so,how was it for you?the 2006/2007 season preview

Did the earth move? Was the season lit with fireworks? Did Andriy Shevchenko seduce you with silky skills. Did Didier Drogba’s drive and dynamism send shivers down your spine, or did the essence of Michael Essien send you into a dreamy haze?

Did it seem like the season from hell at times, the interminable season that would never end? Did you look longingly at Arsenal in February after the Carling Cup final and sigh with a hint of envy that their campaign was over and their fans could enjoy each game as a one-off encounter?

Or, like me, are you just plain knackered and thankful the whole bloody shebang is finally over?

Don’t get me wrong, one week after the season has finished and I’m already declaring Sky Sports a dead zone until August and no amount of “Masters [sic] Football” will tempt me, although the coverage of the US Open might. Saturday nights with no Match of the Day? Bloody hell, I’ll have to start talking to the family now!

In the continuing spirit of our format for reviewing games I thought I’d follow suit for the end of season review, with a raft of player ratings chucked in at the end for good measure.

The good

Didier Drogba. Without any shadow of a doubt this was his best season in any league, anywhere during his career. A Golden Boot award for top scorer in the Premier League, and a similar award for scoring the winning goal in the FA Cup final (I think they still award one) alongside a host of good press coverage for changes in attitude show him to be worth every penny of the £24m we paid three years ago. There is little doubt we’d be two trophies down on this year’s haul without his goals in both finals. Can he repeat this? Well why not? He may not have the silky ball skills of Thierry Henry, or the close control of Wayne Rooney, or the dancing skills of Cristiano Ronaldo, but he does have something more than these players by the bucket load – spirit and fight. Simply put the man has never given up at any point this season, whether it’s scoring critical goals, making vital assists or simply being an outstanding defender. He is an inspiration and a true Chelsea legend. In a word – fantastic.

Michael Essien. From being a pariah, shamelessly hounded by the shabby shady low-lives of the press for a single poor tackle in his first season, and subsequently punished retrospectively by UEFA, his true nature has come to the fore and he has shown himself to be a simply outstanding world class player who would be a first choice at any club in the world. Dignified, selfless, hard-working, spirited, strong, powerful and skilful. The perfect player? Not yet… but it won’t be long. Oh how I wish he were English.

Petr Cech. Alex Ferguson used to espouse with regularity the importance of Peter Schmeichel in Manchester United’s title winning heyday and we now have the new, improved Schmeichel. I will be honest and say I had my doubts last season, and he still has the downright annoying habit of hoofing the ball up the field when playing it to a defender would be a better option, but his saves this year have been as vital as Drogba’s goals in keeping us in the hunt for three trophies for so long. All this after suffering a life threatening injury against Reading early in the season makes “The Cat in the Hat” a truly remarkable man and athlete.

The overall effort. Despite a promising start to the season, marred early on by the strange defeat at Middlesbrough, it’s obvious the effect of the World Cup on more or less the whole squad, alongside political shenanigans in the stand-off between Jose Mourinho and Roman Abramovich, the intense anti-Chelsea press bias and the constant crippling injury list had a huge effect on our ruthless capacity to win. Having said that it’s hard to do anything other than stand back in open mouthed admiration for the two domestic trophies from three, second place in the Premier League, and a semi-final position in the Champions League. Could any other team have done that under such pressure?

Jose Mourinho. He appears below as well, such is the paradox of the man. He’s almost an oxymoron (a disastrously brilliant tactician maybe, or an incredibly lucky genius). One thing is for sure, he is a fighter and man who will use whatever armoury is available to get the right result. In a season where we have not had all our key players (Cech, Terry, Carvalho, Joe Cole, Robben) he has been able to adopt a fall back position similar to George Graham’s old Arsenal team, or the dominating German national teams of the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. It ain’t entertaining, but it’s bloody effective and it’s got us two trophies this year, despite not having the real flair players available, or the spine of our defence. Could anyone else do that? Does any other coach have the balls to switch styles from one extreme to another with such assuredness, just to ensure the delivery of the right results? Thought not.

The trophy haul. To some of the younger blog readers this may seem a season of failure. But I’ve been there since 1970 when we won our first FA Cup and only our second major trophy in sixty-five years of existence, the first being our only previous League win in 1955 – for which I wasn’t about! After that FA Cup we won the old European Cup Winners’ Cup the following year beating the already mighty Real Madrid. In the 60’s and 70’s the ECWC was always second behind the European Cup (now the Champions League) and ahead of the Fairs Cup (now the UEFA Cup). In 1972 we should have won the League Cup but somehow lost to Stoke City who had a bloke called George Eastham playing that day who though was only 36, looked older than my grandad. He scored the winning goal that broke a young boy’s heart and started the trophy drought of twenty-five bloody long years until Ruud Gullit’s 1997 team finally won the FA Cup again and roused the sleeping giant from its slumber. That year seemed massive to me because in my eyes it put us back on the map. It got us noticed again for the right reasons and not hooligan fans or the embarrassing rantings of Ken Bates. There followed a period of another FA Cup under Gianluca Vialli, plus a Cup Winners’ Cup and a League Cup and a vague threat to the Manchester United/Arsenal duopoly. Back then, just ten short years ago, we were happy with one trophy but then the Claudio Ranieri years seemed to be taking us back into the coma. But in three years under Mourinho we have collected each domestic trophy, six in all. To that young boy in 1970 this would have been dreamland and once again I say to you, two out of three ain’t bad. Neither is two out of four.

The bad

The injury list. At times I thought we’d been transformed into Newcastle, whose tiresome perennial injury problems have seen away Kevin Keegan, Kenny Dalglish, Ruud Gullit, Bobby Robson, Graeme Souness, and Glen Roeder. It’s hard to believe we’ve had a similar year to their previous ten in terms of injuries. It just seemed that no week would go by without yet more bad news on the state of some of our key players. A thinned squad didn’t help, and the intransigence of board and manager may have been costly in terms of the Premiership and Champions League. I hope this was a one-off and that next year we don’t even get five percent of the problems of this year. Then, just maybe we’ll have a better crack at all four trophies.

Jose Mourinho. Don’t get me wrong here. I love the guy. Hell, he can come round and marry my daughter if he wants (well, maybe next year when she’s sixteen). But sometimes he seems afflicted by the ghost of Ranieri in his team selections and his tactics. Sure he near enough always rectifies this but maybe his inexperience or ego just flirts too close to self-importance and danger. And sometimes, just sometimes I wish the PR people at the club would stop him from saying the wrong things. The barbed comment about Ronaldo’s alleged poor education was uncalled for, no matter what we might think of the cheating winker-diver (which is at least true).

Khalid Boulahrouz. Oh dear, oh dear. I thought I’d seen the worst defender ever in Asier Del Horno (Doug Rougvie excepted here) but along came The Cannibal. Hmm… he presumably got this nickname because he likes to take chunks out of people for pleasure. I’d let him go before he becomes another Winston Bogarde (Do’h! Maybe I’m being hard on Del Horno having just remembered this complete donkey).

Losing the Premiership. Let’s face it Manchester United won it because we lost it. The piss-poor Christmas with three draws and silly defeats at Middlesbrough and Spurs told me it wasn’t destined for us this year, and despite my many healthy debates with the Blue Evangelists on this site, who were even using lunar mythology to convince themselves we could do it, I can now gloat and say “I told you so”. That gives me no pleasure because we were more than good enough to win again this year even with the injuries. The spark and hunger had gone for some and I firmly believe the pain of losing this will bring us back stronger next year. But just remember this… each year it will get harder to win as the others start to compete in the market with us.

Player ratings (main squad only)

Petr Cech: 9/10 – A very brave man whose world class saves played a key part in our trophy wins and our extended challenge in the Premier and Champions League.
Khalid Bouhlarouz: 4/10 – “Oh dear” just doesn’t seem strong enough does it? A bright game against Barcelona was followed by him being humiliated and his confidence being publicly dismantled in Spain by Ronaldinho. Never really recovered from that and very probably on his way.

Paulo Ferreira: 7/10 – Spent most of the season sidelined or just being plain useless. Was he carrying an injury? Was his mind elsewhere? Who knows, but one thing is for sure he finished the season looking more like the Paulo we saw two years ago who was the best right-back in Europe.
Wayne Bridge: 8.5/10 – The number one left-back in Europe, if not the world. Frankly brilliant.

John Terry: 8.5/10 – Sidelined by serious injury during the winter and injured again due to his own bravery in the Carling Cup final. Never quite got back to his imperious best but that may be as much from the season’s length than anything else.

John Obi Mikel: 9/10 – A revelation and surely a sure fire top class player of the future. Plays like someone with ten years more experience and has only got to learn to control the red mist tendency. Wayne who?

Shaun Wright-Phillips: 8/10 – Looked doomed for much of the season. Annoyingly kept running the ball out of play as if suffering from whitewash blindness. When he did get past players his final ball was… well shit is the only word that fits here really. Then, the injury situation worsened and he got his best chance and boy did he take it. His tackling has improved as he has learned to “roam” the midfield behind the strikers and not limit himself to the wings. A big but welcome turn around.

Frank Lampard: 7.5/10 – 21 goals belie a season of only sporadic brilliance amongst swathes of mediocrity compared to previous years. Looked knackered a lot of the time and the World Cup seemed to smash his confidence. Let’s hope a good break gets him back into the real form we know he is capable of.
Joe Cole: 6/10 – A terrible season ruined by injury. Boy did we miss his trickery and verve.

Didier Drogba: 9.8/10 – For me, the best player of our season. I’ve said it all above but will add one more word. Magnificent.

Salomon Kalou: 7/10 – Shows flashes of brilliance but this is too often overshadowed by poor decisions and some frankly dire finishing or passing. A good bet for the future, but needs to work harder and gain more experience.

Arjen Robben: 6/10 – See Joe Cole.

Michael Ballack: 7/10 – At the start I thought we’d bought yet another duffer, but when he was absent I started to understand his contribution. The fact that he doesn’t seem to blow his own trumpet makes it all the more admirable. His “laissez-faire” attitude reminds me of Marcel Desailly. I expect next season to be the one where he gets noticed for the right reasons.

Andriy Shevchencko: 5/10 – Oh dear. Flashes of the player that everyone in Serie A either feared or admired, but for the most part seemed to struggle with the pace of the Premiership. It now transpires he’s been carrying an injury all season, but surely that begs the question of why we didn’t operate at the beginning and get him fully fit for the run-in. One more season and that’s it if he doesn’t improve.

Ashley Cole: 7/10 – Showed little of the form that projected him to England’s number one status at left-back but to be fair the requirements at Chelsea are very different than at Arsenal. Will have to work very hard to unseat Wayne Bridge.

Michael Essien: 9.7/10 – An absolute marvel this season and very close to being my player of the year. Pipped as my player of the year only by Drogba’s goal contribution, but has showed great dignity and versatility when asked, and unlike William Gallas has not complained once.

Ricardo Carvalho: 9.7/10 – I’d always been a bit sniffy about him previously. He always seemed to give away the penalties or the silly free kicks through petulant shirt pulling or late clumsy tackles. However, this season he has been the rock of the defence and did a marvellous job when Terry was away injured and in every game he played. With him we’re solid in defence, without him the armour has a chink. I think it’s fair to say that he was sorely missed when he himself got ‘flu for the Liverpool game at Anfield and then injured for the last four games of the season. Another close candidate for my player of the year, and the archetypal unsung hero.

Geremi: 7/10 – Points awarded here for unswerving loyalty but when offered the chance at right-back to make the position his own he failed to take it, despite an initially bright start. Perhaps his attacking midfield instincts are too strong but it’s hard to see a place next season.

Claude Makalele: 6/10 – Nearly a candidate for ‘The bad’ section until I realised he wasn’t actually “bad” per se, but merely poor in comparison to his previous three seasons. I firmly believe he was affected by the French World Cup effort and that maybe this was the season that showed he’d gone on just that little bit too far. He might be worth a one-year “off the bench” contract but unless his distribution improves markedly, and he stops giving away unnecessary free kicks in dangerous areas then maybe it’s time to shake his hand, give him a warm thank-you and let him go.

Lassana Diarra: 8/10 – An odd one this. He has a temperament issue and an attitude problem as well as shown by his fine for missing training. However he is a scintillating player who did a very good job at right-back and filled in for Makelele quite well. Inexperienced but a player I’d put some faith in because as his experience grows so will the rewards for us.

Carlo Cudicini: 7/10 – A loyal servant who showed great bravery in the game against Reading when he got knocked out making a vital clearance. In all honesty though he’s not the future and his age and lack of games must be a factor in his continuing capacity as the number two keeper. I would be looking to promote from within for the number two slot, and as a reward for unswerving loyalty offer Cudicini a job alongside Silvinho Lauro coaching the keepers and the youngsters.

Hilario: 6/10 – Got more games than he, or anyone was expecting. Not one for the future though. He is an average shot stopper but aerially he doesn’t command at crosses, tends to flap/slap at the ball and patently doesn’t inspire confidence in the defenders. He was noticeably castigated by Terry several times during games and when Carvalho also has something to say you know he isn’t the answer.

Final thoughts

Overall this season has been a paradox in itself. At times both deeply frustrating, undeniably drab, massively exciting, rewarding and yet unrewarding as well. It’s been very long for those of us with World Cup allegiances and I reckon I was as exhausted as the players as we hit the final run-in. I’ve kicked every ball, felt every tackle, headed every cross, whilst simultaneously screaming my love for the club, deriding the useless referees and linesmen and defending my club against the abuse of other fans and the press and TV. The players are lucky, they only have to kick a ball around once or twice a week. For me it never stops. Plus I have the added stress of knowing that no matter what I do, what superstitions I have, what prayers I may mutter despite my avowed agnosticism I have no influence whatsoever on the team. At least those picked can try and make a difference.

So, to wrap up this season until I can think of something else to post to the blog, here’s some thoughts on ins and outs and my predictions for next season. I reserve the right to perform u-turns on any of these on a pure whim or because they’re wrong!

In: David Villa or Carlos Tevez. Believe me I think one or the other will be arriving freshly scrubbed and ready to wear the blue shirt of success. Also in will be Micah Richards or Glen Johnson at right-back, PSV Eindhoven’s Alex as cover for the centre-backs as well as the already acquired Steve Sidwell to cover Essien or John Obi Mikel. Not a tough job then Steve!

Out: This is far tougher than I thought. Paulo Ferreira may have got a reprieve with his end of season form but that just makes it even more mysterious as to what had happened for the first three quarters of it. If he stays then Johnson will be sold and Richards bought in. Shaun Wright-Phillips was a banker as well but he turned it around big time. Definitely going will be Geremi and Khalid Boulahrouz and my other tip would be Claude Makalele as the future without him is already sorted with Lassana Diarra, Essien or Mikel ready to play that role.

Trophies. Providing we don’t suffer such a bad injury year then I think the Premiership will be back with us despite the current Manchester United spending spree. As for the cups, well I think common sense might prevail and we will follow the models set by the others in the Big Four – in other words we’ll downgrade our desire in these. The reason? Abramovich and Mourinho may have different opinions on each other but both want the Champions League. Roman because he wants us to be spoken of and revered with the other big European clubs, Jose because he wants to win and savour the victory this time without the pressure of knowing he is moving on. I believe Jose will be with us until 2010 when his contract ends. There is no better coach. I think next year, as seeds we will be gracing the final and this time there’ll be no mistakes. Manchester United will be second again, Liverpool will be third and the biggest shock will be either Spurs, Newcastle or maybe even a dogged Everton side pipping Arsenal for fourth place.

Until next time, keep the Blue Flag flying high.

Chelsea complete Pizarro signing · Update

Bayern Munich’s Peruvian striker Claudio Pizarro has signed on a free transfer. The 28-year-old joined after agreeing personal terms and undergoing a medical.

Pizarro joins Steve Sidwell and Danny Philliskirk as Chelsea’s summer signings.

Chelsea complete Ben Haim signing · Update
Bolton’s out-of-contract defender Tal Ben Haim has joined Chelsea on a four-year deal.

He becomes Chelsea’s third major summer addition, all on free transfers.

Ben Haim will join up with the club in time for the pre-season tour of the United States.

The Bridge

Stamford Bridge, or simply The Bridge to the faithful, is the spiritual and physical home of Chelsea Football Club, but it hasn’t always been that way and the site has quite a history itself.

The name and place of Stamford Bridge is one of great significance in English history, being the site in Yorkshire of one the most famous battles of King Harold's reign in 1066 against the Vikings. However it is believed that this is not connected to the naming of the stadium which came about less because of historical significance and more to do with local landmarks and a fair degree of chance.

Eighteenth century maps show the current Fulham Road and Kings Road area including the site of the stadium and also a stream called 'Stanford Creek' which runs along the route of the present day railway line behind the East Stand and flows down into the Thames.

Where the stream crossed the Fulham Road is marked “Little Chelsea Bridge” which was originally called Sanford Bridge (from sand ford). While a bridge over the creek on the Kings Road was called Stanbridge (from stone bridge). It seems that these two names of the stream and the bridge, 'Stanford Creek' and 'Little Chelsea Bridge', together evolved into the name Stanford Bridge, which again later evolved into Stamford Bridge as the adopted name of the stadium.

Stamford Bridge Grounds officially opened on 28th April 1877 and for the first 28 years of its existence, was used almost exclusively by the London Athletic Club as an arena for athletics meetings.

In 1904 the ownership of the ground changed hands when Mr H A (Gus) Mears and his brother, Mr J T Mears, obtained the deeds, having previously acquired additional land (formerly a large market garden) with the aim of establishing a football team there on the now 12.5 acre site.

Archibald Leitch was commissioned to design the first stand, a 120 yard long structure along the east side, seating 5,000 people. Work began on the building in February 1905. The other three sides were open, in a vast bowl, the banking of which was made up of thousands of tons of material, excavated during the building of the nearby underground line. The original capacity was planned for 100,000 and at the time, was the second largest venue in the country, behind that at The Crystal Palace.

The ground was initially offered to Fulham FC, but they declined and so, it was decided to form a new football team.

At 7.30pm on March 14th, 1905, the inaugural meeting of Chelsea Football Club was called to order by Gus Mears and his brother JT Mears. The meeting was held in a room above a pub opposite Stamford Bridge known at the time as The Rising Sun, more recently called the Greene Room and now re-named The Butcher's Hook. Chelsea Football Club was born and moved into Stamford Bridge in time to start the 1905/1906 season.

The stadium remained largely unchanged for the next 25 years until in 1930 the Shed End terraced area was erected. A vast bank of terracing behind the southern goal it was to become the “Mecca” for Chelsea's most die hard supporters and would forever be associated with Stamford Bridge.

As the stadium developed the Shed End really came into its own in the 60's, 70's and 80's and was the focal point of the hardcore Chelsea fans and the originators of most of the singing and atmosphere. Adorned with a rather unique 'roofed' area (which barely covered 1/5th of the whole terrace) there is debate over how and when it developed the name 'Shed' as it wasn't given a name when it was built.

As the stadium developed the Shed End really came into its own in the 60's, 70's and 80's and was the focal point of the hardcore Chelsea fans and the originators of most of the singing and atmosphere. Adorned with a rather unique 'roofed' area (which barely covered 1/5th of the whole terrace) there is debate over how and when it developed the name 'Shed' as it wasn't given a name when it was built.

The Shed was demolished in 1994 following new laws compelling grounds to be all seater and was replaced with the new "Shed End" seated stand in 1997. The final match with the old Shed was Sheffield United at home on 7th May 1994 although sadly no one knew at the time it would be the last game, so the Shed was never given the send off it deserved.
In 1939 the North Stand was built. A curious stand in the north east corner it was an extension to the East stand and stuck out for being a completely different design to the rest of the stadium but it did provide extra seating. It survived until 1975 when it was demolished and the north end was then open terracing until 1993 when it too was demolished at the start of the modern redevelopment of the entire stadium.

In 1964/65, during one of Chelsea's best periods on the pitch, saw the vast western terrace replaced by a seated stand. The stand was 3/4 seating and 1/4 concrete slabs affectionately known as the 'Benches'. The West stand existed for 25 years until it was the last of the old stadium to be demolished in 1998 and despite by that stage being a rickety, crumbling stand it too was a sad day for many when the old West Stand with it's wooden seats went, and like the Shed, is a source of nostalgia. Yet its replacement is quite simply one of the finest stadium stands in the country costing an estimated £30 million to build, and housing 13,500 people in luxury surroundings with superb views.

In 1973 the East Stand built was built, a marvel of engineering of the time and still one of the most striking stands in the country there's little doubt it was ahead of its time. The only part of the current stadium that survived the mass rebuilding of the 1990's it has though, undergone extensive refurbishment and refitting.

The East Stand, for all its magnificence also has a controversial past. When Chelsea were at their peak in the late 60's and early 70's the then owners decided the all star team on the pitch deserved to be playing in the best stadium in the country. Their plan was hugely ambitious to completely redevelop Stamford Bridge into a 50,000 all seater circular stadium. It proved too ambitious and many feel brought the club to it's knees, forced the selling of the star players, relegation and nearly forced the club into complete ruin by the start of the 1980's. It took another 20 years to rebuild not only the stadium and team but the entire club, yet for all that, the East Stand itself remains as impressive today as it always did.

With the club virtually bankrupt in the late 70's the then owners made the drastic decision to sell the Stamford Bridge site to property developers to pay off some of the debts. It was a decision that very nearly saw Chelsea lose it's ground, be forced to share with Fulham or QPR and the famous stadium converted into houses or a supermarket.

With Chelsea no longer owning their own ground they were unable to do any more rebuilding and lagged behind other clubs in that respect. A bitter, expensive and close run 10 year fight by chairman Ken Bates to fight the property developers and win back ownership of Stamford Bridge was finally successful in 1992. With an ironic twist, is was the property developers who were forced into bankruptcy and Chelsea FC got it's ground back.

It was a close run thing at times but Stamford Bridge survived its biggest ever challenge and in 1994 the process of the most extensive redevelopment of any stadium in the country began. Turning a dilapidated and crumbling ground with views miles from the pitch into one of the most impressive in the country.
The rebuilding of Stamford Bridge from the ashes began with the redevelopment of the North Stand area. The old banked terrace that in recent times had housed the away fans was demolished and the new stand began to rise. Renamed as the Matthew Harding Stand in memory of the Chelsea director killed in a helicopter accident it has now established itself as the home of the most vocal and die hard Chelsea fans.
Next up in the redevelopment queue was the new Shed End Stand. The old Shed terrace was replaced with temporary seating for a couple of years before work began on the new Shed End. At the same time the Chelsea Village Hotel, which would be the centre piece of the massive Chelsea Village development, was built at the same time. Like all the new stands as well as being modern, smart and comfortable they were also much closer to the pitch something many feel had hindered Chelsea's atmosphere for some time.
The final piece of the new Stamford Bridge story proved to have one more hurdle to overcome. The lower tier of the new West stand was built on schedule but then problems with the local council over planning permission meant a 2 year delay before the rest of the stand could be built.
Finally that last battle was won and work began on completing the biggest and best part of the stadium, the huge 13,500 seater West Stand. It opened for the first time on 19/08/2001 and marked, at last, the completion of Stamford Bridge which had begun way back in 1973 with the East Stand.
The current capacity stands at 42,522 and the ground has gone from being a huge oval shape to 4 sides close to the pitch. There is almost no part of the current stadium that hasn't markedly changed in the past 10 years. Stamford Bridge is currently the largest football stadium in London and one of the best stadiums in the country and Europe. As well as all the work on the stadium itself the whole 12.5 acre site has seen the building of Chelsea Village. A leisure and entertainment complex housing 2 four star hotels, 5 restaurants, conference and banqueting facilities, nightclub, underground car park, health club and business centre. It has come a long long way since the original athletics venue was first built in 1876!

Chelsea FC

Football Club Details
Also known asThe BluesYear Formed1905GroundStamford BridgeColoursHome: Royal blue with white and amber trim shirts and shorts, white stockings with royal blue and amber trim.Away: White shirts and shorts with royal blue/yellow trim, white stockings with royal blue/yellow trim or turnover

Stamford Bridge The Home Of Chelsea FC

Capacity
42420
AddressChelsea FC
Stamford Bridge
London
SW6 1HS
Telephone
020-7385-5545
Fax

Local Weather

Travel Information

Local Transport Links
Tube Station
Fulham Broadway 0.2 miles (0.3 km)
Wandsworth Town Railway Station 1.4 miles (2.2 km)Motorway JunctionM4 Jnct 1 4 miles (6.4 km)AirportLondon City 10.6 miles (17.1 km)Route Finder

Chelsea FC All Time Records
Attendance 82905: vs Arsenal 12/10/1935 Division 1
Best league win 9 - 2: vs Glossop 01/09/1906 Division 2
Worst league loss
Best cup win1 3 - 0: vs Jeunesse Hautcharage 29/09/1971 ECWC RND 1
Worst cup loss
Most capped player Ray Wilkins: 24 England
League appearances Ron Harris: 655 1962/80
League goals Bobby Tambling: 164 1958/70
Goals in a season Jimmy Greaves: 41 1960/61 Division 1
Transfer fee received £12,000,000: Tore Andre Flo Rangers 23 November 2000
Transfer fee paid £17,000,000: Damien Duff Blackburn Rovers 21 July 2003

Chelsea FC Honours
League Titles Division One: 1954-55. Division Two: 1983-84; 1988-89
FA Cup Winners: 1970, 1997, 2000
Europe European Cup Winners' Cup winners: 1971, 1998. Full MembersCup winners: 1986. European SuperCup winners: 1998
League Cup Winners: 1965, 1998, 2005
Other Charity Shield winners: 2000. Zenith Data
Systems Cup winners: 1990

History of Chelsea F.C.

Chelsea Football Club, as one of the most famous Association Football clubs in England, has a long, unique and idiosyncratic history, and has experienced both the highs and the lows of the game. From its early days as the butt of a music hall joke for their lack of success, to being 1954-55 Champions following a revamp. From the glamourous, talented and flamboyant side which emerged in swinging London in the mid-1960s to put the club on the footballing map for the first time, to the financial and on-pitch woes that almost forced its extinction in the early 1980s. From the rejuvenated side of the mid-1980s that returned it to stability, to the cosmopolitan renaissance of the late-1990s, which saw it challenge for honours again, to a takeover in June 2003 which contributed to its current status as one of the dominant teams in the country.

For a more general overview of the club, see Chelsea F.C.

Contents [hide]
1 Pre-1905
2 Early Years (1905-39)
3 The War, The Visit Of Dynamo and The New Youth System (1940-52)
4 Ted Drake: Modernisation and the Championship (1952-61)
5 Emergence (1963-71)
5.1 Tommy Docherty
5.2 Dave Sexton
6 Troubled Times (1972-83)
7 A New Beginning (1983-89)
8 The 1990s: Back On Track
9 Renaissance: Gullit, Vialli and Zola (1996-2000)
10 Claudio Ranieri: The Nearly Men (2000-2004)
11 José Mourinho: Double League Champions (2004-present)
12 See also
13 Notes
14 References



Pre-1905
In 1896, Henry Augustus "Gus" Mears, football enthusiast and businessman, along with his brother, Joseph Mears, purchased the Stamford Bridge Athletics Ground in Fulham, West London, with the intention of staging first-class football matches there, though they had to wait until 1904 to buy the freehold, when the previous owner died. They failed to persuade Fulham Football Club to adopt the ground as their home after a dispute over the rent, so Mears considered selling up to the Great Western Railway Company, who wanted to use the land as a coal-dumping yard. The story goes that Mears was on the verge of selling, and was being persuaded by his colleague Fred Parker not to, when Mears' scotch terrier bit Parker on the leg. Parker took the incident in good spirit so Mears, impressed by this, decided to take his colleague's advice and found a new football club to play at Stamford Bridge. In contrast to most clubs, Chelsea F.C. were therefore formed to fill a stadium, and not vice versa.


Early Years (1905-39)
chelsea's squad in 1905Chelsea F.C. was founded on March 14, 1905 at The Rising Sun pub (now The Butcher's Hook) opposite today's main entrance to the ground on the Fulham Road. Since there was already a team named Fulham in the borough, the name of the adjacent borough, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, was settled on after London FC, Kensington FC and Stamford Bridge FC had been rejected. They were denied entry to the Southern League following objections from Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur, so instead applied for admission to the Football League. Their candidacy was endorsed at the Football League AGM on May 29, 1905, with a speech by Parker, which emphasised the new club's financial stability and its impressive new stadium and team playing an important part. Blue shirts were adopted by Mears, after the racing colours of Lord Chelsea, along with white shorts and dark blue socks. The club's first league match took place away at Stockport County on September 2, 1905. They lost the game 1-0. Their first home match was against Liverpool in a friendly. They won 4-0.

Scottish international half-back John Tait Robertson was recruited to be the club's first player-manager. The club began with established players recruited from other teams, such as 22 stone goalkeeper William "Fatty" Foulke, an FA Cup winner with Sheffield United, and inside forward Jimmy Windridge from Small Heath. The club finished a respectable 3rd in their first season, but Robertson steadily saw his position undermined by board room interference. He lost the power to select the team in November 1906, and by January 1907 he had left for Glossop. Club secretary William Lewis took temporary charge and led the team to promotion at the end of the season, thanks largely to the goals of Windridge and George "Gatling Gun" Hilsdon. The latter was the first of many prolific centre forwards to play for Chelsea; he scored five goals on his debut and 27 in the promotion season en route to becoming the first player to score 100 goals for the club.

Chelsea beat West Brom at Stamford Bridge in September 1905Lewis was succeeded by David Calderhead, who was to manage Chelsea for the next 26 years. The club's early seasons produced little success, and they yo-yoed between the First and Second divisions. They were relegated in 1909-10, promoted in 1911-12 and finished second-bottom in 1914-15, the final competitive season before football in England was abandoned owing to World War I. The club would normally have been relegated, but the league was expanded after the war, and Chelsea were invited to re-join the First Division.

In spite of their checkered fortunes, Chelsea became one of the best-supported teams in the country, with fans attracted by the team's reputation for playing entertaining attacking football and for signing star players, notably half-back Ben Warren and striker Bob Whittingham in this period. 67,000 attended the league game against Manchester United on Good Friday 1906, a then-record for a Second Division match. 55,000 attended the first-ever London derby in the top division, against Woolwich Arsenal, a record for a First Division match. 77,952 attended the fourth round FA Cup tie against Swindon on 13 April 1911.

In 1915, under the shadow of the First World War, Chelsea reached their first FA Cup final, the so-called "Khaki" cup final, owing to the large number of uniformed soldiers in attendance. The match against Sheffield United was played in a sombre atmosphere and staged at Old Trafford in Manchester to avoid disruption in London. Chelsea, minus their top amateur striker, Vivian Woodward, who had sportingly insisted that the team who reached the final ought to keep their places, were seemingly unnerved by the occasion and outplayed for much of the match. Goalkeeper Jim Molyneux's mistake allowed United to score before half-time, but the Blues held out until the final six minutes, when their opponents added two more to win 3-0.

1919-20, the first full season following the war, was Chelsea's most successful up to that point. Led by 24 goal striker Jack Cock, the club's latest glamour signing, they finished 3rd in the league - the highest league finish for a London club - and reached the FA Cup semi-finals, only to be denied by eventual winners Aston Villa, which saw them miss out on a chance to play in the final at Stamford Bridge. The club were relegated again in 1923-24 and in four of the next five seasons were to narrowly miss out on promotion, finishing 5th, 3rd, 4th and 3rd. They finally reached the First Division again in 1929-30, where they were to remain for the next 32 years.

To capitalise on the 1930 promotion, the club spent £25,000 on three big-name players, Scots Hughie Gallacher, Alex Jackson and Alec Cheyne. Gallacher in particular was one of the biggest talents of his era, known for his prolific goalscoring and for having captained Newcastle to their last championship to date in 1926-27. He and Jackson had also been members of the famous Wembley Wizards side, the Scotland team which beat England 5-1 at Wembley in 1928. However, though the team occasionally clicked, such as in a 6-2 win over Manchester United and a 5-0 win over Sunderland, none of the trio had the desired impact. Gallacher was Chelsea's top scorer in each of his four seasons, scoring 81 goals in total, but his time in West London was punctuated by long suspensions for indiscipline. Jackson and Cheyne struggled to settle at the club and were unable re-capture their previous form. The trio didn't make 300 appearances between them and by 1936 all had left at a significant financial loss to the club. Their failure epitomised Chelsea's flaws throughout the decade, whereby performances and results rarely matched the calibre of players at the club. Money was spent, but too often spent on inappropriate players, especially forwards, while the defence remained neglected.

The FA Cup was to be the closest the club came to silverware. In 1932, the team secured impressive wins over Liverpool and Sheffield Wednesday, and were drawn against Newcastle United in the semi-finals. Newcastle took a 2-0 lead, before Gallacher pulled one back for Chelsea. The Blues laid siege to the United goal in the second half, but were unable to make a breakthrough and the Geordies reached the final. Calderhead stepped down in 1933 and was replaced by Leslie Knighton, but the appointment saw little change in Chelsea's fortunes. At different times during the decade the club had on its books the likes of Tommy Law, Sam Weaver, Syd Bishop, Harry Burgess, Dick Spence and Joe Bambrick, all established internationals, yet their highest league finish in the decade was 8th. Ironically, two of the club's most reliable players during the decade cost them nothing: goalkeeper Vic Woodley, who was to win 19 consecutive caps for England, and centre-forward George Mills, the first player to score 100 league goals for Chelsea. They avoided relegation by two points in 1932-33 and 1933-34, and by one point in 1938-39. Another promising cup run in 1939, which included wins over Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday, petered out with a home loss to Grimsby Town in the quarter-finals.

The club continued to be one of the country's best-supported sides. The visit of Arsenal on 12 October 1935 attracted 82,905 to Stamford Bridge, which remains a club record and the second highest ever attendance at an English league match. Crowds of almost 50,000 attended Gallacher and Jackson's home debuts. In 1939, with the club having come no closer to on-field success, Knighton stepped down. He was succeeded by Scotsman and former Queens Park Rangers manager, Billy Birrell, a man whose brainchild was to radically change the club's fortunes.


The War, The Visit Of Dynamo and The New Youth System (1940-52)
One of the first Post-War matchday programmes - Chelsea Reserves vs Crystal Palace Reserves, 27 October 1945. Note a young Ken Armstrong on the Chelsea left wing.Birrell was appointed Chelsea manager shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War. Three games into the 1939-40 season, first class football was abandoned in Britain for the duration of the conflict, meaning that all wartime results are only regarded as unofficial. Chelsea competed in a series of regional competitions and, like every other club, saw their squad severely depleted by the war effort (only two members of Chelsea's 1938-39 team ever played for them again). The club thus fielded a series of "guest" players, most notably Matt Busby, Walter Winterbottom and Eddie Hapgood. They also competed in the Football League War Cup, during which they made their Wembley debut, losing 1-3 to Charlton Athletic in the 1944 final, and beating Millwall 2-0 a year later in front of crowds of over 80,000. After the latter match, John Harris became the first Chelsea captain to lift a trophy at Wembley, receiving the cup from Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

In October 1945, with the War having just ended, the English football authorities sought a way to celebrate the return of the peace-time game. As part of a goodwill gesture, it was announced that FC Dynamo Moscow, reigning champions of the Soviet Union, would tour the United Kingdom and play several home teams, including Chelsea. The match took place on 13 November at Stamford Bridge with Chelsea wearing an unfamiliar red strip due to a kit clash. Before kick-off, the Dynamo players presented a bouquet of flowers to their opposite number. Despite this faux pas, the mysterious Russian side surprised many observers with their talent and tenacity by fighting back from 0-2 and 2-3 down to secure a deserved 3-3 draw, albeit with an offside equaliser. An estimated crowd of over 100,000 people attended the match, with thousands entering the ground illegally. This crowd is the highest ever recorded at Stamford Bridge. Spectators watched from numerous obscure places, including many on the dog track and on the top of stands.[1]

Following the war, Chelsea again spent big, and again bought three big-name forwards, this time Tommy Lawton, Len Goulden and Tommy Walker, for some £22,000. The trio provided both goals and entertainment - Lawton scored 26 goals in 34 league games in 1946-47 - but Chelsea finished 15th that season and were to finish no higher than 13th under Birrell. Birrell's biggest contribution to Chelsea was off the pitch. He oversaw the development of an extensive new youth and scouting programme, headed by ex-players Dickie Foss, Dick Spence and Jimmy Thompson. Over the next three decades in particular, the policy was to produce a seemingly unending stream of top-class talent for the first team. The period also the saw the arrival of striker Roy Bentley, signed from Newcastle United for £11,500 in 1948 following Lawton's departure.

1950 seemed at last to be Chelsea's year in the FA Cup. After beating Manchester United 2-0 in a pulsating quarter-final, they were drawn to face London rivals Arsenal at White Hart Lane. Two goals from Bentley put Chelsea in control, but a freak goal from Arsenal - Chelsea's goalkeeper misjudged a corner and punched it into his own net - just before half-time turned the tie. Chelsea seemed unable to recover from the blow and Arsenal equalised 15 minutes from from full-time and then won the replay 1-0. A year later, Chelsea seemed destined for relegation: with four games remaining, they were six points adrift at the bottom of the table and without a win in fourteen matches. After unexpectedly winning the first three, Chelsea went into their final match needing to beat Bolton Wanderers and hoping for the right result between fellow relegation candidates Everton and Sheffield Wednesday. Chelsea won 4-0 and Wednesday beat Everton 6-0, thus ensuring Chelsea's survival on goal average by 0.44 of a goal. In 1952, Chelsea again faced Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-finals and after a 1-1 draw in the first match, lost the replay 3-0. Birrell resigned shortly afterwards.


Ted Drake: Modernisation and the Championship (1952-61)
In 1952, former Arsenal and England striker Ted Drake was appointed manager. One of the first "tracksuit managers" who used to shake each player by the hand and wish them "all the best" before each match, Drake proceeded to modernise the club, both on and off the pitch. One of his first actions was to remove the image of a Chelsea pensioner from the match programme and the club's old nickname was no more. From then on they were to be known as the Blues. He improved the training regime, introducing ballwork to training sessions, a practice rare in England at the time; the youth and scouting systems begun by his predecessor were extended and he abandoned the club's old recruiting policy of signing often unreliable stars, opting instead for reliable and honest players from the lower divisions. He also urged the club's fans to be more partisan and to get behind the team. Drake's early years were unpromising, as Chelsea finished 19th and just a point away from relegation in his first season and 8th in his second.

In 1954-55, the club's jubilee year, everything clicked. The team found a consistency rate not previously there as Chelsea unexpectedly won the First Division title with a team notable for the lack of star players. It included goalkeeper Charlie 'Chic' Thomson, amateur players Derek Saunders and Jim Lewis, inside-right Johnny 'Jock' McNichol, winger Eric "Rabbit" Parsons, outside-left Frank Blunstone, full-back Peter Sillett and future England manager Ron Greenwood at centre-half, as well old club stalwarts, right-half Ken Armstrong, left-back Stan Willemse and veteran defender John Harris. Perhaps the only genuine star in the side was captain, top-scorer (with 21 league goals) and England international Roy Bentley.

During Ted Drake's reign as manager, the club's old Chelsea pensioner badge was abandoned at his insistence in favour of this, the "Lion Rampant Regardant"Chelsea had begun the season much as they had finished the last, with four consecutive defeats, including a thrilling 5-6 loss to Manchester United, leaving them 12th in November. From there the side went on a remarkable run, losing just 3 of the next 25 matches and secured the title with a game to spare after a 3-0 win against Sheffield Wednesday on St George's Day. Key to the success were two league wins against principal rivals and eventual runners-up Wolverhampton Wanderers. The first was a dramatic 4-3 win at Molineux - a game in which Chelsea were trailing 2-3 going into stoppage time - and a 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge in April, secured with a Sillett penalty awarded after Wolves captain Billy Wright had punched a goal-bound shot over the bar. Chelsea's points total of 52 for that season remains one of the lowest to have secured the English League title since the First World War. In the final game of the season, Chelsea, now champions, were given a guard of honour by Matt Busby's Manchester United Busby Babes. That same season saw the club complete a unique quadruple, with the reserve, 'A' and junior sides also winning their respective leagues.

Winning the Championship should have ensured that Chelsea became the first English participants in the inaugural European Champions' Cup competition to be staged the following season. Indeed, they were drawn to face Swedish champions Djurgårdens in the first round. However, Chelsea were denied by the intervention of the Football League and the F.A., many of whose leading members were opposed to the idea and felt that primacy should be given to domestic competitions, so the club were persuaded to withdraw.[2] Chelsea did play an unofficial UK championship friendly against Scottish champions Aberdeen, which Aberdeen won. Chelsea presented a plate with the club crest to Aberdeen as a reward.

Chelsea were unable to build on their title success, and finished a disappointing 16th the following season. The team was aging and there followed a succession of uninspiring mid-table finishes; the one major bright spot in this period being the emergence of the ultra-prolific goalscorer Jimmy Greaves, one of Chelsea's best ever youth products, who scored 122 league goals in four seasons. Along with Greaves, a series of other impressive youngsters, informally known as Drake's Duckings, emerged in the first team, though their inexperience ensured that performances remained erratic. One of the lowest points for the club in this period was being knocked out of the FA Cup in the 3rd round by Fourth Division side, Crewe Alexandra, in January 1961. When Greaves was sold to AC Milan in June 1961 the writing was on the wall and, without his goals, the club's performances slumped. Drake was sacked in September after a 4-0 loss to Blackpool with Chelsea bottom of the league table. He was replaced by 33-year-old player-coach Tommy Docherty.


Emergence (1963-71)

Tommy Docherty
The swinging sixties ushered in an era that saw football and inimitable style merge in the heart of London; with the fashionable King's Road at the heart of the swagger. Superstars of the time, including Michael Caine, Steve McQueen, Raquel Welch, Terence Stamp and Richard Attenborough (now Life Vice President of the club) were regularly seen at Stamford Bridge as the team became one of the most glamorous and fashionable in the country. A 60s Chelsea side that oozed charisma and class established the club as a big name for the first time, but ultimately failed to match its swagger with on-field triumphs, and endured several near-misses.

In five turbulent and riproaring years, Docherty would transform Chelsea's fortunes and see them emerge as a force in English football for the first time. He imposed a regime of strict discipline, sold off many of the club's older players, and replaced them with the talented youngsters beginning to emerge from Birrell's youth system and some shrewd transfers. By the time he took over in January 1962, the team were already all but doomed to relegation and he used the time to experiment and plan for the future. Chelsea were duly relegated and in Docherty's first full season as manager he led them back to promotion as Second Division runners-up, secured with a crucial and hard-fought 1-0 win at rivals Sunderland (and a goal scored via Tommy Harmer's groin) and a 7-0 final day win over Portsmouth.

Chelsea thus returned to the First Division with a new, youthful team which included the uncompromising Ron "Chopper" Harris, goalkeeper Peter Bonetti, prolific goalscoring winger Bobby Tambling (whose 202 goals remain a club record), midfielder John Hollins, full-back Ken Shellito, striker Barry Bridges, winger Bert Murray and captain and playmaker Terry Venables, all products of the youth system. To these, Docherty added striker George Graham, left-back Eddie McCreadie and elegant defender Marvin Hinton for minimal fees to complete the Diamonds line-up - Docherty had referred to the team as his "little diamonds" during a TV documentary and the name stuck.

Chelsea finished a credible 5th in their first season back in the top-flight, and in the next were on course for a domestic "treble" of league, FA Cup and League Cup. Playing a brand of football based on high energy and quick passing - they were also one of the first English teams to use overlapping full-backs; consequently they were twice invited to play against the West German national team, containing the likes of Franz Beckenbauer, Uwe Seeler and Berti Vogts. Chelsea won 3-1 and drew the other 3-3[3] - Chelsea set the early pace and emerged in a three-way tussle for the league title with Manchester United and Leeds United. The League Cup was secured thanks to a 3-2 first leg win against Leicester City, with a memorable solo effort from McCreadie proving to be the difference between the sides, and then a hard-fought 0-0 draw in the second leg at Filbert Street.

However, cracks were also beginning to appear, as the temperamental Docherty increasingly clashed with some of the strong personalities within the dressing room, particularly Venables. The team were beaten by title rivals Manchester United in March and lost 2-0 in their FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool, despite going into the latter match as favourites. They were nonetheless top with four games remaining. Docherty then sent home eight key players, including Venables, Graham, Bridges, Hollins and McCreadie, for breaking a curfew before a crucial match against Burnley. The bare bones of the team that remained, a collection of reserves and youngsters, were beaten 6-2 as the title challenge collapsed; Chelsea eventually finished 3rd.

The following season proved equally eventful, if ultimately unsuccessful, with Chelsea challenging in the League, the FA Cup and the Fairs Cup. Playing a total of 60 games in the three competitions in the days before substitutes, the team were hit hard by the fixture pile-up. They finished 5th in the League, while in the FA Cup, Chelsea gained revenge for their semi-final defeat by knocking-out holders Liverpool at Anfield en route to another semi-final, where they were drawn to face Sheffield Wednesday, again at Villa Park. Favourites to reach the final, the side froze on the day and were beaten 2-0 by the Yorkshire club.

Their Fairs Cup run, taking in wins over AS Roma (a violent encounter, during which the Chelsea team coach was ambushed by Roma fans), TSV 1860 München and AC Milan (the last on the toss of a coin after the teams had finished level), ended in a semi-final loss to FC Barcelona. Both home sides won 2-0 and on another coin toss, the replay was staged at the Nou Camp, with Barca winning 5-0. Docherty, his relationship with several players having reached breaking point, then made the decision to break up a team with an average age of 21. Venables, Graham, Bridges and Murray were all sold during the close-season, while classy Scottish winger Charlie Cooke joined for £72,000, as did midfielder Tommy Baldwin, who arrived in part-exchange for Graham. Also emerging from the youth set-up was a highly-rated teenage striker named Peter Osgood.

Docherty's transfer manoeuvrings initially paid off. Chelsea, with Osgood at the heart of the team, topped the league table in October 1966, the only unbeaten side after ten league games. But Osgood broke his leg in a League Cup tie and the side's momentum was disrupted. To replace Osgood, Docherty broke the club's transfer record immediately in signing striker Tony Hateley for £100,000, but Hateley's aerial game didn't suit Chelsea's style and he struggled to fit in. They drifted down the league and finished 9th. The highlight of that season was reaching the FA Cup final. En route to that final was a win over Leeds United in the semis, the game widely seen[4] as the one which kicked off the fierce rivalry between the two clubs. In his finest moment for Chelsea, Hateley headed in what proved to be the winner, but in a hotly-contested match, Leeds had two goals disallowed, one for offside and one for a Peter Lorimer free-kick taken too quickly.

Chelsea competed with Tottenham Hotspur in the first all-London FA Cup final, known as the Cockney Cup Final. It was Chelsea's first appearance in the final since 1915 and their first ever appearance in the final at Wembley. In leading out the side, Ron Harris, at 22, was the youngest ever captain to take to the field in the competition's finale. In a game which failed to match the anticipation, Chelsea underperformed and a late Tambling header was not enough to prevent a 2-1 loss to a Spurs side containing both Venables and Jimmy Greaves. Docherty, always a controversial figure, was sacked shortly into the next season with the team having won two of their opening ten games, amidst rumours of dressing room unrest over bonus payments and whilst serving a 28-day ban from football management handed out by the FA.


Dave Sexton
In the first match after Docherty's departure, Chelsea lost 7-0 against Leeds United, equalling the club's highest-ever margin of defeat (in 1953-54, they had lost 8-1 to Wolves). Dave Sexton, ex-Chelsea coach and Leyton Orient manager, and a character far more calm and reserved than Docherty, was appointed manager. The core of the side inherited from Docherty remained largely unchanged, and he added more steel to the defence with the signings of John Dempsey and David Webb, as well as signing striker Ian Hutchinson, giving mercurial midfielder Alan Hudson his debut and recalling winger Peter Houseman. Sexton proved a stablising influence and led Chelsea to two more top six finishes, as well as a brief foray into the Fairs Cup in 1968-69, where they were knocked out by DWS Amsterdam on a coin toss.

The club finished 3rd in 1969-70, with Osgood and Hutchinson scoring 53 goals between them, and reached another FA Cup final in the same season. This time the opponents were Leeds United, reigning league champions and one of the dominant (and most uncompromising) sides of the era. Chelsea were generally second best in the first match at Wembley played on a boggy pitch, but twice came from behind to gain a 2-2 draw, first through Houseman and then a late headed equaliser (four minutes from full time) from Hutchinson. The replay was staged at Old Trafford a fortnight later and is as well known for the extremely physical tactics employed by both sides as the skill and talent on display. Chelsea again went behind but equalised for the third time in the match with a diving header from Osgood from Cooke's cross. As the game went into extra time, Chelsea took the lead for the first time when Webb headed in a Hutchinson throw-in to seal a 2-1 win.

Winning the Cup qualified Chelsea to play in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup for the first time. Straightforward wins over Aris Thessaloniki and CSKA Sofia took them to the quarter-finals, where they knocked out Club Brugge thanks to a dramatic comeback. Trailing 2-0 after the first leg, it took an Osgood goal nine minutes from the end of normal time in a tense match to put Chelsea level on aggregate. They went on to win the game 4-0 after extra time. Fellow English side (and holders) Manchester City were dispatched in the semi-final. The first final match against Real Madrid finished 1-1 but a rare goal from Dempsey and another strike from Osgood in the replay - played just two days later - were enough to secure a 2-1 win and Chelsea's first European honour. The song Blue is the Colour was released in 1972 with members of the squad singing, and it reached number five in the UK Singles Chart. The song was to become one of the most famous English football songs, and forever associated with the Chelsea team of that era.


Troubled Times (1972-83)
There was no further success in the decade as several major problems combined to almost bring the club to its knees. From the early 1970s, the discipline of the team began to degenerate, as Sexton fell out with several key players, most notably Osgood, Hudson and Baldwin over their attitude and lifestyle. As the spirit of the team declined, so too did results. Chelsea were knocked out of the 1971-72 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup by little-known Åtvidabergs FF, the FA Cup by Second Division Leyton Orient despite having led 2-0, and lost in the League Cup final to Stoke City; on each occasion the team had lost to a technically inferior side despite having dominated for large spells. They finished 12th in 1972-73 and 17th the following season. The feud between Sexton and Osgood and Hudson reached its peak after a 2-4 home defeat to West Ham United on Boxing Day 1973; the pair were both sold a few months later. Sexton himself was sacked early into the 1974-75 season after a poor start, and succeeded by his assistant, Ron Suart, who was unable to reverse the club's decline and they were relegated in 1975.

The building of the pioneering East Stand (which retains its place even in the modern stadium) as part of a plan to create a 60,000 all-seater stadium added to the club's woes. The project had been described as "the most ambitious ever undertaken in Britain".[5] It coincided with a world economic crisis and was hit by delays, a builders' strike and shortages of materials, all of which sent the cost escalating out of control, to the extent that the club were £3.4m in debt by 1976. As a result, between August 1974 and June 1978, Chelsea were unable to buy a single player. The decline of the team was matched by a decline in attendances - those who remained were marred by a fierce reputation for violence amongst a section of the Chelsea support (the boundary between passion and hooliganism being dangerously narrow in those days). The late 1970s and the 1980s were the "golden age" of football firms in England; Chelsea's own such firm, the Chelsea Headhunters, were particularly notorious, known for their violence and links to extremist political groups and would blight the club throughout the following years.

The East Stand, one of the main causes of Chelsea's financial problems in the 1970s and 1980sFormer left-back Eddie McCreadie became manager shortly before Chelsea's relegation in 1975 and, after a year of consolidation in 1975-76, led the side to promotion again in 1976-77 with a team composed of youth players, most notably Ray Wilkins and 24-goal striker Steve Finnieston, and veterans from more successful times like Cooke, Harris and Bonetti. But McCreadie left following a contract dispute with Brian Mears over a company car and another ex-player was appointed, this time former right-back Ken Shellito.

Shellito kept Chelsea in the First Division in 1977-78, though the highlight of that season was a 4-2 win over European champions Liverpool in the FA Cup. Shellito resigned midway through the following season with the club having won just three league games by Christmas. Even the brief return of Peter Osgood did little to improve the club's fortunes. Shellito's successor, former double-winning Tottenham Hotspur captain Danny Blanchflower was unable to stem the slump and the club were relegated again with just five league wins and 27 defeats, bringing in one of the bleakest periods in Chelsea's history. Wilkins, one of the club's few remaining stars, was sold to Manchester United and England's 1966 World Cup final hero Geoff Hurst became manager in September 1979 with Bobby Gould as his assistant. Their arrival saw an immediate upturn in Chelsea's form, and for a large period Chelsea topped the table, but a late collapse saw them finish 4th, meaning the club missed out on promotion on goal difference. In the next season the team struggled to score goals, going on a nine-match run without one, winning only three matches in twenty and finishing 12th in 1980-81. Hurst was sacked.

In 1981 Brian Mears resigned as chairman, ending his family's 76-year association with the club. One of Mears' last actions was to appoint former Wrexham boss John Neal as manager. A year later, Chelsea Football & Athletic Company, heavily in debt and unable to pay its players, was, at the nadir of its fortunes, acquired from the Mears family interests by businessman and one-time chairman of Oldham Athletic, Ken Bates, for the princely sum of £1, though he declined to buy the stadium and its substantially larger debts, a move he was later to regret. Bates proved to be a real fighter as the new chairman, although his opponents included supporters (who did not take kindly to his suggestion of electrified fences to keep them off the pitch) as well as property developers Marler Estates, to whom David Mears, brother of Brian, had sold his share of the Stamford Bridge freehold instead.

1981-82, an otherwise forgettable season during which Chelsea again finished 12th, Chelsea went on their first significant FA Cup run for years and drew European champions Liverpool in the fifth round. They outplayed their illustrious opponents and won 2-0. In the quarter-finals, they were pitted against old rivals Tottenham Hotspur who, in a pulsating game, won 3-2, despite Chelsea taking the lead through Mike Fillery. 1982-83 season proved to be the worst in Chelsea's history. Following a bright start, the team slumped dramatically, going on a nine-match winless run as the season drew to a close and faced relegation to the Third Division which, given the club's financial troubles, could well have dealt it a killer blow. In the penultimate game of the season at fellow strugglers Bolton Wanderers, Clive Walker hit a last-minute winner from 25 yards to ensure a crucial 1-0 win. A draw at home to Middlesbrough in the final game ensured the club's survival by two points.


A New Beginning (1983-89)
The summer of 1983 marked a turning point in Chelsea's history as manager John Neal made a series of signings who were to be crucial in turning around the club's fortunes. In came striker Kerry Dixon from Reading, skillful and pacy winger Pat Nevin from Clyde, midfielder Nigel Spackman from Bournemouth and goalkeeper Eddie Niedzwiecki from Wrexham in addition to John Hollins returning as player-coach, all for a combined total of less than £500,000. Dixon struck up a prolific strike partnership with fellow Neal signing David Speedie and both linked up well with Nevin, a combination that would produce almost 200 goals in three years.

David Speedie and Kerry Dixon, two players instrumental in turning around Chelsea's fortunes in the 1980sThe new-look Chelsea began the 1983-84 season with a 5-0 win against Derby County on the opening day and rarely looked back, winning 5-3 at Fulham and beating Kevin Keegan's Newcastle United 4-0. Dixon hit 36 goals in all competitions - a seasonal record bettered only by Bobby Tambling and Jimmy Greaves - and promotion was sealed with another 5-0 win over old adversaries Leeds United. The team were crowned Second Division champions on the final day with a win away at Grimsby Town, with some 10,000 Chelsea fans making the trip to Lincolnshire.

Upon their return to the First Division, Chelsea were unlikely European contenders in 1984-85, eventually finishing 6th. They were also on course to reach their third League Cup final, drawing relegation candidates Sunderland in the semi-finals. Ex-Chelsea winger Clive Walker inspired his team to a 3-2 win at Stamford Bridge (5-2 on aggregate), which was followed by a near-riot; the game continued with mounted police and supporters on the pitch, with the violence later spilling over onto the streets. Neal retired at the end of the season due to ill health, and was replaced by Hollins.

In Hollins' first season, Chelsea challenged for the title, topping the table in February, but long-term injuries to Dixon and Niedzwiecki, combined with a poor run of results, especially during the Easter period, during which the side conceded ten goals in two games, appeared to end their chances. A 2-1 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford and another by the same scoreline over West Ham at Upton Park - effectively denying the latter the title - left Chelsea three points behind leaders Liverpool with five games remaining. One point from the remaining fixtures, however, denied them and another 6th place finish was the result. In the same season, the inaugural Full Members Cup was won with a 5-4 win over Manchester City at Wembley, thanks to a Speedie hat-trick and in spite of the opposition fighting back from 0-5 down.

Following this new beginning, the form of the side slumped again, finishing 14th in the next season. The spirit of the side began to disintegrate after Hollins had fallen out with several key players, notably Speedie and Spackman, who were subsequently sold off. Hollins was sacked in March the following season with the side again in relegation trouble. Bobby Campbell took over in March but couldn't prevent Chelsea's relegation via the short-lived play-off system with a loss to Middlesbrough, a match which was again followed by crowd trouble and an attempted pitch invasion, resulting in a six-match closure of the terraces the following season. Nevertheless, the club bounced back immediately and emphatically, despite failing to win any of their opening six league games, and were promoted as Second Division champions with 99 points, 17 points clear of nearest rivals Manchester City.


The 1990s: Back On Track
Chelsea had an impressive return to the First Division in 1989-90. Manager Bobby Campbell guided a squad of mostly unremarkable players to a creditable fifth place in the final table. Although the ban on English clubs in European football was lifted that year, Chelsea missed out on a UEFA Cup place because the only English place in the competition that year went to runners-up Aston Villa. In the same season, he led Chelsea to their second Full Members Cup success, with a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough in the final at Wembley. Campbell resigned a year later and he was replaced by Ian Porterfield, who helped Chelsea finish high enough in 1991-92 to qualify for the first-ever season of the Premier League. He quit halfway through the season and was replaced on a caretaker basis by another member of Chelsea's 1970 FA Cup side, David Webb, who guided the team to an 11th place finish. Webb was replaced at the end of the season by 35-year-old former England midfielder Glenn Hoddle, who had just won promotion to the Premiership as player-manager of Swindon Town.

Meanwhile, in 1992, following over a decade of uncertainty about Stamford Bridge and its future, leading to several acrimonious legal disputes and the long-running "Save the Bridge" campaign, Bates finally outmanoeuvred the property developers and reunited the freehold with the Club, by seeing them go bust after a market crash and doing a deal with their banks. This led to the creation of Chelsea Pitch Owners, who in 1997 purchased the freehold of the stadium, the club's naming rights and the pitch to ensure that such a situation could never happen again. Following this, work was begun to renovate the entire stadium (bar the East Stand), making it all-seater and bringing the stands closer to the pitch and under cover, which was finally completed by the millennium.

Hoddle's first season as manager saw Chelsea's league form dip slightly, and for a time they were threatened by relegation, with the goals of £1,500,000 signing Mark Stein playing an important part in survival. In the same season Chelsea reached the FA Cup final, where they faced Premiership champions Manchester United, a team Chelsea had beaten 1-0 in both league games that season. After going in 0-0 at half-time, United were awarded two second-half penalties in the space of 5 minutes, both of which were scored. With Chelsea having to attack, it left gaps in defence and United eventually won 4-0. This was nevertheless sufficient to qualify Chelsea to compete in Europe for the 1994-95 Cup Winners Cup (since Manchester United had independently qualified for the Champions League). They reached the semi-finals of the competition and went out by one goal to eventual winners Real Zaragoza.

Chelsea now had a decent squad with several top class players, the most significant of which was inspirational captain Dennis Wise. But chairman Ken Bates and director Matthew Harding were making millions of pounds available for the club to spend on players, and two world-famous players were signed in the summer of 1995 - Dutch legend Ruud Gullit (free transfer from Sampdoria) and Manchester United's high-scoring striker Mark Hughes (£1.5 m), along with talented Romanian full-back Dan Petrescu. Hoddle guided Chelsea to another 11th place finish in 1995-96, and another FA Cup semi-final, and then quit to become manager of the England team.


Renaissance: Gullit, Vialli and Zola (1996-2000)
Gullit was appointed player-manager for the 1996-97 season, and added several top-class players to the side, including European Cup-winning Juventus striker Gianluca Vialli, cultured French defender Frank Leboeuf and Italian internationals Gianfranco Zola (whose skill would make him a firm favourite with the crowd and see him become one of Chelsea's greatest ever players) and Roberto Di Matteo (the latter for a club record £4,900,000). They were later joined by the powerful and prolific Uruguayan midfielder Gustavo Poyet and Norwegian "super-sub" Tore André Flo. With such players, it was under Gullit and his successor that Chelsea emerged as one of England's top sides again and gained a reputation for playing a neat, entertaining and attractive passing game performed by technically gifted players, which was informally dubbed "sexy football", though the club's inconsistency against supposed "smaller" teams remained.

Chelsea captain Dennis Wise lifts the FA Cup at Wembley, ending the club's 26 year wait for a major trophyGullit capped an impressive first season in management by leading Chelsea to their highest league placing since 1990 (6th) and ending their 26-year wait for a major trophy by winning the FA Cup. Perhaps the most memorable match of the run was a remarkable 4th round comeback against Liverpool. Trailing 2-0 at half-time, Hughes was brought on and immediately ruffled Liverpool, scoring within minutes and then setting up Zola for a curler from 25 yards. The comeback was completed after two late goals by Vialli. The 2-0 victory over Middlesbrough in the final at Wembley got off to a frantic start with Di Matteo scoring the fastest ever Cup final goal after 43 seconds; Eddie Newton's late goal clinched it. The win was a happy end to a season which had looked to be dominated by sadness after the death in October of popular director and financial benefactor Matthew Harding in a helicopter crash following a League Cup match against Bolton Wanderers.

Gullit was suddenly sacked in February 1998, ostensibly after a contract dispute,[6] with the team 2nd in the Premiership, and in the semi-finals of two cup competitions. Another player-manager was appointed - the 33-year-old Vialli. Vialli began his management career in style by winning two trophies in two months. The League Cup was secured with another 2-0 win over Middlesbrough at Wembley (with Di Matteo again on the scoresheet). Chelsea reached the Cup Winners' Cup final following a dramatic semi-final win against Vicenza. Having lost the away leg 1-0 and then conceded an away goal, Chelsea bounced back to win 3-1 on the night and go through, with Hughes again the catalyst. They won their second Cup Winners' Cup title with a 1-0 victory against VfB Stuttgart at the Råsunda Stadium in Stockholm, with Zola scoring with his first touch having been on the pitch for just 17 seconds. Following that, Vialli led the club to a 1-0 win over European champions Real Madrid in the Super Cup at the Stade Louis II in Monaco.

During the 1998-99 Premiership campaign, Chelsea made their first sustained challenge for the title for years. Despite an opening day loss against Coventry City, the side were not beaten in the League again until January and topped the table at Christmas. Their title chances eventually disappeared after a home loss to West Ham United and consecutive draws against Middlesbrough, Leicester City and Sheffield Wednesday in April, which saw the Blues finish 3rd, four points behind winners Manchester United. A season which promised much ultimately ended trophyless, with Chelsea's defence of their Cup Winners' Cup title ending in a semi-final loss against RCD Mallorca while they were knocked out of both the other cups in the quarter-finals. Third place in the league was nevertheless high enough for a first-ever appearance in the Champions League.

44 years after being denied entry to the inaugural championship, Chelsea made their debut in Europe's premier competition in August 1999 and they put in a series of impressive performances en route to a quarter-final tie against FC Barcelona. It included memorable draws at the San Siro and the Stadio Olimpico against AC Milan and SS Lazio respectively, as well as a thumping 5-0 win against Turkish side Galatasaray at the Ali Sami Yen Stadium. During the first leg of the quarter-final against Barcelona at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea took a 3-0 lead, only to concede a late Luís Figo away goal. Trailing 2-1 during the second leg at the Camp Nou, the team were just seven minutes away from the semi-finals, but conceded a third and were eventually beaten 5-1 after extra time, losing 6-4 on aggregate.

By now, Chelsea had a top-notch multi-national squad which included Zola, Di Matteo, Poyet, Dutch goalkeeper Ed de Goey, and French World Cup-winning trio Frank Leboeuf, Marcel Desailly and Didier Deschamps. Under Vialli, Chelsea would become the first side in English football to field a starting 11 composed entirely of foreign players, highlighting the increasing internationalization of the game. The 1999-2000 season saw inconsistency return to Chelsea's league form as the side struggled to juggle Premier League and Champions League commitments, ultimately finishing a disappointing 5th. Vialli did lead the team to a second FA Cup win in four years that season - this time against Aston Villa, with Di Matteo again scoring the winner - in the last final to be played at Wembley before its redevelopment. The Charity Shield was added in August with a 2-0 win against Manchester United, to make Vialli Chelsea's then most successful manager.


Claudio Ranieri: The Nearly Men (2000-2004)
Vialli spent almost £26 m on new players during the summer, including high-scoring Dutchman Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and talented Icelandic striker Eiður Guðjohnsen, but was dismissed in September 2000 after winning just one of the opening five matches and, once again, with rumours circulating that the manager had fallen out with important players.[7] He was replaced by another Italian, Claudio Ranieri, who, in spite of his initial problems with the English language, guided them to another top six finish in his first season. Ranieri gradually re-built the side, reducing the average age of the squad by selling some older players, including Wise and Poyet, and replacing them with John Terry, William Gallas, Frank Lampard and Jesper Grønkjær.

Roman AbramovichRanieri's second season saw some more progress, mainly in the cups, with Chelsea reaching the League Cup semi-finals and another FA Cup final, but was unable to prevent them from losing to double winners Arsenal in the latter. League form saw little improvement, though, and Chelsea again finished 6th. With rumours of the club's perilous financial state circulating, Ranieri was unable to sign any more players. As a result, expectations of Chelsea in the 2002-03 season were more limited. Chelsea nevertheless made an unexpected title challenge and, in perhaps one of the most significant matches in the club's history, defeated Liverpool 2-1 in the final game of the season to finish 4th and secure the final Champions League berth ahead of the Merseysiders.

With the club facing an apparent financial crisis,[8] Bates unexpectedly sold Chelsea F.C. in June 2003 for £60 million.[9] In so doing, he reportedly recognised a personal profit of £17 million on the club he had bought for £1 in 1982 (his stake had been diluted to just below 30% over the years). The club's new owner was Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, who also took on responsibility for the club's £80 million of debt, quickly paying most of it. He then went on a £100 million spending spree before the start of the season and landed players like Claude Makélélé, Geremi, Glen Johnson, Joe Cole and Damien Duff.

The spending saw a good return, with Chelsea finishing as Premiership runners-up (their best league finish for 49 years) and reaching the Champions League semi-finals after dramatically beating Arsenal in the quarter-finals. But Ranieri was sacked after some bizarre tactical decisions in the semi-final loss against AS Monaco (for example, switching central midfielder Scott Parker to right-back and right-back Glen Johnson to centre-back to accommodate more attackers in the team) and for ending the season trophyless. Nevertheless, Ranieri was given a hero's send-off in his final match in charge. That match also gave Chelsea fans a glimpse of what could easily have been if not for Abramovich's takeover, as Chelsea handily beat Leeds United, who were relegated, managerless, virtually bankrupt and seemingly destined for oblivion. In Ranieri's place, Abramovich recruited José Mourinho (who had lifted two Portuguese league titles, a Portuguese Cup, a European Cup and a UEFA Cup with FC Porto) as the club's new manager. Abramovich also brought legendary Dutch scout Piet de Visser, who scouted Ronaldo and Romario for PSV Eindhoven, and is considered one of the greatest scouts in history.


José Mourinho: Double League Champions (2004-present)
2004-05 was the most successful season in the history of Chelsea Football Club. After a slow start to the league season, scoring eight goals in their first nine games and trailing leaders Arsenal by five points, Chelsea's title campaign gradually picked up momentum, driven by the high-scoring Frank Lampard and the return from injury of brilliant young Dutch winger Arjen Robben - with the latter in the side, Chelsea both won more and scored more. They topped the table after a win against Everton in November 2004 and never relinquished their lead, losing only one league game all season and winning a record 29, gaining a record 95 points in the process. A record-breaking defence, led by captain John Terry, the versatile William Gallas, midfield linchpin Claude Makélélé and talented goalkeeper Petr Čech, provided the backbone of the side, conceding just 15 goals all season and keeping 25 clean sheets while Čech went a Premiership-record 1025 minutes without conceding a goal. Chelsea eventually secured the title with a 2-0 away win at Bolton Wanderers thanks to two goals from Lampard, almost fifty years to the day since they had won their last league title. Winning the league completed a domestic double for the club, since Chelsea had already won the League Cup in February after a thrilling 3-2 win over Liverpool in the final at the Millennium Stadium.

In the Champions League, Chelsea coasted through the group stages, qualifying for the knockout phase with two games to spare, and were drawn against FC Barcelona, one of the strongest sides in Europe. In the first leg at the Nou Camp, Chelsea took a 1-0 lead but had Didier Drogba controversially sent-off in the second half with Chelsea still ahead, and the Catalans eventually won 2-1. Mourinho claimed that Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard had spoken to referee Anders Frisk at half-time - a claim later proved correct - and that the result had been "adulterated".[10] After receiving death threats from Chelsea fans, Frisk retired and Mourinho received a two-match touchline ban for bringing the game into disrepute. Chelsea won a pulsating return leg 4-2 at Stamford Bridge, with John Terry heading in a controversial winner to send them through. In the quarter-finals, a 4-2 home win over German champions Bayern Munich and a 3-2 loss in Germany were enough to ensure passage through to the semi-finals, where they faced Liverpool. Following a 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge, Liverpool went 1-0 up at Anfield thanks to a disputed goal from Luis Garcia and Chelsea were unable to break down a resilient defence, thus missing out on the chance of a treble.

A year later Chelsea retained their league title, setting more records in the process. Winning their first nine games, the side emphatically set the pace in the Premiership - including a 4-1 win over Liverpool at Anfield - and at one stage were 18 points ahead of nearest rivals Manchester United. Following a late-season blip, and with United on a run of nine consecutive wins, the points gap was closed to seven points as Chelsea went into a key match with West Ham United. A goal down after ten minutes and a man down after 17 following Maniche's sending off, the side bounced back to win 4-1 and maintain the gap. The title was eventually secured with a 3-0 win over United at Stamford Bridge. They became the first London club to win back-to-back league titles since the 1930s, and only the fifth side to do so since the Second World War. They also set the record for the most clean sheets (six) from the start of the season and equalled the best home record for a top division team since Newcastle United in 1906-07 (18 wins and 1 draw from 19 games). In the cups, however, there was less success as they were knocked out of the Champions League by FC Barcelona and the FA Cup semi-final by Liverpool.

The 2006-07 season saw Chelsea relinquish the Premier League trophy to Manchester United after remaining second in the league for the majority of the season. The club were still in the running to achieve an unprecedented quadruple at the end of April, and played all but one of the maximum 63 possible games at the start of the season. They won the League Cup by beating Arsenal 2-1 in the last ever English cup final at the Millennium Stadium, and beat United 1-0 in the first FA Cup final at the new Wembley Stadium; Chelsea were also the last team to win it at the old Wembley. They reached the semi-finals of the Champions League, only to be knocked out again by Liverpool, this time in a penalty shoot-out.