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Chelsea F.C.

January 11, 2023

This article is about the men's football club. For the women's football club, see Chelsea F.C. Women. For other uses, see Chelsea (disambiguation).

Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, West London. Founded in 1905, they play their home games at Stamford Bridge.[5] The club competes in the Premier League, the top division of English football. They won their first major honour, the League championship, in 1955. The club won the FA Cup for the first time in 1970, their first European honour, the Cup Winners' Cup, in 1971, and became the third English club to win the Club World Cup in 2022.

Chelsea
Full nameChelsea Football Club
Nickname(s)The Blues
Founded10 March 1905; 117 years ago (1905-03-10)[1]
GroundStamford Bridge
Capacity40,341[2][3]
Coordinates51°28′54″N 0°11′28″W / 51.48167°N 0.19111°W / 51.48167; -0.19111Coordinates: 51°28′54″N 0°11′28″W / 51.48167°N 0.19111°W / 51.48167; -0.19111
OwnerBlueCo 22 Limited[4]
ChairmanTodd Boehly
Head coachGraham Potter
LeaguePremier League
2021–22Premier League, 3rd of 20
WebsiteClub website
Current season

Chelsea are one of five clubs to have won all three pre-1999 main European club competitions, and the only club to have won all three major European competitions twice. They are also the only London club to have won the Champions League and the Club World Cup.[6] Domestically, the club has won six league titles, eight FA Cups, five League Cups, and four FA Community Shields. Internationally, they have won the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League, the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and the UEFA Super Cup twice each, and the FIFA Club World Cup once since their inception. In terms of overall trophies won, it is the fourth-most successful club in English football.

The club has rivalries with neighbouring teams Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, and a historic rivalry with Leeds United. In terms of club value, Chelsea are the seventh most valuable football club in the world (as of 2021), worth £2.39 billion ($3.2 billion), and are the eighth highest-earning football club in the world, with earnings of over €493.1 million (as of May 2022).[7][8]

History

Founding and early years

 
The first Chelsea team in September 1905
Main article: History of Chelsea F.C. (1905–1952)

In 1904, Gus Mears acquired the Stamford Bridge athletics stadium in Fulham with the aim of turning it into a football ground. An offer to lease it to nearby Fulham F.C. was turned down, so Mears opted to found his own club to use the stadium. As there was already a team named Fulham in the borough, the name of the adjacent borough of Chelsea was chosen for the new club; names like Kensington FC, Stamford Bridge FC and London FC were also considered.[9] Chelsea F.C. was founded on 10 March 1905 at The Rising Sun pub (now The Butcher's Hook),[1][10] opposite the present-day main entrance to the ground on Fulham Road, and were elected to the Football League shortly afterwards.

Chelsea won promotion to the First Division in their second 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.[11] Chelsea had a reputation for signing star players[12] and attracted large crowds. The club had the highest average attendance in English football in ten separate seasons[13] including 1907–08,[14] 1909–10,[15] 1911–12,[16] 1912–13,[17] 1913–14[18] and 1919–20.[19][20] 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.

Modernisation and the first league championship

Main article: History of Chelsea F.C. (1952–1983)
 
Chart showing the progress of Chelsea's league finishes from 1906 to the present

Former Arsenal and England centre-forward Ted Drake was appointed manager in 1952 and proceeded to modernise the club. He removed the club's Chelsea pensioner crest, improved the youth set-up and training regime, rebuilt the side with shrewd signings from the lower divisions and amateur leagues, and led Chelsea to their first major trophy success – the League championship – 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.[21][22] 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 club's youth set-up, and Chelsea challenged for honours throughout the 1960s, enduring several near-misses. They were on course for a treble of League, FA Cup and League Cup going into the final stages of the 1964–65 season, winning the League Cup but faltering late on in the other two.[23] In three seasons the side were beaten in three major semi-finals and were FA Cup runners-up. Under Docherty's successor, Dave Sexton, Chelsea won the FA Cup in 1970, beating Leeds United 2–1 in a final replay. The following year, Chelsea took their first European honour, a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup triumph, with another replayed win, this time over Real Madrid in Athens.

Redevelopment and financial crisis

Main article: History of Chelsea F.C. (1983–2003)

The late 1970s through to the '80s was a turbulent period for Chelsea. An ambitious redevelopment of Stamford Bridge threatened the financial stability of the club,[24] star players were sold and the team were relegated. Further problems were caused by a notorious hooligan element among the support, which was to plague the club throughout the decade.[25] In 1982, Chelsea were, at the nadir of their fortunes, acquired by Ken Bates for the nominal sum of £1, from Mears' great-nephew Brian Mears for £1. Bates bought a controlling stake in the club and floated Chelsea on the AIM stock exchange in March 1996[26] although by now the Stamford Bridge freehold had been sold to property developers, meaning the club faced losing their home.[27] On the pitch, the team had fared little better, coming close to relegation to the Third Division for the first time, but in 1983 manager John Neal put together an impressive new team for minimal outlay. Chelsea won the Second Division title in 1983–84 and established themselves in the top division with two top-six finishes, before being relegated again in 1988. The club bounced back immediately by winning the Second Division championship in 1988–89.

After a long-running legal battle, Bates reunited the stadium freehold with the club in 1992 by doing a deal with the banks of the property developers, who had been bankrupted by a market crash.[28] In the mid-1990s Chelsea fan and businessman Matthew Harding became a director and loaned the club £26 million to build the new North Stand and invest in new players.[29] Chelsea's form in the new 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 club to their first major honour 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 also mounted a strong title challenge in 1998–99, finishing four points behind champions Manchester United, and made their first appearance in the UEFA Champions League. Vialli was sacked in favour of Claudio Ranieri, who guided Chelsea to the 2002 FA Cup Final and Champions League qualification in 2002–03.

2003-2022: Abramovich era

Main article: History of Chelsea F.C. (2003–2022)

"I don't want to throw my money away but it's really about having fun and that means success and trophies."

—Roman Abramovich, in an interview with the BBC following the takeover.[30]

With the club facing an apparent financial crisis,[31] Bates unexpectedly sold Chelsea F.C. in June 2003 for £60 million.[32] 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 oligarch and billionaire Roman Abramovich, who also took on responsibility for the club's £80 million of debt, quickly paying some of it. Sergei Pugachev, a former friend of Vladimir Putin, explained that "Putin personally told me of his plan to acquire the Chelsea Football Club in order to increase his influence and raise Russia’s profile, not only with the elite but with ordinary British people."[33] Abramovich reportedly denied that he was acting under control from the Kremlin.[33]

 
Chelsea players celebrate their first UEFA Champions League title against Bayern Munich (2012).

Over £100 million was spent on new players, but Ranieri was unable to deliver any trophies,[34] and was replaced by José Mourinho.[35] 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),[36] in addition to winning an FA Cup (2007) and two League Cups (2005 and 2007). After a poor start to the 2007–2008 season, Mourinho was replaced by Avram Grant,[37] who led the club to their first UEFA Champions League final, which they lost on penalties to Manchester United. The club did not turn a profit in the first nine years of Abramovich's ownership, and made record losses of £140m in June 2005.[38]

I am a fan of special nature. I'm excited before every single game. The trophy at the end is less important than the process itself.

—Abramovich discussing two trophy-laden years at Chelsea (2006).[39]

In 2009, under caretaker manager Guus Hiddink, Chelsea won another FA Cup.[40] In 2009–10, his successor Carlo Ancelotti led them to their first Premier League and FA Cup Double, also becoming the first English top-flight club to score 100 league goals in a season since 1963.[41] In 2012, Roberto Di Matteo led Chelsea to their seventh FA Cup,[42] and their first UEFA Champions League title, beating Bayern Munich 4–3 on penalties, the first London club to win the trophy.[43] The following year the club won the UEFA Europa League,[44] making them the first club to hold two major European titles simultaneously and one of five clubs to have won the three main UEFA trophies.[45] Mourinho returned as manager in 2013 and led Chelsea to League Cup success in March 2015,[46] and the Premier League title two months later.[47] Mourinho was sacked after four months of the following season after a poor start.[48]

In November 2012, Chelsea announced a profit of £1.4 million for the year ending 30 June 2012, the first time the club had made a profit under Abramovich's ownership.[38][49] This was followed by a loss in 2013 and then their highest ever profit of £18.4 million for the year to June 2014.[50] In 2018 Chelsea announced a record after-tax profit of £62 million.[51]

In 2017, under new coach Antonio Conte, Chelsea won their sixth English title and the following season won their eighth FA Cup.[52] In 2018 Conte was sacked after a 5th-place finish and replaced with Maurizio Sarri,[53][54] under whom Chelsea reached the League Cup final, which they lost on penalties to Manchester City[55] and won the Europa League for a second time, beating Arsenal 4–1 in the final. Sarri then left the club to become manager of Juventus and was then replaced by former Chelsea player Frank Lampard.[56]

In Lampard's first season he guided Chelsea to 4th place in the Premier League and reached the FA Cup final, losing 2–1 to Arsenal.[57] Lampard was dismissed in January 2021 and replaced with Thomas Tuchel.[58][59]

 
Players of Chelsea celebrating their first FIFA Club World Cup title (2021) after beating Brazilian Palmeiras in the final

Under Tuchel, Chelsea reached the FA Cup final, losing 1–0 to Leicester City, and won their second UEFA Champions League title with a 1–0 win over Manchester City in Porto.[60] The club subsequently won the 2021 UEFA Super Cup for the second time by defeating Villarreal 6–5 in a penalty shootout, after it had ended 1–1 in Belfast after extra time,[61] and the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup (the first for the club) in Abu Dhabi after beating Brazilian Palmeiras 2–1.[62]

On 18 April 2021, Chelsea announced they would be joining a new European Super League, a league competition comprising the biggest European clubs.[63] After a backlash from supporters, the club announced their withdrawal days later.[64]

Former Chelsea player Tony Cascarino revealed that the club had been calling ex-players to check up on their health during the COVID-19 pandemic.[65][66] The club opted against furloughing their non-matchday staff with the decision reportedly coming from Abramovich himself. Chelsea, one of the first clubs to help the National Health Service, lent the club-owned Millenium Hotel for the NHS staff.[66]

"[Chelsea] have been a success machine for the last 10–20 years. That doesn't just come with money, we've seen at Manchester United and Arsenal where they've put billions into the team and not had the success that Chelsea have had. Chelsea can feel comfortable that they'll have rich owners, but will they have football smart owners? Because that's what Abramovich has been.

—Gary Neville on Abramovich's legacy.[67]

Amidst financial sanctions leveled at Russian oligarchs by Western governments in response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Abramovich stated on 26 February that he would hand over the stewardship of Chelsea to the trustees of the Chelsea Foundation.[68] The trustees did not immediately agree, due to legal concerns regarding the rules of the Charity Commission for England and Wales.[69] A week later, Abramovich wrote-off the £1.5 billion the club owed him, and put the club up for sale, pledging to donate net proceeds from it to the victims of the war in Ukraine.[70][71]

On 10 March 2022, the British government announced sanctions on Abramovich with Chelsea allowed to operate under a special license until 31 May.[72][73] In the following weeks, reports emerged of Abramovich's involvement in brokering a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia and securing safe evacuation corridors in besieged Ukrainian cities.[74][75] An American government official revealed that the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy had requested the US government to not levy sanctions at Abramovich given his importance in war relief efforts.[76]

2022-present: Boehly–Clearlake era

Main article: History of Chelsea F.C. (2022–present)

On 7 May 2022, Chelsea confirmed that terms have been agreed for a new ownership group, led by Todd Boehly, Clearlake Capital, Mark Walter and Hansjörg Wyss, to acquire the club.[77] On 25 May 2022, the government has approved the £4.25bn Boehly-led consortium takeover of Chelsea.[78] On 30 May 2022, the sale was completed, ending Abramovich's 19 year ownership of the club.[79]

The consortium led by Todd Boehly, chairman and CEO of Eldridge Industries, and Clearlake Capital, announced completion of the ownership transfer of Chelsea on the 30 May 2022. The consortium also includes Hansjörg Wyss, founder of the Wyss Foundation, and Mark Walter, co-founder and CEO of Guggenheim Partners. Walter and Boehly are owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Los Angeles Sparks. The transaction has received all necessary approvals from The Governments of the United Kingdom and Portugal, The Premier League, and other authorities was mentioned by the club in their statement.[80]

The club then announced on 20 June that Bruce Buck, who served as Chairman since 2003, will be stepping down from his role effective 30 June although he would continue to support the Club as a Senior Advisor. Boehly would assume the chairmanship.[81] This was followed by the club restructuring the board and announcing the departure of long serving Club Director and de-facto Sporting Director Marina Granovskaia on 22 June.[82] Petr Čech left the role of Technical and Performance Advisor 5 days later.[83]

League history

L1 = Level 1 of the football league system; L2 = Level 2 of the football league system

Stadium

Main article: Stamford Bridge (stadium)
 
Stamford Bridge, West Stand

Chelsea have only had one home ground, Stamford Bridge, where they have played since the team's foundation. The stadium was officially opened on 28 April 1877 and for the next 28 years it was used by the London Athletic Club as an arena for athletics meetings. In 1904 the ground was acquired by businessman Gus Mears and his brother Joseph, who had also purchased nearby land (formerly a large market garden) with the aim of staging football matches on the now 12.5 acre (51,000 m2) site.[84] Stamford Bridge was designed for the Mears family by the noted football architect Archibald Leitch, who had also designed Ibrox, Craven Cottage and Hampden Park.[85] 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 seating, Stamford Bridge had an original capacity of around 100,000, making it the second biggest stadium in England after Crystal Palace.[84] The early 1930s saw the construction of a terrace on the southern part of the ground with a roof that covered around one fifth of the stand. As the roof resembled that of a corrugated iron shed, the stand eventually became known as the "Shed End", although it is unknown who first coined this name. From the 1960s, it became known as the home of Chelsea's most loyal and vocal supporters.[84] In 1939, another small seated stand was added, the North Stand, which remained until its demolition in 1975.[84]

In the early 1970s, the club's owners announced a modernisation of Stamford Bridge with plans for a state-of-the-art 50,000 all-seater stadium.[84] Work began in 1972 but the project was beset with problems and ultimately only the East Stand was completed; the cost brought the club close to bankruptcy. The freehold was sold to property developers and the club were under threat of eviction from the stadium.[84] Following a long legal battle, it was not until the mid-1990s that Chelsea's future at Stamford Bridge was secured and renovation work resumed.[84] The north, west and southern parts of the ground were converted into all-seater stands and moved closer to the pitch, a process completed by 2001. The East Stand was retained from the 1970s development. In 1996, the north stand was renamed the Matthew Harding stand, after the club director and benefactor who was killed in a helicopter crash earlier that year.[86]

 
Chelsea vs. West Bromwich Albion at Stamford Bridge on 23 September 1905; Chelsea won 1–0.

When Stamford Bridge was redeveloped in the Bates era many additional features were added to the complex including two Millennium & Copthorne hotels, apartments, bars, restaurants, the Chelsea Megastore, and an interactive visitor attraction called Chelsea World of Sport. The intention was that these facilities would provide extra revenue 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 takeover a decision was taken to drop the "Chelsea Village" brand and refocus on Chelsea as a football club. However, the stadium is sometimes still referred to as part of "Chelsea Village" or "The Village".

The Stamford Bridge freehold, the pitch, the turnstiles and Chelsea's naming rights are now owned by Chelsea Pitch Owners, a non-profit organisation 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 name.[87] Chelsea's training ground is located in Cobham, Surrey. Chelsea moved to Cobham in 2004. Their previous training ground in Harlington was taken over by QPR in 2005.[88] The new training facilities in Cobham were completed in 2007.[89]

 
Aerial view of present-day Stamford Bridge

Stamford Bridge hosted the FA Cup Final from 1920 to 1922,[90] has held ten FA Cup Semi-finals (most recently in 1978), ten FA Charity Shield matches (the last in 1970), and three England international matches, the last in 1932; it was also the venue for an unofficial Victory International in 1946.[91] The 2013 UEFA Women's Champions League Final was played at Stamford Bridge as well.[92] The stadium has also been used for a variety of other sports. In October 1905 it hosted a rugby union match between the All Blacks and Middlesex,[93] and in 1914 hosted a baseball match between the touring New York Giants and the Chicago White Sox.[94] It was the venue for a boxing match between world flyweight champion Jimmy Wilde and Joe Conn in 1918.[95] The running track was used for dirt track racing between 1928 and 1932,[96] greyhound racing from 1933 to 1968, and Midget car racing in 1948.[97] In 1980, Stamford Bridge hosted the first international floodlit cricket match in the UK, between Essex and the West Indies.[98] It was also the home stadium of the London Monarchs American Football team for the 1997 season.[99]

The previous owner Mr Abramovich and the clubs then executive board determined that a larger stadium is necessary in order for Chelsea to stay competitive with rival clubs who have significantly larger stadia, such as Arsenal and Manchester United.[100] Owing to its location next to a main road and two railway lines, fans can only enter Stamford Bridge via the Fulham Road exits, which places constraints on expansion due to health and safety regulations.[101] The club have consistently affirmed their desire to keep Chelsea at their current home,[102][103] but have nonetheless been linked with a move to various nearby sites, including the Earls Court Exhibition Centre, Battersea Power Station and the Chelsea Barracks.[104] In October 2011, a proposal from the club to buy back the freehold to the land on which Stamford Bridge sits was voted down by Chelsea Pitch Owners shareholders.[105] In May 2012, the club made a formal bid to purchase Battersea Power Station, with a view to developing the site into a new stadium,[106] but lost out to a Malaysian consortium.[107] The club subsequently announced plans to redevelop Stamford Bridge into a 60,000-seater stadium,[108] and in January 2017 these plans were approved by Hammersmith and Fulham council.[109] However, on 31 May 2018, the club released a statement saying that the new stadium project had been put on hold indefinitely, citing "the current unfavourable investment climate."[110]

In July 2022, it was reported that the club's new owner Todd Boehly had appointed American architect Janet Marie Smith to oversee the renovation of the stadium.[111]

Identity

Crest

Crests of Chelsea F.C.
  •  

    First crest

  •  

    1952-1953

  •  

    1953-1986

  •  

    1986-1995

  •  

    1995-1997

  •  

    1997-1999

  •  

    1999-2003

  •  

    2003-2005

  •  

    Chelsea F.C. centenary anniversary crest

  •  

    Current crest

Chelsea have had four main crests, which all underwent minor variations. The first, adopted when the club was founded, was the image 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 manager in 1952, he began to modernise the club. Believing the Chelsea pensioner crest to be old-fashioned, he insisted that it be replaced.[112] A stop-gap badge which comprised the initials C.F.C. was adopted for a year. In 1953, the club crest was changed to an upright blue lion looking backwards and holding a staff. It was based on elements in the coat of arms of the Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea[113] with the "lion rampant regardant" taken from the arms of then club president Viscount Chelsea and the staff from the Abbots of Westminster, former Lords of the Manor of Chelsea. It also featured three red roses, to represent England, and two footballs.[112] This was the first Chelsea crest to appear on the shirts, in the early 1960s. In 1975, a heraldic badge was granted by the College of Arms to the English Football League for use by Chelsea. The badge took the form of the familiar lion and staff encircled by a blue ring but without lettering and without the red roses and red footballs (blazoned as "A lion rampant reguardant azure supporting with the forepaws a crozier or all within an annulet azure").[114]

In 1986, with Ken Bates now owner of the club, Chelsea's crest was changed again as part of another attempt to modernise and because the old rampant lion badge could not be trademarked.[115] 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 next 19 years, with some modifications such as the use of different colours, including red from 1987 to 1995, and yellow from 1995 until 1999, before the white returned.[116] With the new ownership of Roman Abramovich, and the club's centenary approaching, 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 new crest was officially adopted for the start of the 2005–06 season and marked a return to the older design, used from 1953 to 1986, featuring a blue heraldic lion holding a staff. For the centenary season this was accompanied by the words '100 YEARS' and 'CENTENARY 2005–2006' on the top and bottom of the crest respectively.[117]

Colours

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Chelsea's first home colours (1905 – c. 1912)[118]
 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chelsea F.C. kits.

Chelsea have always worn blue shirts, although they originally used the paler eton blue, which was taken from the racing colours of then club president, Earl Cadogan, and was worn with white shorts and dark blue or black socks.[119] The light blue shirts were replaced by a royal blue version in around 1912.[120] In the 1960s Chelsea manager Tommy Docherty changed the kit again, switching to blue shorts (which have remained ever since) and white socks, believing it made the club's colours more modern and distinctive, since no other major side used that combination; this kit was first worn during the 1964–65 season.[121] Since then Chelsea have always worn white socks with their home kit apart from a short spell from 1985 to 1992, when blue socks were reintroduced.

Chelsea's away colours are usually all yellow or all white with blue trim. More recently, the club have had a number of black or dark blue away kits which alternate every year.[122] As with most teams, they have also had some more unusual ones. At Docherty's behest, in the 1966 FA Cup semi-final they wore blue and black stripes, based on Inter Milan's kit.[123] In the mid-1970s, the away strip was a red, white and green kit inspired by the Hungarian national side of the 1950s.[124] Other away kits include an all jade strip worn from 1986 to 1989, red and white diamonds from 1990 to 1992, graphite and tangerine from 1994 to 1996, and luminous yellow from 2007 to 2008.[122] The graphite and tangerine strip has appeared in lists of the worst football kits ever.[125]

Songs and fan chants

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 squad singing; it reached number five in the UK Singles Chart.[126] The song has since been adopted by a number of other sports teams around the world, including the Vancouver Whitecaps (as "White is the Colour")[127] and the Saskatchewan Roughriders (as "Green is the Colour").[128]

Chelsea released the song "No One Can Stop Us Now" in 1994 for reaching the 1994 FA Cup Final. It reached number 23 in the UK Singles Chart.[129] In the build-up to the 1997 FA Cup Final, the song "Blue Day", performed by Suggs and members of the Chelsea squad, reached number 22 in the UK charts.[130] In 2000, Chelsea released the song "Blue Tomorrow". It reached number 22 in the UK Singles Chart.[129]

At matches, Chelsea fans sing chants such as "Carefree" (to the tune of "Lord of the Dance", whose lyrics were probably written by supporter Mick Greenaway),[131][132] "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 midfielder Cesc Fàbregas at the 2007 League Cup Final.[133] Popular fan chants include, "Super Chelsea", "Super Frank" (dedicated to all time leading goal scorer Frank Lampard), "We love you Chelsea" and "Come on Chelsea". There also some situation specific or team specific cheats meant to rile up option teams, managers or players.[134]

Support

 
Chelsea fans at a match against Tottenham Hotspur, on 11 March 2006

Chelsea are among the most widely supported football clubs in the world.[135][136] They have the sixth highest average attendance in the history of English football,[137] and regularly attract over 40,000 fans to Stamford Bridge; they were the seventh best-supported Premier League team in the 2013–14 season, with an average gate of 41,572.[138] Chelsea's traditional fanbase comes from all over the Greater London area including working-class parts such as Hammersmith and Battersea, wealthier areas like Chelsea and Kensington, and from the home counties. There are also numerous official supporters clubs in the United Kingdom and all over the world.[139] Between 2007 and 2012, Chelsea were ranked fourth worldwide in annual replica kit sales, with an average of 910,000.[140] As of 2018, Chelsea had 72.2 million followers on social media, the fourth highest among football clubs.[141]

During the 1970s and 1980s in particular, Chelsea supporters were associated with football hooliganism. The club's "football firm", originally known as the Chelsea Shed Boys, and subsequently as the Chelsea Headhunters, were nationally notorious for football violence, alongside hooligan firms from other clubs such as West Ham United's Inter City Firm and Millwall's Bushwackers, before, during and after matches.[142] The increase of hooligan incidents in the 1980s led chairman Ken Bates to propose erecting an electric fence to deter them from invading the pitch, a proposal that the Greater London Council rejected.[143]

Since the 1990s, there has been a marked decline in crowd trouble at matches, as a result of stricter policing, CCTV in grounds and the advent of all-seater stadia.[144] In 2007, the club launched the Back to the Shed campaign to improve the atmosphere at home matches, with notable 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.[145]

Rivalries

Main articles: Arsenal F.C.–Chelsea F.C. rivalry, Chelsea F.C.–Tottenham Hotspur F.C. rivalry, West London derbies, and Chelsea F.C.–Leeds United F.C. rivalry

Chelsea have long-standing rivalries with North London clubs Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.[146][147] A strong rivalry with Leeds United dates back to several heated and controversial matches in the 1960s and 1970s, particularly the 1970 FA Cup Final.[148] More recently a rivalry with Liverpool has grown following repeated clashes in cup competitions.[149][150] Chelsea's fellow West London sides Brentford, Fulham and Queens Park Rangers are not considered major rivals, as matches have only taken place intermittently due to the clubs often being in separate divisions.[151]

A 2004 survey by Planetfootball.com found that Chelsea fans consider their main rivalries to be with (in descending order): Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United. In the same survey, fans of Arsenal, Fulham, Leeds United, QPR, Tottenham, and West Ham United named Chelsea as one of their three main rivals.[152] In a 2008 poll conducted by the Football Fans Census, Chelsea fans named Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United as their most disliked clubs. In the same survey, "Chelsea" was the top answer to the question "Which other English club do you dislike the most?"[153] A 2012 survey, conducted among 1,200 supporters of the top four league divisions across the country, found that many clubs' main rivals had changed since 2003 and reported that Chelsea fans consider Tottenham to be their main 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.[154]

Records

Further information: List of Chelsea F.C. records and statistics
 
Frank Lampard is Chelsea's all-time highest goalscorer.

Chelsea's highest appearance-maker is ex-captain Ron Harris, who played in 795 competitive games for the club between 1961 and 1980.[155] 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 capped international player. Every starting player in Chelsea's 57 games of the 2013–14 season was a full international – a new club record.[156]

Lampard is Chelsea's all-time top goalscorer, having scored 211 goals in 648 games (2001–2014);[155] he passed Bobby Tambling's longstanding record of 202 in May 2013.[157] Eight other players have also 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 club record for the most goals scored in one season (43 in 1960–61).[158] While a Chelsea player, Greaves also became the youngest ever player to score 100 goals in the English top-flight, at 20 years and 290 days.[159]

Chelsea's biggest winning scoreline in a competitive match is 13–0, achieved against Jeunesse Hautcharage in the Cup Winners' Cup in 1971.[160] 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.[161] Chelsea's biggest loss was an 8–1 reverse against Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1953.[162][163] The club's 21–0 aggregate victory over Jeunesse Hautcharage in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1971 is also a record in European competition.[164] Officially, Chelsea's highest home attendance is 82,905 for a First Division match against Arsenal on 12 October 1935. However, an estimated crowd of over 100,000 attended a friendly match against Soviet team Dynamo Moscow on 13 November 1945.[165][166]

 
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 consecutive league matches at home without defeat, beating the previous record of 63 matches unbeaten set by Liverpool between 1978 and 1980.[167][168] 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 season (25) (both set during the 2004–05 season),[169] and the most consecutive clean sheets from the start of a league season (6, set during the 2005–06 season).[170] Chelsea's streak of eleven consecutive away league wins, set between 5 April 2008 and 6 December 2008, is a record for the English top flight.[171] Chelsea are the only Premier League side to win their opening nine league games of the season, doing so in 2005–06.[172][173] From 2009 to 2013, Chelsea were unbeaten in a record 29 consecutive FA Cup matches (excluding penalty shoot-outs).[174]

On 25 August 1928, Chelsea, along with Arsenal, became the first club to play with shirt numbers, in their match against Swansea Town.[175] They were the first English side to travel by aeroplane to a domestic away match, when they visited Newcastle United on 19 April 1957,[176] and the first First Division side to play a match on a Sunday, when they faced Stoke City on 27 January 1974. On 26 December 1999, Chelsea became the first British side to field an entirely foreign starting line-up (no British or Irish players) in a Premier League match against Southampton.[177] In May 2007, Chelsea were the first team to win the FA Cup at the new Wembley Stadium, having also been the last to win it at the old Wembley.[178] They were the first English club to be ranked No. 1 under UEFA's five-year coefficient system in the 21st century.[179] 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.[41] Chelsea are the only London club to win the UEFA Champions League.[180][181] Upon winning the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League, Chelsea became the first English club to win all four UEFA club trophies and the only club to hold the Champions League and the Europa League at the same time.[182]

Chelsea have twice broken the record for the highest transfer fee paid by a British club. 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.[183][184] The club's £50 million purchase of Fernando Torres from Liverpool in January 2011[185] held the record until Ángel Di María signed for Manchester United in August 2014 for £59.7 million.[186] The club's £71 million purchase of Kepa Arrizabalaga in August 2018 remains a world record fee paid for a goalkeeper.[187]

On the 12 February 2022, Chelsea became the first London club to win FIFA Club World Cup against Palmeiras with Kai Havertz scoring a late penalty.[188]

Ownership and finances

 
Todd Boehly, one of the co-owners of Chelsea.

Chelsea Football Club were founded by Gus Mears in 1905. After his death in 1912, his descendants continued to own the club until 1982, when Ken Bates bought the club from Mears' great-nephew Brian Mears for £1. Bates bought a controlling stake in the club and floated Chelsea on the AIM stock exchange in March 1996.[26] In the mid-1990s Chelsea fan and businessman Matthew Harding became a director and loaned the club £26 million to build the new North Stand and invest in new players.[29]

In July 2003, Roman Abramovich purchased just over 50% of Chelsea Village plc's share capital, including Bates' 29.5% stake, for £30 million and over the following weeks bought out most of the remaining 12,000 shareholders at 35 pence per share, completing a £140 million takeover. Other shareholders at the time of the takeover included the Matthew Harding estate (21%), BSkyB (9.9%) and various anonymous offshore trusts.[189]

At the time of the Abramovich takeover, the club also had debts of around £100 million, which included a ten-year £75 million Eurobond taken out in 1997 by the Bates regime to buy the freehold of Stamford Bridge and finance the redevelopment of the stadium. The 9% interest on the loan cost the club around £7 million a year and according to Bruce Buck, Chelsea were struggling to pay an instalment due in July 2003.[190] Abramovich paid off some of that debt immediately, but the outstanding £36 million on the Eurobond was not fully repaid until 2008.[191] Since then, the club had no external debt.[192]

Abramovich changed the ownership name to Chelsea FC plc, whose ultimate parent company was Fordstam Limited, which was controlled by him.[193] Chelsea were additionally funded by Abramovich via interest free 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,[194][195] although the debt remained with Fordstam.[196]

Chelsea did not turn a profit in the first nine years of Abramovich's ownership, and made record losses of £140m in June 2005.[38] In November 2012, Chelsea announced a profit of £1.4 million for the year ending 30 June 2012, the first time the club had made a profit under Abramovich's ownership.[38][49] This was followed by a loss in 2013 and then their highest ever profit of £18.4 million for the year to June 2014.[50] In 2018 Chelsea announced a record after-tax profit of £62 million.[51]

Chelsea have been described as a global brand; a 2012 report by Brand Finance ranked Chelsea fifth among football brands and valued the club's brand value at US$398 million – an increase of 27% from the previous year, also valuing them at US$10 million more than the sixth best brand, London rivals Arsenal – and gave the brand a strength rating of AA (very strong).[197][198] In 2016, Forbes magazine ranked Chelsea the seventh most valuable football club in the world, at £1.15 billion ($1.66 billion).[199] As of 2016, Chelsea are ranked eighth in the Deloitte Football Money League with an annual commercial revenue of £322.59 million.[200]

As of May 2022, Chelsea are still ranked at the 8th according to Forbes.[201] While also being ranked 8th by Deloitte, with an annual commercial revenue of €493.1 million.[202]

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.[203]

On 26 February 2022, during the Russo-Ukrainian War, Abramovich handed over "stewardship and care" of Chelsea FC to the Chelsea Charitable Foundation.[204] Abramovich released an official statement on 2 March 2022 confirming that he is selling the club due to the ongoing situation in Ukraine.[205] Although the UK government froze Abramovich's assets in United Kingdom on 10 March due to his "close ties with Kremlin", it was made clear that the Chelsea club will be allowed to operate in terms of activities which are football related.[206] On 12 March, the Premier League disqualified Abramovich as a director of Chelsea Football Club.[207]

On 19 March 2022, there were five confirmed bids to acquire Chelsea FC: submitted to Raine Capital who were handling the sale of the club. Some of these were a consortium led by ex-Liverpool chairman Sir Martin Broughton, a group of investors led by the Ricketts family (among them Joe and Pete Ricketts), Swiss and American businessmans Hansjörg Wyss and Todd Boehly, Aethel Partners headed by Portuguese Ricardo Santos Silva and British multi-millionaire businessman Nick Candy, supported by former Chelsea striker Gianluca Vialli.[208]

On 7 May, the club finally confirmed that "terms have been agreed" for a new ownership group led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital.[209] On 30 May, it was confirmed that a consortium led by Boehly and Clearlake Capital have completed the purchase of the club.[210] The consortium also includes Wyss and Mark Walter as well. Walter and Boehly are also owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Los Angeles Sparks. The transaction had received all necessary approvals from The Governments of the United Kingdom and Portugal, The Premier League, and other authorities.[211][212]

Sponsorship

Chelsea's kit 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.[213] This deal was again extended in June 2013 in a deal worth £300 million over another ten years.[214] In May 2016, Adidas announced that by mutual agreement, the kit sponsorship would end six years early on 30 June 2017.[215] Chelsea had to pay £40m in compensation to Adidas. In October 2016, Nike was announced as the new kit sponsor, in a deal worth £900m over 15 years, until 2032.[216] Previously, the kit 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 first shirt sponsor was Gulf Air, agreed during the 1983–84 season. The club were then sponsored by Grange Farms, Bai Lin Tea and Simod before a long-term deal was signed with Commodore International in 1989; Amiga, an offshoot of Commodore, also 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).[217][218] and Yokohama Tyres (2015–20). From July 2020, Chelsea's sponsor was Three,[219] however they temporarily suspended their sponsorship in March 2022 in response to sanctions leveled by the UK Government against Abramovich.[220] They restored their sponsorship after the change of ownership of the club.[221]

Following the introduction of sleeve sponsors in the Premier League, Chelsea had Alliance Tyres as their first sleeve sponsor in the 2017–18 season.[222] Followed by Hyundai Motor Company in 2018-19 season.[223] Starting in 2022-23 season, Amber Group became the new sleeve sponsor, with the flagship digital asset platform WhaleFin appearing on the kit's sleeves of both men's and women's teams.[224]

The club also has a variety of other sponsors and official partners, which include Cadbury, EA Sports, GO Markets, Hublot, Levy Restaurants, MSC Cruises, Parimatch, Singha, Trivago, and Zapp.[225]

Kit suppliers and shirt sponsors

Period Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor (chest) Shirt sponsor (sleeve)
1975–1981 Umbro — —
1981–1983 Le Coq Sportif
1983–1984 Gulf Air
1984–1986 —
1986–1987 — Bai Lin Tea / Simod
1987–1993 Umbro Commodore
1993–1994 Amiga
1994–1997 Coors
1997–2001 Autoglass
2001–2005 Emirates
2005–2006 Samsung
2006–2015 Adidas
2015–2017 Yokohama Tyres
2017–2018 Nike Alliance Tire Company
2018–2020 Hyundai
2020–2022 Three
2022– WhaleFin

Popular culture

 
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.[226] One-time Chelsea centre forward, Jack Cock, who by then was playing for Millwall, was the star of the film and several scenes were shot at Stamford Bridge, including on the pitch, the boardroom, and the dressing rooms. It included guest appearances by then-Chelsea players Andrew Wilson, George Mills, and Sam Millington.[227] Owing to the notoriety of the Chelsea Headhunters, a football firm associated with the club, Chelsea have also featured in films about football hooliganism, including 2004's The Football Factory.[228] Chelsea also appear in the Hindi film Jhoom Barabar Jhoom.[229] In April 2011, Montenegrin comedy series Nijesmo mi od juče made an episode in which Chelsea play against FK Sutjeska Nikšić for qualification of the UEFA Champions League.[230]

Up until the 1950s, the club had a long-running association with the music halls; their underachievement often provided material for comedians such as George Robey.[231] It culminated in comedian Norman Long's release of a comic song in 1933, ironically titled "On the Day That Chelsea Went and Won the Cup", the lyrics of which describe a series of bizarre and improbable occurrences on the hypothetical day when Chelsea finally won a trophy.[12] In Alfred Hitchcock's 1935 film The 39 Steps, Mr Memory claims that Chelsea last won the Cup in 63 BC, "in the presence of the Emperor Nero."[232] 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.[233]

Players

First-team squad

As of 11 January 2023[234]

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.

No. Pos. Nation Player
— DF   ENG Henry Lawrence (at Milton Keynes Dons until 30 June 2023)
— DF   NIR Sam McClelland (at Barrow until 30 June 2023)
— DF   FRA Malang Sarr (at Monaco until 30 June 2023)
— DF   NED Ian Maatsen (at Burnley until 30 June 2023)
— FW   NOR Bryan Fiabema (at Forest Green Rovers until 30 June 2023)
— DF   ENG Levi Colwill (at Brighton & Hove Albion until 30 June 2023)
— GK   ENG Nathan Baxter (at Hull City until 30 June 2023)
— DF   ENG Dujon Sterling (at Stoke City until 30 June 2023)
— GK   FIN Lucas Bergström (at Peterborough United until 30 June 2023)
— MF   ENG Harvey Vale (at Hull City until 30 June 2023)
No. Pos. Nation Player
— DF   WAL Ethan Ampadu (at Spezia until 30 June 2023)
— GK   USA Ethan Wady (at Woking until 30 June 2023)
— GK   ENG Jamie Cumming (at Milton Keynes Dons until 30 June 2023)
— DF   GHA Baba Rahman (at Reading until 30 June 2023)
— MF   ENG Tino Anjorin (at Huddersfield Town until 30 June 2023)
— MF   FRA Tiémoué Bakayoko (at AC Milan until 30 June 2023)
— MF   ENG Xavier Simons (at Hull City until 30 June 2023)
— FW   ENG Callum Hudson-Odoi (at Bayer Leverkusen until 30 June 2023)
— FW   BEL Romelu Lukaku (at Inter Milan until 30 June 2023)
— FW   ENG Jayden Wareham (at Leyton Orient until 30 June 2023)

Development Squad and Academy

Main article: Chelsea F.C. Development Squad and Academy

List of Development Squad and Academy players with first team appearances.

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
61 FW   ENG Jude Soonsup-Bell

Player of the Year

     

Source: Chelsea F.C.

Former players

Further information: List of Chelsea F.C. players, List of Chelsea F.C. players (25–99 appearances), List of Chelsea F.C. players (1–24 appearances), and Category:Chelsea F.C. players

Management

Coaching staff

Position Staff
Head coach   Graham Potter
Assistant coach   Anthony Barry
First Team coaches   Billy Reid
  Björn Hamberg
  Bruno Saltor
Goalkeeper coach   Henrique Hilário
  Ben Roberts
Assistant goalkeeper coach   James Russell
Fitness coaches   Matt Birnie
  Will Tullett
Loan technical coaches   Carlo Cudicini
  Andy Myers
Technical mentor   Claude Makélélé
Head of youth development   Neil Bath
Development squad head coach   Mark Robinson
Under-18's head coach   Ed Brand
Development squad assistant   Jon Harley
Development squad assistant   Jack Mesure
Under-18's assistant   Andy Ross
Recruitment   Kyle Macaulay

Source: Chelsea F.C.

Notable managers

Further information: List of Chelsea F.C. managers

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

Name Period Trophies
  Ted Drake 1952–1961 First Division Championship, Charity Shield
  Tommy Docherty 1962–1967 League Cup
  Dave Sexton 1967–1974 FA Cup, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
  John Neal 1981–1985 Second Division Championship
  John Hollins 1985–1988 Full Members Cup
  Bobby Campbell 1988–1991 Second Division Championship, Full Members Cup
  Ruud Gullit 1996–1998 FA Cup
  Gianluca Vialli 1998–2000 FA Cup, League Cup, Charity Shield, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, UEFA Super Cup
  José Mourinho 2004–2007
2013–2015 		3 Premier Leagues, 3 League Cups, FA Cup, Community Shield
  Guus Hiddink 2009
2015–2016 		FA Cup
  Carlo Ancelotti 2009–2011 Premier League, FA Cup, Community Shield
  Roberto Di Matteo 2012 FA Cup, UEFA Champions League
  Rafael Benítez 2012–2013 UEFA Europa League
  Antonio Conte 2016–2018 Premier League, FA Cup
  Maurizio Sarri 2018–2019 UEFA Europa League
  Thomas Tuchel 2021–2022 UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup

Club personnel

Position Name
Chairman   Todd Boehly
Life President   Lord Attenborough (1923–2014)
Directors   Behdad Eghbali
  José E. Feliciano
  Mark Walter
  Hansjörg Wyss
  Jonathan Goldstein
  Barbara Charone
  Daniel Finkelstein
  James Pade
Director of Football Operations   David Barnard
Sporting Director   Todd Boehly (interim)
Club Ambassador   Carlo Cudicini

Source: Chelsea F.C.

Honours

Main article: List of Chelsea F.C. records and statistics § 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.[235]

 
Diego Costa and John Terry holding the League Cup after Chelsea's victory in 2015
  •   record
  • s shared record

Doubles

UEFA club coefficient ranking

Main article: UEFA coefficient § Men's Club coefficient
Rank Team Points
1   Manchester City 131.0
2   Bayern Munich 130.0
3   Liverpool 123.0
4   Chelsea 123.0
5   Paris Saint-Germain 112.0
As of 3 November 2022[236]

Chelsea Women

Further information: Chelsea F.C. Women

Chelsea also operate a women's football team, Chelsea Football Club Women, formerly known as Chelsea Ladies. They have been affiliated to the men's team since 2004[237] and are part of the club's Community Development programme. They play their home games at Kingsmeadow, formerly the home ground of the EFL League Two club AFC Wimbledon. The club were promoted to the Premier Division for the first time in 2005 as Southern Division champions and won the Surrey County Cup nine times between 2003 and 2013.[238] In 2010 Chelsea Ladies were one of the eight founder members of the FA Women's Super League.[239] In 2015, Chelsea Ladies won the FA Women's Cup for the first time, beating Notts County Ladies at Wembley Stadium,[240] and a month later clinched their first FA WSL title to complete a league and cup double.[241] In 2018, they won a second league and FA Cup double.[242] Two years later, in 2020, they repeated their double success by winning the third league title and the FA Women's League Cup for the first time.[243][244] In the 2020–21 season, Chelsea won a domestic treble by winning the league, FA Cup and League Cup.[245] They also reached the final of the UEFA Women's Champions League for the first time, losing to Barcelona 4–0.[246]

John Terry, former captain of the Chelsea men's team, is the President of Chelsea Women.[247]

Notes

  1. ^ a b Upon its formation in 1992, the Premier League became the top tier of English football; the Football League First and Second Divisions then became the second and third tiers, respectively. From 2004, the First Division became the Championship and the Second Division became League One.

Footnotes

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January 11, 2023
chelsea, this, article, about, football, club, women, football, club, women, other, uses, chelsea, disambiguation, chelsea, football, club, english, professional, football, club, based, fulham, west, london, founded, 1905, they, play, their, home, games, stamf. This article is about the men s football club For the women s football club see Chelsea F C Women For other uses see Chelsea disambiguation Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham West London Founded in 1905 they play their home games at Stamford Bridge 5 The club competes in the Premier League the top division of English football They won their first major honour the League championship in 1955 The club won the FA Cup for the first time in 1970 their first European honour the Cup Winners Cup in 1971 and became the third English club to win the Club World Cup in 2022 ChelseaFull nameChelsea Football ClubNickname s The BluesFounded10 March 1905 117 years ago 1905 03 10 1 GroundStamford BridgeCapacity40 341 2 3 Coordinates51 28 54 N 0 11 28 W 51 48167 N 0 19111 W 51 48167 0 19111 Coordinates 51 28 54 N 0 11 28 W 51 48167 N 0 19111 W 51 48167 0 19111OwnerBlueCo 22 Limited 4 ChairmanTodd BoehlyHead coachGraham PotterLeaguePremier League2021 22Premier League 3rd of 20WebsiteClub websiteHome coloursAway coloursThird coloursCurrent seasonChelsea are one of five clubs to have won all three pre 1999 main European club competitions and the only club to have won all three major European competitions twice They are also the only London club to have won the Champions League and the Club World Cup 6 Domestically the club has won six league titles eight FA Cups five League Cups and four FA Community Shields Internationally they have won the UEFA Champions League the UEFA Europa League the UEFA Cup Winners Cup and the UEFA Super Cup twice each and the FIFA Club World Cup once since their inception In terms of overall trophies won it is the fourth most successful club in English football The club has rivalries with neighbouring teams Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur and a historic rivalry with Leeds United In terms of club value Chelsea are the seventh most valuable football club in the world as of 2021 update worth 2 39 billion 3 2 billion and are the eighth highest earning football club in the world with earnings of over 493 1 million as of May 2022 7 8 Contents 1 History 1 1 Founding and early years 1 2 Modernisation and the first league championship 1 3 Redevelopment and financial crisis 1 4 2003 2022 Abramovich era 1 5 2022 present Boehly Clearlake era 1 6 League history 2 Stadium 3 Identity 3 1 Crest 3 2 Colours 3 3 Songs and fan chants 4 Support 4 1 Rivalries 5 Records 6 Ownership and finances 6 1 Sponsorship 6 1 1 Kit suppliers and shirt sponsors 7 Popular culture 8 Players 8 1 First team squad 8 2 Out on loan 8 3 Development Squad and Academy 8 4 Player of the Year 8 5 Former players 9 Management 9 1 Coaching staff 9 2 Notable managers 9 3 Club personnel 10 Honours 10 1 Doubles 11 UEFA club coefficient ranking 12 Chelsea Women 13 Notes 14 Footnotes 15 References 16 External linksHistoryFounding and early years The first Chelsea team in September 1905 Main article History of Chelsea F C 1905 1952 In 1904 Gus Mears acquired the Stamford Bridge athletics stadium in Fulham with the aim of turning it into a football ground An offer to lease it to nearby Fulham F C was turned down so Mears opted to found his own club to use the stadium As there was already a team named Fulham in the borough the name of the adjacent borough of Chelsea was chosen for the new club names like Kensington FC Stamford Bridge FC and London FC were also considered 9 Chelsea F C was founded on 10 March 1905 at The Rising Sun pub now The Butcher s Hook 1 10 opposite the present day main entrance to the ground on Fulham Road and were elected to the Football League shortly afterwards Chelsea won promotion to the First Division in their second 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 11 Chelsea had a reputation for signing star players 12 and attracted large crowds The club had the highest average attendance in English football in ten separate seasons 13 including 1907 08 14 1909 10 15 1911 12 16 1912 13 17 1913 14 18 and 1919 20 19 20 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 Modernisation and the first league championship Main article History of Chelsea F C 1952 1983 Chart showing the progress of Chelsea s league finishes from 1906 to the present Former Arsenal and England centre forward Ted Drake was appointed manager in 1952 and proceeded to modernise the club He removed the club s Chelsea pensioner crest improved the youth set up and training regime rebuilt the side with shrewd signings from the lower divisions and amateur leagues and led Chelsea to their first major trophy success the League championship 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 21 22 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 club s youth set up and Chelsea challenged for honours throughout the 1960s enduring several near misses They were on course for a treble of League FA Cup and League Cup going into the final stages of the 1964 65 season winning the League Cup but faltering late on in the other two 23 In three seasons the side were beaten in three major semi finals and were FA Cup runners up Under Docherty s successor Dave Sexton Chelsea won the FA Cup in 1970 beating Leeds United 2 1 in a final replay The following year Chelsea took their first European honour a UEFA Cup Winners Cup triumph with another replayed win this time over Real Madrid in Athens Redevelopment and financial crisis Main article History of Chelsea F C 1983 2003 The late 1970s through to the 80s was a turbulent period for Chelsea An ambitious redevelopment of Stamford Bridge threatened the financial stability of the club 24 star players were sold and the team were relegated Further problems were caused by a notorious hooligan element among the support which was to plague the club throughout the decade 25 In 1982 Chelsea were at the nadir of their fortunes acquired by Ken Bates for the nominal sum of 1 from Mears great nephew Brian Mears for 1 Bates bought a controlling stake in the club and floated Chelsea on the AIM stock exchange in March 1996 26 although by now the Stamford Bridge freehold had been sold to property developers meaning the club faced losing their home 27 On the pitch the team had fared little better coming close to relegation to the Third Division for the first time but in 1983 manager John Neal put together an impressive new team for minimal outlay Chelsea won the Second Division title in 1983 84 and established themselves in the top division with two top six finishes before being relegated again in 1988 The club bounced back immediately by winning the Second Division championship in 1988 89 After a long running legal battle Bates reunited the stadium freehold with the club in 1992 by doing a deal with the banks of the property developers who had been bankrupted by a market crash 28 In the mid 1990s Chelsea fan and businessman Matthew Harding became a director and loaned the club 26 million to build the new North Stand and invest in new players 29 Chelsea s form in the new 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 club to their first major honour 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 also mounted a strong title challenge in 1998 99 finishing four points behind champions Manchester United and made their first appearance in the UEFA Champions League Vialli was sacked in favour of Claudio Ranieri who guided Chelsea to the 2002 FA Cup Final and Champions League qualification in 2002 03 2003 2022 Abramovich era Main article History of Chelsea F C 2003 2022 I don t want to throw my money away but it s really about having fun and that means success and trophies Roman Abramovich in an interview with the BBC following the takeover 30 With the club facing an apparent financial crisis 31 Bates unexpectedly sold Chelsea F C in June 2003 for 60 million 32 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 oligarch and billionaire Roman Abramovich who also took on responsibility for the club s 80 million of debt quickly paying some of it Sergei Pugachev a former friend of Vladimir Putin explained that Putin personally told me of his plan to acquire the Chelsea Football Club in order to increase his influence and raise Russia s profile not only with the elite but with ordinary British people 33 Abramovich reportedly denied that he was acting under control from the Kremlin 33 Chelsea players celebrate their first UEFA Champions League title against Bayern Munich 2012 Over 100 million was spent on new players but Ranieri was unable to deliver any trophies 34 and was replaced by Jose Mourinho 35 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 36 in addition to winning an FA Cup 2007 and two League Cups 2005 and 2007 After a poor start to the 2007 2008 season Mourinho was replaced by Avram Grant 37 who led the club to their first UEFA Champions League final which they lost on penalties to Manchester United The club did not turn a profit in the first nine years of Abramovich s ownership and made record losses of 140m in June 2005 38 I am a fan of special nature I m excited before every single game The trophy at the end is less important than the process itself Abramovich discussing two trophy laden years at Chelsea 2006 39 In 2009 under caretaker manager Guus Hiddink Chelsea won another FA Cup 40 In 2009 10 his successor Carlo Ancelotti led them to their first Premier League and FA Cup Double also becoming the first English top flight club to score 100 league goals in a season since 1963 41 In 2012 Roberto Di Matteo led Chelsea to their seventh FA Cup 42 and their first UEFA Champions League title beating Bayern Munich 4 3 on penalties the first London club to win the trophy 43 The following year the club won the UEFA Europa League 44 making them the first club to hold two major European titles simultaneously and one of five clubs to have won the three main UEFA trophies 45 Mourinho returned as manager in 2013 and led Chelsea to League Cup success in March 2015 46 and the Premier League title two months later 47 Mourinho was sacked after four months of the following season after a poor start 48 In November 2012 Chelsea announced a profit of 1 4 million for the year ending 30 June 2012 the first time the club had made a profit under Abramovich s ownership 38 49 This was followed by a loss in 2013 and then their highest ever profit of 18 4 million for the year to June 2014 50 In 2018 Chelsea announced a record after tax profit of 62 million 51 In 2017 under new coach Antonio Conte Chelsea won their sixth English title and the following season won their eighth FA Cup 52 In 2018 Conte was sacked after a 5th place finish and replaced with Maurizio Sarri 53 54 under whom Chelsea reached the League Cup final which they lost on penalties to Manchester City 55 and won the Europa League for a second time beating Arsenal 4 1 in the final Sarri then left the club to become manager of Juventus and was then replaced by former Chelsea player Frank Lampard 56 In Lampard s first season he guided Chelsea to 4th place in the Premier League and reached the FA Cup final losing 2 1 to Arsenal 57 Lampard was dismissed in January 2021 and replaced with Thomas Tuchel 58 59 Players of Chelsea celebrating their first FIFA Club World Cup title 2021 after beating Brazilian Palmeiras in the final Under Tuchel Chelsea reached the FA Cup final losing 1 0 to Leicester City and won their second UEFA Champions League title with a 1 0 win over Manchester City in Porto 60 The club subsequently won the 2021 UEFA Super Cup for the second time by defeating Villarreal 6 5 in a penalty shootout after it had ended 1 1 in Belfast after extra time 61 and the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup the first for the club in Abu Dhabi after beating Brazilian Palmeiras 2 1 62 On 18 April 2021 Chelsea announced they would be joining a new European Super League a league competition comprising the biggest European clubs 63 After a backlash from supporters the club announced their withdrawal days later 64 Former Chelsea player Tony Cascarino revealed that the club had been calling ex players to check up on their health during the COVID 19 pandemic 65 66 The club opted against furloughing their non matchday staff with the decision reportedly coming from Abramovich himself Chelsea one of the first clubs to help the National Health Service lent the club owned Millenium Hotel for the NHS staff 66 Chelsea have been a success machine for the last 10 20 years That doesn t just come with money we ve seen at Manchester United and Arsenal where they ve put billions into the team and not had the success that Chelsea have had Chelsea can feel comfortable that they ll have rich owners but will they have football smart owners Because that s what Abramovich has been Gary Neville on Abramovich s legacy 67 Amidst financial sanctions leveled at Russian oligarchs by Western governments in response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Abramovich stated on 26 February that he would hand over the stewardship of Chelsea to the trustees of the Chelsea Foundation 68 The trustees did not immediately agree due to legal concerns regarding the rules of the Charity Commission for England and Wales 69 A week later Abramovich wrote off the 1 5 billion the club owed him and put the club up for sale pledging to donate net proceeds from it to the victims of the war in Ukraine 70 71 On 10 March 2022 the British government announced sanctions on Abramovich with Chelsea allowed to operate under a special license until 31 May 72 73 In the following weeks reports emerged of Abramovich s involvement in brokering a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia and securing safe evacuation corridors in besieged Ukrainian cities 74 75 An American government official revealed that the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy had requested the US government to not levy sanctions at Abramovich given his importance in war relief efforts 76 2022 present Boehly Clearlake era Main article History of Chelsea F C 2022 present On 7 May 2022 Chelsea confirmed that terms have been agreed for a new ownership group led by Todd Boehly Clearlake Capital Mark Walter and Hansjorg Wyss to acquire the club 77 On 25 May 2022 the government has approved the 4 25bn Boehly led consortium takeover of Chelsea 78 On 30 May 2022 the sale was completed ending Abramovich s 19 year ownership of the club 79 The consortium led by Todd Boehly chairman and CEO of Eldridge Industries and Clearlake Capital announced completion of the ownership transfer of Chelsea on the 30 May 2022 The consortium also includes Hansjorg Wyss founder of the Wyss Foundation and Mark Walter co founder and CEO of Guggenheim Partners Walter and Boehly are owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Sparks The transaction has received all necessary approvals from The Governments of the United Kingdom and Portugal The Premier League and other authorities was mentioned by the club in their statement 80 The club then announced on 20 June that Bruce Buck who served as Chairman since 2003 will be stepping down from his role effective 30 June although he would continue to support the Club as a Senior Advisor Boehly would assume the chairmanship 81 This was followed by the club restructuring the board and announcing the departure of long serving Club Director and de facto Sporting Director Marina Granovskaia on 22 June 82 Petr Cech left the role of Technical and Performance Advisor 5 days later 83 League history 1905 1907 Division 2 L2 1907 1910 Division 1 L1 1910 1912 Division 2 L2 1912 1924 Division 1 L1 1924 1930 Division 2 L2 1930 1962 Division 1 L1 1962 1963 Division 2 L2 1963 1975 Division 1 L1 1975 1977 Division 2 L2 1977 1979 Division 1 L1 1979 1984 Division 2 L2 1984 1988 Division 1 L1 1988 1989 Division 2 L2 1989 1992 Division 1 L1 1992 present Premier League L1 L1 Level 1 of the football league system L2 Level 2 of the football league systemStadiumMain article Stamford Bridge stadium Stamford Bridge West Stand Chelsea have only had one home ground Stamford Bridge where they have played since the team s foundation The stadium was officially opened on 28 April 1877 and for the next 28 years it was used by the London Athletic Club as an arena for athletics meetings In 1904 the ground was acquired by businessman Gus Mears and his brother Joseph who had also purchased nearby land formerly a large market garden with the aim of staging football matches on the now 12 5 acre 51 000 m2 site 84 Stamford Bridge was designed for the Mears family by the noted football architect Archibald Leitch who had also designed Ibrox Craven Cottage and Hampden Park 85 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 seating Stamford Bridge had an original capacity of around 100 000 making it the second biggest stadium in England after Crystal Palace 84 The early 1930s saw the construction of a terrace on the southern part of the ground with a roof that covered around one fifth of the stand As the roof resembled that of a corrugated iron shed the stand eventually became known as the Shed End although it is unknown who first coined this name From the 1960s it became known as the home of Chelsea s most loyal and vocal supporters 84 In 1939 another small seated stand was added the North Stand which remained until its demolition in 1975 84 In the early 1970s the club s owners announced a modernisation of Stamford Bridge with plans for a state of the art 50 000 all seater stadium 84 Work began in 1972 but the project was beset with problems and ultimately only the East Stand was completed the cost brought the club close to bankruptcy The freehold was sold to property developers and the club were under threat of eviction from the stadium 84 Following a long legal battle it was not until the mid 1990s that Chelsea s future at Stamford Bridge was secured and renovation work resumed 84 The north west and southern parts of the ground were converted into all seater stands and moved closer to the pitch a process completed by 2001 The East Stand was retained from the 1970s development In 1996 the north stand was renamed the Matthew Harding stand after the club director and benefactor who was killed in a helicopter crash earlier that year 86 Chelsea vs West Bromwich Albion at Stamford Bridge on 23 September 1905 Chelsea won 1 0 When Stamford Bridge was redeveloped in the Bates era many additional features were added to the complex including two Millennium amp Copthorne hotels apartments bars restaurants the Chelsea Megastore and an interactive visitor attraction called Chelsea World of Sport The intention was that these facilities would provide extra revenue 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 takeover a decision was taken to drop the Chelsea Village brand and refocus on Chelsea as a football club However the stadium is sometimes still referred to as part of Chelsea Village or The Village The Stamford Bridge freehold the pitch the turnstiles and Chelsea s naming rights are now owned by Chelsea Pitch Owners a non profit organisation 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 name 87 Chelsea s training ground is located in Cobham Surrey Chelsea moved to Cobham in 2004 Their previous training ground in Harlington was taken over by QPR in 2005 88 The new training facilities in Cobham were completed in 2007 89 Aerial view of present day Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge hosted the FA Cup Final from 1920 to 1922 90 has held ten FA Cup Semi finals most recently in 1978 ten FA Charity Shield matches the last in 1970 and three England international matches the last in 1932 it was also the venue for an unofficial Victory International in 1946 91 The 2013 UEFA Women s Champions League Final was played at Stamford Bridge as well 92 The stadium has also been used for a variety of other sports In October 1905 it hosted a rugby union match between the All Blacks and Middlesex 93 and in 1914 hosted a baseball match between the touring New York Giants and the Chicago White Sox 94 It was the venue for a boxing match between world flyweight champion Jimmy Wilde and Joe Conn in 1918 95 The running track was used for dirt track racing between 1928 and 1932 96 greyhound racing from 1933 to 1968 and Midget car racing in 1948 97 In 1980 Stamford Bridge hosted the first international floodlit cricket match in the UK between Essex and the West Indies 98 It was also the home stadium of the London Monarchs American Football team for the 1997 season 99 The previous owner Mr Abramovich and the clubs then executive board determined that a larger stadium is necessary in order for Chelsea to stay competitive with rival clubs who have significantly larger stadia such as Arsenal and Manchester United 100 Owing to its location next to a main road and two railway lines fans can only enter Stamford Bridge via the Fulham Road exits which places constraints on expansion due to health and safety regulations 101 The club have consistently affirmed their desire to keep Chelsea at their current home 102 103 but have nonetheless been linked with a move to various nearby sites including the Earls Court Exhibition Centre Battersea Power Station and the Chelsea Barracks 104 In October 2011 a proposal from the club to buy back the freehold to the land on which Stamford Bridge sits was voted down by Chelsea Pitch Owners shareholders 105 In May 2012 the club made a formal bid to purchase Battersea Power Station with a view to developing the site into a new stadium 106 but lost out to a Malaysian consortium 107 The club subsequently announced plans to redevelop Stamford Bridge into a 60 000 seater stadium 108 and in January 2017 these plans were approved by Hammersmith and Fulham council 109 However on 31 May 2018 the club released a statement saying that the new stadium project had been put on hold indefinitely citing the current unfavourable investment climate 110 In July 2022 it was reported that the club s new owner Todd Boehly had appointed American architect Janet Marie Smith to oversee the renovation of the stadium 111 IdentityCrest Crests of Chelsea F C First crest 1952 1953 1953 1986 1986 1995 1995 1997 1997 1999 1999 2003 2003 2005 Chelsea F C centenary anniversary crest Current crestChelsea have had four main crests which all underwent minor variations The first adopted when the club was founded was the image 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 manager in 1952 he began to modernise the club Believing the Chelsea pensioner crest to be old fashioned he insisted that it be replaced 112 A stop gap badge which comprised the initials C F C was adopted for a year In 1953 the club crest was changed to an upright blue lion looking backwards and holding a staff It was based on elements in the coat of arms of the Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea 113 with the lion rampant regardant taken from the arms of then club president Viscount Chelsea and the staff from the Abbots of Westminster former Lords of the Manor of Chelsea It also featured three red roses to represent England and two footballs 112 This was the first Chelsea crest to appear on the shirts in the early 1960s In 1975 a heraldic badge was granted by the College of Arms to the English Football League for use by Chelsea The badge took the form of the familiar lion and staff encircled by a blue ring but without lettering and without the red roses and red footballs blazoned as A lion rampant reguardant azure supporting with the forepaws a crozier or all within an annulet azure 114 In 1986 with Ken Bates now owner of the club Chelsea s crest was changed again as part of another attempt to modernise and because the old rampant lion badge could not be trademarked 115 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 next 19 years with some modifications such as the use of different colours including red from 1987 to 1995 and yellow from 1995 until 1999 before the white returned 116 With the new ownership of Roman Abramovich and the club s centenary approaching 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 new crest was officially adopted for the start of the 2005 06 season and marked a return to the older design used from 1953 to 1986 featuring a blue heraldic lion holding a staff For the centenary season this was accompanied by the words 100 YEARS and CENTENARY 2005 2006 on the top and bottom of the crest respectively 117 Colours Chelsea s first home colours 1905 c 1912 118 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chelsea F C kits Chelsea have always worn blue shirts although they originally used the paler eton blue which was taken from the racing colours of then club president Earl Cadogan and was worn with white shorts and dark blue or black socks 119 The light blue shirts were replaced by a royal blue version in around 1912 120 In the 1960s Chelsea manager Tommy Docherty changed the kit again switching to blue shorts which have remained ever since and white socks believing it made the club s colours more modern and distinctive since no other major side used that combination this kit was first worn during the 1964 65 season 121 Since then Chelsea have always worn white socks with their home kit apart from a short spell from 1985 to 1992 when blue socks were reintroduced Chelsea s away colours are usually all yellow or all white with blue trim More recently the club have had a number of black or dark blue away kits which alternate every year 122 As with most teams they have also had some more unusual ones At Docherty s behest in the 1966 FA Cup semi final they wore blue and black stripes based on Inter Milan s kit 123 In the mid 1970s the away strip was a red white and green kit inspired by the Hungarian national side of the 1950s 124 Other away kits include an all jade strip worn from 1986 to 1989 red and white diamonds from 1990 to 1992 graphite and tangerine from 1994 to 1996 and luminous yellow from 2007 to 2008 122 The graphite and tangerine strip has appeared in lists of the worst football kits ever 125 Songs and fan chants 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 squad singing it reached number five in the UK Singles Chart 126 The song has since been adopted by a number of other sports teams around the world including the Vancouver Whitecaps as White is the Colour 127 and the Saskatchewan Roughriders as Green is the Colour 128 Chelsea released the song No One Can Stop Us Now in 1994 for reaching the 1994 FA Cup Final It reached number 23 in the UK Singles Chart 129 In the build up to the 1997 FA Cup Final the song Blue Day performed by Suggs and members of the Chelsea squad reached number 22 in the UK charts 130 In 2000 Chelsea released the song Blue Tomorrow It reached number 22 in the UK Singles Chart 129 At matches Chelsea fans sing chants such as Carefree to the tune of Lord of the Dance whose lyrics were probably written by supporter Mick Greenaway 131 132 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 midfielder Cesc Fabregas at the 2007 League Cup Final 133 Popular fan chants include Super Chelsea Super Frank dedicated to all time leading goal scorer Frank Lampard We love you Chelsea and Come on Chelsea There also some situation specific or team specific cheats meant to rile up option teams managers or players 134 Support Chelsea fans at a match against Tottenham Hotspur on 11 March 2006 Chelsea are among the most widely supported football clubs in the world 135 136 They have the sixth highest average attendance in the history of English football 137 and regularly attract over 40 000 fans to Stamford Bridge they were the seventh best supported Premier League team in the 2013 14 season with an average gate of 41 572 138 Chelsea s traditional fanbase comes from all over the Greater London area including working class parts such as Hammersmith and Battersea wealthier areas like Chelsea and Kensington and from the home counties There are also numerous official supporters clubs in the United Kingdom and all over the world 139 Between 2007 and 2012 Chelsea were ranked fourth worldwide in annual replica kit sales with an average of 910 000 140 As of 2018 Chelsea had 72 2 million followers on social media the fourth highest among football clubs 141 During the 1970s and 1980s in particular Chelsea supporters were associated with football hooliganism The club s football firm originally known as the Chelsea Shed Boys and subsequently as the Chelsea Headhunters were nationally notorious for football violence alongside hooligan firms from other clubs such as West Ham United s Inter City Firm and Millwall s Bushwackers before during and after matches 142 The increase of hooligan incidents in the 1980s led chairman Ken Bates to propose erecting an electric fence to deter them from invading the pitch a proposal that the Greater London Council rejected 143 Since the 1990s there has been a marked decline in crowd trouble at matches as a result of stricter policing CCTV in grounds and the advent of all seater stadia 144 In 2007 the club launched the Back to the Shed campaign to improve the atmosphere at home matches with notable 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 145 Rivalries Main articles Arsenal F C Chelsea F C rivalry Chelsea F C Tottenham Hotspur F C rivalry West London derbies and Chelsea F C Leeds United F C rivalry Chelsea have long standing rivalries with North London clubs Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur 146 147 A strong rivalry with Leeds United dates back to several heated and controversial matches in the 1960s and 1970s particularly the 1970 FA Cup Final 148 More recently a rivalry with Liverpool has grown following repeated clashes in cup competitions 149 150 Chelsea s fellow West London sides Brentford Fulham and Queens Park Rangers are not considered major rivals as matches have only taken place intermittently due to the clubs often being in separate divisions 151 A 2004 survey by Planetfootball com found that Chelsea fans consider their main rivalries to be with in descending order Arsenal Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United In the same survey fans of Arsenal Fulham Leeds United QPR Tottenham and West Ham United named Chelsea as one of their three main rivals 152 In a 2008 poll conducted by the Football Fans Census Chelsea fans named Liverpool Arsenal and Manchester United as their most disliked clubs In the same survey Chelsea was the top answer to the question Which other English club do you dislike the most 153 A 2012 survey conducted among 1 200 supporters of the top four league divisions across the country found that many clubs main rivals had changed since 2003 and reported that Chelsea fans consider Tottenham to be their main 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 154 RecordsFurther information List of Chelsea F C records and statistics Frank Lampard is Chelsea s all time highest goalscorer Chelsea s highest appearance maker is ex captain Ron Harris who played in 795 competitive games for the club between 1961 and 1980 155 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 capped international player Every starting player in Chelsea s 57 games of the 2013 14 season was a full international a new club record 156 Lampard is Chelsea s all time top goalscorer having scored 211 goals in 648 games 2001 2014 155 he passed Bobby Tambling s longstanding record of 202 in May 2013 157 Eight other players have also 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 club record for the most goals scored in one season 43 in 1960 61 158 While a Chelsea player Greaves also became the youngest ever player to score 100 goals in the English top flight at 20 years and 290 days 159 Chelsea s biggest winning scoreline in a competitive match is 13 0 achieved against Jeunesse Hautcharage in the Cup Winners Cup in 1971 160 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 161 Chelsea s biggest loss was an 8 1 reverse against Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1953 162 163 The club s 21 0 aggregate victory over Jeunesse Hautcharage in the UEFA Cup Winners Cup in 1971 is also a record in European competition 164 Officially Chelsea s highest home attendance is 82 905 for a First Division match against Arsenal on 12 October 1935 However an estimated crowd of over 100 000 attended a friendly match against Soviet team Dynamo Moscow on 13 November 1945 165 166 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 consecutive league matches at home without defeat beating the previous record of 63 matches unbeaten set by Liverpool between 1978 and 1980 167 168 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 season 25 both set during the 2004 05 season 169 and the most consecutive clean sheets from the start of a league season 6 set during the 2005 06 season 170 Chelsea s streak of eleven consecutive away league wins set between 5 April 2008 and 6 December 2008 is a record for the English top flight 171 Chelsea are the only Premier League side to win their opening nine league games of the season doing so in 2005 06 172 173 From 2009 to 2013 Chelsea were unbeaten in a record 29 consecutive FA Cup matches excluding penalty shoot outs 174 On 25 August 1928 Chelsea along with Arsenal became the first club to play with shirt numbers in their match against Swansea Town 175 They were the first English side to travel by aeroplane to a domestic away match when they visited Newcastle United on 19 April 1957 176 and the first First Division side to play a match on a Sunday when they faced Stoke City on 27 January 1974 On 26 December 1999 Chelsea became the first British side to field an entirely foreign starting line up no British or Irish players in a Premier League match against Southampton 177 In May 2007 Chelsea were the first team to win the FA Cup at the new Wembley Stadium having also been the last to win it at the old Wembley 178 They were the first English club to be ranked No 1 under UEFA s five year coefficient system in the 21st century 179 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 41 Chelsea are the only London club to win the UEFA Champions League 180 181 Upon winning the 2012 13 UEFA Europa League Chelsea became the first English club to win all four UEFA club trophies and the only club to hold the Champions League and the Europa League at the same time 182 Chelsea have twice broken the record for the highest transfer fee paid by a British club 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 183 184 The club s 50 million purchase of Fernando Torres from Liverpool in January 2011 185 held the record until Angel Di Maria signed for Manchester United in August 2014 for 59 7 million 186 The club s 71 million purchase of Kepa Arrizabalaga in August 2018 remains a world record fee paid for a goalkeeper 187 On the 12 February 2022 Chelsea became the first London club to win FIFA Club World Cup against Palmeiras with Kai Havertz scoring a late penalty 188 Ownership and finances Todd Boehly one of the co owners of Chelsea Chelsea Football Club were founded by Gus Mears in 1905 After his death in 1912 his descendants continued to own the club until 1982 when Ken Bates bought the club from Mears great nephew Brian Mears for 1 Bates bought a controlling stake in the club and floated Chelsea on the AIM stock exchange in March 1996 26 In the mid 1990s Chelsea fan and businessman Matthew Harding became a director and loaned the club 26 million to build the new North Stand and invest in new players 29 In July 2003 Roman Abramovich purchased just over 50 of Chelsea Village plc s share capital including Bates 29 5 stake for 30 million and over the following weeks bought out most of the remaining 12 000 shareholders at 35 pence per share completing a 140 million takeover Other shareholders at the time of the takeover included the Matthew Harding estate 21 BSkyB 9 9 and various anonymous offshore trusts 189 At the time of the Abramovich takeover the club also had debts of around 100 million which included a ten year 75 million Eurobond taken out in 1997 by the Bates regime to buy the freehold of Stamford Bridge and finance the redevelopment of the stadium The 9 interest on the loan cost the club around 7 million a year and according to Bruce Buck Chelsea were struggling to pay an instalment due in July 2003 190 Abramovich paid off some of that debt immediately but the outstanding 36 million on the Eurobond was not fully repaid until 2008 191 Since then the club had no external debt 192 Abramovich changed the ownership name to Chelsea FC plc whose ultimate parent company was Fordstam Limited which was controlled by him 193 Chelsea were additionally funded by Abramovich via interest free 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 194 195 although the debt remained with Fordstam 196 Chelsea did not turn a profit in the first nine years of Abramovich s ownership and made record losses of 140m in June 2005 38 In November 2012 Chelsea announced a profit of 1 4 million for the year ending 30 June 2012 the first time the club had made a profit under Abramovich s ownership 38 49 This was followed by a loss in 2013 and then their highest ever profit of 18 4 million for the year to June 2014 50 In 2018 Chelsea announced a record after tax profit of 62 million 51 Chelsea have been described as a global brand a 2012 report by Brand Finance ranked Chelsea fifth among football brands and valued the club s brand value at US 398 million an increase of 27 from the previous year also valuing them at US 10 million more than the sixth best brand London rivals Arsenal and gave the brand a strength rating of AA very strong 197 198 In 2016 Forbes magazine ranked Chelsea the seventh most valuable football club in the world at 1 15 billion 1 66 billion 199 As of 2016 update Chelsea are ranked eighth in the Deloitte Football Money League with an annual commercial revenue of 322 59 million 200 As of May 2022 Chelsea are still ranked at the 8th according to Forbes 201 While also being ranked 8th by Deloitte with an annual commercial revenue of 493 1 million 202 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 203 On 26 February 2022 during the Russo Ukrainian War Abramovich handed over stewardship and care of Chelsea FC to the Chelsea Charitable Foundation 204 Abramovich released an official statement on 2 March 2022 confirming that he is selling the club due to the ongoing situation in Ukraine 205 Although the UK government froze Abramovich s assets in United Kingdom on 10 March due to his close ties with Kremlin it was made clear that the Chelsea club will be allowed to operate in terms of activities which are football related 206 On 12 March the Premier League disqualified Abramovich as a director of Chelsea Football Club 207 On 19 March 2022 there were five confirmed bids to acquire Chelsea FC submitted to Raine Capital who were handling the sale of the club Some of these were a consortium led by ex Liverpool chairman Sir Martin Broughton a group of investors led by the Ricketts family among them Joe and Pete Ricketts Swiss and American businessmans Hansjorg Wyss and Todd Boehly Aethel Partners headed by Portuguese Ricardo Santos Silva and British multi millionaire businessman Nick Candy supported by former Chelsea striker Gianluca Vialli 208 On 7 May the club finally confirmed that terms have been agreed for a new ownership group led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital 209 On 30 May it was confirmed that a consortium led by Boehly and Clearlake Capital have completed the purchase of the club 210 The consortium also includes Wyss and Mark Walter as well Walter and Boehly are also owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Sparks The transaction had received all necessary approvals from The Governments of the United Kingdom and Portugal The Premier League and other authorities 211 212 Sponsorship Chelsea s kit 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 213 This deal was again extended in June 2013 in a deal worth 300 million over another ten years 214 In May 2016 Adidas announced that by mutual agreement the kit sponsorship would end six years early on 30 June 2017 215 Chelsea had to pay 40m in compensation to Adidas In October 2016 Nike was announced as the new kit sponsor in a deal worth 900m over 15 years until 2032 216 Previously the kit 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 first shirt sponsor was Gulf Air agreed during the 1983 84 season The club were then sponsored by Grange Farms Bai Lin Tea and Simod before a long term deal was signed with Commodore International in 1989 Amiga an offshoot of Commodore also 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 15 217 218 and Yokohama Tyres 2015 20 From July 2020 Chelsea s sponsor was Three 219 however they temporarily suspended their sponsorship in March 2022 in response to sanctions leveled by the UK Government against Abramovich 220 They restored their sponsorship after the change of ownership of the club 221 Following the introduction of sleeve sponsors in the Premier League Chelsea had Alliance Tyres as their first sleeve sponsor in the 2017 18 season 222 Followed by Hyundai Motor Company in 2018 19 season 223 Starting in 2022 23 season Amber Group became the new sleeve sponsor with the flagship digital asset platform WhaleFin appearing on the kit s sleeves of both men s and women s teams 224 The club also has a variety of other sponsors and official partners which include Cadbury EA Sports GO Markets Hublot Levy Restaurants MSC Cruises Parimatch Singha Trivago and Zapp 225 Kit suppliers and shirt sponsors Period Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor chest Shirt sponsor sleeve 1975 1981 Umbro 1981 1983 Le Coq Sportif1983 1984 Gulf Air1984 1986 1986 1987 Bai Lin Tea Simod1987 1993 Umbro Commodore1993 1994 Amiga1994 1997 Coors1997 2001 Autoglass2001 2005 Emirates2005 2006 Samsung2006 2015 Adidas2015 2017 Yokohama Tyres2017 2018 Nike Alliance Tire Company2018 2020 Hyundai2020 2022 Three2022 WhaleFinPopular culture 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 226 One time Chelsea centre forward Jack Cock who by then was playing for Millwall was the star of the film and several scenes were shot at Stamford Bridge including on the pitch the boardroom and the dressing rooms It included guest appearances by then Chelsea players Andrew Wilson George Mills and Sam Millington 227 Owing to the notoriety of the Chelsea Headhunters a football firm associated with the club Chelsea have also featured in films about football hooliganism including 2004 s The Football Factory 228 Chelsea also appear in the Hindi film Jhoom Barabar Jhoom 229 In April 2011 Montenegrin comedy series Nijesmo mi od juce made an episode in which Chelsea play against FK Sutjeska Niksic for qualification of the UEFA Champions League 230 Up until the 1950s the club had a long running association with the music halls their underachievement often provided material for comedians such as George Robey 231 It culminated in comedian Norman Long s release of a comic song in 1933 ironically titled On the Day That Chelsea Went and Won the Cup the lyrics of which describe a series of bizarre and improbable occurrences on the hypothetical day when Chelsea finally won a trophy 12 In Alfred Hitchcock s 1935 film The 39 Steps Mr Memory claims that Chelsea last won the Cup in 63 BC in the presence of the Emperor Nero 232 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 233 PlayersFirst team squad As of 11 January 2023 234 Note Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules Players may hold more than one non FIFA nationality No Pos Nation Player1 GK ESP Kepa Arrizabalaga4 DF FRA Benoit Badiashile5 MF ITA Jorginho vice captain 6 DF BRA Thiago Silva7 MF FRA N Golo Kante8 MF CRO Mateo Kovacic9 FW GAB Pierre Emerick Aubameyang10 FW USA Christian Pulisic11 FW POR Joao Felix on loan from Atletico Madrid 12 MF ENG Ruben Loftus Cheek13 GK ENG Marcus Bettinelli14 DF ENG Trevoh Chalobah16 GK SEN Edouard Mendy17 FW ENG Raheem Sterling18 FW ALB Armando Broja19 MF ENG Mason Mount20 MF SUI Denis Zakaria on loan from Juventus No Pos Nation Player21 DF ENG Ben Chilwell22 FW MAR Hakim Ziyech23 MF ENG Conor Gallagher24 DF ENG Reece James26 DF SEN Kalidou Koulibaly27 FW CIV David Datro Fofana28 DF ESP Cesar Azpilicueta captain 29 FW GER Kai Havertz30 MF ENG Carney Chukwuemeka32 DF ESP Marc Cucurella33 DF FRA Wesley Fofana36 GK USA Gabriel Slonina42 DF ENG Bashir Humphreys56 MF JAM Omari Hutchinson67 MF ENG Lewis Hall MF BRA Andrey SantosOut on loan Note Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules Players may hold more than one non FIFA nationality No Pos Nation Player DF ENG Henry Lawrence at Milton Keynes Dons until 30 June 2023 DF NIR Sam McClelland at Barrow until 30 June 2023 DF FRA Malang Sarr at Monaco until 30 June 2023 DF NED Ian Maatsen at Burnley until 30 June 2023 FW NOR Bryan Fiabema at Forest Green Rovers until 30 June 2023 DF ENG Levi Colwill at Brighton amp Hove Albion until 30 June 2023 GK ENG Nathan Baxter at Hull City until 30 June 2023 DF ENG Dujon Sterling at Stoke City until 30 June 2023 GK FIN Lucas Bergstrom at Peterborough United until 30 June 2023 MF ENG Harvey Vale at Hull City until 30 June 2023 No Pos Nation Player DF WAL Ethan Ampadu at Spezia until 30 June 2023 GK USA Ethan Wady at Woking until 30 June 2023 GK ENG Jamie Cumming at Milton Keynes Dons until 30 June 2023 DF GHA Baba Rahman at Reading until 30 June 2023 MF ENG Tino Anjorin at Huddersfield Town until 30 June 2023 MF FRA Tiemoue Bakayoko at AC Milan until 30 June 2023 MF ENG Xavier Simons at Hull City until 30 June 2023 FW ENG Callum Hudson Odoi at Bayer Leverkusen until 30 June 2023 FW BEL Romelu Lukaku at Inter Milan until 30 June 2023 FW ENG Jayden Wareham at Leyton Orient until 30 June 2023 Development Squad and Academy Main article Chelsea F C Development Squad and AcademyList of Development Squad and Academy players with first team appearances Note Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules Players may hold more than one non FIFA nationality No Pos Nation Player61 FW ENG Jude Soonsup BellPlayer of the Year Year Winner1967 Peter Bonetti1968 Charlie Cooke1969 David Webb1970 John Hollins1971 John Hollins1972 David Webb1973 Peter Osgood1974 Gary Locke1975 Charlie Cooke1976 Ray Wilkins1977 Ray Wilkins1978 Micky Droy1979 Tommy Langley1980 Clive Walker Year Winner1981 Petar Borota1982 Mike Fillery1983 Joey Jones1984 Pat Nevin1985 David Speedie1986 Eddie Niedzwiecki1987 Pat Nevin1988 Tony Dorigo1989 Graham Roberts1990 Ken Monkou1991 Andy Townsend1992 Paul Elliott1993 Frank Sinclair1994 Steve Clarke Year Winner1995 Erland Johnsen1996 Ruud Gullit1997 Mark Hughes1998 Dennis Wise1999 Gianfranco Zola2000 Dennis Wise2001 John Terry2002 Carlo Cudicini2003 Gianfranco Zola2004 Frank Lampard2005 Frank Lampard2006 John Terry2007 Michael Essien2008 Joe Cole Year Winner2009 Frank Lampard2010 Didier Drogba2011 Petr Cech2012 Juan Mata2013 Juan Mata2014 Eden Hazard2015 Eden Hazard2016 Willian2017 Eden Hazard2018 N Golo Kante2019 Eden Hazard2020 Mateo Kovacic2021 Mason Mount2022 Mason MountSource Chelsea F C Former players Further information List of Chelsea F C players List of Chelsea F C players 25 99 appearances List of Chelsea F C players 1 24 appearances and Category Chelsea F C playersManagementCoaching staff Position StaffHead coach Graham PotterAssistant coach Anthony BarryFirst Team coaches Billy Reid Bjorn Hamberg Bruno SaltorGoalkeeper coach Henrique Hilario Ben RobertsAssistant goalkeeper coach James RussellFitness coaches Matt Birnie Will TullettLoan technical coaches Carlo Cudicini Andy MyersTechnical mentor Claude MakeleleHead of youth development Neil BathDevelopment squad head coach Mark RobinsonUnder 18 s head coach Ed BrandDevelopment squad assistant Jon HarleyDevelopment squad assistant Jack MesureUnder 18 s assistant Andy RossRecruitment Kyle MacaulaySource Chelsea F C Notable managers Further information List of Chelsea F C managers The following managers won at least one trophy when in charge of Chelsea Name Period Trophies Ted Drake 1952 1961 First Division Championship Charity Shield Tommy Docherty 1962 1967 League Cup Dave Sexton 1967 1974 FA Cup UEFA Cup Winners Cup John Neal 1981 1985 Second Division Championship John Hollins 1985 1988 Full Members Cup Bobby Campbell 1988 1991 Second Division Championship Full Members Cup Ruud Gullit 1996 1998 FA Cup Gianluca Vialli 1998 2000 FA Cup League Cup Charity Shield UEFA Cup Winners Cup UEFA Super Cup Jose Mourinho 2004 20072013 2015 3 Premier Leagues 3 League Cups FA Cup Community Shield Guus Hiddink 20092015 2016 FA Cup Carlo Ancelotti 2009 2011 Premier League FA Cup Community Shield Roberto Di Matteo 2012 FA Cup UEFA Champions League Rafael Benitez 2012 2013 UEFA Europa League Antonio Conte 2016 2018 Premier League FA Cup Maurizio Sarri 2018 2019 UEFA Europa League Thomas Tuchel 2021 2022 UEFA Champions League UEFA Super Cup FIFA Club World CupClub personnel Position NameChairman Todd BoehlyLife President Lord Attenborough 1923 2014 Directors Behdad Eghbali Jose E Feliciano Mark Walter Hansjorg Wyss Jonathan Goldstein Barbara Charone Daniel Finkelstein James PadeDirector of Football Operations David BarnardSporting Director Todd Boehly interim Club Ambassador Carlo CudiciniSource Chelsea F C HonoursMain article List of Chelsea F C records and statistics 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 235 Chelsea FC honours Type Competition Titles SeasonsDomestic First Division Premier League nb 1 6 1954 55 2004 05 2005 06 2009 10 2014 15 2016 17Second Division nb 1 2 1983 84 1988 89FA Cup 8 1969 70 1996 97 1999 2000 2006 07 2008 09 2009 10 2011 12 2017 18Football League Cup EFL Cup 5 1964 65 1997 98 2004 05 2006 07 2014 15FA Charity Shield FA Community Shield 4 1955 2000 2005 2009Continental European Cup UEFA Champions League 2 2011 12 2020 21UEFA Cup UEFA Europa League 2 2012 13 2018 19UEFA Cup Winners Cup 2 1970 71 1997 98UEFA Super Cup 2 1998 2021Worldwide FIFA Club World Cup 1 2021 Diego Costa and John Terry holding the League Cup after Chelsea s victory in 2015 record s shared recordDoubles League and FA Cup 2009 10 League and League Cup 2004 05 2014 15 League Cup and European Cup Winners Cup 1997 98 Didier Drogba holding the Champions League trophy after Chelsea s victory in 2012FA Cup and League Cup 2006 07 FA Cup and UEFA Champions League 2011 12UEFA club coefficient rankingMain article UEFA coefficient Men s Club coefficient Rank Team Points1 Manchester City 131 02 Bayern Munich 130 03 Liverpool 123 04 Chelsea 123 05 Paris Saint Germain 112 0As of 3 November 2022 236 Chelsea WomenFurther information Chelsea F C Women Chelsea also operate a women s football team Chelsea Football Club Women formerly known as Chelsea Ladies They have been affiliated to the men s team since 2004 237 and are part of the club s Community Development programme They play their home games at Kingsmeadow formerly the home ground of the EFL League Two club AFC Wimbledon The club were promoted to the Premier Division for the first time in 2005 as Southern Division champions and won the Surrey County Cup nine times between 2003 and 2013 238 In 2010 Chelsea Ladies were one of the eight founder members of the FA Women s Super League 239 In 2015 Chelsea Ladies won the FA Women s Cup for the first time beating Notts County Ladies at Wembley Stadium 240 and a month later clinched their first FA WSL title to complete a league and cup double 241 In 2018 they won a second league and FA Cup double 242 Two years later in 2020 they repeated their double success by winning the third league title and the FA Women s League Cup for the first time 243 244 In the 2020 21 season Chelsea won a domestic treble by winning the league FA Cup and League Cup 245 They also reached the final of the UEFA Women s Champions League for the first time losing to Barcelona 4 0 246 John Terry former captain of the Chelsea men s team is the President of Chelsea Women 247 Notes a b Upon its formation in 1992 the Premier League became the top tier of English football the Football League First and Second Divisions then became the second and third tiers respectively From 2004 the First Division became the Championship and the Second Division became League One Footnotes a b Team History Introduction chelseafc com Chelsea FC Archived from the original on 27 May 2011 Retrieved 11 May 2011 General Club Information site chelseafc com Premier League Handbook 2020 21 PDF Premier League p 12 Archived PDF from the original on 12 April 2021 Retrieved 12 April 2021 Ziegler Martyn Lawton Matt 7 June 2022 Chelsea s new owners yet to decide if Bruce Buck and Marina Granovskaia will stay as directors The Times London General Club Information ChelseaFC com 18 January 2018 Retrieved 31 May 2021 Five interesting facts about Chelsea s Champions League triumph Chelsea FC 31 May 2021 Retrieved 11 June 2021 Ozanian Mike The World s Most Valuable Soccer Teams 2018 Forbes Archived from the original on 12 June 2018 Retrieved 12 June 2018 Deloitte Football Money League 2022 Deloitte United Kingdom Retrieved 30 May 2022 Glanvill Rick 2006 Chelsea FC The Official Biography p 55 The Birth of a Club Chelsea FC 30 September 2004 Archived from the original on 18 December 2015 Retrieved 16 December 2015 Team History 1905 29 chelseafc com Chelsea FC Archived from the original on 18 July 2011 Retrieved 23 April 2014 a b Glanville Brian 10 January 2004 Little sign of change for Chelsea and their impossible dreams The Times UK Archived from the original on 26 September 2011 Retrieved 15 March 2009 registration required EFS Attendances www european football statistics co uk Archived from the original on 1 May 2019 Retrieved 22 April 2021 Historical attendances European Football Statistics 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