Chelsea: History, Squad, Rivalries, Honours & Future Plans

Chelsea are an English professional football club based in Fulham, West London. The club currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football, and is also a participant in the upcoming UEFA Champions League.

Since its inception 120 years ago, the club has performed well on the highest platform and won numerous accolades to boast about. They have also witnessed a few changes in ownership since the turn of the century and are considered a heavyweight in England.

Chelsea: Key Facts

Chelsea were founded on March 10, 1905, by Gus Mears, who acquired the Stamford Bridge athletic stadium in Fulham in order to turn it into a football ground.

The club is also widely known as the Blues and is currently managed by former Spanish footballer, a UEFA Pro License holder, Enzo Maresca. Off the field, Chelsea are chaired by Todd Boehly, who is also the current owner of the club. They won their maiden League Championship in the 1954-55 season, but it was during the Roman Abramovich era when they became regular at the zenith.

Chelsea: Sponsors, Net Worth & Value

Chelsea are one of the highly decorated clubs in modern football, and have a brand value of $504 million. They generate their revenue mainly from broadcasting, with commercial revenue and matchday revenue adding to the same. The net worth of the club is $3.125 billion (as on May 17, 2023).

The club is owned by the consortium of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital and has a few partner or sister clubs as well, with French outfit Strasbourg one of them. The club has 22 partners, divided into three categories: principal partners, official partners and official women's team partners.

Chelsea Rivalries

Chelsea have three main rivals in England. Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur are the ones based in the city of London itself. Leeds United have also formed a strong rivalry with the Blues since the 1960s, after a chunk of controversial and fiercely contested matches. They also met at the FA Cup final in 1970, which is considered to be one of the most physical fixtures in English football to date.

Derby

The fixture between Chelsea and Arsenal is named as the North West London derby, with the first meeting between the two sides dating back to 1907, where the Blues defeated the Gunners 2-1 in the Football League First Division.

Chelsea Trophies and Achievements

The Blues have won 35 trophies to date, which comprises two continental titles in the form of the UEFA Champions League, and one world title in the form of the FIFA Club World Cup. They have also lifted the Premier League on six occasions, with the most recent title coming in the 2016-17 season.

History of Chelsea

Gus Mears, an English businessman, acquired the Stamford Bridge athletic stadium to convert it to a football ground in 1904. He offered the ground on lease to local club Fulham, however, with that offer getting rejected, he chose to launch his own club the very next year. A few names were taken into consideration, like Stamford Bridge FC, Kensington FC, and London FC were brought to the table, however he went with Chelsea. The club was formed on March 10, 1905, at The Rising Sun pub, which is now known as The Butcher's Hook, which is located just opposite the stadium entrance. They got promoted to the First Division in their second season after inception, but played across the second division too, in the formative years, courtesy of the ups and downs in the competition.

Back in the early days, Chelsea boasted about signing top players, and enjoyed the highest average attendance across 10 different seasons. The club majorly plied their trade in the top tier, but the good times came to an end with World War II. The Blues' first major trophy meanwhile, came in the 1954-55 season, when they lifted the league under the mentorship of coach Ted Drake, a person who is considered a stalwart at Stamford Bridge. In the 1955-56 season, the European Champions Cup was brought into existence, which is known as the UEFA Champions League in the current day. Although Chelsea were prepared to partake in the competition, objections from Football League compelled the Blues to withdraw their name before it commenced. In 1961, Tommy Docherty took charge of the club, replacing Drake and during his tenure the club emerged as title contenders, however, they suffered narrow misses, however they won the FA Cup final replay in 1970, outwitting Leeds United in a fixture reputed as the one of the most physical games in English football. In 1971, they defeated Spanish giants Real Madrid to lift the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in another replay. In between 1983 and 2003, Chelsea underwent financial strain and redevelopment.

The year 2003 is a significant one in the club's history, when they saw a change in ownership, with Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich buying the outfit for just £60 million. He also paid the £80 million debt. In his first season, he spent over £100 million and had Italian manager Claudio Ranieri in charge. But since the Italian was unable to cash in any success, they replaced him with Jose Mourinho, a fresh young manager, who had just won the UEFA Champions League with FC Porto. Success followed with this hiring, as they won two successive Premier League titles and established themselves as a dominating force in a competition where Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger dominated for years. During Mourinho's era, they also won the FA Cup and two League Cups. In the next few years after Mourinho's regime ended, the Blues' success didn't halt. They kept on winning domestic competitions and also salvaged their maiden UEFA Champions League title in the 2011-12 season. In this current decade, they won the Club World Cup and two continental titles, but again changed ownership in 2022. The consortium named BlueCo currently controls the club and have won a continental title in the 2024-25 season, the Conference League.

Future Goals

As Chelsea grow under Enzo Maresca's tutelage, their primary ambition should be to challenge for the Premier League title and sustain as a top-four finisher, which would help them be regular participants at the UEFA Champions League. The continental competition should be another objective in their checklist as the new owners should be eager to add a major European trophy to their cabinet.