Chelsea

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It was 1904 when Gus Mears bought in 1904 the Stamford Bridge athletics stadium in Fulham with the intention of converting it into a football field. An offer to lease it to nearby Fulham F.C. The club was rejected and Mears chose to start his own club that could use the stadium. Since there already was a club named Fulham within the city, the name of the borough that was adjacent to Chelsea Chelsea was picked for the new club. names such as Kensington FC, Stamford Bridge FC and London FC were as well. Chelsea F.C. was formed on March 10, 1905 in The Rising Sun pub (now The Butcher's Hook), just opposite the main entrance to the stadium on Fulham Road, and was admitted to the Football League shortly afterwards.

Chelsea was promoted into the First Division in their second season. They also yo-yoed in between the Second and First Divisions in their beginning times. They reached the 1915 FA Cup Final, where they lost to Sheffield United Old Trafford, and finished third in the First Division in 1920, the best season for the club up to the point of. Chelsea was known for signing superstar players and attracting huge crowds. Chelsea had the most annual average of attendance for English football for ten distinct seasons, including 1907-08, 1909-10 1911-12, 1912-13 1919-20 and 1913-14. The club was FA Cup semi-finalists in 1920 and 1932. They remained at the top of the First Division throughout the 1930s however, they failed to make it into the top leagues of the club during the interwar period.

Former Arsenal as well as England central forward Ted Drake was appointed manager in 1952. He then began to modernize the club. Drake removed Chelsea's Chelsea retirement emblem and improved the youth team and training program, and re-established the squad with smart acquisitions from lower divisions and amateur leagues. He also was able to lead Chelsea towards their very first trophy win which was the League championship in 1954-55. The subsequent season saw UEFA launch the European Champions Cup However, after opposition by the Football League, Chelsea were persuaded to pull out of the tournament prior to the start of the tournament. Chelsea failed to build upon this win, and spent the rest period of 1950s the mid-table. Drake was dismissed in the year 1961 and was replaced by coach-player Tommy Docherty.

Docherty fashioned a fresh team around the talented young players who had emerged from the club's youth setup as well as Chelsea were a force in the competition for honours throughout the 1960s, suffering numerous close-calls. They were on track for the three-peat in the form of League, FA Cup and League Cup going into the final phases of the 1964-65 campaign and also won the League Cup but losing the FA Cup in the two other. Over the course of three seasons, Chelsea were defeated in three semi-finals majorly and finished as FA Cup runners-up. Under Docherty's successor, Dave Sexton, Chelsea won the FA Cup in 1970, beating Leeds United beat United 2-1 in the final replay. The next season, Chelsea received their first European distinction with winning the the UEFA Cup Winners Cup triumph. They followed that up with another replayed victory that time against Real Madrid in Athens.

Main article: The history of Chelsea F.C. (1983-2003)

The latter part of the 1970s and the 1980s was a turbulent time for Chelsea. A major redevelopment plan for Stamford Bridge threatened the financial stability of the club. stars were sold, and the team was relegated. Additional problems were caused by a well-known hooligan part of the fan base that would plague the club for the next period of. in 1982 Chelsea was, in the lowest point in their financial fortunes purchased through Ken Bates for the nominal amount of PS1 from Brian Mears his great-nephew Brian Mears for PS1. Bates purchased a majority part of the team, and floated Chelsea in the AIM stock exchange in March 1996 . However, at this point, they had lost the Stamford Bridge freehold had been sold to developers of property and the club was now in danger of the prospect of losing its home. On the field the team was somewhat better, but they were close to being relegated back to the Third Division for the first time. However, in 1983, Manager John Neal put together an impressive new team that required only a small cost. Chelsea took home their first Second Division title in 1983-84. They also achieved their place in the top division with two top six places, only to be removed from the league in 1988. The club bounced back with a win in their first Second Division championship in 1988-89.

Following a long-running legal dispute, Bates reunited the stadium freehold with the club in 1992 after making a deal with banks of the property developers who were bankrupt due to an economic crash. In the late 1990s, Chelsea enthusiast as well as businessperson Matthew Harding became director and loaned to Chelsea PS26 million to construct an entirely new North Stand and invest in new players. Chelsea's record during the newly established Premier League was unconvincing, but they did manage to make their first the 1994 FA Cup Final. The selection to replace Ruud Gullit as manager of the player in 1996 marked a turnaround in the fortunes of the team. He brought several international top players to the squad and helped the club win their first major trophy since 1971, which was the FA Cup. Gullit was succeeded by Gianluca Vialli. His tenure was a success. Chelsea winning the League Cup, the UEFA Cup Winners' Trophy, the UEFA Super Cup in 1998 as well as in 2000, the FA Cup in 2000. They also fought a tough title fight in 1998 and 1999 which saw them finish four points behind the champions Manchester United, and made their debut appearance at the UEFA Champions League. Vialli was dismissed in favor the team of Claudio Ranieri who steered Chelsea through winning the FA Cup Final in 2002 and the FA Cup Final and Champions League qualification in 2002-03.

As the club faced an evident financial problem, Bates unexpectedly sold Chelsea F.C. on June 3, 2003, for PS60 million. As a result Bates was reported to have made an individual profit of PS17 million from the club that he purchased in 1982 for PS1 back in 1982 (his stake was reduced to less than 30% over the course of time). The new owner of the club is Russian billionaire as well as billionaire Roman Abramovich who was also responsible to pay the football club's PS80 million in debt and quickly paid off part of it. Sergei Pugachev, one of the former friends with Vladimir Putin, stated that "Putin personally revealed to me his intention to buy Chelsea Football Club in order to enhance his influence and increase Russia's visibility, not only in the eyes of the elite but also among regular British individuals." Abramovich has denied that he was working in the direction of within the Kremlin.

More than PS100 million was invested in new players, however Ranieri did not win any prizes and was succeeded with Jose Mourinho. Under Mourinho, Chelsea became the fifth English team to win consecutive league championships in the years since during the Second World War (2004-05 and 2005-06) as well as winning the 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, who led the club to their first UEFA Champions League final, which they lost on penalties to Manchester United. The club failed to earn a profit over the first nine years under Abramovich's ownership. The club also posted records-setting losses in the amount of PS140m in June of 2005.

Under interim coach Guus Hiddink Chelsea were crowned champions of the FA Cup. In 2009-2010 the successor, Carlo Ancelotti led them to their first Premier League and FA Cup Double. In addition, they became one of the few English top-flight club to have scored 100 league goals in one year since the start of 1963. The year 2012 was the time that Roberto Di Matteo led Chelsea to their seventh FA Cup, and their first UEFA Champions League trophy winning against Bayern Munich 4-3 on penalties and becoming being the very only London club to be awarded this trophy. In the following season,, the club was awarded the UEFA Europa League which made the club the first to win two important European championships at the same time, and one of only five clubs that have won the three major UEFA awards. Mourinho returned as manager in 2013 and helped lead Chelsea towards League Cup success in March 2015 and then to the Premier League title two months after that. Mourinho was sacked after four months of the next season, following a poor start.

The month of November, 2012 saw Chelsea reported a loss in the amount of PS1.4 million in the period ending 30 June 2012. This was the first time that the club has earned a profit under Abramovich's ownership. It was followed by an unprofit in 2013, before they made the club's highest-ever profits of PS18.4 million in the period from June 2012 through June 2014. In 2018, Chelsea declared a record post-tax earnings that was PS62 million.

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

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. Lampard was dismissed in January 2021 and replaced with Thomas Tuchel. 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 is located in Porto. This club then was crowned in 2021 the UEFA Super Cup for the second time after beating Villarreal 6- 5 in the penalty shootout after the match had finished 1-1 at Belfast in extra-time.

On April 18, 2021 Chelsea made it clear that the club would be joining the brand new European Super League the league competition of the largest European clubs. After an outcry from fans who were unhappy with the decision, Chelsea made the announcement a few days later.

The former Chelsea star Tony Cascarino revealed that the club was making calls to former players to check on their health throughout the COVID-19 epidemic. Chelsea decided not to furlough their non-matchday staff as the decision was reported to come by Abramovich himself. Chelsea is among the clubs that first stepped up to aid with the National Health Service and the NHS, loaned the club's millenium Hotel to the NHS staff.

As a result of the financial sanctions imposed against Russian Oligarchs by Western governments as a reaction to 2022's Russian invaders of Ukraine Abramovich announced on the 26th of February that he was going to transfer the management of Chelsea to the trustees of the Chelsea Foundation. The trustees could not agree immediately because of legal issues concerning the rules that govern the Charity Commission for England and Wales. A week later Abramovich was able to write off the PS1.5 billion Chelsea owed him and put the club on the market for sale. He pledged to donate the any net proceeds to those who suffered from the conflict in Ukraine.

On March 10, 2022 The British Government announced sanctions against Abramovich and Chelsea being granted a special license for the duration of 31 May. In the weeks following there were reports of Abramovich's involvement in negotiating an agreement for peace with Ukraine as well as Russia and in securing safe evacuation routes for heavily populated Ukrainian cities. A senior American government official confirmed his knowledge that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, had pleaded with the US government not to impose sanctions against Abramovich due to his role in the relief efforts of war.

On May 7, 2022 Chelsea declared that conditions have been agreed on for the formation of a new ownership group headed by Todd Boehly, Clearlake Capital, Mark Walter and Hansjorg Wyss who will acquire the club. 25 May 2022 was the date that the government approved the PS4.25bn Boehly-led consortium purchase of Chelsea. Then, on May 30, 2022, the deal was concluded, ending the ownership of 19 years by Abramovich over Chelsea.

The consortium is led by Todd Boehly, the chairman and chief executive officer of Eldridge Industries, and Clearlake Capital, announced completion of the ownership transfer for Chelsea on May 30, 2022. In the consortium are Hansjorg Wyss who is the founder of Wyss Foundation, founder of the Wyss Foundation, and Mark Walter, co-founder and CEO of Guggenheim Partners. Walter as well as Boehly are the owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers and they also own the Los Angeles Lakers and The Los Angeles Sparks. The deal has been approved by all the necessary authorizations from The Governments of the United Kingdom and Portugal, The Premier League and other authorities was included by the club in their press release.

The club announced on June 20th the fact that Bruce Buck, who served as Chairman since 2003 is stepping out of his position as of 30 June, but he will continue to assist the club as an Advisor to Senior. As for Boehly will assume the chairmanship. Then came the club reorganizing the board, and the announcement of the departure of long-standing Director of the Club, and the de facto director of Sporting Marina Granovskaia on the 22nd of June. And Petr Cech quit the position as Technical and Performance Advisor five days after the fact.

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

Chelsea have had just one home stadium, Stamford Bridge, where they've played since the club's inception. The stadium opened on April 28th, 1877. For the next 28 years, it was utilized for the London Athletic Club as an athletics arena. gatherings. In 1904 , the stadium was purchased by a an entrepreneur Gus Mears and his brother Joseph who also bought nearby property (formerly a huge market garden) to be used for hosting football games on the 12.5 acres (51,000 meters two) location. Stamford Bridge was designed for the Mears family by the renowned designer of football Archibald Leitch, who also developed Ibrox, Craven Cottage and Hampden Park. Many football clubs were established at first, and later sought venues to play on however, Chelsea was founded to play at Stamford Bridge.

Beginning with an open bowl-like design, and a grandstand that had seats, Stamford Bridge had an initial capacity of about 100,000 people, making it the second largest stadium in England following Crystal Palace. The 1930s saw the creation of a terrace in the southern side of the field, with a roof covering approximately one-fifth of the stadium. Since the roof resembled the corrugated iron shed it was called"Shed End" "Shed End" however it's unclear who came up with the name. Since the 1960s, the stand was regarded as the residence of Chelsea's most vocal and loyal supporters. In 1939, a second small seating area was added to the stand to it was called the North Stand, which remained until it was demolished in 1975.

In the 1970s the club's owners announced an upgrade of Stamford Bridge with plans for an all-seater stadium with 50,000 seats. Construction began in 1972 however the project was plagued with issues, and it was just one stand, the East Stand was completed; the expense was close to financial ruin. It was also reported that the Freehold was given to property developers and the club was placed in danger of being evicted of the venue. After a lengthy legal dispute, it wasn't until the mid-1990s when the future of Chelsea in Stamford Bridge was secured and construction work was recommenced. The west, north and southern areas of the stadium were transformed into all-seater stadiums and relocated closer to the pitch. This was which was completed in 2001. It was the East Stand was retained from the 1970s' construction. The stand was renamed in 1996. northern stand was changed to"the Matthew Harding stand in honor of the club's director and benefactor who died in an accident involving a helicopter earlier in the year.

In the time that Stamford Bridge was redeveloped in the Bates period, many new features were added the site, which included the two Millennium & Copthorne hotels as well as apartments and restaurants, bars, the Chelsea Megastore as well as an interactive attraction for visitors called Chelsea World of Sport. The idea was that these buildings would bring in additional income for the football part of the business. However, they did not perform as they had hoped for and prior to the Abramovich acquisition in 2003, the debt incurred to fund the facilities was a significant cost to the club. After the takeover, the decision was made to eliminate the "Chelsea Village" name and to refocus on Chelsea as an actual football club. The stadium is often being referred to as a part of "Chelsea Village" or "The Village".

The Stamford Bridge freehold as well as the pitch as well as the turnstiles, and Chelsea's namesake rights are currently part of the Chelsea Pitch Owners an organization that is non-profit where fans are the shareholders. The CPO was formed to ensure the stadium will never be given to developers. In order to use to use the Chelsea FC name, the club must play their first-team games on Stamford Bridge, which means that if the club decides to move to a new stadium they could have to change their name. Chelsea's training facility can be found within Cobham, Surrey. Chelsea relocated into Cobham from Cobham in the year 2004. Their previous training ground in Harlington was taken over by title="Queens Park Rangers F.C. ">QPR at the time of 2005. The brand new training facilities in Cobham were finished in 2007.

Stamford Bridge hosted the FA Cup Final from 1920 until 1922. It has hosted the FA Cup Semi-finals in ten times (most recent in the year 1978) as well as 10 FA Charity Shield matches (the final one was in 1970) and the three England international games, with the final one in 1932. It was also the location for an non-official Victory International in 1946. In 2013, the 2013, UEFA Women's Champions League Final was held on Stamford Bridge as well. The stadium is also utilized for a range of other sports. In October 1905 , it hosted a rugby union game that was played between Middlesex and the All Blacks. All Blacks and Middlesex, and in 1914 it was the venue for an international baseball game that featured players from New York Giants and the Chicago White Sox.[92It was also the site of an international boxing match between world flyweight champ Jimmy Wilde and Joe Conn in 1918. The circuit was also used to conduct racetrack racing between 1928 until 1932. The track also saw greyhound race from 1933 until 1968 as well as midget racing from 1948. In the year 1980, Stamford Bridge hosted the first international floodlit cricket match in the UK in the UK, which was played in which Essex and the West Indies played Essex with England's West Indies. It also was the home for West Indies Cricket Team. London Monarchs American Football team for the 1997 season..

The former owner, Mr. Abramovich and the club's executive board decided that a bigger stadium was required to allow Chelsea to remain competitive against other clubs that have much larger stadiums like Arsenal or Manchester United. Owing to the fact that it is located next to a main road as well as the two rail lines that run through it, the fans are able to only access Stamford Bridge via the Fulham Road exits, which puts limitations on expansion due safety and health regulations. The club has consistently stated their determination to remain at Chelsea at their current location but are involved in a plan to relocation to other nearby venues such as The Earls Court Exhibition Centre, Battersea Power Station and the Chelsea Barracks. In October of 2011 a plan from the club to purchase back the freehold on the land upon which Stamford Bridge sits was voted off in the hands of Chelsea Pitch Owners shareholders. The club in May of 2012 launched an official bid to purchase Battersea Power Station in the hope of creating a new stadium. However, they it was rejected by an Malaysian consortium. The club then announced plans to transform Stamford Bridge into a 60,000-seater stadium. Then, in January 2017, these plan was passed in the hands of Hammersmith as well as Fulham council. But on May 31, 2018 the team issued an announcement that stated that the stadium plan was placed on hold for an indefinite period and citing "the situation of investment uncertainty."

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Chelsea have featured four major crests that all went through minor modifications. The first, introduced when the club was established in 1898, featured the image of the Chelsea pensioner or army veteran who live in near by Royal Hospital Chelsea. This was the basis for the club's initial "pensioner" nickname, which it remained in use for the next half century however it was never seen on the shirt. In 1952, when Ted Drake became Chelsea manager in 1952, he started to modernize the club. Being of the opinion that the Chelsea pensioner crest was outdated, he demanded that they replace it. A temporary badge that contained an initial C.F.C. was adopted for one year. It was in 1953 that the club's logo became an upright blue lion facing in the opposite direction and holding an staff. It was inspired by elements from the coat of arms belonging to the Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea[110] and featured the "lion in a raging regardant" was taken off the arms of the Viscount Chelsea and the staff of the Abbots of Westminster, former Lords of the Manor of Chelsea. The crest also included three red roses to symbolize England and two footballs. It was also the initial Chelsea logo to be featured on the shirts, which was in the 1960s in the beginning. In 1975 a emblem of heraldry was issued to the College of Arms to the English Football League to use by Chelsea. The badge was in the shape with the familiar symbol of a lion and staff, surrounded in a blue circle, but not adorned with letters and lacked the red footballs and red roses ( blazoned as " A lion rampant guardant azure, reguarding with forepaws, a crozier or in an annulet with azure").

In 1986 in 1986, with Ken Bates now the club's owner the Chelsea crest was altered in another attempt to modernize the logo and also due to the fact that the old lion badge was not trademarked. The new badge was the lion in a more naturalistic, non-heraldic style that was white, not blue, with the C.F.C. initials. This continued for the next 19 years. There were minor modifications , including the use of various colours such as red from 1987 until 1995 as well as yellow from 1995 to 1999, when the white was reinstated. Under the new ownership of Roman Abramovich and the club's centenary coming up and the demands of fans for the iconic 1950s-era badge to be reinstated and redesigned, it was decided the crest was to be changed once more in 2005. It was adopted at the beginning of the 2005-06 season. It was an reversion to the earlier style, which was used from 1953 until 1986, with a blue heraldic Lion with the staff. In the centenary year, this was with the words '100 YEARS' as well as "CENTENARY 2005-2006" at the top and bottom of the crest , respectively.

Chelsea always wore blue shirts, even though they initially wore the lighter blue of the eton the color that was borrowed from the racing colors of the then club president, Earl Cadogan and was worn with white shorts, black socks in dark blue or black. The lighter blue shirts were later replaced by royal blue versions in the year 1912. ] In the 1960s, Chelsea director Tommy Docherty changed the uniform again, switching on blue shorts (which have remained since then) as well as white socks. He believed that the colors of Chelsea were more distinctive and modern, because no other major team had that combination. The kit was first worn in the season 1964-1965. Since then, Chelsea has always worn white socks as their home kit, apart from an unspecified period from 1985 until 1992, when blue socks were reinstated.

Chelsea's away colors are typically predominantly white or yellow and blue trimming. Recently, they has had several dark blue or black away kits that change every year. Like most teams, they've also seen some unusual kits. At the behest of Docherty during the year 1966, in the FA Cup semi-final they wore black and blue stripes inspired by Inter Milan's kit. In the mid-1970s the away strip featured an all white, red and green design influenced from the Hungarian national team in the 1950s. Other kits for away games include an all-jade strip from 1986 until 1989, white and red diamonds from 1990 until 1992 the graphite and tangerine strip from 1994 until 1996, and glowing yellow from 2007 until the year 2008. This graphite-and-tangerine strip been mentioned in lists of worst football kits of all time.

When they play, Chelsea fans sing the chants like " Carefree" (to the tune of " Lord of the Dance" which whose lyrics are likely to have been composed by the supporter Mick Greenaway), "Ten Men were at the Mow", "We All Follow the Chelsea" (to the tune of " Land of Hope and Glory"), "Zigga Zagga", and the more celebratory "Celery". The latter is typically followed with fans throwing celery towards one another however the vegetable is banned in Stamford Bridge after an incident which involved midfielder Cesc Fabregas at the 2007 League Cup Final. Some of the most well-known fanchants include "Super Chelsea", "Super Frank" (dedicated to all-time top goal scorers Frank Lampard), "We love you Chelsea" and "Come to Chelsea". There are also a few situation-specific or team-specific cheats designed to get the attention of players, managers, or teams.

Chelsea are one of the most well-supported football clubs around the world. They are the sixth most popular club with the highest number of fans in all of English soccer and regularly draw over 40,000 people for a visit to Stamford Bridge; they were the seventh-highest-supported Premier League team in 2013-14, with an average attendance of 41,572. The traditional Chelsea fan base is from all parts of all over the Greater London area including working-class regions like Hammersmith and Battersea and more affluent areas such as Chelsea and Kensington and also from the counties that they call home. There are many official supporters clubs throughout The United Kingdom and all over the world. From 2007 to 2012 Chelsea were ranked as fourth in the world in the annual sales of replica kits which averaged nine thousand. ] As of the year 2018, Chelsea had 72.2 million followers on social media, which is the fourth most followed football club.

In the 1970s and 1980s , in particular Chelsea supporters were often associated to soccer 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 and after games. The rise in hooligan violence in the 1980s caused the chairman Ken Bates to propose erecting an electric fence to discourage them from encroaching on the field, a plan that was rejected by the Greater London Council was unable to accept.

Since the 90s, there has seen a significant decrease in the number of incidents that caused trouble for fans at games due to tighter police presence, CCTV in stadiums, and the development of all-seater stadiums. The club in 2007 began its "Back to the Shed campaign to enhance the atmosphere during home games with great results. As per Home Office statistics there were 126 Chelsea fans were detained for football-related offenses throughout the 2009-10 season, which was the third highest number in the division. Additionally, 27 ban orders were issued, which is the fifth-highest number in the division.

Chelsea have long-standing rivalries with North London clubsArsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. A strong rivalry with Leeds United has been in existence since several controversial and heated matches during the 1960s and 1970s, and in particular those of the FA Cup Final. More recently a rivalry withLiverpool has grown after numerous clashes in cup competitions. Chelsea's fellow West London sides Brentford,Fulham and Queens Park Rangers aren't considered major rivals as matches have occurred occasionally due to the teams usually being separated into separate divisions.

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 poll the fans from Arsenal, Fulham, Leeds United, QPR, Tottenham as well as West Ham United named Chelsea as the third of their main rivals. In a survey conducted in 2008 by Football Fans Census, Chelsea fans ranked Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United as their least-loved clubs. In the same poll, "Chelsea" was the top choice for"Chelsea" in the survey "Which another English club would you hate more?" A 2012 poll, conducted with 1,200 supporters of the four top league divisions across the nation It found that the majority of clubs' primary rivals have changed since 2003. The survey also revealed that Chelsea supporters view Tottenham to be their top rivals, a step above Arsenal as well as Manchester United. In addition, supporters who are from Arsenal, Brentford, Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester United, QPR, Tottenham and West Ham identified Chelsea as the three top rivals.

It is no secret that the rivalry between Chelsea and Tottenham particularly has become more intense in recent time. The rivalry itself dates from the 1967 FA Cup Final, which was the first final to be played by two clubs from London and was often referred to as"the "Cockney Cup Final". Tottenham took the victory at a 2-1 score with more than 100,000 spectators watching. The rivalry grew more intense in the 1974-75 season that saw Tottenham and Chelsea battled in a tense fight to avoid being relegated out of Chelsea's First Division. Before the game, Tottenham were in the area of relegation, while Chelsea were just one point ahead. The tension in the game caused fans to invade fights on the field prior to the start of the match. After a delay in the beginning, Tottenham won the game with a 2-0 score. Chelsea did not win one of their next two games and eventually were eliminated to in the First Division with Tottenham staying ahead by one point.

Another reason for the rivalry between Tottenham is the struggle to recruit players. Before signing with Chelsea for instance the former Chelsea footballer Willian has attracted the attention of Tottenham, Chelsea's London counterparts Tottenham. He passed a medical exam at Tottenham prior to a meeting with Chelsea, which led to confusion about which team he'd choose to sign with. Willian says Chelsea was his top choice and that he would only been signed by Tottenham in the event that the deal with Chelsea was not able to be completed.

Chelsea's most prolific player in appearances is former captain Ron Harris, who played in 795 games of competitive play for Chelsea between 1961 to the year 1980. Four other players had over 500 games for Chelsea: Peter Bonetti (729; 1959-1979), John Terry (717 1998-2017), Frank Lampard (648 from 2001 to 2014) in addition to John Hollins (592; 1963-1975 and 1983-1984). With the 103 caps (101 when at the club) in England, Lampard is Chelsea's most captained international player. Every single player who played during Chelsea's 57 games in this season an international full-time setting a new record for Chelsea.

Lampard is Chelsea's most prolific goalscorer, with 21 goals in 648 matches (2001-2014) He also surpassed Bobby Tambling's record of 202 in the month of May 2013. There are eight other players who have scored more than 100 points at 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) as well as Eden Hazard (2012-2019). Greaves holds the record of Chelsea for scoring the most goals in a single season (43 in the 1960-61 season). When he was an Chelsea footballer, Greaves also became the youngest player ever to achieve 100 points in the English top-flightat the age of 20 years old and 290 days.

The Chelsea record for winning in a match that is competitive is 13-0, which was achieved against Jeunesse Hautcharage at the cup winner's Trophy in 1971. The club's greatest top-flight victory was an 8-0 win over Wigan Athletic in 2010, and was repeated in 2012 by Aston Villa. Chelsea's most devastating loss was an 8-1 loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1953. Chelsea's aggregate win of 21-0 against Jeunesse Hautcharage in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in the year 1971 can also be considered a milestone win in European competition. Officially, Chelsea's greatest attendance at home was 82,905 during the First Division match against Arsenal on the 12th of October, 1935. An estimated crowd of 100,000 people attended a match in the form of a friendly in the match against Soviet side Dynamo Moscow on 13 November 1945.

From 20 March 2004 until 26 October in 2008, Chelsea went a record of 86 league games at home, without losing surpassing earlier records, which included 63 games that were unbeaten by Liverpool between 1978 and 1980. Chelsea have record for the English record for the lowest number of goals conceded in the course of a season in league (15) as well as the most total number of clean sheets during the course of a Premier League season (25) (both established in the 2004-05 season) as well as the longest streak of clean sheets since the beginning of a season in the league (6 in the 2005-06 season). Chelsea's record of 11 consecutive league wins away from home that began on April 5th, between 5 April and the 6th of December in 2008 is an all-time historic record in this season in the English Premier League's top division. Chelsea have the distinction of being only one Premier League side to win their first nine league matches in the current season, having done this between 2005 and the 2005/06 season. From 2009 until the year 2013, Chelsea had never lost in record-breaking 29 games in a row FA Cup matches (excluding penalty shoot-outs).

On 25 August 1928, Chelsea, along with Arsenal, became the first club to play with shirt numbers, in their match against Swansea Town. They were the first English side to travel by aeroplane to a domestic away match, when they visited Newcastle United on 19 April 1957, and the first First Division side to play a match on a Sunday, when they facedStoke City on the 27th of 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. in May of 2007, Chelsea was the only team in history to take home the FA Cup at the new Wembley Stadium, being the only team to win the trophy at the previous Wembley. The club was the first English club to be ranked as No. 1 in the UEFA's Five-year coefficient system of this century. Chelsea were among the initial Premier League team, and the first team in the English top league since 1962-63 to score more than 100 goals in one season. They hit this milestone in the 2009-2010 season. Chelsea have the distinction of being the first London club to have won the UEFA Champions League. After winning the 2012-13 UEFA Europa League, Chelsea became the first English club to take home the four UEFA club trophy and was the only club that holds both two trophies: the Champions League and the Europa League simultaneously.

Chelsea have twice beaten the record for the most expensive transfer fee ever paid by an British team. They're PS30.8 million deal to buy Andriy Shevchenko of A.C. Milan on June 6, 2006 is an all-time British record until it was eclipsed by PS32.5 million that was paid to Manchester City for Robinho in September 2008. Manchester City's PS50 million buyout of Fernando Torres from Liverpool in January of 2011 was the record till Angel Di Maria was signed by Manchester United in August 2014 for PS59.7 million. Manchester United's PS71 million acquisition of Kepa Arrizabalaga in August 2018 is an world record price paid to goalkeeper.

On the 12th of February, 2022 Chelsea were the first London club to win the FIFA Club World Cup against Palmeiras by Kai Havertz scoring a penalty in the final minutes of the match.

Chelsea Football Club were founded by Gus Mears in 1905. Following his demise in 1912 his family continued to own Chelsea until which was the year that Ken Bates bought the club from Mears great-nephew Brian Mears for PS1. Bates purchased a majority part of the team, and also floated Chelsea in the AIM stock exchange in the month of March. In the late 1990s, Chelsea enthusiast as well as successful businessman Matthew Harding became director of the club and provided the club with PS26 million to construct an entirely new North Stand and invest in new players.

The month of July, 2003 saw Roman Abramovich bought just over 50% of Chelsea Village plc's shares capital, which included Bates' 29.5% stake for PS30 million. He then in the subsequent weeks, he purchased the majority of the remaining shareholders for 35p per share, which was the PS140 million acquisition. The other shareholders who participated in the acquisition were those from the Matthew Harding estate (21 percent), BSkyB (9.9 percent) as well as a number of offshore trusts.

In the time of the Abramovich purchase, the club was also in debt of PS100 million, that included a 10-year PS75 million Eurobond which was issued in 1997 under the Bates regime to acquire the rights to Stamford Bridge and finance the reconstruction for the Stadium. The interest rate of 9% for the loan to the team cost about PS7 million annually and as per Bruce Buck, Chelsea struggled to pay an installment to be paid in the month of July.  Abramovich was able to pay off a portion of the debt in a matter of hours but the balance of PS36 million due on the Eurobond wasn't fully paid until the year 2008. In the years since, Chelsea was debt-free.

Abramovich changed the name of his ownership change to Chelsea FC plc, whose the ultimate owner was Fordstam Limited, which was managed by Abramovich. Chelsea were also financed by Abramovich through interest-free credit that were arranged by his holding firm Fordstam Limited. The loan amount was PS709 million as of December 2009 when they all were converted into capital by Abramovich and left the club debt-free however the loan was still with Fordstam.

Chelsea did not make an income in the first nine years under Abramovich's management as well as suffered huge losses, totalling PS140m at the end of June. On November 12, 2012 Chelsea reported a loss of PS1.4 million in the year that ended on 30 June 2012, which was the first time that the club achieved a profit during Abramovich's control. Then came an unprofit in 2013 before they made the club's highest-ever profits of PS18.4 million in the period from November 2012 until June 2014. In the year 2018, Chelsea reported a record after-tax profits in the amount of PS62 million.

Chelsea are called an international brand. A 2012 study by Brand Finance ranked Chelsea fifth among football brands , and estimated the value of their brand at US$398 million . This is up 27% over the year before, as well as the value was 10 million dollars higher than the sixth-highest brands, London rivals Arsenal - and awarded Chelsea a brand strength grade of AA (very robust). In the year 2016, Forbes magazine named Chelsea as the seventh-highest valued soccer club around the globe with a value of PS1.15 billion ($1.66 billion). In 2016, Chelsea are ranked eighth in the Deloitte Football Money League with a commercial income that is PS322.59 million.

As of May 20, 2022, Chelsea are still ranked 8th in Forbes. In addition, they are listed as 8th according to Deloitte with annual commercial revenues at EUR493.1 million.

Recent financial reports of the club reveal PS26.6m they've paid in compensation for the former chief coach Antonio Conte for the sacking of him and for paying off his backroom staff, as well as the legal expenses that came with.

On February 26, 2022, at the time of the Russo-Ukrainian War, Abramovich gave over "stewardship and the care" of Chelsea FC to the Chelsea Charitable Foundation. Abramovich issued an official statement on March 2nd 2022, confirming that he will sell the club because of the current conflict in Ukraine. While the UK government frozen Abramovich's assets in the United Kingdom on 10 March because of his "close relations with Kremlin" however, it was clarified it was clear that Chelsea club would be able to continue operating in the context of activities related to football. On the 12th of March it was announced that the Premier League disqualified Abramovich as director at Chelsea Football Club.

On the 19th of March in 2022 Five confirmed bids to buy Chelsea FC: submitted to Raine Capital who were handling the sale of the club. There was an alliance led by former Liverpool Chairman Sir Martin Broughton, a group of investors that was led by the family of Ricketts (among the members are Joe Ricketts and Pete Ricketts), Swiss and American businessmen Hansjorg Wyss and Todd Boehly, Aethel Partners led by Portuguese Ricardo Santos Silva and British multi-millionaire businessman Nick Candy, supported by former Chelsea striker Gianluca Vialli.

On May 7, the club finally acknowledged that "terms were agreed" for an ownership group that is headed by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital. The 30th of May has been confirmed by a group headed by Boehly as well as Clearlake Capital have completed the acquisition for the soccer club. This consortium includes Wyss as well as Mark Walter as well. Walter Boehly and Walter Boehly are also the owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers as well as they also own the Los Angeles Lakers as well as the Los Angeles Sparks. The transaction has received all the necessary authorizations from The Governments of the United Kingdom and Portugal, The Premier League as well as other authorities.

Chelsea's kit has been manufactured by title="Nike, Inc.">Nike since July 2017. The kit was previously produced in the hands of Adidas which was contracted initially to provide the kit from 2006 until the year the year 2018. The agreement was extended in October of 2010 with a contract worth PS160 million over the course of eight years. The agreement was extended in June 2013, in the form of a contract of PS300 million for another 10 years. In May of 2016, Adidas announced that by an agreement between the two parties the kit sponsorship agreement was set to expire six years earlier on June 30, 2017. Chelsea was required to pay PS40m settlement to Adidas. In October of 2016, Nike was announced as the new kit's sponsor with a contract worth PS900m for 15 years, up to 2032. Before that, the kit was produced through Umbro (1975-81), Le Coq Sportif (1981-86), The Chelsea Collection (1986-87), Umbro (1987-2006) as well as Adidas (2006-2017).

The first shirt sponsor of Chelsea is Gulf Air, in the 1983-84 season. The club was later sponsors through Grange Farms, Bai Lin Tea and Simod prior to a long-term contract was concluded in 1989 with Commodore International during the year 1989. Amiga, an offshoot of Commodore also appeared on the shirt. Chelsea was later sponsors of Coors beer (1994-97), Autoglass (1997-2001), Emirates (2001-05), Samsung Mobile (2005-08), Samsung (2008-15). and Yokohama Tyres (2015-20). Since July 2020 Chelsea's sponsors were Three However, they temporarily halted their sponsorship in March 2022 due to the sanctions imposed against them by Abramovich's UK Government against Abramovich.

In the wake of the introduction of sleeve-sponsors during the Premier League, Chelsea had Alliance Tyres as their first sleeve sponsors during the season 2017-18. Followed by Hyundai Motor Company in the 2018-19 season. Starting in 2022-23's year, Amber Group became the new sleeve sponsors, with the most prominent Digital Asset Platform WhaleFin appearing on the sleeves of both the men's and ladies' squads.

There are also a number of supporters and partners that include Cadbury, Carabao, GO Markets, Hublot, Levy Restaurants, Millennium Hotels, Parimatch, Singha, Trivago, Vitality, Yokohama Tyres and Zapp.

It was in 1930 that Chelsea played in the earliest football movies, The Great Game. One-time Chelsea centre forward, Jack Cock, who by then was playing for Millwall was the main focus of the film. Several scenes were made on Stamford Bridge, including on the field, in the boardroom and those in the changing rooms. The film also featured guest appearances by Chelsea players of the time Andrew Wilson, George Mills, and Sam Millington. Because of the fame associated with the Chelsea Headhunters the football-related company that is that is associated with the club. Chelsea are also included in films about hooliganism in football, including the 2004 film The Football Factory. Chelsea are also featured on the Hindi film Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. In April of 2011, Montenegrin comedy show Nijesmo miod juce created an episode where Chelsea match up with FK Sutjeska Niksic in the final round of qualification for the UEFA Champions League.

In the 1950s, the club enjoyed an ongoing relationship with entertainment halls and their lack of success frequently provided material for comedians like George Robey. It culminated with actor Norman Long's debut the humorous tune in 1933, which was ironically named "On the Day that Chelsea was there to the Cup" and Won the Cup" and the lyrics describe the absurd and bizarre events that could have occurred on the day Chelsea finally took home the trophy. In Alfred Hitchcock's film The 39 Steps, Mr Memory states that Chelsea was last to win the Cup in the year 63 BC, "in the presence of King Nero." Scenes in a 1980 episode of Minder were filmed during a real match at Stamford Bridge between Chelsea and Preston North End featuring Terry McCann (played by Dennis Waterman) sitting at the line of the stadium.

The track " Blue is the Color" came out as single during the run-up for the 1972 League Cup Final, with Chelsea's entire first team performing the song. It reached number five within the UK Singles Chart. The song was later used as an anthem for many other sports teams across the globe as well, such as those of the Vancouver Whitecaps (as "White is the Color") as well as the Saskatchewan Roughriders (as "Green is the colour"). As the preparations for the 1997 FA Cup Final, the song "Blue Day" which was which was performed with Suggs as well as other members of the Chelsea squad, climbed to number 22 on the UK charts.

Chelsea also operate a women's football team,Chelsea football club women, previously named Chelsea Ladies. They've been a part of the men's squad since 2004 and form part of Chelsea's Community Development programme. They play home games on Kingsmeadow which was previously the home stadium that is home to AFC Wimbledon. EFL League Two club AFC Wimbledon. The club was promoted into the Premier Division for the first time in 2005. They were the Southern Division champions and were crowned the Surrey County Cup nine times between 2003 and 2013. In 2010, Chelsea Ladies were one of the eight founding teams of the FA Women's Super League. In 2015, Chelsea Ladies won the FA Women's Cup for the first time, beating Notts County Ladies in Wembley Stadium, and a month later they won the first FA WSL title to complete the league and cup double. They achieved another league title in addition to the FA Cup double. In 2020 Chelsea repeated the double triumph with three league titles as well as also the FA Women's League Cup for the first time. In the season 2020-21, Chelsea won a domestic triple with the winning of league title, FA Cup and League Cup. They also made it to the semi-finals of the UEFA Women's Champions League for the first time and lost in the final to Barcelona by a score of 4-0.

John Terry, the former player captain for Chelsea's Chelsea Men's Team, serves as now the president of Chelsea Women.

Please see below.

As of 3 July 2022

Main article: Chelsea F.C. Under-21s and Academy

Chairman: Todd Boehly

Life President: Lord Attenborough (1923-2014)

Vice Presidents: Joe Hemani, Anthony Reeves and Alan Spence

 

Chief Executives:

Directors: Behdad Eghbali, José E. Feliciano, Mark Walter, Hansjörg Wyss, Jonathan Goldstein, Barbara Charone, Daniel Finkelstein and James Pade

 

Senior Advisor: Bruce Buck

Sporting Director: Todd Boehly (interim)

Club Ambassador: Carlo Cudicini

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.

League titles

• First Division / Premier League[253]

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

• Second Division[253]

Winners (2): 1983–84, 1988–89

 

Cups

• FA Cup

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

• Football League Cup / EFL Cup

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

• FA Charity Shield / FA Community Shield[nb 1]

Winners (4): 1955, 2000, 2005, 2009

• Full Members' Cup

Winners (2): 1985–86, 1989–90

• UEFA Champions League

Winners (2): 2011–12, 2020–21

• UEFA Europa League

Winners (2): 2012–13, 2018–19

• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

Winners (2): 1970–71, 1997–98

• UEFA Super Cup

Winners (2): 1998, 2021

• FIFA Club World Cup

Winners (1): 2021

• League and FA Cup: 2009–10
• League and League Cup: 2004–05, 2014–15
• League Cup and European Cup Winners' Cup: 1997–98
• FA Cup and League Cup: 2006–07
• FA Cup and UEFA Champions League: 2011–12

As of 2 March 2022