Meanwhile they allowed 11 shots by Chelsea, the second most they’ve faced this season. The only club who have scored more? Trevoh Chalobah’s goal was the seventh Chelsea have scored via a corner in the Premier League this season. After the red card, we needed to settle and make an assessment at half-time.
Other players under contract
- More recently a rivalry with Liverpool has grown following repeated clashes in cup competitions.
- Additionally, fans of Arsenal, Brentford, Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester United, QPR, Tottenham and West Ham identified Chelsea as one of their top three rivals.
- Former Arsenal and England centre-forward Ted Drake was appointed manager in 1952 and proceeded to modernise the club.
- In the early 1970s, the club’s owners announced a modernisation of Stamford Bridge with plans for a state-of-the-art 50,000 all-seater stadium.
- In 1980, Stamford Bridge hosted the first international floodlit cricket match in the UK, between Essex and the West Indies.
In three seasons the side were beaten in three major semi-finals and were FA Cup runners-up. The following season saw UEFA create the European Champions’ Cup, but after objections Chelsea House Review from The Football League, Chelsea were persuaded to withdraw from the competition before it started. He removed the club’s Chelsea pensioner crest, improved the youth set-up and training regime, rebuilt the side with shrewd signings from the lower divisions and amateur leagues, and led Chelsea to their first major trophy success – the League championship – in 1954–55.
On 19 March 2022, there were five confirmed bids to acquire Chelsea; submitted to Raine Capital which was handling the sale of the club. Abramovich released an official statement on 2 March 2022 confirming that he was selling the club due to the ongoing situation in Ukraine. Chelsea did not turn a profit in the first nine years of Abramovich’s ownership, and made record losses of £140m in June 2005. The loans stood at £709 million in December 2009, when they were all converted to equity by Abramovich, leaving the club themselves debt free, although the debt remained with Fordstam.
Get briefed on Chelsea 1-1 Arsenal
Chelsea is the first English club to have won all three major UEFA trophies of the past, and the first club overall in the present form. Up until the 1950s, the club had a long-running association with the music halls; their underachievement often provided material for comedians such as George Robey. It included guest appearances by then-Chelsea players Andrew Wilson, George Mills, and Sam Millington.
Counter-attacks nearly paid off for Chelsea
At Docherty’s behest, in the 1966 FA Cup semi-final they wore blue and black stripes, based on Inter Milan’s kit. More recently, the club have had a number of black or dark blue away kits which alternate every year. Chelsea have always worn blue shirts, although they originally used the paler eton blue, which was taken from the racing colours of then club president, Earl Cadogan, and was worn with white shorts and dark blue or black socks.
- Chelsea Football Club is a professional football club based in Fulham, London, England.
- In the same survey, fans of Arsenal, Fulham, Leeds United, QPR, Tottenham, and West Ham United named Chelsea as one of their three main rivals.
- Lampard’s win percentage was the worst for any Chelsea manager who managed three games or more.
- They play their home games at Kingsmeadow, formerly the home ground of the EFL League Two club AFC Wimbledon.
- They also won the FIFA Club World Cup in 2021 and 2025, the latter being the contest’s first iteration with 32 teams.
Songs and fan chants
They were the first Premier League team, and the first team in the English top flight since 1962–63, to score at least 100 goals in a single season, reaching the milestone during the 2009–10 season. In May 2007, Chelsea were the first team to win the FA Cup at the new Wembley Stadium, having been the last to win it at the old Wembley. 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. 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 faced Stoke City on 27 January 1974. On 25 August 1928, Chelsea, along with Arsenal, became the first club to play with shirt numbers, in their match against Swansea Town.
Ownership and finances
The 9% interest on the loan cost the club around £7 million a year and according to Bruce Buck, Chelsea were struggling to pay an instalment due in July 2003. Other shareholders at the time of the takeover included the Matthew Harding estate (21%), BSkyB (9.9%) and various anonymous offshore trusts. Bates bought a controlling stake in the club and floated Chelsea on the AIM stock exchange in March 1996. After his death in 1912, his descendants continued to own the club until 1982, when Ken Bates bought the club from Mears’ great-nephew Brian Mears for £1. Their £30.8 million purchase of Andriy Shevchenko from AC Milan in June 2006 was a British record until surpassed by the £32.5 million paid by Manchester City for Robinho in September 2008.
How Arsenal drew 1-1 with 10-man Chelsea to miss chance to extend lead atop Premier League
They were the first English club to be ranked No. 1 under UEFA’s five-year coefficient system in the 21st century. Officially, Chelsea’s highest home attendance is 82,905 for a First Division match against Arsenal on 12 October 1935. With 103 caps (101 while at the club) for England, Lampard is Chelsea’s most capped international player. Chelsea’s highest appearance-maker is ex-captain Ron Harris, who played in 795 competitive games for the club between 1961 and 1980. Additionally, fans of Arsenal, Brentford, Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester United, QPR, Tottenham and West Ham identified Chelsea as one of their top three rivals. In the same survey, fans of Arsenal, Fulham, Leeds United, QPR, Tottenham, and West Ham United named Chelsea as one of their three main rivals.
Chelsea
There are situation-specific or team-specific chants meant to rile up opposition teams, managers or players. Popular fan chants include, “Super Chelsea”, “Super Frank” (dedicated to all-time leading goal scorer Frank Lampard), “We love you Chelsea” and “Come on Chelsea”. The song “Blue is the Colour” was released as a single in the build-up to the 1972 League Cup final, with all members of Chelsea’s first team squad singing; it reached number five in the UK Singles Chart.
On 18 April 2021, Chelsea announced it would be joining a new European Super League, a league competition comprising the biggest European clubs. 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 in Porto. In Lampard’s first season, he guided Chelsea to fourth place in the Premier League and reached the FA Cup final, losing 2–1 to Arsenal. In 2018 Conte was sacked after a fifth-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, beating Arsenal 4–1 in the final. In 2017, under new coach Antonio Conte, Chelsea won their sixth English title and the following season won their eighth FA Cup. In November 2012, Chelsea announced a profit of £1.4 million for the year ending 30 June 2012, the first time the club had made a profit under Abramovich’s ownership.
Mourinho was sacked after four months of the following season after a poor start. The following year the club won the UEFA Europa League, making them the first club to hold two major European titles simultaneously and one of five clubs to have won the three main UEFA trophies. In 2012, Roberto Di Matteo led Chelsea to their seventh FA Cup, and their first UEFA Champions League title, beating Bayern Munich 4–3 on penalties, the first London club to win the trophy. The club did not turn a profit in the first nine years of Abramovich’s ownership, and made record losses of £140m in June 2005. With the club facing an apparent financial crisis, Bates unexpectedly sold Chelsea F.C. Vialli was sacked in favour of Claudio Ranieri, who guided Chelsea to the 2002 FA Cup final and Champions League qualification in 2002–03.
Chelsea have long-standing rivalries with North London clubs Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. Since the 1990s, there has been a marked decline in crowd trouble at matches, as a result of stricter policing, CCTV in grounds and the advent of all-seater stadia. There are numerous official supporters clubs in the United Kingdom and all over the world. Chelsea’s traditional fanbase comes from all over the Greater London area, including working-class parts such as Hammersmith and Battersea, wealthier areas like Chelsea and Kensington, and from the home counties. In the build-up to the 1997 FA Cup final, the song “Blue Day”, performed by Suggs and members of the Chelsea squad, reached number 22 in the UK chart.
Chelsea is also the only London club to have won the Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup. Chelsea has also won the UEFA Super Cup twice, in 1998 and 2021, as well as the UEFA Youth League (in 2014–15 and 2015–16, the first and as of 2025 only club to have retained the title). In 2025, Chelsea became the first club to have won all four UEFA main club competitions; the European Cup/UEFA Champions League, the European/UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, the UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League, and the UEFA Europa Conference League/UEFA Conference League.
The club signed an agreement with Emirati property development company DAMAC Properties in April 2025 to become the team’s shirt sponsor for the balance of the 2024–25 season. Previously, the kit was manufactured by Adidas, which was originally contracted to supply the club’s kit from 2006 to 2018. In the mid-1990s Chelsea fan and businessman Matthew Harding became a director, and loaned the club £26 million to build the new North Stand and invest in new players. Chelsea have broken the record for the highest transfer fee paid by a British club three times. Upon winning the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League, Chelsea became the first English club to win then-all three UEFA club trophies and the only club to hold the Champions League and the Europa League at the same time.
The previous owner Abramovich and the club’s then executive board determined that a larger stadium is necessary in order for Chelsea to stay competitive with rival clubs who have significantly larger stadia, such as Arsenal and Manchester United. Soon after the takeover a decision was taken to drop the “Chelsea Village” brand and refocus on Chelsea as a football club. In 1996, the north stand was renamed the Matthew Harding stand, after the club director and benefactor who was killed in a helicopter crash earlier that year. Following a long legal battle, it was not until the mid-1990s that Chelsea’s future at Stamford Bridge was secured and renovation work resumed. The freehold was sold to property developers and the club were under threat of eviction from the stadium. In the early 1970s, the club’s owners announced a modernisation of Stamford Bridge with plans for a state-of-the-art 50,000 all-seater stadium.
In 2016, Forbes magazine ranked Chelsea the seventh most valuable football club in the world, at £1.15 billion ($1.66 billion). In 2023, Chelsea broke the spending record in the winter transfer window with a £289 million spending spree on eight new signings, with the £106.8 million signing of Enzo Fernandez breaking the British transfer record. The club’s £71 million purchase of Kepa Arrizabalaga in August 2018 remains a world record fee paid for a goalkeeper. The club’s £50 million purchase of Fernando Torres from Liverpool in January 2011 held the record until Ángel Di María signed for Manchester United in August 2014 for £59.7 million. Chelsea is the only London club to have won the UEFA Champions League, triumphing in the 2011–12 season.
Most football clubs were founded first, and then sought grounds in which to play, but Chelsea were founded for Stamford Bridge. Stamford Bridge was designed for the Mears family by the noted football architect Archibald Leitch, who had designed Ibrox, Craven Cottage and Hampden Park. After clashing with the sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley over strategy and management of the young squad, Pochettino agreed to leave the club at the end of the season. Bruce Buck, who served as chairman since 2003, was replaced by Boehly, while long-serving club director and de facto sporting director Marina Granovskaia left, as did Petr Čech from the role of technical and performance advisor. The club opted against furloughing their non-matchday staff during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the decision reportedly coming from Abramovich himself.
