Brief History

Based in West London, Chelsea FC were founded in 1905. Their first success came in 1955 winning the League championship. Several cup successes followed during the 1960’s and 70’s, but Chelsea had to wait until 1997 to win another major trophy. Chelsea’s most successful period was when they defied the football betting odds to achieve back-to-back League Titles under Jose Mourinho in 2005 & 2006. A first Champions League Final followed in 2008, cruelly losing in a penalty shoot-out against Manchester United. In total Chelsea have been League Champions 3 times, FA Cup winners 5 times, League Cup winners 4 times and UEFA Cup Winners Cup twice.

Jose Mourinho Years

Jose Mourinho was announced as Chelsea manager in June 2004. In his first press conference he famously answered a question by declaring “Please don’t call me arrogant, but I’m European champion and I think I’m a special one”. From that day on he was known as ‘The special One’. He soon lived up to his name winning the League Cup and bringing Chelsea their first League Title success in 50 years. 2005-06 saw Mourinho win back-to-back titles, although Jose took the bizarre decision to throw his winners medal into the Chelsea crowd. Jose was a charismatic man and was not shy in giving his opinions in the press. Despite increasing doubts about his relationship with owner Abramovich and Sporting Director Frank Arnesen, Mourinho had further success in 2006-07 with a League and FA Cup double. A poor start to the 2007 season led to Mourinho leaving Chelsea ‘by mutual consent’, but the reason for his departure was due to his power struggle with Roman Abramovich. Jose left as the most successful manager in Chelsea’s history.

Arrival of Roman Abramovich

Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea FC in June 2003 from Ken Bates for a reported £140 million. The Russian oil magnate’s purchase was a controversial one as many fans and pundits were worried by his intentions and many thought he was simply using Chelsea as his latest play-toy and would soon lose interest . In his first year Abramovich sanctioned over £100 million pounds worth of new players. He didn’t have to wait too long before he saw a return for his money as Chelsea won a league and League Cup double in 2005. Chelsea have won 6 major trophies since Roman’s arrival. Between 2003-2008 Abramovich had spent over £600 million on Chelsea. Some would argue that Abramovich’s involvement with Chelsea distorted football’s transfer market as this sort of player investment had rarely been seen before by any one individual. But it seems as though Abramovich is now looking upon Chelsea as a long term project and has helped take Chelsea from mid-table mediocrity to on the brink of winning the Champions League within 6 years. As yet nobody can question his commitment.

Key Stats

• Nickname: The Blues, The Pensioners
• Premier League winners: 2005, 2006, 2010
• Division One winners: 1955
• Division Two winners: 1984, 1989
• Runners-up: 1907, 1912, 1930, 1963, 1977
• FA Cup winners: 1970, 1997, 2000, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012
• Runners-up: 1915, 1967, 1994
• League Cup winners: 1965, 1998, 2005, 2007, 2015
• Runners-up: 1972, 2008
• European Cup-winners Cup winners: 1971, 1998
• European Super Cup winners: 1998
• European Cup Winners: 2012
• European Cup runners-up: 2008
• Top Goalscorer of All-Time: Bobby Tambling (202 goals)
• Current Captain: John Terry