Chelsea FC Profile

Chelsea won the English top flight title in 1954/55 for the first time. That was their only success before the Premier League era. They have since enjoyed the most successful spell in their history, winning further titles in 2004/05, 2005/06, 2009/10, 2014/15 and 2016/17.

On May, 19, 2012, Chelsea became the first London club to win the UEFA Champions League. They beat Bayern Munich on penalties in the final following a 1-1 draw at the Allianz Arena, incidentally the home ground of their opponents on the night.

No manager is embedded in the history of Chelsea Football Club quite like Portuguese tactician Jose Mourinho.

When Roman Abramovich bought the club in 2003, Claudio Ranieri was the manager. In 2003/04, Chelsea finished second in the Premier League, 11 points behind winners Arsenal. In order to bridge the gap, Abramovich hired Mourinho, who had just led FC Porto to the UEFA Champions League title, to replace Ranieri.

Mourinho announced himself in style in a press conference, famously telling the media: "Please, don’t call me arrogant. Because what I am saying is true, I am European champion so I am not one of the bottle. I think I’m a special one." This led to him being nicknamed 'The Special One,' a tag which has stuck with him ever since.

In 2004/05, Chelsea steamrolled to the Premier League title with Mourinho at the helm. They picked up 95 points and conceded only 15 goals, with captain and centre back John Terry being named PFA Players' Player of the Year.

However, UEFA Champions League success eluded the Blues. They lost 1-0 on aggregate to Liverpool in the semi-finals, going down to Luis Garcia's infamous 'Ghost Goal' which seemingly did not cross the goalline. 

Chelsea did beat Liverpool 3-2 in the final of the League Cup, helped in part by a Steven Gerrard own goal.

In 2005/06, Chelsea won the Premier League again with 91 points, securing the title with a 3-0 drubbing of Manchester United - their closest rivals. However, the Blues lost to Barcelona in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League.

Despite high-profile signings such as Michael Ballack and Andriy Shevchenko in 2006, Chelsea lost the 2006/07 Premier League title to Manchester United and were once again eliminated by Liverpool in the semifinals of the Champions League.

Mourinho left the club by mutual consent after a poor start to the 2007/08 season, but would return to the helm in 2013.

The 2012/13 season under Roberto Di Matteo and then Rafael Benitez had seen Chelsea finish third in the Premier League, some distance behind winners Manchester United. It was the second in a row in which Chelsea did not contend for the league title.

Mourinho ensured that Chelsea were back in the running in 2013/14 as they fought until the end for the title. However, despite beating Manchester City and Liverpool home and away, they were edged out by both in the title fight due largely to their poor results against smaller sides.

In 2014, Mourinho added the final pieces to his puzzle, bringing Thibaut Courtois back from his loan and signing Diego Costa, both from Atletico Madrid, alongside the arrival of Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona. Chelsea stormed to the Premier League title once again and also won the League Cup, beating Tottenham 2-0 in the final.

The 2015/16 season got off to a disastrous start and Mourinho was sacked in December with the Blues floundering near the bottom of the table.

After Mourinho's first spell, Avram Grant led them to the 2007/08 Champions League final, where they lost to Manchester United.

The following season started with Luiz Felipe Scolari as manager, but he was replaced by Guus Hiddink, who guided Chelsea to third in the league and the FA Cup title.

In 2009, Carlo Ancelotti was appointed manager. He steered Chelsea to the 2009/10 Premier League title playing an attacking brand of soccer. The Blues scored a record 103 goals en route and doubled up with another FA Cup crown.

In 2010/11, Ancelotti's Chelsea finished second in the Premier League and he was sacked following the completion of the season.

Andre Villas-Boas, who worked under Mourinho previously, was hired as Chelsea manager ahead of the 2011/12 season. However, poor league form saw him sacked in March 2012. Former Blues player Roberto Di Matteo stepped up and led Chelsea to the UEFA Champions League title. However, they finished only sixth in the league.

Di Matteo was sacked early in the 2012/13 season and Rafael Benitez took over, guiding Chelsea to third in the Premier League and the UEFA Europa League title.

Hiddink took over again following Mourinho's second departure. He steadied the ship somewhat, but Chelsea still finished a miserable 10th in the Premier League.

In 2016, Antonio Conte took the reins and started playing with three defenders in his formation. This proved a masterstroke, as Chelsea won the 2016/17 Premier League title.

The following season was not as successful. Chelsea beat Mourinho's Manchester United in the final of the FA Cup, but a fifth-place finish in the league was not impressive enough for Conte to keep his job. He was replaced by Maurizio Sarri.

Sarri led Chelsea to another Europa League title and third place in the Premier League before leaving for Juventus.

Chelsea legend Frank Lampard was named head coach ahead of the 2019/20 season and guided a youthful squad to fourth place in the Premier League in his first season.

He was sacked in January 2021 and replaced by Thomas Tuchel.

Roman Abramovich stepped in at a time of financial trouble for Chelsea, buying the club from Ken Bates for £140million in 2003.

Abramovich has overseen the greatest period of success in Chelsea's history, delivering five of their six top-flight titles and their only UEFA Champions League crown.

The early years of the Abramovich era, in particular, were characterised by regular chopping and changing of managers. However, that has slowed down somewhat since the second coming of Jose Mourinho.

The Russian's ownership tenure in West London has been typified by a stream of high-profile signings, often for big money, alongside an extremely successful model of sending a high number of their contracted players out on loan to clubs around the world.   

Abramovich is seen as an engaged, hands-on owner at the Blues, being present at almost all Chelsea matches and offering his support throughout his time at the club, which is steadily heading towards the 20-year mark.

There have been issues with Abramovich's investor visa in recent years, since a change in regulations amid strained diplomatic relations between the UK and Russia. Nevertheless, he remains the Chelsea owner.

Tottenham Hotspur are the club which Chelsea supporters generally love to hate most. Spurs were once the more successful of the two and snapped up legendary striker Jimmy Greaves in 1961 following his spell at Chelsea and a short stint at AC Milan.

However, Chelsea's success under Abramovich is the subject of resentment among Tottenham supporters. Chelsea's 2012 Champions League win denied Tottenham a place in the following season's edition of the competition and they signed winger Willian a year later when he had been destined for a move to Spurs.

There have been several incidents of antisemitism among Chelsea supporters and Tottenham have a strong Jewish support.

Arsenal are also bitter rivals of Chelsea. The rivalry between former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and Mourinho exacerbated the animosity between the clubs.

Chelsea also have a fierce rivalry with Leeds United, which intensified in a hot-tempered 1970 FA Cup final, which saw Chelsea win the replay.

Their more recent rivalry with Liverpool has strengthened as a result of numerous UEFA Champions League battles and competing against each other in title races.

Chelsea Football Club is valued at £2billion as per Forbes. For the financial year ending June 30, 2019, the turnover figure grew to £446.7million, up by £3.3million from the previous year.

Owner Roman Abramovich was worth $12.9billion as of 2019 according to Forbes.