Chelsea confirm East Coast-only USA summer tour

Chelsea are coming back to America for the second successive summer, and while last year’s tour was a bit of a mess (read: a big mess), evidently that hasn’t deterred us from doing another one. I suppose that’s not surprising given the marketing and commercial demands of the modern game (not to mention our new ownership — though Abramovich’s Chelsea were frequent visitors as well).

Both Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter had complained about the strenuous nature of last year’s visit, which involved training camps in Los Angeles and Orlando, plus games in Las Vegas, Charlotte, and Orlando as well. It was far too much travel, with far too many football and non-football commitments in far too hot and humid temperatures. It was just far too much in every sense, especially with everything else going on around and at the club.

So this year’s visit seems a bit smaller in scope, or at least in terms of travel, with Chelsea set to stay on the East Coast only. As confirmed by the club today, we will be playing at least three friendlies as part of the new “Premier League Summer Series”, with perhaps two more friendlies to come, one of which might be against Wrexham on July 19 in Chapel Hill, NC (though that might be Development Squad engagement instead).

The confirmed games are:

• July 22: vs. Brighton & Hove Albion in Philadelphia
• July 26: vs. Newcastle United in Atlanta
• July 30: vs. Fulham in Landover, MD (i.e. Washington DC area)

You can sign up for first access to tickets through the Premier League website.

As hinted at by club secretary David Barnard in his interview with the London Is Blue Podcast, Chelsea’s training base will be in Philadelphia, with short flights thus taking the team to the various exhibition games.

The Premier League Summer Series will also hold games in Harrison, NJ and Orlando, FL, with Aston Villa and Brentford also participating (though not playing against Chelsea specifically).