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Didier Drogba To Leave Chelsea – So Long Didier & Thanks For the Memories

After nearly 7 years of speculation the Didier Drogba rollercoaster at Chelsea has come to a glorious end as Drogba confirmed he will leave at the end of his contract to the official club site.

Given his recent heroics the clamour for him to get a new contract was universal amongst fans and it appears his fellow players, but he has taken the decision to leave at the pinnacle.

Final Blaze of Glory

In two glorious months at the end of the season, he scored crucial goals to fire us to a double that few could have predicted.

For years Didier Drogba has been an enigma and law unto himself in English football and he has proven himself to be the player for the big occasion.

Things have not always run smoothly at Chelsea and he had the ability to infuriate the fans and his teammates during a topsy turvy time at the club which undoubtably had more ups than downs.

His Legacy

As time passes the Champions League red card, regular threats to leave, histrionics, tantrums and constant on field temporary injuries will be forgotten as we remember him for what when it came down to it he was, the greatest striker in the world on his day.

When he wanted to play he was unplayable as Manchester United, Barcelona, Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool found out to their detriment when it mattered.

He has scored in 9 finals for Chelsea a record that no-one else at the club can even come close to matching and he has in my opinion ensured by leaving now that we will remember him as only a legend.

No Slow Wind Down

As always the centre of attention he would not have been happy winding down his career at Chelsea if he could not have started every week and that may have soured things.

His goals helped fire us to glory in the Premier League, FA Cup and finally the Champions League and with over 150 goals to his name, he can rightfully claim to be one of our greatest ever players.

He may not have always been my cup of tea, but the thought of him leaving fills me with sadness, he was one of our characters and one hell of a player.

I am sure we will hear his name chanted from the Shed for generations to come!

Didier thank you for the memories!

Keep The Blue Flag Flying High with this ultimate app for any Blues fan.

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Bayern Munich Champions League Winners 2012 T-Shirt!

They say that you have to produce stock for every outcome as a business, but Addidas have produced an own goal by still selling this Bayern Munich Champions League Winners 2012 t-shirt.

Not one usually to gloat the comments from the media and players from bayern have prompted me to put this up!

The item is still on sale here, so maybe you would like to get yourself your own piece of unique and factually incorrect Champions League memorabilia.

You can buy it here!

Keep The Blue Flag Flying High with this ultimate app for any Blues fan.

Download on your iPhone here  http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ktbffh-true-blue-app/id498138842?mt=

Or on Android – http://ow.ly/91BPx

Chelsea v Bayern Munich – The Friendly Final

Back in reality, the magnitude of our Champions League victory is starting to sink in and this got me thinking about the fabulous time I had in Bavaria and how friendly the whole Final was.

This goes beyond the obvious joy of winning the Champions League Final, the whole weekend was fantastic.

Before The Game

The atmosphere before, during and after the game was something special and a large part of the credit for this must go to the Bayern Munich fans.

In their home city there must have been nearly 500,000 of them on the streets, the majority ticketless but there for a party.

This was borne out in the atmosphere with both sets of fans mixing without any problems, they dominated the main square but as always Chelsea were everywhere and the pubs were doing a roaring trade.

In perfect sunshine both sets of fans sang their songs, drank and were merry.

After The Game

We were obviously buoyant after the game and despite the tube taking over an hour to get to Marienplatz we were contented.

The Bayern fans were generally gracious in defeat (when we encountered them) albeit quieter after the game.

Perfect

In my opinion this was a perfect final for the fans, this was to use the cliché a friendly final!

Unser Stadt, Unsere Stadion, Unser Pokal – Their Town, Their Stadium Chelsea’s Trophy – The Bayern Home Game Chelsea Ruined!

“Unser Stadt, Unser Stadion, Unser Pokal” was the message on the banner Bayern Munich unveiled in the moments before kick off on Saturday.

This translates as “our club, our stadium, our trophy” well I suppose two out of three is not bad as the Bavarians tried to take full advantage of their fortune to be playing the Champions League Final in their own ground.

This game may have officially been at a ‘neutral’ ground but with this banner and the weight of supporters that Bayern had managed to snaffle in the ‘neutral’ areas it was clear that they were treating this as a home game and occupied 2/3^rds of the stadium.

Munich were also able to deck their stands with fan banners, something prohibited by UEFA and you certainly got the impression that to Bayern and UEFA, Chelsea were an afterthought.

To add to this theory the Chelsea fans were searched to within an inch of their life, yet such restrictions did not seem to apply to the Bayern Munich supporters who after half time let off flares they had snuck in, we were more than a little peeved as the smoke wafted across the pitch towards the Chelsea support.

Incredible Atmosphere

For my moaning the Allianz Arena is an amazing stadium and the atmosphere was incredible.

The atmosphere was incredible with both fans giving their all to get behind their team, however after 83 minutes the tension was broken and all but our one corner of the Allianz went crazy as Thomas Mueller headed home.

To add further evidence to the credence that UEFA had let Bayern be at home the announcer went into a choreographed song with the crowd to announce what the entire stadium including the Bayern players thought was the winner.

Chelsea Support

Throughout the game though Chelsea were outnumbered but not out sung, the stand at the Allianz perfect for creating atmosphere with its barely distinguishable tiers.

The 17,500 Chelsea fans who had tickets sung their hearts out and got behind the team in an atmosphere I had not experienced for years.

Just like the final result, the Bayern fans were not going to have their own way, Chelsea well and truly gate-crashed this Munich party.

Moment Chelsea Win The Champions League – Video From Allianz

Our video of Didier Drogba scoring the winning penalty and our celebrations