel Obi, Nemanja Matic; Lioc Remy (Izzy Brown 84), Jeremie Boga (Dominic Solanke h-t (Charly Musonda 82)), Eden Hazard (Charlie Colkett 89); Diego Costa (Ruben Loftus-Cheek 40 (Jordan Houghton 70)).

Before kick-off, Terry exchanged pennants with his opposite number Alex Brosque. The Sydney FC sky blue version now sits proudly in our museum (pictured top), alongside a keepsake given to us by the New South Wales tourism board.

The 90 minutes that followed were keenly-fought and entertaining. Both sides had plenty of goal scoring opportunities, and it was Remy who bagged the only goal on the half-hour mark.

The Frenchman cut inside and fired into the top corner, a truly fantastic strike and undoubtedly the evening’s stand-out moment. Defenders at both ends made impressive goal-line blocks when the otherwise busy goalkeepers had been beaten, but there were no more goals so, fittingly, the campaign ended in victory.

Afterwards, Mourinho reflected on a positive trip and the passionate Australian support.

‘I’m happy with the performance of my senior players because it’s been a long season, in fact very long,’ said the Portuguese. ‘In one week they have to play for their national teams, important matches, and they came to Thailand and Australia and respected the fans and opponents.

‘There were some performances from people like Ivanovic, Terry and Mikel where they tried to play football and the result could have been completely different.

‘In the last part of the game the younger boys couldn’t cope with the competitiveness of the Sydney players, they felt they had a chance and they pushed a little bit.

‘There is obviously a difference in terms of the technical and tactical level of the players, but Sydney had lots of good players, a good coach, good organisation and stability in the team,' added Mourinho. 'If the domestic competition goes in the right direction I like what I saw.’

This summer, over a decade later, the Blues will return Down Under, with the game against Sydney FC’s local rivals Western Sydney Wanderers showing what steps forward the A-League have taken.

You can find out more about our history and see amazing artefacts in the flesh at the Chelsea FC Museum at Stamford Bridge!