History of Chelsea Football Club Essay

Chelsea were founded on 10 March 1905 at The Rising solarise pub (now The Butchers Hook), opposite the present-day main take hold of to the ground on Fulham Road, and were elected to the Football coalition shortly after(prenominal)wards. The smart sets early years maxim little success the close at hand(predicate) they came to gentle a major trophy was reaching the FA cupful terminal in 1915, where they lost to Sheffield United. Chelsea gained a re vestation for signing big-name players and for being entertainers, exactly made little impact on the English game in the inter-war years.Former Arsenal and England centre-forward Ted Drake became music director in 1952 and proceeded to modernize the club. He remove the clubs Chelsea pensioner crest, improved the youth set-up and training regime, rebuilt the side, and light-emitting diode Chelsea to their first major trophy success the League championship in 195455. The following season saw UEFA create the European Champions cupful, but after objections from The Football League and the FA Chelsea were persuaded to withdraw from the competition before it started.The 1960s saw the emergence of a talented young Chelsea side under manager Tommy Docherty. They challenged for honours throughout the decade, and endured several near-misses. They were on course for a soprano of League, FA Cup and League Cup going into the final stages of the 196465 season, winning the League Cup but faltering late on in the other both. In trey seasons the side was beaten in three major semi-finals and were FA Cup runners-up. Chelsea were FA Cup winners in 1970, beating Leeds United 21 in a final replay. Chelsea took their first European honour, a UEFA Cup Winners Cup triumph, the following year, with a nonher replayed win, this time over palpable Madrid in Athens.The late 1970s through to the 1980s was a turbulent period for Chelsea. An ambitious redevelopment of Stamford Bridge threatened the financial stability of the cl ub, star players were sold and the team were relegated. Further problems were caused by a notorious hooligan element among the support, which was to plague the club throughout the decade. In 1982 Chelsea were, at the nadir of their fortunes, acquired by Ken Bates for the nominal sum of 1, although by now the Stamford Bridge freehold had been sold to property developers, meaning the club face losing their home. On the pitch, the team had fared little better, coming close to relegation to the one-third Division for the first time, but in 1983 manager John Neal put together an impressive new team for minimal outlay. Chelsea won the turn Division title in 198384 and established themselves in the swipe division, before being relegated again in 1988. The club bounced back at once by winning the sustain Division championship in 198889. later on a long-running legal battle, Bates reunited the stadium freehold with the club in 1992 by doing a deal with the banks of the property develop ers, who had been bankrupted by a market crash.14 Chelseas signifier in the new Premier League was unconvincing, although they did reach the 1994 FA Cup Final. It was not until the appointment of former European Footballer of the Year Ruud Gullit as player-manager in 1996 that their fortunes changed. He added several top-class international players to the side, as the club won the FA Cup in 1997 and established themselves as one of Englands top sides again. Gullit was replaced by Gianluca Vialli, who led the team to victory in the League Cup and the Cup Winners Cup in 1998, the FA Cup in 2000 and the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals in 2000. Vialli was plundered in favour of another Italian, Claudio Ranieri, who guided Chelsea to the 2002 FA Cup Final and Champions League qualification in 200203.In June 2003, Bates sold Chelsea to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich for cxl million, completing what was then the biggest-ever sale of an English football club. Over one hundred million was spent on new players, but Ranieri was unable to part with any trophies, so he was replaced by Portuguese coach Jos Mourinho. chthonian Mourinho, Chelsea became the fifth English team to win back-to-back league championships since the Second World War (200405 and 200506), 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, in which they lost on penalties to Manchester United. Grant was sacked days later and succeeded by Luiz Felipe Scolari in July 2008.