Chelsea are one of only five clubs to have won the three main European club competitions before 1999 (European Cup/UEFA Champions League, Europa/Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League), and the first English club to do so. It is also the only club to have won these three major European tournaments twice. Chelsea are the only London club to have won the Champions League and the Club World Cup.
Their domestic successes include six league titles, eight FA Cups, five EFL Cups and four FA Community Shields. At international level, it has won the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Super Cup twice each, and the FIFA Club World Cup once. Chelsea are the fifth most successful club in English football in terms of total trophies won.
The club is the first team to win all 5 club tournaments organized by UEFA (Champions League, Europa League, Conference League, UEFA Super Cup and Cup Winners' Cup).
The club has rivalries with neighboring teams Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. It also has a historic rivalry with Leeds United. In terms of club value, Chelsea is the ninth most valuable and ninth highest-grossing football club in the world, worth $3.13 billion by 2024.
Date
Foundation and early years (1905-1952)
In 1904, Gus Mears bought the Stamford Bridge athletics stadium in Fulham with the intention of converting it into a football field. When his offer to rent the stadium to Fulham FC was rejected, Mears decided to establish his own football club so that he could use the stadium. As there was already a team named Fulham in the area, the name of neighboring county Chelsea was chosen for the new club; Names such as Kensington FC, Stamford Bridge FC and London FC were also considered.
Chelsea FC was founded on 10 March 1905 in a pub called The Rising Sun (now The Butcher's Hook) on Fulham Road. Shortly afterwards the club was accepted into the Football League.
Chelsea were promoted to the First Division in their second season. Under the management of David Calderhead, the team's manager between 1907 and 1933, the team played the FA Cup final in the 1914-15 season but lost to Sheffield United at Old Trafford. They finished third in the 1919โ20 First Division, achieving their "best league finish" up to that time.
The club achieved the highest average attendance in ten different seasons in English football, including the seasons 1907-08, 1909-10, 1911-12, 1912-13, 1913-14 and 1919-20. Chelsea reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup in 1920 and 1932. It remained in the First Division throughout the 1930s. In the 1930โ31 season, the team reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, beating West Ham United, Arsenal and Blackburn Rovers, but was eliminated from the tournament after losing to Birmingham City in the quarter-finals.
Calderhead resigned in 1933 and was replaced by Leslie Knighton. During this period, the team's highest league finish in ten years was eighth place, with a squad consisting of players such as Tommy Law, Sam Weaver, Sid Bishop, Harry Burgess, Dick Spence and Joe Bambrick. The team "avoided" relegation by two points in the 1932-33 and 1933-34 seasons, and by one point in the 1938-39 season.
The team won the FA Cup against Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday in the 1938โ39 season, but lost to Grimsby Town in the quarter-finals.
On 12 October 1935, there were 82,905 spectators at Arsenal's match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. As well as being a club record, this is the second highest attendance ever recorded for an English league match. In 1939 Knighton left office and was replaced by Billy Birrell.
In 1937, Chelsea participated in the "Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne" tournament held in Paris. Having faced Austria Vienna, Bologna and Slavia Praha, Chelsea became "one of the first English clubs to take part in an international tournament". Chelsea reached the final of the tournament but lost to Italian team Bologna.
After the first three matches of the 1939-40 season were played, II. First-tier league operations in Britain were halted throughout World War II, so wartime results were not officially recognised. Chelsea have competed in a number of regional tournaments. Therefore, the club fielded "guest" players, including Matt Busby, Walter Winterbottom and Eddie Hapgood.
Chelsea also participated in the Football League War Cup and played their first match at Wembley during this tournament. They lost 3-1 to Charlton Athletic in the 1944 final. A year later, in the 1945 Southern Cup final, Chelsea faced Millwall in front of 90,000 fans and won 2-0. John Harris became the first Chelsea captain to lift the trophy at Wembley, presenting it to King Henry VI. He took it from George himself.
Following the end of the war in October 1945, English football management planned an event to celebrate the peace period. In this context, it was announced that a tournament would be held in which Dinamo Moskva, the champion of the Soviet Union, would face some teams in the United Kingdom. As part of the tournament, the match between Dynamo and Chelsea was played at Stamford Bridge on 13 November.
Chelsea wore red jerseys in case Dynamo appeared with their blue jerseys. Before the match, Dynamo players presented flower bouquets to Chelsea players.
After Dinamo Moskva fell behind 2-0 and 3-2, the match ended in a 3-3 draw. It is estimated that "more than 100,000 spectators" watched the match, with many people entering the stadium without permission. This is the "highest attendance" number ever recorded at Stamford Bridge.
Following the war, Chelsea transferred Tommy Lawton, Len Goulden and Tommy Walker. Lawton broke the "new goalscoring record in the club's history" by scoring 26 goals in 34 league matches in the 1946โ47 season. However, Chelsea finished 15th in the league that season and could "never rise above 13th" under Birrell. Lawton, who "had a falling out" with Birrell, was sold to Notts County for ยฃ20,000; He was replaced by Roy Bentley from Newcastle United for ยฃ11,500 in 1948.
In 1950, after beating Manchester United 2-0 in the FA Cup, Chelsea faced Arsenal at White Hart Lane. Chelsea took the lead with two goals from Roy Bentley, but Arsenal equalized before the end of the first half with a goal from Freddie Cox in the 45th minute. Arsenal equalized with a goal scored by Leslie Compton with 15 minutes remaining, and in the rematch, they won 1-0 with a goal scored by Cox in extra time and advanced to the final.
A year later Chelsea were "in danger of relegation". With four matches remaining, they were bottom of the table and had not won in 14 matches. However, they won the last three matches. They would beat Bolton Wanderers in the last match and decide the situation according to the results of the match between Everton and Sheffield Wednesday.
Chelsea beat Bolton 4-0. At the same time, Sheffield Wednesday defeated Everton by a score of 6-0. With this result, Chelsea remained in the relegation on goal difference.
In the 1951-1952 season, Chelsea once again faced Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-finals. After the first match ended in a 1-1 draw, they were eliminated from the tournament after suffering a 3-0 defeat in the rematch. Birrell resigned shortly after.
Modernization and first league championship (1952-1983)
In 1952, former Arsenal and England national team forward Ted Drake was appointed as Chelsea's manager. Drake took "significant steps to modernize" the club. He changed Chelsea's traditional "Chelsea Pensioner" crest, improved the infrastructure and training regime, and made transfers from lower leagues and amateur leagues.
Under his leadership, Chelsea became League champions in the 1954โ55 season. The following season, UEFA began organizing the UEFA European Champion Clubs' Cup, but due to objections from the Football League, Chelsea had to give up participating in this tournament. Chelsea finished the remaining seasons of the 1950s "generally mid-table". Ted Drake was dismissed in 1961 and replaced by Tommy Docherty.
Docherty formed a new team with players from the club's youth system. Entering the final stages of the 1964โ65 season the League was aiming to complete a treble by winning the FA Cup and EFL Cup; They won the EFL Cup, but lost in the latter stages of the other two competitions. In three seasons the team were eliminated in three major semi-finals and lost once in the FA Cup final.
Under Docherty's successor Dave Sexton, Chelsea won the FA Cup by defeating Leeds United 2-1 in the 1970 FA Cup final second leg. The following year, Chelsea won their first European trophy, beating Real Madrid in the second leg of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final in Athens.
Restructuring and financial crisis (1983-2003)
The period from the late 1970s to the 1980s was marked by "various difficulties" for Chelsea. The redevelopment of Stamford Bridge "had implications" for the club's finances, with players sold and the team relegated. Additionally, a hooligan group caused problems at the club during this period. In 1982, Chelsea was bought by Ken Bates from Brian Mears for a nominal fee.
Bates floated Chelsea on the AIM exchange in March 1996, taking a controlling interest in the club. During this period the ownership of Stamford Bridge was sold to property developers, putting the club at risk of losing its stadium. Things were also "not going well" in terms of team performance; The team was "in danger" of relegation to the Third Division for the first time in its history.
In 1983, coach John Neal assembled a new team "with minimal expenditure". Chelsea were crowned Second Division champions in the 1983โ84 season and twice finished in the top six in the top division, but were relegated again in 1988. The team was promoted to the top league again as Second Division champion in the 1988-89 season.
In 1992, Ken Bates regained ownership of the stadium to the club thanks to a deal with banks owed money by bankrupt property developers. In the mid-1990s, Chelsea fan and businessman Matthew Harding joined the club's management team, providing the club with financial support for the construction of the stadium's North Stand and player transfers.
Chelsea's performance in the Premier League varied in the following period. The team played in the 1994 FA Cup final. In 1996, Ruud Gullit took over the team as player-coach, adding new players to the squad, and the team won the FA Cup in 1997. Gianluca Vialli was appointed as coach after Gullit, and during his time Chelsea won the Football League Cup, the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and the 1998 UEFA Super Cup in 1998, and the FA Cup in 2000.
In the 1998-99 season, Chelsea competed in the UEFA Champions League for the first time, finishing second in the league with four points behind Manchester United. Claudio Ranieri, who took office after Vialli, led Chelsea to the 2002 FA Cup final, and Chelsea had the chance to participate in the UEFA Champions League in the 2002-03 season.
Abramovich administration (2003-2022)
With the club facing financial crisis, Ken Bates sold Chelsea FC for ยฃ60 million in June 2003. With this sale, he reportedly made a personal profit of ยฃ17 million from the club, which he bought for ยฃ1 in 1982 (his stake had fallen to less than 30% over the years). The new owner of the club is Russian oligarch and billionaire Roman Abramovich.
Abramovich took on the club's ยฃ80 million debt and paid some of it off. Sergey Pugachyov claimed that Chelsea was bought on the instructions of Vladimir Putin, but Abramovich denied this claim. Bates stated that Abramovich also held talks with Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur before buying Chelsea.
More than ยฃ100 million was spent on new players, but manager Ranieri failed to win any trophies and was replaced by Josรฉ Mourinho. Under Mourinho, Chelsea became "the fifth English team since World War II to win consecutive league titles" (2004โ05 and 2005โ06). He also won one FA Cup (2007) and two EFL Cups (2005 and 2007).
In the 2007-08 season, Mourinho was replaced by Avram Grant. Grant led the club to "the UEFA Champions League final for the first time in the club's history", but they lost the final to Manchester United on penalties. Under Abramovic's management, the club failed to make a profit in its first nine years, posting a loss of ยฃ140 million in June 2005.
In 2009, under interim manager Guus Hiddink, Chelsea won the 2009 FA Cup. In the 2009โ10 season, Hiddink's successor, Carlo Ancelotti, won the 2009โ10 Premier League championship and the 2010 FA Cup. Chelsea became the "first English club to score 100 league goals in a season since 1963". In 2012, Roberto Di Matteo won the 2012 FA Cup and the first UEFA Champions League title in the club's history.
Chelsea became the first London club to win the cup by defeating Bayern Munich 4-3 on penalties. The following year the team won the UEFA Europa League and became "one of five clubs to win UEFA's three major trophies".
In 2013, Josรฉ Mourinho was reappointed as coach of the team. The team won the Football League Cup in March 2015 and the Premier League championship two months later. However, he was sacked due to "poor results" in the first four months of the following season.
In November 2012, Chelsea reported a profit of ยฃ1.4 million for the financial year ending 30 June 2012, marking the first time the club had made a profit under Abramovich's stewardship. The club, which declared a loss in 2013, recorded its "highest profit in its history" as ยฃ18.4 million in the financial year until June 2014. In 2018, Chelsea announced a record profit after tax of ยฃ62 million.
In 2017, under manager Antonio Conte, Chelsea won their sixth Premier League title and the following season won the FA Cup for the eighth time. In 2018, Conte was sacked after finishing fifth in the league and replaced by Maurizio Sarri. Under Sarri, Chelsea lost the 2019 EFL Cup final to Manchester City on penalties.
However, in the same season, they won the UEFA Europa League for the second time, defeating Arsenal 4-1 in the final. Sarri left the club for Juventus. He was replaced by former Chelsea player Frank Lampard.
Under Lampard, Chelsea finished fourth in the 2019-20 Premier League and reached the FA Cup final. However, the team lost 2-1 to Arsenal in the final. Lampard was sacked in January 2021 and replaced by Thomas Tuchel.
Under Tuchel, Chelsea reached the FA Cup final but lost 1-0 to Leicester City. In the same season, Chelsea won the UEFA Champions League for the second time, defeating Manchester City 1-0 in the final played in Porto. At the beginning of the next season, they won the 2021 UEFA Super Cup by winning 6-5 on penalties after the regular time of the match against Villarreal in Belfast ended 1-1.
Additionally, Chelsea won the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup, the "first in the club's history", by defeating Brazilian club Palmeiras 2-1 in the final played in Abu Dhabi.
On 18 April 2021, Chelsea announced that they would participate in the European Super League, which will be "established with the participation of the biggest clubs in Europe". However, following the reactions from the fans, they announced their withdrawal from this competition a few days later. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the club decided not to furlough its staff working outside of matchdays.
It was stated that this decision was made directly by Abramovich. Chelsea became one of the first clubs to support the National Health Service (NHS), making the club's Millennium Hotel available to NHS staff.
โGary Neville after Abramovich left the club.
โRoman Abramovich in an interview with the BBC.
Following financial sanctions by Western governments against Russian oligarchs following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Abramovich announced on February 26 that he would hand over the management of Chelsea to the trustees of the Chelsea Foundation. But trustees did not immediately agree due to legal concerns about the rules of the Charity Commission for England and Wales.
A week later, Abramovich put the club up for sale, writing off the club's ยฃ1.5 billion debt to him and promising to donate the net proceeds from the sale to war victims in Ukraine.
On 10 March 2022, the UK government imposed sanctions on Abramovich and Chelsea were allowed to operate with a special license until 31 May. In the weeks that followed, reports emerged that Abramovich had acted as a mediator between Ukraine and Russia to broker a peace agreement and create safe evacuation corridors in besieged Ukrainian cities.
An American government official announced that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky requested the US government not to impose sanctions on Abramovich, considering his importance in war aid efforts.
