Chelsea fans who made the long trip to Kazakhstan have been sent a letter by Enzo Maresca and the club's sporting directors.
It was a long journey for those who departed from England last week as they made the 7,000+ mile round-trip, via some orthodox routes, including stopping in Turkey, Uzbekistan as well as many other routes.
Chelsea were all but qualified for the last-16 of the Conference League and confirmed their progression with a 3-1 win in Almaty, with players and supporters having to endure freezing temperatures of around -11 during the fixture.
The travelling support were acknowledged at full-time by the squad, many of which were youngsters as Maresca opted for a rotated side to leave his regular Premier League players back at Cobham.
Roaring us on during subzero temperatures. ❄️
The whole football club is immensely thankful for your eternal support, Blues! 💙#CFC | #UECL pic.twitter.com/BCiyS6umGQ
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) December 13, 2024
Chelsea will play their final game of the league phase on Thursday when they host Shamrock Rovers at Stamford Bridge.
All of the Chelsea fans who were in attendance received a special engraved keyring as a small token of appreciation, and now the club's sporting directors, Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, as well as Maresca have penned a letter to express their gratitude.
In full, the letter read in full: 'On behalf of everyone at Chelsea Football Club, we wanted to take this opportunity to write to you personally and express our appreciation and admiration for travelling to Kazakhstan last week to support the team in the Europa Conference League.
'Over land and sea' had an even greater meaning as you and many others illustrated your truly remarkable commitment and devotion to the team and the club by making the 7,000-mile round-trip to cheer on the boys in the sub-zero temperatures of Almaty. We were delighted to get the three points, qualify for the knockout stages of the competition and see some academy players gain invaluable experience.
'We know what a huge financial commitment it is at this time of the year, so thank you for your ongoing dedication. We hope you got home safely and swiftly, and we look forward to seeing you again at Stamford Bridge this week.'
A nice touch from the club to recognise the fans' efforts for travelling far and wide.
A letter from Paul Winstanley, Laurence Stewart and Enzo Maresca to #Chelsea fans who travelled to Conference League match vs Astana last week.
[via @kierangill_DM] pic.twitter.com/aqXo9eyPrJ
— Absolute Chelsea (@AbsoluteChelsea) December 18, 2024