Chelsea is an
English football club based in Fulham, London. Founded in 1905, they play in
the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of
English football. Their home is the 41,837-seat
Stamford Bridge stadium, where they have played since their
establishment.
Chelsea had their
first major success in 1955, when they won the league championship, and won
various cup competitions during the 1960s, 1970s, 1990s and 2000s. Since 1996,
Chelsea have enjoyed the most successful period in their history. Overall,
Chelsea have won four league titles, seven FA Cups, four League Cups and four FA
Community Shields. The club have also been successful in continental
competitionswinning two UEFA Cup Winners' Cups, one UEFA Super Cup and one UEFA
Champions League title. In 2009–10, the club won their first "Double" and in 2012 became the first London club to win the UEFA
Champions League. Chelsea's regular kit
colours are royal blue shirts and shorts with white socks.
The club's crest has
been changed several times in attempts to re-brand the club and modernise its
image. The current crest, featuring a ceremonial lion rampant regardant holding
a staff, is a modification of the one introduced in the early 1950s. The club
has sustained the fifth highest average all-time attendance in English football.
Their average home gate for the 2011–12 season was 41,478, the sixth highest in
the Premier League. In April 2012 it was ranked by Forbes Magazine as the seventh
most valuable football club in the world, at £473 million
($761 million). Since 2003, Chelsea have been owned by Russian billionaire
Roman Abramovich
In
June 2003, Bates sold Chelsea to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich for
£140 million.Over £100 million was spent on new players, but Ranieri
was unable to deliver any trophies,and was replaced by José Mourinho Under Mourinho, Chelsea became the fifth
English team to win back-to-back league championships since the Second World
War (2004–05 and 2005–06), in addition to winning an FA Cup (2007) and two
League Cups (2005 and 2007). In September 2007, Mourinho was replaced by Avram
Grant,who led the club to their first UEFA Champions League final, which they
lost on penalties to Manchester United.
In 2009, caretaker manager Guus Hiddink guided
Chelsea to another FA Cup success, and in 2009–10,
his successor Carlo Ancelotti led them to their first league and FA Cup "Double",
becoming the first English club to score 100 league goals in a season since 1963.
In June 2011, Ancelotti was sacked and replaced by André Villas-Boas, who was in turn dismissed in March 2012. Under
caretaker manager Roberto Di Matteo, Chelsea won 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.
