It’s been another very eventful year at Chelsea, with ups and downs.

It was a difficult start to the year, and a sad one as Frank left his coaching role. It was difficult to see a friend and an ex-team-mate, but especially a friend, leave. Frank is a club legend so we hoped everything would go the right way, but it didn’t work out as we all wished. When Thomas and his group took over, things went in a different direction.

From there, we had the disappointment of losing the FA Cup final, but winning the Champions League soon after was the best cure for that. We will always remember that. Any year you win the Champions League is a special year.

We will never forget the whole Champions League journey: the Covid protocols in place, the restrictions, the difficulties. That has been the mark of sport since the beginning of the pandemic.

Winning the Super Cup was another highlight of the year, and then the season started in England and the fans returned. It’s been a pleasure to have fans back. Football is completely different with full stadiums, and everybody was grateful for fans to be back.

We had a great start to the season having had difficulties in pre-season with preparation, and players not ready after the Euros. That was really positive. Now we finish 2021 the same way we started it. January was tough with the manager change and not the results we wanted, and we finish December with Covid cases and related injuries and difficulties that have cost us results recently. It shows you need a bit of luck, and it seems like in December all the bad luck has come together and chased us a little bit. When you prepare games not related to your tactics or the choice of the team, but only who can play and who can survive and not get injured, that is very limiting.

All that has made the end of 2021 difficult, but the good part is we can look forward to 2022 and people coming back from illness and injury. Hopefully we will have a fit squad soon.

History makers

It’s been a special year as well for Chelsea Football Club because of our women’s team. They had a hugely successful year having won the league and literally every domestic cup, even if the FA Cup final was later than expected, and they reached the Champions League final. It was the first time ever the same club’s women’s and men’s teams reached the Champions League final in the same season.

It was not disappointing for the girls not to make the last step in the final, but it’s been a great year regardless with all the success they had.

Let’s not forget as well the club were recognised as the Club of the Year, and we collected some individual recognitions as well. It’s been a great year for Chelsea Football Club, and hopefully going to 2022 we turn the corner with Covid and can look forward to plenty of things, like the Club World Cup and another League Cup semi-final.

Epitome of our strength and solidarity

When thinking about my own highlights, I can't look past the obvious ones. What stands out is the Champions League final and the Super Cup. The Champions League final was really hard, but we scored and saw the game through, which was hugely satisfying. We really deserved to win the Champions League on the back of every game and every round we negotiated. We won the group, and then in every knockout round we were the better team. That was what was special. It felt like we were unbeatable in that competition.

The one thing that really showed the solidarity and strength of the group was the Super Cup. With all the difficulties of not being able to have a normal pre-season, people come back at different times and really late, some players got a chance to be part of the team and show what they can do.

The special moment was the shoot-out when we swapped the goalkeepers. That’s not an easy thing to do, but it showed the respect and solidarity of each member of the squad. Everybody matters, everybody is important, and everybody sticks together.

Reasons to be proud

As it’s the end of the year, I must add everybody at the club deserves huge credit for dealing with the pandemic. All this success we enjoyed comes down to people working hard behind the scenes to make sure football continues, the Academy works, the Women’s team works, the protocols are in place and the logistics are all in place. Believe me, it has not been easy. A special mention must go to all the medical staff for dealing with the ill players and staff. This is something we should be proud of. Without all this effort behind the scenes we wouldn’t have been able to have the success we have had in 2021.