Association football clubhouse in London

football club
Chelsea Football Club is an english professional football baseball club based in Fulham, West London. Founded in 1905, the club competes in the Premier League, the peak division of English football. Chelsea are among England ‘s most successful clubs, having won over thirty competitive honours, including six league titles and eight european trophies. Their base earth is Stamford Bridge. [ 4 ]

Chelsea won their first major honor, the League championship, in 1955. The golf club won the FA Cup for the first time in 1970 and their first european honor, the Cup Winners ‘ Cup, in 1971. After a period of decay in the late 1970s and 1980s, the baseball club enjoyed a revival in the 1990s and had more success in cup competitions. The past two decades have been the most successful in Chelsea ‘s history : they have won five Premier League titles, two UEFA Champions League titles and two UEFA Europa League titles during this period. [ 5 ] Chelsea are one of five clubs to have won all three of UEFA ‘s chief club competitions, the beginning English golf club to achieve the UEFA soprano, the lone London club to have won the Champions League and the only clubhouse to have won all three major european competitions doubly. [ 6 ] Chelsea ‘s base kit colours are imperial aristocratic shirts and shorts with white socks. The cabaret ‘s crest features a ceremony lion rampant regardant holding a staff. [ 7 ] The clubhouse has rivalries with neighbor teams Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, and a historic competition with Leeds United. Based on attendance figures, the club has the sixth-largest fanbase in England. [ 8 ] In terms of club respect, Chelsea are the one-sixth most valuable football club in the populace, worth £2.13 billion ( $ 2.576 billion ), and are the eighth highest-earning football club in the worldly concern, with earnings of over €428 million in the 2017–18 season. [ 9 ] [ 10 ] Since 2003, Chelsea have been owned by Russian-Israeli billionaire Roman Abramovich. [ 11 ] [ 12 ]

history

Founding and early on years

In 1904, Gus Mears acquired the Stamford Bridge athletics stadium with the aim of turning it into a football grind. An offer to lease it to nearby Fulham was turned down, so Mears opted to found his own cabaret to use the stadium. As there was already a team named Fulham in the borough, the list of the adjacent borough of Chelsea was chosen for the newfangled baseball club ; names like Kensington FC, Stamford Bridge FC and London FC were besides considered. [ 13 ] Chelsea were founded on 10 March 1905 at The Rising Sun public house ( now The Butcher ‘s Hook ), [ 2 ] [ 14 ] opposite the contemporary main capture to the ground on Fulham Road, and were elected to the Football League shortly afterwards. Chelsea won promotion to the First Division in their moment season, and yo-yoed between the First and Second Divisions in their early years. They reached the 1915 FA Cup Final, where they lost to Sheffield United at Old Trafford, and finished third in the First Division in 1920, the club ‘s best league campaign to that point. [ 15 ] Chelsea had a reputation for signing star players [ 16 ] and attracted large crowd. The club had the highest average attendance in English football in ten branch seasons [ 17 ] including 1907–08, [ 18 ] 1909–10, [ 19 ] 1911–12, [ 20 ] 1912–13, [ 21 ] 1913–14 [ 22 ] and 1919–20. [ 23 ] [ 24 ] They were FA Cup semi-finalists in 1920 and 1932 and remained in the First Division throughout the 1930s, but success eluded the club in the inter-war years .

modernization and the first base league championship

Chart showing the advance of Chelsea ‘s league finishes from 1906 to the present Former Arsenal and England centre-forward Ted Drake was appointed director in 1952 and proceeded to modernise the club. He removed the club ‘s Chelsea pensioner crest, improved the youth set-up and discipline regimen, rebuilt the side with calculating signings from the lower divisions and amateur leagues, and led Chelsea to their first major trophy success – the League backing – in 1954–55. The following season saw UEFA create the european Champions ‘ Cup, but after objections from The Football League, Chelsea were persuaded to withdraw from the competition before it started. [ 25 ] [ 26 ] Chelsea failed to build on this success, and spent the remainder of the 1950s in mid-table. Drake was dismissed in 1961 and replaced by player-coach Tommy Docherty. Docherty built a new team around the group of talented young players emerging from the baseball club ‘s young person set-up, and Chelsea challenged for honours throughout the 1960s, enduring several near-misses. They were on class for a soprano of League, FA Cup and League Cup going into the final examination stages of the 1964–65 season, winning the League Cup but faltering recently on in the early two. [ 27 ] In three seasons the side were beaten in three major semi-finals and were FA Cup runner-up. Under Docherty ‘s successor, Dave Sexton, Chelsea won the FA Cup in 1970, beating Leeds United 2–1 in a final replay. The pursuit class, Chelsea took their foremost european award, a UEFA Cup Winners ‘ Cup triumph, with another play back succeed, this time over real Madrid in Athens .

renovation and fiscal crisis

The former 1970s through to the ’80s was a disruptive time period for Chelsea. An ambitious renovation of Stamford Bridge threatened the fiscal stability of the club, [ 28 ] star players were sold and the team were relegated. further problems were caused by a ill-famed bully element among the support, which was to plague the club throughout the decade. [ 29 ] In 1982, Chelsea were, at the nadir of their fortunes, acquired by Ken Bates for the nominative kernel of £1, although by now the Stamford Bridge freehold had been sold to property developers, meaning the cabaret faced losing their family. [ 30 ] On the lurch, the team had fared little better, coming close to relegation to the Third Division for the first time, but in 1983 director John Neal put in concert an impressive new team for minimal outgo. Chelsea won the Second Division entitle in 1983–84 and established themselves in the clear division with two top-six finishes, before being relegated again in 1988. The club bounced rear immediately by winning the Second Division championship in 1988–89. After a long-running legal conflict, Bates reunited the stadium freehold with the clubhouse in 1992 by doing a distribute with the banks of the property developers, who had been bankrupted by a market barge in. [ 31 ] Chelsea ‘s shape in the modern Premier League was unconvincing, although they did reach the 1994 FA Cup Final. The appointment of Ruud Gullit as player-manager in 1996 began an upturn in the team ‘s fortunes. He added several top international players to the side and led the clubhouse to their first major award since 1971, the FA Cup. Gullit was replaced by Gianluca Vialli, whose reign saw Chelsea win the League Cup, the UEFA Cup Winners ‘ Cup and the UEFA Super Cup in 1998, and the FA Cup in 2000. They besides mounted a strong title challenge in 1998–99, finishing four points behind champions Manchester United, and made their beginning appearance in the UEFA Champions League. Vialli was sacked in favor of Claudio Ranieri, who guided Chelsea to the 2002 FA Cup Final and Champions League qualification in 2002–03 .

The Abramovich era

In July 2003, Bates sold Chelsea to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich for £140 million. [ 11 ] Over £100 million was spent on raw players, but Ranieri was unable to deliver any trophies, [ 32 ] and was replaced by José Mourinho. [ 33 ] Under Mourinho, Chelsea became the fifth English team to win back-to-back league championships since the Second World War ( 2004–05 and 2005–06 ), [ 34 ] in addition to winning an FA Cup ( 2007 ) and two League Cups ( 2005 and 2007 ). After a poor get down to the 2007–2008 season, Mourinho was replaced by Avram Grant, [ 35 ] who led the cabaret to their first base UEFA Champions League final, which they lost on penalties to Manchester United .
In 2009, under caretaker director Guus Hiddink, Chelsea won another FA Cup. [ 36 ] In 2009–10, his successor Carlo Ancelotti led them to their first Premier League and FA Cup Double, besides becoming the first english top-flight clubhouse to score 100 league goals in a temper since 1963. [ 37 ] In 2012, Roberto Di Matteo led Chelsea to their seventh FA Cup, [ 38 ] and their first UEFA Champions League title, beating Bayern Munich 4–3 on penalties, the first London clubhouse to win the trophy. [ 39 ] The follow year the golf club won the UEFA Europa League, [ 40 ] making them the first cabaret to hold two major european titles simultaneously and one of five clubs to have won the three independent UEFA trophies. [ 41 ] Mourinho returned as director in 2013 and led Chelsea to League Cup achiever in March 2015, [ 42 ] and the Premier League deed two months late. [ 43 ] Mourinho was sacked after four months of the following season after a poor people start. [ 44 ] In 2017, under new coach Antonio Conte, Chelsea won their one-sixth English title and the following season won their eighth FA Cup. [ 45 ] In 2018 Conte was sacked after a 5th-place polish and replaced with Maurizio Sarri, [ 46 ] [ 47 ] under whom Chelsea reached the League Cup final, which they lost on penalties to Manchester City [ 48 ] and won the Europa League for a irregular time, beating armory 4–1 in the final. Sarri then left the club to become coach of Juventus and was then replaced by former Chelsea actor Frank Lampard. [ 49 ] In Lampard ‘s foremost temper he guided Chelsea to 4th station in the Premier League and reached the FA Cup final examination, losing 2–1 to Arsenal. [ 50 ] Lampard was dismissed in January 2021 and replaced with Thomas Tuchel. [ 51 ] [ 52 ] Under Tuchel, Chelsea reached the FA Cup final, losing 1–0 to Leicester City, and won their second UEFA Champions League claim with a 1–0 succeed over Manchester City in Porto. [ 53 ] The club subsequently won the 2021 UEFA Super Cup for the irregular time by defeating Villarreal 6–5 in a penalty gunfight, after it had ended 1–1 in Belfast after extra meter. [ 54 ] On 18 April 2021, Chelsea announced they would be joining a new european Super League, a league contest comprising the biggest european club. [ 55 ] After a backfire from supporters, the club announced their withdrawal days late. [ 56 ] Former Chelsea musician Tony Cascarino revealed that the club had been calling ex-players to check up on their health during the COVID-19 pandemic. [ 57 ] [ 58 ] The club opted against furloughing their non-matchday staff with the decision reportedly coming from Abramovich himself. Chelsea, one of the foremost club to help the National Health Service, lent the club-owned Millenium Hotel for the NHS staff. [ 58 ]

stadium

Chelsea have only had one home establish, Stamford Bridge, where they have played since the team ‘s foundation. It was formally opened on 28 April 1877 and for the first 28 years of its universe, it was used about entirely by the London Athletic Club as an stadium for athletics meetings and not at all for football. In 1904 the ground was acquired by businessman Gus Mears and his brother Joseph, who had besides purchased nearby land ( once a bombastic marketplace garden ) with the aim of staging football matches on the nowadays 12.5 acre ( 51,000 m2 ) locate. [ 59 ] Stamford Bridge was designed for the Mears family by the notice football architect Archibald Leitch, who had besides designed Ibrox, Craven Cottage and Hampden Park. [ 60 ] Most football clubs were founded first, and then sought grounds in which to play, but Chelsea were founded for Stamford Bridge. Starting with an open bowl-like design and one grandstand with seat, Stamford Bridge had an original capacity of around 100,000, making it the second biggest stadium in England after Crystal Palace. [ 59 ] The early 1930s saw the construction of a terrace on the southerly region of the land with a roof that covered around one fifth of the stand. As the roof resembled that of a corrugated iron shed, the stand finally became known as the “ caducous end ”, although it is unknown who first coined this name. Starting in the 1960s, it became known as the home of Chelsea ‘s most firm and vocal supporters. [ 59 ] In 1939, another belittled seated stand was added, the North Stand, which remained until its demolition in 1975. [ 59 ] In the early 1970s, the club ‘s owners announced a modernization of Stamford Bridge with plans for a state-of-the-art 50,000 all-seater stadium. [ 59 ] Work began in 1972 but the project was beset with problems and ultimately only the East Stand was completed ; the cost brought the clubhouse stopping point to bankruptcy, culminating in the freehold being sold to property developers. Following a long legal battle, it was not until the mid-1990s that Chelsea ‘s future at the stadium was secured and renovation exercise resumed. [ 59 ] The north, west and southerly parts of the anchor were converted into all-seater stands and moved closer to the flip, a serve completed by 2001. The East Stand was retained from the 1970s exploitation. In 1996, the north stand was renamed the Matthew Harding stall, after the club conductor and benefactor who was killed in a helicopter crash earlier that class. [ 61 ]
vs. Chelsea West Bromwich Albion at Stamford Bridge on 23 September 1905 ; Chelsea won 1–0. When Stamford Bridge was redeveloped in the Bates era many extra features were added to the complex including two Millennium & Copthorne hotels, apartments, bars, restaurants, the Chelsea Megastore, and an synergistic visitor attraction called Chelsea World of Sport. The purpose was that these facilities would provide extra tax income to support the football side of the business, but they were less successful than hoped and before the Abramovich takeover in 2003 the debt taken on to finance them was a major burden on the club. soon after the coup d’etat a decision was taken to drop the “ Chelsea Village ” brand and refocus on Chelsea as a football golf club. however, the stadium is sometimes placid referred to as separate of “Chelsea Village” or “The Village”. The Stamford Bridge freehold, the pitch, the turnstiles and Chelsea ‘s name rights are now owned by Chelsea Pitch Owners, a non-profit organization in which fans are the shareholders. The CPO was created to ensure the stadium could never again be sold to developers. As a condition for using the Chelsea FC name, the club has to play its first team matches at Stamford Bridge, which means that if the club moves to a new stadium, they may have to change their list. [ 62 ] Chelsea ‘s train grind is located in Cobham, Surrey. Chelsea moved to Cobham in 2004. Their previous training land in Harlington was taken over by QPR in 2005. [ 63 ] The new trail facilities in Cobham were completed in 2007. [ 64 ]
Stamford Bridge hosted the FA Cup Final from 1920 to 1922, [ 65 ] has held ten FA Cup Semi-finals ( most recently in 1978 ), ten-spot FA Charity Shield matches ( the last in 1970 ), and three England international matches, the last in 1932 ; it was besides the venue for an unofficial Victory International in 1946. [ 66 ] The 2013 UEFA Women ‘s Champions League Final was played at Stamford Bridge a well. [ 67 ] The stadium has besides been used for a assortment of other sports. In October 1905 it hosted a rugby union pit between the All Blacks and Middlesex, [ 68 ] and in 1914 hosted a baseball match between the touring New York Giants and the Chicago White Sox. [ 69 ] It was the venue for a box match between world flyweight champion Jimmy Wilde and Joe Conn in 1918. [ 70 ] The running track was used for dirt traverse racing between 1928 and 1932, [ 71 ] greyhound racing from 1933 to 1968, and Midget car race in 1948. [ 72 ] In 1980, Stamford Bridge hosted the first international floodlight cricket catch in the UK, between Essex and the West Indies. [ 73 ] It was besides the dwelling stadium of the London Monarchs American Football team for the 1997 season. [ 74 ] The current clubhouse ownership have stated that a larger stadium is necessary in order for Chelsea to stay competitive with equal clubs who have significantly larger stadium, such as Arsenal and Manchester United. [ 75 ] Owing to its location next to a main road and two railroad track lines, fans can only enter Stamford Bridge via the Fulham Road exits, which places constraints on expansion due to health and safety regulations. [ 76 ] The clubhouse have systematically affirmed their desire to keep Chelsea at their current home, [ 77 ] [ 78 ] but have however been linked with a motivate to versatile nearby sites, including the Earls Court Exhibition Centre, Battersea Power Station and the Chelsea Barracks. [ 79 ] In October 2011, a proposal from the club to buy back the freehold to the country on which Stamford Bridge sits was voted down by Chelsea Pitch Owners shareholders. [ 80 ] In May 2012, the golf club made a ball invite to purchase Battersea Power Station, with a view to developing the site into a new stadium, [ 81 ] but lost out to a malaysian consortium. [ 82 ] The golf club subsequently announced plans to redevelop Stamford Bridge into a 60,000-seater stadium, [ 83 ] and in January 2017 these plans were approved by Hammersmith and Fulham council. [ 84 ] however, on 31 May 2018, the club released a argument saying that the new stadium undertaking had been put on control indefinitely, citing “ the current unfavorable investing climate. ” [ 85 ]

Crest and colours

crest

Chelsea have had four independent crests, which all undergo minor variations. The beginning, adopted when the club was founded, was the picture of a Chelsea pensioner, the army veterans who reside at the nearby Royal Hospital Chelsea. This contributed to the club ‘s original “ pensioner ” nickname, and remained for the next half-century, though it never appeared on the shirts. When Ted Drake became Chelsea coach in 1952, he began to modernise the cabaret. Believing the Chelsea pensioner crest to be antique, he insisted that it be replaced. [ 86 ] A stop-gap badge which comprised the initials C.F.C. was adopted for a year. In 1953, the baseball club peak was changed to an upright blue leo looking backwards and holding a staff. It was based on elements in the coat of arms of the Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea [ 87 ] with the “ leo rampant regardant ” taken from the arms of then club president Viscount Chelsea and the staff from the Abbots of Westminster, early Lords of the Manor of Chelsea. It besides featured three crimson roses, to represent England, and two footballs. [ 86 ] This was the first Chelsea crest to appear on the shirts, in the early 1960s. In 1986, with Ken Bates nowadays owner of the baseball club, Chelsea ‘s peak was changed again as function of another attempt to modernise and because the old rampant leo badge could not be trademarked. [ 88 ] The new badge featured a more naturalistic non-heraldic lion, in white and not blue, standing over the C.F.C. initials. This lasted for the future 19 years, with some modifications such as the function of different colours, including red from 1987 to 1995, and chicken from 1995 until 1999, before the white returned. [ 89 ] With the fresh possession of Roman Abramovich, and the baseball club ‘s centennial approach, combined with demands from fans for the popular 1950s badge to be restored, it was decided that the crest should be changed again in 2005. The raw cap was officially adopted for the originate of the 2005–06 temper and marked a render to the older design, used from 1953 to 1986, featuring a blue heraldic lion holding a staff. For the centennial temper this was accompanied by the words ‘100 YEARS ‘ and ‘CENTENARY 2005–2006 ‘ on the top and bottom of the crest respectively. [ 7 ]

Colours



[90] Chelsea ‘s first home color ( 1905 – c. 1912 ) Chelsea have constantly worn bluing shirts, although they in the first place used the pale eton gloomy, which was taken from the racing colours of then golf club president of the united states, Earl Cadogan, and was worn with white shorts and benighted blue sky or black socks. [ 91 ] The idle blue shirts were replaced by a royal blue sky version in around 1912. [ 92 ] In the 1960s Chelsea director Tommy Docherty changed the kit again, switching to blue shorts ( which have remained ever since ) and ashen socks, believing it made the golf club ‘s colours more modern and classifiable, since no other major side used that combination ; this kit out was foremost wear during the 1964–65 season. [ 93 ] Since then Chelsea have always worn white socks with their dwelling kit apart from a shortstop go from 1985 to 1992, when amobarbital sodium socks were reintroduced. Chelsea ‘s away colours are normally all chicken or all white with blue trim. More recently, the club have had a count of black or dark blue away kits which alternate every year. [ 94 ] As with most teams, they have besides had some more strange ones. At Docherty ‘s behest, in the 1966 FA Cup semi-final they wore blue and black stripes, based on Inter Milan ‘s kit. [ 95 ] In the mid-1970s, the aside deprive was a loss, white and green kit inspired by the hungarian national side of the 1950s. [ 96 ] early off kits include an all jade strip worn from 1986 to 1989, bolshevik and white diamonds from 1990 to 1992, graphite and tangerine from 1994 to 1996, and aglow scandalmongering from 2007 to 2008. [ 94 ] The graphite and tangerine strip has appeared in lists of the worst football kits ever. [ 97 ]

confirm

Chelsea fans at a equal against Tottenham Hotspur, on 11 March 2006 Chelsea are among the most widely supported football clubs in the earth. [ 98 ] [ 99 ] They have the sixth highest average all-time attendance in English football, [ 8 ] and regularly attract over 40,000 fans to Stamford Bridge ; they were the one-seventh best-supported Premier League team in the 2013–14 season, with an average gate of 41,572. [ 100 ] Chelsea ‘s traditional fanbase comes from all over the Greater London area including propertyless parts such as Hammersmith and Battersea, wealthier areas like Chelsea and Kensington, and from the family counties. There are besides numerous official supporters clubs in the United Kingdom and all over the earth. [ 101 ] Between 2007 and 2012, Chelsea were ranked fourthly cosmopolitan in annual replica kit sales, with an average of 910,000. [ 102 ] As of 2018, Chelsea had 72.2 million followers on social media, the fourth highest among football clubs. [ 103 ] At matches, Chelsea fans sing chants such as “ Carefree “ ( to the tune of “ Lord of the Dance “, whose lyrics were probably written by patron Mick Greenaway ), [ 104 ] [ 105 ] “ Ten Men Went to Mow ”, “ We All Follow the Chelsea ” ( to the tune of “ Land of Hope and Glory “ ), “ Zigga Zagga ”, and the celebratory “ Celery ”. The latter is often accompanied by fans throwing celery at each other, although the vegetable was banned inside Stamford Bridge after an incident involving Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fàbregas at the 2007 League Cup Final. [ 106 ] During the 1970s and 1980s in particular, Chelsea supporters were associated with football vandalism. The baseball club ‘s “ football firm “, originally known as the Chelsea Shed Boys, and subsequently as the Chelsea Headhunters, were nationally ill-famed for football violence, aboard bully firms from early clubs such as West Ham United ‘s Inter City Firm and Millwall ‘s Bushwackers, before, during and after matches. [ 107 ] The increase of bully incidents in the 1980s led chair Ken Bates to propose erecting an electric fence to deter them from invading the gear, a proposal that the Greater London Council rejected. [ 108 ] Since the 1990s, there has been a mark decline in crowd trouble oneself at matches, as a result of nonindulgent patrol, CCTV in grounds and the advent of all-seater stadium. [ 109 ] In 2007, the baseball club launched the Back to the Shed political campaign to improve the atmosphere at home matches, with noteworthy success. According to Home Office statistics, 126 Chelsea fans were arrested for football-related offences during the 2009–10 season, the third highest in the division, and 27 banning orders were issued, the fifth-highest in the division. [ 110 ]

Rivalries

Chelsea have long-standing rivalries with North London clubs Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. [ 111 ] [ 112 ] A impregnable competition with Leeds United dates back to several heated and controversial matches in the 1960s and 1970s, particularly the 1970 FA Cup Final. [ 113 ] More recently a competition with Liverpool has grown following repeat clashes in cup competitions. [ 114 ] [ 115 ] Chelsea ‘s boyfriend West London sides Brentford, Fulham and Queens Park Rangers are broadly not considered major rivals, as matches have only taken place intermittently due to the clubs much being in separate divisions. [ 116 ] A 2004 survey by Planetfootball.com found that Chelsea fans consider their independent rivalries to be with ( in descending order ) : arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United. In the same review, fans of Arsenal, Fulham, Leeds United, QPR, Tottenham, and West Ham United named Chelsea as one of their three main rivals. [ 117 ] In a 2008 poll conducted by the Football Fans Census, Chelsea fans named Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United as their most dislike clubs. In the same survey, “ Chelsea ” was the top answer to the question “ Which early English clubhouse do you dislike the most ? ” [ 118 ] A 2012 survey, conducted among 1,200 supporters of the top four league divisions across the state, found that many clubs ‘ main rivals had changed since 2003 and reported that Chelsea fans consider Tottenham to be their independent rivals, above Arsenal and Manchester United. additionally, fans of Arsenal, Brentford, Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester United, QPR, Tottenham and West Ham identified Chelsea as one of their top three rivals. [ 119 ]

Records

Chelsea ‘s highest appearance-maker is ex-captain Ron Harris, who played in 795 competitive games for the clubhouse between 1961 and 1980. [ 120 ] Four other players made more than 500 appearances for the club : Peter Bonetti ( 729 ; 1959–79 ), John Terry ( 717 ; 1998–2017 ), Frank Lampard ( 648 ; 2001–2014 ) and John Hollins ( 592 ; 1963–1975 and 1983–1984 ). With 103 caps ( 101 while at the club ) for England, Lampard is Chelsea ‘s most cap international player. every starting player in Chelsea ‘s 57 games of the 2013–14 temper was a full international – a new club record. [ 121 ] Lampard is Chelsea ‘s all-time top goalscorer, having scored 211 goals in 648 games ( 2001–2014 ) ; [ 120 ] he passed Bobby Tambling ‘s longstanding record of 202 in May 2013. [ 122 ] Eight other players have besides scored over 100 goals for Chelsea : George Hilsdon ( 1906–1912 ), George Mills ( 1929–1939 ), Roy Bentley ( 1948–1956 ), Jimmy Greaves ( 1957–1961 ), Peter Osgood ( 1964–1974 and 1978–1979 ), Kerry Dixon ( 1983–1992 ), Didier Drogba ( 2004–2012 and 2014–2015 ), and Eden Hazard ( 2012–2019 ). Greaves holds the clubhouse commemorate for the most goals scored in one season ( 43 in 1960–61 ). [ 123 ] While a Chelsea player, Greaves besides became the youngest ever player to score 100 goals in the english top-flight, at 20 years and 290 days. [ 124 ] Chelsea ‘s biggest winning scoreline in a competitive equal is 13–0, achieved against Jeunesse Hautcharage in the Cup Winners ‘ Cup in 1971. [ 125 ] The club ‘s biggest top-flight win was an 8–0 victory against Wigan Athletic in 2010, which was matched in 2012 against Aston Villa. [ 126 ] Chelsea ‘s biggest loss was an 8–1 turn back against Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1953. [ 127 ] [ 128 ] The club ‘s 21–0 aggregate victory over Jeunesse Hautcharage in the UEFA Cup Winners ‘ Cup in 1971 is besides a record in european competition. [ 129 ] Officially, Chelsea ‘s highest home attendance is 82,905 for a first Division meet against Arsenal on 12 October 1935. however, an estimated push of over 100,000 attended a friendly equal against Soviet team Dynamo Moscow on 13 November 1945. [ 130 ] [ 131 ]
In January 2011 Chelsea broke the british transfer record to sign Fernando Torres for £50 million ; the record stood until 2014 From 20 March 2004 to 26 October 2008, Chelsea went a record 86 straight league matches at home without defeat, beating the previous record of 63 matches unbeaten set by Liverpool between 1978 and 1980. [ 132 ] [ 133 ] Chelsea hold the English record for the fewest goals conceded during a league season ( 15 ), the highest number of clean sheets overall in a Premier League temper ( 25 ) ( both set during the 2004–05 season ), [ 134 ] and the most straight uninfected sheets from the start of a league season ( 6, set during the 2005–06 temper ). [ 135 ] Chelsea ‘s streak of eleven consecutive away league wins, set between 5 April 2008 and 6 December 2008, is a record for the English circus tent flight. [ 136 ] Chelsea are the entirely Premier League side to win their afford nine league games of the season, doing thus in 2005–06. [ 137 ] [ 138 ] From 2009 to 2013, Chelsea were unbeaten in a record 29 straight FA Cup matches ( excluding punishment shoot-outs ). [ 139 ] On 25 August 1928, Chelsea, along with Arsenal, became the first baseball club to play with shirt numbers, in their match against Swansea Town. [ 140 ] They were the first english side to travel by airplane to a domestic aside match, when they visited Newcastle United on 19 April 1957, [ 141 ] and the first First Division side to play a couple on a Sunday, when they faced Stoke City on 27 January 1974. On 26 December 1999, Chelsea became the foremost british side to field an entirely foreign starting line-up ( no British or Irish players ) in a Premier League match against Southampton. [ 142 ] In May 2007, Chelsea were the first team to win the FA Cup at the newly Wembley Stadium, having besides been the survive to win it at the old Wembley. [ 143 ] They were the inaugural English baseball club to be ranked No. 1 under UEFA ‘s five-year coefficient system in the twenty-first hundred. [ 144 ] They were the first Premier League team, and the first team in the English top flight since 1962–63, to score at least 100 goals in a single season, reaching the milestone during the 2009–10 season. [ 37 ] Chelsea are the only London cabaret to win the UEFA Champions League. [ 145 ] [ 146 ] Upon winning the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League, Chelsea became the beginning English cabaret to win all four UEFA club trophies and the alone baseball club to hold the Champions League and the Europa League at the same clock time. [ 147 ] Chelsea have twice broken the record for the highest transfer fee paid by a british cabaret. Their £30.8 million purchase of Andriy Shevchenko from A.C. Milan in June 2006 was a british record until surpassed by the £32.5 million paid by Manchester City for Robinho in September 2008. [ 148 ] [ 149 ] The clubhouse ‘s £50 million purchase of Fernando Torres from Liverpool in January 2011 [ 150 ] held the record until Ángel Di María signed for Manchester United in August 2014 for £59.7 million. [ 151 ] The club ‘s £71 million purchase of Kepa Arrizabalaga in August 2018 remains a world record fee paid for a goalkeeper. [ 152 ]

ownership and finances

Chelsea Football Club were founded by Gus Mears in 1905. After his death in 1912, his descendants continued to own the baseball club until 1982, when Ken Bates bought the baseball club from Mears ‘ great-nephew Brian Mears for £1. Bates bought a controlling interest in the cabaret and floated Chelsea on the AIM stock exchange in March 1996. [ 153 ] In the mid-1990s Chelsea sports fan and businessman Matthew Harding became a film director and loaned the club £26 million to build the raw North Stand and invest in new players. [ 154 ] In July 2003, Roman Abramovich purchased barely over 50 % of Chelsea Village plc ‘s share das kapital, including Bates ‘ 29.5 % bet on, for £30 million and over the adopt weeks bought out most of the remaining 12,000 shareholders at 35 penny per plowshare, completing a £140 million coup d’etat. other shareholders at the fourth dimension of the takeover included the Matthew Harding estate ( 21 % ), BSkyB ( 9.9 % ) and versatile anonymous offshore trusts. [ 155 ] At the time of the Abramovich coup d’etat, the club besides had debts of around £100 million, which included a ten-year £75 million Eurobond taken out in 1997 by the Bates regimen to buy the freehold of Stamford Bridge and finance the renovation of the stadium. The 9 % interest on the lend cost the club around £7 million a year and according to Bruce Buck, Chelsea were struggling to pay an episode ascribable in July 2003. [ 156 ] Abramovich paid off some of this debt immediately, but the outstanding £36 million on the Eurobond was not in full repaid until 2008. [ 157 ] Since then, the club have had no external debt. [ 158 ] Abramovich changed the ownership name to Chelsea FC plc, whose ultimate parent company is Fordstam Limited, which is controlled by him. [ 159 ] Chelsea are additionally funded by Abramovich via sake release soft loans channelled through his holding company Fordstam Limited. The loans stood at £709 million in December 2009, when they were all converted to equity by Abramovich, leaving the club themselves debt free, [ 160 ] [ 161 ] although the debt remains with Fordstam. [ 162 ] Chelsea did not turn a profit in the first nine years of Abramovich ‘s possession, and made record losses of £140m in June 2005. [ 163 ] In November 2012, Chelsea announced a profit of £1.4 million for the year ending 30 June 2012, the first time the baseball club had made a profit under Abramovich ‘s ownership. [ 163 ] [ 164 ] This was followed by a loss in 2013 and then their highest ever profit of £18.4 million for the year to June 2014. [ 165 ] In 2018 Chelsea announced a record after-tax net income of £62 million. [ 166 ] Chelsea have been described as a ball-shaped stigmatize ; a 2012 report by Brand Finance ranked Chelsea fifth among football brands and valued the club ‘s sword measure at US $ 398 million – an increase of 27 % from the former year, besides valuing them at US $ 10 million more than the sixth best trade name, London rivals Arsenal – and gave the post a potency rating of AA ( very strong ). [ 167 ] [ 168 ] In 2016, Forbes magazine ranked Chelsea the seventh most valuable football club in the universe, at £1.15 billion ( $ 1.66 billion ). [ 169 ] As of 2016, Chelsea are ranked one-eighth in the Deloitte Football Money League with an annual commercial gross of £322.59 million. [ 170 ]

The club ‘s recent accounting records highlight £26.6m they have lost in compensation to former head coach Antonio Conte for sacking and to pay off his backroom staff and the legal costs that followed. [ 171 ]

Chelsea ‘s kit out has been manufactured by Nike since July 2017. previously, the kit was manufactured by Adidas, which was originally contracted to supply the club ‘s kit from 2006 to 2018. The partnership was extended in October 2010 in a deal worth £160 million over eight years. [ 172 ] This deal was again extended in June 2013 in a deal worth £300 million over another ten-spot years. [ 173 ] In May 2016, Adidas announced that by common agreement, the kit sponsorship would end six years early on 30 June 2017. [ 174 ] Chelsea had to pay £40m in compensation to Adidas. In October 2016, Nike was announced as the new kit sponsor, in a distribute deserving £900m over 15 years, until 2032. [ 175 ] Previously, the kit out was manufactured by Umbro ( 1975–81 ), Le Coq Sportif ( 1981–86 ), The Chelsea Collection ( 1986–87 ), Umbro ( 1987–2006 ), and Adidas ( 2006–2017 ). Chelsea ‘s foremost shirt presenter was Gulf Air, agreed during the 1983–84 temper. The baseball club were then sponsored by Grange Farms, Bai Lin Tea and Simod before a long-run cope was signed with Commodore International in 1989 ; Amiga, an outgrowth of Commodore, besides appeared on the shirts. Chelsea were subsequently sponsored by Coors beer ( 1994–97 ), Autoglass ( 1997–2001 ), Emirates ( 2001–05 ), Samsung Mobile ( 2005–08 ), Samsung ( 2008–15 ). [ 176 ] [ 177 ] and Yokohama Tyres ( 2015–20 ). Chelsea ‘s stream patronize is Three, starting from July 2020. [ 178 ] Following the initiation of sleeve sponsors in the Premier League, Chelsea had Alliance Tyres as their first sleeve sponsor in the 2017–18 season. [ 179 ] For the 2018–19 season, they have Hyundai Motor Company as the newfangled sleeve patronize. [ 180 ] The club besides has a variety of other sponsors and official partners, which include Bangkok Bank, Beats by Dre, Cadbury, Carabao, Delta Air Lines, EA Sports, Ericsson, Fiserv, Gazprom, GO Markets, Grand Royal Whisky, Guangzhou R & F, Hublot, IndusInd Bank, Levy Restaurants, Millennium Hotels, MSC Cruises, Mobinil, Ole777, Parimatch, Rexona, Singha, Sony Music, Trivago, Vitality, William Hill, Wipro, and Zapp. [ 181 ]

democratic acculturation

Chelsea parade through the streets of Fulham and Chelsea after winning their league and cup double, May 2010 In 1930, Chelsea featured in one of the earliest football films, The Great Game. [ 182 ] erstwhile Chelsea centre ahead, Jack Cock, who by then was playing for Millwall, was the leading of the film and respective scenes were shot at Stamford Bridge, including on the pitch, the boardroom, and the dress rooms. It included guest appearances by then-Chelsea players Andrew Wilson, George Mills, and Sam Millington. [ 183 ] Owing to the notoriety of the Chelsea Headhunters, a football tauten associated with the cabaret, Chelsea have besides featured in films about football vandalism, including 2004 ‘s The Football Factory. [ 184 ] Chelsea besides appear in the Hindi film Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. [ 185 ] In April 2011, Montenegrin comedy series Nijesmo mi od juče made an sequence in which Chelsea play against FK Sutjeska Nikšić for qualification of the UEFA Champions League. [ 186 ] up until the 1950s, the club had a long-running association with the music halls ; their underachievement often provided fabric for comedians such as George Robey. [ 187 ] It culminated in comedian Norman Long ‘s unblock of a comic sung in 1933, ironically titled “ On the Day That Chelsea Went and Won the Cup ”, the lyrics of which describe a serial of bizarre and improbable occurrences on the conjectural day when Chelsea last won a trophy. [ 16 ] In Alfred Hitchcock ‘s 1935 film The 39 Steps, Mr Memory claims that Chelsea last won the Cup in 63 BC, “ in the bearing of the Emperor Nero. ” [ 188 ] Scenes in a 1980 episode of Minder were filmed during a real match at Stamford Bridge between Chelsea and Preston North End with Terry McCann ( played by Dennis Waterman ) standing on the terraces. [ 189 ] The song “ Blue is the Colour “ was released as a single in the build-up to the 1972 League Cup Final, with all members of Chelsea ‘s first team police squad tattle ; it reached act five in the UK Singles Chart. [ 190 ] The song has since been adopted as an hymn by a phone number of other sports teams around the world, including the Vancouver Whitecaps ( as “ White is the Colour ” ) [ 191 ] and the Saskatchewan Roughriders ( as “ Green is the Colour ” ). [ 192 ] In the build-up to the 1997 FA Cup Final, the song “ Blue Day ”, performed by Suggs and members of the Chelsea team, reached number 22 in the UK charts. [ 193 ]

Chelsea Women

Chelsea besides operate a women ‘s football team, Chelsea Football Club Women, once known as Chelsea Ladies. They have been affiliated to the men ‘s team since 2004 [ 194 ] and are separate of the club ‘s Community Development course of study. They play their home games at Kingsmeadow, once the home flat coat of the EFL League One cabaret AFC Wimbledon. The club were promoted to the Premier Division for the inaugural time in 2005 as southern Division champions and won the Surrey County Cup nine times between 2003 and 2013. [ 195 ] In 2010 Chelsea Ladies were one of the eight laminitis members of the FA Women ‘s Super League. [ 196 ] In 2015, Chelsea Ladies won the FA Women ‘s Cup for the foremost time, beating Notts County Ladies at Wembley Stadium, [ 197 ] and a month former clinched their first FA WSL title to complete a league and cup double. [ 198 ] In 2018, they won a second league and FA Cup duplicate. [ 199 ] Two years late in 2020, they repeated their double success by winning the third league title and league cup for the first time. [ 200 ] [ 201 ] John Terry, early captain of the Chelsea men ‘s team, is the President of Chelsea Women. [ 202 ]

Players

team

As of 14 September 2021[203][204]

note : Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality .

other players under contract

note : Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality .

Out on loan

note : Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality .

Under-23s and Academy

musician of the year

source : Chelsea F.C .

luminary managers

The follow managers won at least one trophy when in charge of Chelsea :

management team

beginning : Chelsea F.C.

Club personnel

Chelsea FC plc is the company which owns Chelsea Football Club. The ultimate rear company of Chelsea FC plc is Fordstam Limited and the ultimate controlling party of Fordstam Limited is Roman Abramovich. [ 210 ] Chelsea Ltd.
Chelsea F.C. plc Board [ 210 ]
Executive Board [ 210 ]
Life President
Vice-Presidents

Peter Digby
Sir Peter Harrison
Joe Hemani
Anthony Reeves
Alan Spence

Club Ambassadors [ 212 ]
source : Chelsea F.C .

Honours

Upon winning the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League, Chelsea became the fourth club in history to have won the “ european Treble “ of european Cup/UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League, and european Cup Winners ‘ Cup/UEFA Cup Winners ‘ Cup after Juventus, Ajax and Bayern Munich. Chelsea are the first English club to have won all three major UEFA trophies. [ 213 ]

National competitions

league titles

Cups

Winners (4): 1955, 2000, 2005, 2009

european competitions

Didier Drogba holding the Champions League trophy after Chelsea’s victory in 2012

Winners (2): 1998, 2021

Doubles

UEFA club coefficient ranking

As of 26 November 2021[215]

Notes

References

  • Batty, Clive (2004). Kings of the King’s Road: The Great Chelsea Team of the 60s and 70s. Vision Sports Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-0-9546428-1-5.
  • Batty, Clive (2005). A Serious Case of the Blues: Chelsea in the 80s. Vision Sports Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1-905326-02-0.
  • Glanvill, Rick (2006). Chelsea FC: The Official Biography – The Definitive Story of the First 100 Years. Headline Book Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7553-1466-9.
  • Hadgraft, Rob (2004). Chelsea: Champions of England 1954–55. Desert Island Books Limited. ISBN 978-1-874287-77-3.
  • Harris, Harry (2005). Chelsea’s Century. Blake Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84454-110-2.
  • Ingledew, John (2006). And Now Are You Going to Believe Us: Twenty-five Years Behind the Scenes at Chelsea FC. John Blake Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84454-247-5.
  • Matthews, Tony (2005). Who’s Who of Chelsea. Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84596-010-0.
  • Mears, Brian (2004). Chelsea: A 100-year History. Mainstream Sport. ISBN 978-1-84018-823-3.
  • Mears, Brian (2002). Chelsea: Football Under the Blue Flag. Mainstream Sport. ISBN 978-1-84018-658-1.

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