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Chelsea

Full name	Chelsea Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Blues, The Pensioners[1]
Short name	CFC, CHE
Founded	10 March 1905; 113 years ago (1905-03-10)[2]
Ground	Stamford Bridge
Capacity	40,853[3]
Coordinates	51°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
Owner	Roman Abramovich
Chairman	Bruce Buck
Manager	Maurizio Sarri
League	Premier League
2017–18	Premier League, 5th of 20
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Chelsea Football Club is a professional football club based in London, England, that competes in the Premier League, the highest tier of English football. The club has won eight League titles, eight FA Cups, five League Cups, four FA Community Shields, two UEFA Cup Winners' Cups, one UEFA Champions League, one UEFA Europa League, and one UEFA Super Cup.^[4][5][6]

Founded in 1905, the club's home ground since then has been Stamford Bridge.^[7] Chelsea won its only First Division title in 1955, but saw limited success in various cup competitions until 2003, when the club was purchased by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.^[8] Chelsea then saw heavy investment, and have since won eighteen honours under Abramovich.^[9]

José Mourinho is the club's most successful manager in terms of the number of major honours won, and his title-winning team set an English record for points between 2004 and 2005.^{[note 1]} Chelsea have traditionally wore a royal blue kit with white socks, and the club's crest features a ceremonial lion rampant regardant holding a staff.^[10] The club have rivalries with neighbouring clubs Fulham, Arsenal, and Tottenham Hotspur.

In terms of club value, Chelsea are the seventh most valuable football club in the world, worth £1.54 billion ($2.06 billion), and are the eighth highest-earning football club in the world, with earnings of over €428 million in the 2017–18 season.^[11][12] Based on attendance figures, the club have the sixth-largest fanbase in England.^[13]

History

The first Chelsea team in September 1905

In 1904, Gus Mears acquired the Stamford Bridge athletics stadium with the aim of turning it into a football ground. An offer to lease it to nearby Fulham 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.^[14] Chelsea were founded on 10 March 1905 at The Rising Sun pub (now The Butcher's Hook),^[2][15] opposite the present-day main entrance to the ground on Fulham Road, and were elected to the Football League shortly afterwards.

The club 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.^[16] Chelsea attracted large crowds^[17] and had a reputation for signing big-name players,^[18] but success continued to elude the club in the inter-war years.

Former Arsenal and England centre-forward Ted Drake became 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 and the FA Chelsea were persuaded to withdraw from the competition before it started.^[19] 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.

Chart showing the progress of Chelsea's league finishes from 1906 to the present

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.^[20] 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. Chelsea took their first European honour, a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup triumph, the following year, with another replayed win, this time over Real Madrid in Athens.

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,^[21] 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.^[22] In 1982, Chelsea were, at the nadir of their fortunes, acquired by Ken Bates for the nominal sum of £1, although by now the Stamford Bridge freehold had been sold to property developers, meaning the club faced losing their home.^[23] 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, before being relegated again in 1988. The club bounced back immediately by winning the Second Division championship in 1988–89.

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

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.^[24] Chelsea's form in the new Premier League was unconvincing, although they did reach the 1994 FA Cup Final with Glenn Hoddle. It was not until the appointment of Ruud Gullit as player-manager in 1996 that their fortunes changed. He added several top international players to the side, as the club won the FA Cup in 1997 and established themselves as one of England's top sides again. Gullit was replaced by Gianluca Vialli, who led the team to victory in the League Cup Final, the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final and the UEFA Super Cup in 1998, the FA Cup in 2000 and 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.

In July 2003, Bates sold Chelsea to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich for £140 million.^[8] Over £100 million was spent on new players, but Ranieri was unable to deliver any trophies,^[25] and was replaced by José Mourinho.^[26] 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),^[27] 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,^[28] who led the club to their first UEFA Champions League final, which they lost on penalties to Manchester United.

Luiz Felipe Scolari took over from Grant, but was sacked after 7 months following poor results. Guus Hiddink then took over the club on an interim basis while continuing to manage the Russian national football team. Hiddink guided Chelsea to another FA Cup success,^[29] after which he left the club to return full-time to the Russian managerial position. In 2009–10, his successor Carlo Ancelotti led them to their first Premier League and FA Cup Double", the team becoming the first English top-flight club to score 100 league goals in a season since 1963.^[30] In 2012, caretaker manager Roberto Di Matteo led Chelsea to their seventh FA Cup,^[31] and their first UEFA Champions League title, beating Bayern Munich 4–3 on penalties,^[32] the first London club to win the trophy.^[32] In 2013, interim manager Rafael Benítez guided Chelsea to win the UEFA Europa League against Benfica,^[33] helping them become the first club to hold two major European titles simultaneously and one of five clubs, and the first British club followed by Manchester United, to have won all three of UEFA's major club competitions.^[34] In the summer of 2013, Mourinho returned as manager, leading Chelsea to League Cup success in March 2015,^[35] and their fifth league title two months later.^[36] Mourinho was removed after four months of the following season, with the club having lost 9 of their first 16 games and sitting only one point above the relegation zone.^[37]Two years later, under new coach Antonio Conte, Chelsea won its sixth English title.^[38]

Stadium

Stamford Bridge, West Stand

Chelsea have only had one home ground, Stamford Bridge, where they have played since the team's foundation. It was officially opened on 28 April 1877 and for the first 28 years of its existence it was used almost exclusively by the London Athletic Club as an arena for athletics meetings and not at all for football. In 1904 the ground was acquired by businessman Gus Mears and his brother Joseph, who had 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.^[39] 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.^[40] 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 covered terrace, Stamford Bridge had an original capacity of around 100,000.^[39] 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. It eventually became known as the "Shed End", the home of Chelsea's most loyal and vocal supporters, particularly during the 1960s, 70s and 80s. The exact origins of the name are unclear, but the fact that the roof looked like a corrugated iron shed roof played a part.^[39]

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.^[39] Work began on the East Stand in 1972 but the project was beset with problems and was never completed; the cost brought the club close to bankruptcy, culminating in the freehold being sold to property developers. Following a long legal battle, it was not until the mid-1990s that Chelsea's future at the stadium was secured and renovation work resumed.^[39] 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.

When Stamford Bridge was redeveloped in the Bates era many additional features were added to the complex including two 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".

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

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.^[41]
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.^[42] The new training facilities in Cobham were completed in 2007.^[43]

Stamford Bridge has been used for a variety of other sporting events since 1905. It hosted the FA Cup Final from 1920 to 1922,^[44] 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.^[45] The 2013 UEFA Women's Champions League Final was played at Stamford Bridge.^[46]

View from the West Stand of Stamford Bridge during a Champions League game, 2008

In October 1905 it hosted a rugby union match between the All Blacks and Middlesex,^[47] and in 1914 hosted a baseball match between the touring New York Giants and the Chicago White Sox.^[48] It was the venue for a boxing match between world flyweight champion Jimmy Wilde and Joe Conn in 1918.^[49] The running track was used for dirt track racing between 1928 and 1932,^[50]greyhound racing from 1933 to 1968, and Midget car racing in 1948.^[51] In 1980, Stamford Bridge hosted the first international floodlit cricket match in the UK, between Essex and the West Indies.^[52] It was also the home stadium of the London Monarchs American Football team for the 1997 season.^[53]

The current club ownership have stated 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.^[54] Owing to its location next to a main road and two railway lines, fans can only enter the ground via the Fulham Road exits, which places constraints on expansion due to health and safety regulations.^[55] The club have consistently affirmed their desire to keep Chelsea at their current home,^[56][57][58] 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.^[59] 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.^[60] 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,^[61] but lost out to a Malaysian consortium.^[62] The club subsequently announced plans to redevelop Stamford Bridge into a 60,000-seater stadium.^[63]
On 11 January 2017 it was announced that the stadium was given the go ahead from Hammersmith and Fulham council for the new 60,000 stadium to be built.^[64][65]
However, on 31 May 2018, the club released a statement via their website stating that "Chelsea Football Club announces today that it has put its new stadium project on hold. No further pre-construction design and planning work will occur." The statement went on to elaborate that "The decision was made due to the current unfavourable investment climate."^[66]

Crest and colours

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.^[67] 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^[68] 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.^[67] This was the first Chelsea crest to appear on the shirts, in the early 1960s.

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.^[69] 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.^[70] 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.^[10]

Colours

Chelsea's first home colours, used from 1905 until c. 1912

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.^[71] The light blue shirts were replaced by a royal blue version in around 1912.^[72] 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.^[73] 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.^[74] 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.^[75] In the mid-1970s, the away strip was a red, white and green kit inspired by the Hungarian national side of the 1950s.^[76] Other memorable away kits include an all jade strip worn from 1986–89, red and white diamonds from 1990–92, graphite and tangerine from 1994–96, and luminous yellow from 2007–08.^[74] The graphite and tangerine strip often appears in lists of the worst football kits ever.^[77]

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.^[78][79] They have the sixth highest average all-time attendance in English football^[13] 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.^[80] 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.^[81] Between 2007 and 2012, Chelsea were ranked fourth worldwide in annual replica kit sales, with an average of 910,000.^[82] Chelsea's official Twitter account has 9.8 million followers as of September 2017^[update].^[83]

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^[84][85]), "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", with the latter often resulting in fans ritually throwing celery. The vegetable was banned inside Stamford Bridge after an incident involving Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fàbregas at the 2007 League Cup Final.^[86]
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.^[87] 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.^[88]

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.^[89] 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.^[90]

Rivalries

Chelsea have long-standing rivalries with North London clubs Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.^[91][92] 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.^[93] More recently a rivalry with Liverpool has grown following repeated clashes in cup competitions.^[94][95] Chelsea's fellow West London sides Brentford, Fulham and Queens Park Rangers are generally not considered major rivals, as matches have only taken place intermittently due to the clubs often being in separate divisions.^[96]

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.^[97] 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?"^[98]

A 2012 survey, conducted among 1200 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 rival, above Arsenal and Manchester United.^[99]

Records

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.^[100] The record for a Chelsea goalkeeper is held by Harris's contemporary, Peter Bonetti, who made 729 appearances (1959–79). With 103 caps (101 while at the club), Frank Lampard of England is Chelsea's most capped international player.

Frank Lampard is Chelsea's all-time top goalscorer, with 211 goals in 648 games (2001–2014);^[100] he passed Bobby Tambling's longstanding record of 202 in May 2013.^[101] Seven other players have also scored over 100 goals for Chelsea: George Hilsdon (1906–12), George Mills (1929–39), Roy Bentley (1948–56), Jimmy Greaves (1957–61), Peter Osgood (1964–74 and 1978–79), Kerry Dixon (1983–92) and Didier Drogba (2004–12 and 2014–2015). Greaves holds the record for the most goals scored in one season (43 in 1960–61).^[102]

Chelsea's biggest winning scoreline in a competitive match is 13–0, achieved against Jeunesse Hautcharage in the Cup Winners' Cup in 1971.^[103] 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.^[104] Chelsea's biggest loss was an 8–1 reverse against Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1953.^[105][106] 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.^[107][108] The modernisation of Stamford Bridge during the 1990s and the introduction of all-seater stands mean that neither record will be broken for the foreseeable future. The current legal capacity of Stamford Bridge is 41,663.^[7] Every starting player in Chelsea's 57 games of the 2013–14 season was a full international – a new club record.^[109]

Chelsea signed Fernando Torres for £50 million, then the record for a purchase by a British club.

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),^[110] and the most consecutive clean sheets from the start of a league season (6, set during the 2005–06 season).^[111] The club's 21–0 aggregate victory over Jeunesse Hautcharage in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1971 remains a record in European competition.^[112] Chelsea hold the record for the longest streak of unbeaten matches at home in the English top flight, which lasted 86 matches from 20 March 2004 to 26 October 2008. They secured the record on 12 August 2007, beating the previous record of 63 matches unbeaten set by Liverpool between 1978 and 1980.^[113][114] Chelsea's streak of eleven consecutive away league wins, set between 5 April 2008 and 6 December 2008, is also a record for the English top flight.^[115] Their £50 million purchase of Fernando Torres from Liverpool in January 2011 was the record transfer fee paid by a British club^[116] until Ángel Di María signed for Manchester United in August 2014 for £59.7 million.^[117]

Chelsea, along with Arsenal, were the first club to play with shirt numbers, on 25 August 1928 in their match against Swansea Town.^[118] They were the first English side to travel by aeroplane to a domestic away match, when they visited Newcastle United on 19 April 1957,^[119] 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.^[120]

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.^[121] They were the first English club to be ranked No. 1 under UEFA's five-year coefficient system in the 21st century.^[122] They were the first team in Premier League history, and the first team in the English top flight since their great rivals Tottenham Hotspur in 1962–63, to score at least 100 goals in a single season, reaching the milestone on the final day of the 2009–10 season.^[30] Chelsea are the only London club to win the UEFA Champions League, after beating Bayern Munich in the 2012 final.^[4][123] Upon winning the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League, Chelsea became the first English club to win all four European trophies and the only club to hold the Champions League and the Europa League at the same time.^[124]

Ownership and finances

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich

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.^[125] 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.^[126] After passing the 90% share threshold, Abramovich took the club back into private hands, delisting it from the AIM on 22 August 2003. He also took on responsibility for the club's debt of £80 million, quickly paying most of it.^[127]

Thereafter, Abramovich changed the ownership name to Chelsea FC plc, whose ultimate parent company is Fordstam Limited, which is controlled by him.^[128] Chelsea are 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,^[129][130] although the debt remains with Fordstam.^[131] Since 2008 the club have had no external debt.^[132]

Chelsea did not turn a profit in the first nine years of Abramovich's ownership, and made record losses of £140m in June 2005.^[133] 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.^[133][134] This was followed by a loss in 2013 and then their highest ever profit of £18.4 million for the year to June 2014.^[135]

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).^[136][137] In 2016, Forbes magazine ranked Chelsea the seventh most valuable football club in the world, at £1.15 billion ($1.66 billion).^[138] As of 2016^[update], Chelsea are ranked eighth in the Deloitte Football Money League with an annual commercial revenue of £322.59 million.^[139]

Sponsorship

The Sauber F1 Team, an official partner of the club, displaying the Chelsea crest

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.^[140] This deal was again extended in June 2013 in a deal worth £300 million over another ten years.^[141][142] In May 2016, Adidas announced that by mutual agreement, the kit sponsorship would end six years early on 30 June 2017.^[143] 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.^[144] 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) and Samsung (2008–15).^[145][146] Chelsea's current shirt sponsor is the Yokohama Rubber Company. Worth £40 million per year, the deal is second in English football to Chevrolet's £50 million-per-year sponsorship of Manchester United.^[145]

Following the door-opening of sleeve sponsor in the English League, Chelsea had Alliance Tyres as its first sleeve sponsor in the 2017–18 season.^[147] For the 2018–19 season, they have Hyundai Motor Company as the new sleeve sponsor.^[148]

The club has a variety of other sponsors, which include Carabao, Delta Air Lines, Beats by Dre, Singha, EA Sports, Rexona, Hublot, Ericsson, William Hill, Levy Restaurants, Wipro, Grand Royal Whisky, Bangkok Bank, Guangzhou R&F, Mobinil, IndusInd Bank, and Ole777.^[149]

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.^[150] 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.^[151] 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.^[152] Chelsea also appear in the Hindi film Jhoom Barabar Jhoom.^[153] 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.^[154]

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.^[155] 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.^[18] 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."^[156] 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.^[157]

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.^[158] The song has since been adopted as an anthem by a number of other sports teams around the world, including the Vancouver Whitecaps (as "White is the Colour")^[159] and the Saskatchewan Roughriders (as "Green is the Colour").^[160] 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.^[161]

Chelsea 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^[162] and are part of the club's Community Development programme. They play their home games at Kingsmeadow, the home ground of the EFL League One 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.^[163] In 2010 Chelsea Ladies were one of the eight founder members of the FA Women's Super League.^[164] In 2015, Chelsea Ladies won the FA Women's Cup for the first time, beating Notts County Ladies at Wembley Stadium,^[165] and a month later clinched their first FA WSL title to complete a league and cup double.^[166]John Terry, former captain of the Chelsea men's team, is the President of Chelsea Women.^[167]

Players

Current squad

As of 31 January 2019^[168]

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Kepa Arrizabalaga 2 DF Antonio Rüdiger 3 DF Marcos Alonso 5 MF Jorginho 6 MF Danny Drinkwater 7 MF N'Golo Kanté 8 MF Ross Barkley 9 FW Gonzalo Higuaín (on loan from Juventus) 10 FW Eden Hazard 11 FW Pedro 12 MF Ruben Loftus-Cheek 13 GK Willy Caballero 17 MF Mateo Kovačić (on loan from Real Madrid)

No. Position Player 18 FW Olivier Giroud 20 FW Callum Hudson-Odoi 21 DF Davide Zappacosta 22 FW Willian 24 DF Gary Cahill (captain) 27 DF Andreas Christensen 28 DF César Azpilicueta (vice-captain) 30 DF David Luiz 31 GK Robert Green 33 DF Emerson 44 DF Ethan Ampadu — MF Marco van Ginkel

Out on loan

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

No. Position Player GK Nathan Baxter (to Yeovil Town until 30 June 2019) GK Bradley Collins (to Burton Albion until 30 June 2019) GK Eduardo (to Vitesse until 30 June 2019) GK Jared Thompson (to Warrenpoint Town until 30 June 2019) GK Karlo Žiger (to Sutton United until 30 June 2019) DF Ola Aina (to Torino until 30 June 2019) DF Trevoh Chalobah (to Ipswich Town until 30 June 2019) DF Jake Clarke-Salter (to Vitesse until 30 June 2019) DF Fankaty Dabo (to Sparta Rotterdam until 30 June 2019) DF Jay Dasilva (to Bristol City until 30 June 2019) DF Josh Grant (to Yeovil Town until 30 June 2019) DF Michael Hector (to Sheffield Wednesday until 30 June 2019) DF Reece James (to Wigan Athletic until 30 June 2019) DF Tomáš Kalas (to Bristol City until 30 June 2019) DF Todd Kane (to Hull City until 30 June 2019) DF Matt Miazga (to Reading until 30 June 2019) DF Kenneth Omeruo (to Leganés until 30 June 2019) DF Baba Rahman (to Reims until 30 June 2019) DF Dujon Sterling (to Coventry City until 30 June 2019) DF Fikayo Tomori (to Derby County until 30 June 2019) DF Jack Wakely (to Basingstoke Town until 30 June 2019)

No. Position Player DF Kurt Zouma (to Everton until 30 June 2019) MF Victorien Angban (to Metz until 30 June 2019) MF Tiémoué Bakayoko (to Milan until 30 June 2019) MF Lewis Baker (to Reading until 30 June 2019) MF Kylian Hazard (to Cercle Brugge until 30 June 2019) MF Kenedy (to Newcastle United until 30 June 2019) MF Jacob Maddox (to Cheltenham Town until 30 June 2019) MF Victor Moses (to Fenerbahçe until 30 June 2020) MF Mason Mount (to Derby County until 30 June 2019) MF Charly Musonda (to Vitesse until 30 June 2019) MF Nathan (to Atlético Mineiro until 30 June 2019) MF Kasey Palmer (to Bristol City until 30 June 2019) MF Danilo Pantić (to Partizan until 30 June 2019) MF Mario Pašalić (to Atalanta until 30 June 2019) MF Lucas Piazon (to Chievo until 30 June 2019) MF Christian Pulisic (to Borussia Dortmund until 30 June 2019) MF Josimar Quintero (to Lleida Esportiu until 30 June 2019) FW Tammy Abraham (to Aston Villa until 30 June 2019) FW Michy Batshuayi (to Crystal Palace until 30 June 2019) FW Izzy Brown (to Leeds United until 30 June 2019) FW Álvaro Morata (to Atlético Madrid until 30 June 2020)

Under-23s and Academy

Player of the Year

Year Winner 1967 Peter Bonetti 1968 Charlie Cooke 1969 David Webb 1970 John Hollins 1971 John Hollins 1972 David Webb 1973 Peter Osgood 1974 Gary Locke 1975 Charlie Cooke 1976 Ray Wilkins 1977 Ray Wilkins 1978 Micky Droy 1979 Tommy Langley 1980 Clive Walker 1981 Petar Borota

Year Winner 1982 Mike Fillery 1983 Joey Jones 1984 Pat Nevin 1985 David Speedie 1986 Eddie Niedzwiecki 1987 Pat Nevin 1988 Tony Dorigo 1989 Graham Roberts 1990 Ken Monkou 1991 Andy Townsend 1992 Paul Elliott 1993 Frank Sinclair 1994 Steve Clarke 1995 Erland Johnsen 1996 Ruud Gullit

Year Winner 1997 Mark Hughes 1998 Dennis Wise 1999 Gianfranco Zola 2000 Dennis Wise 2001 John Terry 2002 Carlo Cudicini 2003 Gianfranco Zola 2004 Frank Lampard 2005 Frank Lampard 2006 John Terry 2007 Michael Essien 2008 Joe Cole 2009 Frank Lampard 2010 Didier Drogba 2011 Petr Čech

Year Winner 2012 Juan Mata 2013 Juan Mata 2014 Eden Hazard 2015 Eden Hazard 2016 Willian 2017 Eden Hazard 2018 N'Golo Kanté

Source: Chelsea F.C.

Notable 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[nb 1]	FA Cup
Carlo Ancelotti	2009–2011	Premier League, FA Cup, Community Shield
Roberto Di Matteo	2012[nb 2]	FA Cup, UEFA Champions League
Rafael Benítez	2012–2013[nb 3]	UEFA Europa League
Antonio Conte	2016–2018	Premier League, FA Cup

Management team

Maurizio Sarri is Chelsea's current head coach

Position	Staff
Head coach	Maurizio Sarri
Assistant coaches	Gianfranco Zola
	Luca Gotti
	Carlo Cudicini
Second assistant coach	Marco Ianni
Goalkeeper coaches	Massimo Nenci
	Henrique Hilário
Fitness coach	Paolo Bertelli
Assistant fitness coaches	Davide Ranzato
	Davide Losi
Scout	Gianni Picchioni
Head of international scouting	Scott McLachlan
Medical director	Paco Biosca
Loan technical coaches	Eddie Newton
	Paulo Ferreira
	Tore Andre Flo
Loan goalkeeper coach	Christophe Lollichon
Head of youth development	Neil Bath
Development squad manager	Joe Edwards
Under-18's manager	Andy Myers

Source: Chelsea F.C.

Club personnel

Chelsea FC plc is the company which owns Chelsea Football Club. The ultimate parent company of Chelsea FC plc is Fordstam Limited and the ultimate controlling party of Fordstam Limited is Roman Abramovich.^[169]

On 22 October 2014, Chelsea announced that Ron Gourlay, after ten successful years at the club including five as Chief Executive, is leaving Chelsea to pursue new business opportunities.^[170] On 27 October 2014, Chelsea announced that Christian Purslow is joining the club to run global commercial activities and the club do not expect to announce any other senior appointments in the near future having chairman Bruce Buck and Director Marina Granovskaia assumed the executive responsibilities.^[171]Guy Laurence was appointed as the club's Chief Executive on 11 January 2018, filling the vacancy following the departure of Michael Emenalo.^[172]

Chelsea Ltd.

Owner: Roman Abramovich

Chelsea F.C. plc Board^[169]

Chairman: Bruce Buck

Directors: Eugene Tenenbaum, Guy Laurence and Marina Granovskaia^[173][174]

Executive Board^[169]

Chief Executive: Guy Laurence

Club Secretary: David Barnard

Chairman: Bruce Buck

Directors: Eugene Tenenbaum and Marina Granovskaia

Football Club Board: David Barnard, Bruce Buck, Marina Granovskaia, Guy Laurence and Eugene Tenenbaum

Life President

Lord Attenborough (1923–2014)

Vice-Presidents

Peter Digby

Sir Peter Harrison

Joe Hemani

Anthony Reeves

Alan Spence

Club Ambassadors^[175]

Carlo Cudicini

Tore André Flo

Paulo Ferreira

Eddie Newton

Source: Chelsea F.C.

Honours

Upon winning the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League, Chelsea became the fourth club in history to have won the "European Treble" of European Cup/UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League, and European Cup Winners' Cup/UEFA Cup Winners' Cup after Juventus, Ajax and Bayern Munich. Chelsea are the first English club to have won all three major UEFA trophies.^[176]

National competitions

League titles

• 
  First Division/Premier League^{[nb 4]}

Winners (6): 1954–55, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2009–10, 2014–15, 2016–17

• 
  Second Division^{[nb 4]}

Winners: 1983–84, 1988–89

Cups

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

• FA Cup

Winners (8): 1969–70, 1996–97, 1999–2000, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2017–18

• Football League Cup

Winners (5): 1964–65, 1997–98, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2014–15

• 
  FA Community Shield^{[nb 5]}

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

• Full Members' Cup

Winners (2): 1985-86, 1989-90

European competitions

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

• UEFA Champions League

Winners: 2011–12

• UEFA Europa League

Winners: 2012–13

• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

Winners: 1970–71, 1997–98

• UEFA Super Cup

Winners: 1998

Source: Chelsea F.C.

Doubles

• 
  1997–98: League Cup and European Cup Winners' Cup


• 
  2004–05: League and League Cup


• 
  2006–07: FA Cup and League Cup


• 
  2009–10: League and FA Cup


• 
  2011–12: FA Cup and UEFA Champions League


• 
  2014–15: League and League Cup

Notes

Footnotes

See also

• List of Chelsea F.C. records and statistics


• List of Chelsea F.C. players


• List of Chelsea F.C. seasons


• List of Chelsea F.C. managers


• Arsenal F.C.–Chelsea F.C. rivalry


• Chelsea F.C.–Tottenham Hotspur F.C. rivalry


• London derbies

References

• 
  Batty, Clive (2004). Kings of the King's Road: The Great Chelsea Team of the 60s and 70s. Vision Sports Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-0-9546428-1-5.
  


• 
  Batty, Clive (2005). A Serious Case of the Blues: Chelsea in the 80s. Vision Sports Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1-905326-02-0.
  


• 
  Glanvill, Rick (2006). Chelsea FC: The Official Biography – The Definitive Story of the First 100 Years. Headline Book Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7553-1466-9.
  


• 
  Hadgraft, Rob (2004). Chelsea: Champions of England 1954–55. Desert Island Books Limited. ISBN 978-1-874287-77-3.
  


• 
  Harris, Harry (2005). Chelsea's Century. Blake Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84454-110-2.
  


• 
  Ingledew, John (2006). And Now Are You Going to Believe Us: Twenty-five Years Behind the Scenes at Chelsea FC. John Blake Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84454-247-5.
  


• 
  Matthews, Tony (2005). Who's Who of Chelsea. Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84596-010-0.
  


• 
  Mears, Brian (2004). Chelsea: A 100-year History. Mainstream Sport. ISBN 978-1-84018-823-3.
  


• 
  Mears, Brian (2002). Chelsea: Football Under the Blue Flag. Mainstream Sport. ISBN 978-1-84018-658-1.
  

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