Chelsea club stats
Wednesday, 23 May 2007 21:45
Chelsea In Focus
Good, bad or just the same old, same old? What the fans made of the 2007/08 season. Full Story
Facts
Formed: 1905
Home Ground: Stamford Bridge, capacity 42,055
Nickname: The Blues.
People
Owner: Roman Abramovich
Chairman: Bruce Buck
Chief executive: Peter Kenyon
Head coach: Jose Mourinho
Assistant coaches: Steve Clarke, Baltemar Brito, Silvino Louro, Rui Faria
Team captain: John Terry
History
The circumstances of Chelsea's birth are a rarity, with founder Gus Mears building a team for his new stadium rather than the other way round after buying the old athletics ground at Stamford Bridge in 1896. Nine years later the first Chelsea football team would move in to their west London home, and the club has been there ever since.
It was not until the mid-1950s that the club won their first major honour by finishing first in the old Division One, while the iconic Chelsea team of the late 1960s and early 1970s – featuring club legends Peter Osgood, Alan Hudson, Charlie Cooke and Ron Harris – belied their talent by having only an FA Cup and a European Cup Winners' Cup to show for their ability.
Success eluded the Blues for the next three decades, including a few relegations to the old Second Division, but in the mid-1990s, a succession of high-profile managers – Glenn Hoddle, Ruud Gullit, Gianluca Vialli and Claudio Ranieri – brought style back to the King's Road; as well as the odd trophy in the cabinet.
In 2003 - arguably the most significant year in the club's history to date - Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich bought the club from Ken Bates and gave Ranieri and then Jose Mourinho his untold roubles to build a squad good enough to win the Premiership. Mourinho's team did just that in 2005 and then successfully defended their title in the club's centenary season.
But with relations apparently soured between the manager and the owner, it remains to be seen whether the Portuguese will be around to win the one major honour still eluding the Blues, Europe's biggest prize, the Champions League.
Honours
Premiership champions: 3 – 1955, 2005, 2006
Division One champions: 2 – 1984, 1989
FA Cup winners: 3 – 1970, 1997, 2000, 2007
League Cup winners: 4 – 1965, 1998, 2005, 2007
Community Shield winners: 3 – 1955, 2000, 2005
European Cup Winners' Cup winners: 2 – 1971, 1998
Uefa Super Cup winners: 1 – 1998
Last Season
Premiership: 2nd – P 38 W 24 D 11 L 3 GF 64 GA 24 GD +40 PTS 83
Uefa Champions League: Semi-finals – lost 4-1 on penalties to Liverpool after 1-1 aggregate draw
FA Cup: Winners – beat Manchester United 1-0 after extra-time
League Cup: Winners – beat Arsenal 2-1
A fan's view of the 2006/07 season
Return to club news