London's newest Fair Lady

American-born Lorrie Fair doesn't get homesick. This past year alone, her passport has collected enough colorful stamps to qualify as a children's coloring book. The United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Azerjaiban, Uganda and Thailand. Next up? Jordan and Israel. Exotic destinations aside, don't count out the Emirates Stadium for Chelsea Ladies' newest acquisition, who arrived in London on Jan. 29 of this year. Home to Chelsea's biggest rival, Arsenal FC, the brand-new 60,000-seater is right on top of Fair's laundry list of places to make her mark. Par for the course, considering Fair is the first American woman to be signed for a team in the Premier League, no small feat with the number of Yanks abroad higher than ever.

Courtesy of Chelsea FC/Other

Lorrie Fair is the first American woman to be signed by an English Premier League team.

In the meantime, '99 World Cup champion Fair, who earned 123 caps with the U.S. women's national team, is finally settling in at her new home -- the land of David Beckham, high tea and Stamford Bridge. Well, sort of. Although Fair might not play at London's most hallowed football grounds -- you can find her "punting" on the outskirts of the Thames at Imber Court in Surrey. Fair has been busy putting several balls in motion, in more ways than one. The 29-year-old is an ambassador, first and foremost. She's also a player, a coach, a business-marketing mind, an advocate and pioneer.

"It was great timing and a great club. It was just a no-brainer," Fair said in a recent call from London. "[Chelsea FC] came over last summer, and I had done some ambassadorial work for them, around their tour. The idea came up to have me go over to play in the off time -- help out with some grassroots programs, stuff that was a bit more near and dear to my heart with the global charity. So it was a perfect opportunity and time in my life."

Before making the move across the pond, Lorrie was playing for a semipro men's team, the San Francisco Glens. The Chelsea Ladies will benefit from Fair's up-tempo play in the midfield, which she kept intact during her stint with the men's league, "I wouldn't hold onto the ball long enough for them to kick me," she said with a laugh. But like any true vet, Fair is focused on bringing that same physicality and composure to a young Chelsea team, "Part of helping this team is to make your teammates look good around you and to bring up their level, [through] encouragement and a little bit of instruction."

As much responsibility as Fair has shouldered on the field, she's making even more of an impact when she's out of her Chelsea kit. Fresh off a U.S. envoy trip to Morocco, where she traveled with Jay Miller, representing the combined efforts of U.S. Soccer and the U.S. embassy, Fair opened the eyes of several children she worked with.

"Some of them had never played on grass before. Some of them had never seen the beach. Some of the girls played in full veils because of their religious beliefs -- the girls are amazing. You could tell they've played with boys before because they weren't really scared of anything." Fair's enthusiasm for her outreach work shone in her voice, "If we can use sport to really connect on a world level, I think it's going to improve our situation as a country."

The "grandma of the bunch," as Fair calls herself, has a close working relationship with the team manager, Shaun Gore, who is also the Chelsea community program director. In conjunction with several players from the men's side, the two of them work together on grassroots clinics and events on a weekly basis. The program targets childhood obesity, reaching about 550,000 young children per year. Speaking about Lorrie's role, Gore explained via an international call that Fair's acquisition was part of Chelsea's efforts to become the biggest football club in the world. From the public relations side, Fair is just the high-profile footballer the club needs.

"She's a very, very gifted player," Gore said. "She's quite ferocious in her tackle, got a great engine, she's a great athlete. Technically she's very, very good, and her overall play, really, is something that a lot of our players will aspire to achieve. She can bring so many different things to the team -- she's been there, seen it, done it and bought the T-shirt as we say."

Nearing the culmination of the Premier League's season, Chelsea Ladies are suspended in the middle of the standings. Because of international team commitments and FA Cup games, holes in the Ladies' lineup have resulted in an inconsistent second half of the Premier season. Fair's first game, against the Doncaster Rovers on Feb. 3, came only days after her arrival.

"We didn't really play all that well," she said. "The weather was pretty poor. For the first time, I think, in my life, we lost 4-3."

Courtesy of Chelsea FC/Other

Former U.S. international Lorrie Fair strengthens the Chelsea squad.

Since then, Chelsea has posted a 2-4-1 record, struggling against more experienced teams such as Everton and Leeds.

"[The team] has had a difficult time jelling on the pitch; it's hard when we don't have the entire team there, with people absent from training here and there," Fair explained.

She thinks the team will improve dramatically next year, given that many players were signed from the youth ranks just this year.

Fair's teammates have benefited from her presence, as well, as she has sparked the chemistry off the field with striker Eniola Aluko and goalkeeper Siobhan Chamberlain, both members of the English national team. Fair is the lone Yank on the team, so her verbal blunders the first few sessions have earned her a "My Fair Lady" association.

"I've made a few boo-boos. For instance, pants. Pants in this country are not pants. Pants in this country are underwear, and our pants -- they call them trousers. So when I say things about pants, immediately here I'm talking about underwear, which is totally not my intention. My teammates tell me to put on an English accent and I'll tell them to put on an American one, and you know, I butcher theirs and they butcher the American accent," Fair chuckled.

In all seriousness, aside from her goal to "pull out Cockney phrases and stun them all one day," Fair is also raising awareness of the women's game in England.

Gore explains the situation: "The money and the power that is pumped into the English Premier League is without doubt the biggest and the best football league there is in the world. However, from the women's point of view, it's very much an amateur sport. There are no TV contractual rights; the girls get paid expenses to train and play -- the type of money that some of the top [men's] players would spend in a restaurant in half an hour."

Gore recognizes the need to bring the women's game in line with the men's, and attracting world-class players such as Fair is the first step toward equality.

Chelsea FC plans to use Fair's many talents until her contract expires July 30. It will be open to renegotiation depending on her plans. When asked whether she would consider returning to play for WPS, the new women's league in the U.S., Fair said she is undecided.

As for the challenges that lie ahead for women's football in England? "It's not like you are looking up at the Grand Canyon -- it's uphill, but it's not impossible," Fair says.

Lindsey Dolich is a contributor to ESPN The Magazine and covers the U.S. women's national team for ESPNsoccernet.