Chelsea
Chelsea Football Club is a professional football club based in London, England, founded in 1905. They compete in the Premier League, playing their home games at Stamford Bridge. Since 2022, the club has been owned by BlueCo. Chelsea have won six Premier League titles, eight FA Cups, five League Cups, and four FA Community Shields. At international level, they have won the UEFA Champions League twice (2012, 2021), the UEFA Europa League twice (2013, 2019), the Cup Winners' Cup twice (1971, 1998), and became the first club to win all four main UEFA competitions after claiming the Conference League in 2025. They also won the FIFA Club World Cup in 2021 and 2025.
History
Overview
General information about the club
Chelsea Football Club was founded on 10 March 1905 at The Rising Sun pub (now The Butcher's Hook), opposite the present-day main entrance to the ground on Fulham Road. The club was created by Gus Mears who acquired the Stamford Bridge athletics stadium in Fulham with the aim of turning it into a football ground. After an offer to lease it to nearby Fulham F.C. was turned down, Mears opted to found his own club to use the stadium. As there was already a team named Fulham in the borough, the name of the adjacent borough of Chelsea was chosen for the new club.
Most recent season and achievements
Under manager Enzo Maresca, who was announced as replacement in June 2024, Chelsea won the Conference League after a 4–1 win against Real Betis in the final in Wrocław, becoming the first team to win all of the European trophies. On 13 July 2025, he also guided Chelsea to victory in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, the first edition of the expanded competition, when Chelsea secured the trophy with a 3–0 win over Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain in the final.
History
Early years
In 1904, Gus Mears acquired the Stamford Bridge athletics stadium in Fulham with the aim of turning it into a football ground. Chelsea F.C. was founded on 10 March 1905 and were elected to the Football League shortly afterwards. Chelsea won promotion to the First Division in their second season, and yo-yoed between the First and Second Divisions in its early years. The team reached the 1915 FA Cup final, where they lost to Sheffield United at Old Trafford, and finished third in the First Division in 1920. Chelsea had a reputation for signing star players and attracted large crowds, having the highest average attendance in English football in ten separate seasons including 1907–08, 1909–10, 1911–12, 1912–13, 1913–14 and 1919–20.
Successful period
Former Arsenal and England centre-forward Ted Drake was appointed manager in 1952 and proceeded to modernise the club. 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. Tommy Docherty built a new team around talented young players emerging from the club's youth set-up, and Chelsea challenged for honours throughout the 1960s. Under Dave Sexton, Chelsea won the FA Cup in 1970, beating Leeds United 2–1 in a final replay. The following year, Chelsea took their first European honour, a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup triumph, with another replayed win over Real Madrid in Athens.
Crisis and recovery
The late 1970s through to the '80s was a turbulent period for Chelsea. An ambitious redevelopment of Stamford Bridge threatened the financial stability of the club, star players were sold and the team were relegated. In 1982, Ken Bates acquired Chelsea from Mears' great-nephew Brian Mears for the nominal sum of £1. In 1983 manager John Neal put together an impressive new team for minimal outlay. Chelsea won the Second Division title in 1983–84 and established themselves in the top division with two top-six finishes, before being relegated again in 1988. The appointment of Ruud Gullit as player-manager in 1996 began an upturn in the team's fortunes, leading the club to the FA Cup. Gianluca Vialli replaced Gullit and saw Chelsea win the League Cup, the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and the UEFA Super Cup in 1998, and the FA Cup in 2000.
Current period
With the club facing financial crisis, Ken Bates sold Chelsea F.C. in June 2003 for £60 million to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. Under José 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 2012, Roberto Di Matteo led Chelsea to their first UEFA Champions League title, beating Bayern Munich 4–3 on penalties. Under Thomas Tuchel, Chelsea won their second UEFA Champions League title with a 1–0 win over Manchester City in Porto, and subsequently won the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup. Following sanctions against Abramovich due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the club was sold to a consortium led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, later known as BlueCo, for £4.25bn in May 2022.
Achievements and Honors
Domestic competitions
Chelsea have won six top-flight league titles, with their first Premier League title coming in the 2004–05 season. They have also won eight FA Cups, five League Cups, and four FA Community Shields, making them the fifth-most successful club in English football. Their first major domestic trophy was the First Division championship in 1955.
Continental and global competitions
At international level, Chelsea won their first European trophy in 1971, lifting the Cup Winners' Cup, which they won again in 1998. They won their first UEFA Champions League title in 2012 and repeated the feat in 2021. Chelsea have won the UEFA Europa League twice, in 2013 and 2019. After winning the UEFA Conference League in 2025, Chelsea became the first club to win all four main UEFA competitions. They also won the FIFA Club World Cup in 2021 and 2025, the latter being the contest's first iteration with 32 teams.
Symbols and Colors
Current logo and logo history
Chelsea has had four main crests, which all underwent minor variations. The first, adopted when the club was founded, was the image of a Chelsea Pensioner. When Ted Drake became Chelsea manager in 1952, he insisted that it be replaced. In 1953, the club crest was changed to an upright blue lion looking backwards and holding a staff, based on elements in the coat of arms of the Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea. In 1986, with Ken Bates as owner, Chelsea's crest was changed to feature a more naturalistic non-heraldic lion, in white and not blue, standing over the C.F.C. initials. With the new ownership of Roman Abramovich and the club's centenary approaching, the crest was changed again in 2005, marking a return to the older design featuring a blue heraldic lion holding a staff.
Traditional home and away kits colors
Chelsea have always worn blue shirts, although they originally used the paler eton blue, taken from the racing colours of then club president, Earl Cadogan, and was worn with white shorts and dark blue or black socks. The light blue shirts were replaced by a royal blue version in around 1912. In the 1960s Tommy Docherty changed the kit, switching to blue shorts and white socks, believing it made the club's colours more modern and distinctive. Chelsea's away colours are usually all yellow or all white with blue trim, with more recent black or dark blue away kits alternating every year.
Traditional club anthem
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. At matches, Chelsea fans sing chants such as "Carefree", "Ten Men Went to Mow", "We All Follow the Chelsea", "Zigga Zagga", and the celebratory "Celery". 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".
Traditional Rivals
Arsenal
Chelsea have long-standing rivalries with North London clubs Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. A 2004 survey by Planetfootball.com found that Chelsea fans consider their main rivalries to be with Arsenal, among others, in descending order. In the same survey, fans of Arsenal named Chelsea as one of their three main rivals.
Tottenham Hotspur
Chelsea have a strong rivalry with Tottenham Hotspur. A 2012 survey conducted among 1,200 supporters found that Chelsea fans consider Tottenham to be their main rivals, above Arsenal and Manchester United. Fans of Tottenham also identified Chelsea as one of their top three rivals.
Leeds United
A strong rivalry with Leeds United dates back to several heated and controversial matches in the 1960s and 1970s, particularly the 1970 FA Cup final. In surveys, fans of Leeds United have named Chelsea as one of their three main rivals.
Fulham
Fellow West London clubs Brentford, Fulham and Queens Park Rangers (QPR) are considered rivals, but less so in recent times as matches have only taken place intermittently due to the teams often being in separate divisions. Fans of Fulham have identified Chelsea as one of their top three rivals in surveys.
Liverpool
More recently a rivalry with Liverpool has grown following repeated clashes in cup competitions. Fans of Liverpool have identified Chelsea as one of their top three rivals in recent surveys.
Club Traditions and Behind the Scenes
Sponsors
Chelsea's kit has been manufactured by Nike since July 2017, in a deal worth £900m over 15 years. Previously, the kit was manufactured by Adidas (2006–2017), Umbro (1975–81, 1987–2006), Le Coq Sportif (1981–86), and The Chelsea Collection (1986–87). Chelsea's first shirt sponsor was Gulf Air during the 1983–84 season, followed by various sponsors including Samsung (2008–15), Yokohama Tyres (2015–20), and Three (2020–2022). The club started multiple recent seasons without a primary shirt sponsor, with DAMAC Properties becoming the shirt sponsor for the balance of the 2024–25 season in April 2025.
Nicknames
Chelsea contributed to the club's original "pensioner" nickname due to their first crest featuring a Chelsea Pensioner. The club's "football firm", originally known as the Chelsea Shed Boys, and subsequently as the Chelsea Headhunters, were nationally notorious for football violence during the 1970s and 1980s.
Ownership and finances
Chelsea Football Club was founded by Gus Mears in 1905. After his death in 1912, his descendants continued to own the club until 1982, when Ken Bates bought the club for £1. In July 2003, Roman Abramovich purchased the club for £140 million. Following sanctions against Abramovich due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the club was sold to a consortium led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital for £4.25bn in May 2022. As of 2025, Chelsea is the tenth-most-valuable football club in the world, worth $3.25 billion, and earning $592M in revenue.
Traditions and culture
Chelsea is among the most widely supported football clubs in the world, with the sixth-highest average attendance in the history of English football. The club'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. As of 2023, Chelsea has 118.9 million followers on social media, the fourth highest among football clubs. In 2007, the club launched the Back to the Shed campaign to improve the atmosphere at home matches.
Stadium
Chelsea have only had one home ground, Stamford Bridge, where they have played since the team's foundation. The stadium was officially opened on 28 April 1877 and was acquired by businessman Gus Mears and his brother Joseph in 1904. Stamford Bridge was designed by noted football architect Archibald Leitch and had an original capacity of around 100,000. The stadium underwent major redevelopment in the 1970s and was further renovated in the 1990s and 2000s. The Stamford Bridge freehold, the pitch, the turnstiles and Chelsea's naming rights are now owned by Chelsea Pitch Owners, a non-profit organisation in which fans are the shareholders. Chelsea's training ground is located in Cobham, Surrey, with facilities completed in 2007.