Author : | Created : 2021-11-16 11:34:00

History of the club

Gus Mears purchased Stamford Bridge athletics facility in 1904 with the intention of converting it to a football stadium. After an attempt to lease it to the adjacent Fulham Football Team was rejected, Mears decided to form his own club to utilise the stadium. A new club was established in Chelsea, which was chosen above names like Fulham FC, which already existed in the borough; other names such as Kensington Football Club, Stamford Bridge FC, and London Football Club were also considered. Chelsea Football Club was formed on March 10, 1905, at the Rising Sun tavern (now known as The Butcher's Hook), directly across the road from the current main entrance to the pitch on Fulham Road, and were admitted to the Football League a short time later.

In their second season, Chelsea achieved promotion to the First Division, and they spent their early years bouncing back and forth between the First and Second Divisions. They reached the 1915 FA Cup Final, when they were defeated by Sheffield United at Old Trafford, and finished third in the First Division in 1920, which was the club's finest league season up to that time in its history. Chelsea had a reputation for bringing in quality players and drew enormous crowds to their games. From 1907–08 through 1909–10, 1911–12, 1912–13, 1913–14, and 1919–20, the club achieved the greatest average attendance in English football for ten consecutive seasons, including 1907–08, 1909–10, 1911–12, 1912–13, 1913–14, and 1919–20. In the inter-war years, they reached the FA Cup semi-finals in 1920 and 1932 and stayed in the First Division.

Owners

Following Gus Mears's death in 1912, his relatives retained ownership of the club until 1982, when Ken Bates purchased it for £1 from Mears' great-nephew Brian Mears. In March 1996, Bates obtained a controlling share in Chelsea and listed it on the AIM. As a director in the mid-1990s, millionaire Matthew Harding gave the club £26 million to build a new North Stand and buy new players.

As part of a £140 million transaction, Roman Abramovich paid £30 million in July 2003 for slightly over 50% of Chelsea Village plc's share capital, including Bates' 29.5 percent interest. The Matthew Harding estate (21%) and BSkyB (9.9%) were also stockholders at the time of the transaction.

Stadium

Chelsea have only ever had one home ground, which has been Stamford Bridge, where they have played since the team's inception in 1892. In 1877, it was formally inaugurated and used for the first 28 years of its existence by the London Athletic Club as an arena for athletics competitions and not for football. The stadium was purchased by industrialist Gus Mears and his brother Joseph in 1904, who had also purchased neighbouring property (which had previously been a big market garden) with the intention of hosting football matches on the now 12.5 acre (51,000 m2) site. It was created for the Mears family by the renowned football architect Archibald Leitch, who had previously designed Ibrox, Craven Cottage, and Hampden Park among other notable football venues. Unlike the majority of football clubs, which were created first and then looked out stadiums to play in, Chelsea were founded specifically for Stamford Bridge.

Cups won

The 2012–13 UEFA Europa League title saw Chelsea become the fourth club in history to win the "European Treble," which includes the European Cup and the UEFA Champions League, as well as the UEFA Cup and the Europa League, and the European Cup Winners' Cup and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, following Juventus, Ajax, and Bayern Munich. Chelsea is the first English team to have won all three main UEFA tournaments.

Current squad

1 GK Kepa Arrizabalaga

2 DF Antonio Rüdiger

3 DF Marcos Alonso

4 DF Andreas Christensen

5 MF Jorginho

6 DF Thiago Silva

7 MF N'Golo Kanté

8 MF Mateo Kovačić

9 FW Romelu Lukaku

10 FW Christian Pulisic

11 FW Timo Werner

12 MF Ruben Loftus-Cheek

13 GK Marcus Bettinelli

14 DF Trevoh Chalobah

16 GK Édouard Mendy

17 MF Saúl (on loan from Atlético Madrid)

18 MF Ross Barkley

19 MF Mason Mount

20 FW Callum Hudson-Odoi

21 DF Ben Chilwell

22 MF Hakim Ziyech

24 DF Reece James

28 DF César Azpilicueta (captain)

29 MF Kai Havertz

31 DF Malang Sarr

32 MF Lewis Baker

36 GK Lucas Bergström

Biggest transfers

10. Mateo Kovacic - £40m (from Real Madrid, 2019)

9. Ben Chilwell - £45m (from Leicester, 2020)

8. Timo Werner - £47.5m (from RB Leipzig, 2020)

7. Jorginho - £50m (from Napoli, 2018)

6. Fernando Torres - £50m (from Liverpool, 2011)

5. Christian Pulisic - £57m (from Dortmund, 2019)

4. Alvaro Morata - £60m (from Real Madrid, 2017)

3. Kepa Arrizabalaga - £71m (from Athletic Bilbao, 2018)

2. Kai Havertz - £72m (from Leverkusen, 2020)

1. Romelu Lukaku - £97.7m (From Inter, 2021)

Top Goalscorers

In terms of appearances, former Chelsea captain Ron Harris holds the record with 795 in competitive games between 1961 and 1980, making him the club's all-time leading appearance maker. Four other players have made more than 500 appearances for the club: Peter Bonetti (729 appearances from 1959 to 1979), John Terry (717 appearances from 1998 to 2017), Frank Lampard (648 appearances from 2001 to 2014) and John Hollins (592 appearances from 1963 to 1975 and 1983–1984). Lampard is Chelsea's most capped international player, having earned 103 caps for England (101 of which came while at the club). Chelsea's 57 games in the 2013–14 season featured every starting player who was a full international, setting a new club record.

Lampard is Chelsea's all-time leading goalscorer, having netted 211 goals in 648 games (2001–2014). In May 2013, he broke Bobby Tambling's long-standing record of 202 goals in 648 games (2001–2014) for the club. There have been eight other players who have scored more than 100 goals for Chelsea: George Hilsdon (1906–1912), George Mills (1929–1939), Roy Bentley (1948–1956), Jimmy Greaves (1957–1961), Peter Osgood (1964–1974 and 1978–1979), Kerry Dixon (1983–1992), Didier Drogba (2004), Didier Drogba (2014), Eden Hazard (2012), and Eden Hazard (2018). When it comes to a single season's worth of goals, Greaves holds the record at the club (43 in 1960–61). Greaves became the youngest player in English Premier League history to score 100 goals while playing for Chelsea, at the age of 20 years and 290 days.