London is the football capital of the world and offers a desirable destination for sports tourism. There are about 13 professional football teams that are located in London itself. Of these, 7 teams play in Premier League, the highest tier football tournament of England. The biggest among these football clubs in London is Chelsea FC.
When was Chelsea FC founded?
If you want to witness the fiercest of football players and are a sucker for high voltage action on the turf, Chelsea is the team to pick. It is one of the biggest football clubs in London and in the world as well. The club was founded in the year 1905 on 10th March. As per 2018’s records, this football club had 30,000 members.
Gus Mears and Joseph Mears founded this club. It was taken over by Roman Abramovich in 2003, after which the club witnessed stupendous success both in European and English Football. Known as ‘The Blues’, the squad of Chelsea team is full of fighters. Offensive play is their favorite technique that they employ in the turf.
Which competitions have Chelsea FC won?
Chelsea has proved its supremacy at all levels of the English Football. The team has won Premier League, FA Cup and League Cups multiple times. Some of the prestigious trophies won by Chelsea FC are:
- First Division/Premier League: 6
- Football League Cup: 5
- FA Cup: 8
- European Cup/Champions League: 2
- UEFA Europe League: 2
- UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup: 2
The Stamford Bridge Stadium is the home ground of Chelsea. It is considered one of the well-equipped clubs in London. Sports tourists often visit this stadium to get the feel of the furor Chelsea FC is associated with.
Which are the most talked about wins of Chelsea FC?
Chelsea won its first League title in the year 1955. It was the most shocking news of the Football World that year. Even the team members could not believe their luck because they had fared badly in the previous editions and had no concrete hope in this season. It is one of the most cherished wins for the Chelsea FC fans.
1960s to 1970s were the character-building decades of Chelsea team where they scored a few prestigious wins in different years. The team held the first League Cup in 1965. After that, it managed to put up tough show for the contenders and went on to win FA Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup in 1970 and 1971 respectively.
It is one of the teams to have won all European trophies such as UEFA Championship, Europa League, UEFA Super Cup and European Cup Winners’ Cup.
What is unique about Chelsea FC team?
Here are some interesting facts about Chelsea that makes it a trend-setter in the English Football.
- Chelsea FC was the first team to have all non-English players in the team for a game on Boxing Day 1999. The team comprised:
Ed De Goey (Holland), Albert Ferrer (Spain), Frank Lebouef (France), Gus Poyet (Uruguay), Didier Deschamps (France), Emerson Thome (Brazil), Dan Petrescu (Romania), Celestine Babayaro (Nigeria), Roberto Di Matteo (Italy), Gabriele Ambrosetti (Italy) and Tore Andre Flo (Norway).
Chelsea had its first non-English player in the team in 1913 when Nils Middelboe, a Danish footballer joined this awesome squad.
- First team to have used the numbered kits
When the Russian Billionaire pumped in the financial security to the team under huge debt, the things improved in many ways for it. It was the only team along with the Arsenals to have started using numbered kits. The team used the numbered kits in 1928 during a match against Swansea City. It was considered a luxury for any team at that time to have numbered kits. The trend caught up with other teams much later, may be in the following decade.
- Chelsea’s Home Ground Stamford Bridge is fans’ property
There are about 21,000 shareholders of the Stamford Bridge, who are actually Chelsea fans. They own the stadium and provide it only on lease to Chelsea team. The organization formed by the fans is called Chelsea Pitch Owners PLC which leases the stadium to the club.
Though many changes have taken place since inception of the club, this unique fact continues to be an interesting reality of The Blues. It was nicknamed as ‘The Pensioners’ also as it was headed by a Chelsea pensioner until 1950s.
- Chelsea FC was sold for symbolic amount of £1
When Ken Bates came forward to take the ownership of Chelsea FC, the club was neck-deep in debts. That is why; the deal was closed only for £1. It, still, did not turn out to be the bad deal for Bates as the club paid him back £140M when he sold it in 2003. The club has continued to flourish and is believed to have the net worth of £2Bn. It is one of the richest football clubs of England and is dream destination for the footballers who want to take it up as a profession.
Other biggest football clubs in London
Chelsea is not the only big club in London. It faces tough competition from other adversary clubs in London, Arsenal being the most famous rivalry. The clubs that are among top five biggest football clubs apart from Chelsea FC and Arsenal are:
- Tottenham Spur
- West Ham United
- Brentford
- Crystal Palace
- Fulham
All these clubs are part of English Premier League too, and have a huge fan following in the city.
Conclusion
All the football clubs in London have collectively earned more than 100 titles comprising total of 21 English Premier League, 41 FA Cups, 12 League Cups, 2 Champions Leagues, 5 Cup Winners’ Cups, 28 FA Community Shields, 15 Football League Championships, 4 UEFA Cups/Europ28 FA Community Shields, 15 Football League Championships a Leagues, 1 UEFA Super Cup. Such a significant contribution makes these clubs the frontrunners of the English Football. By offering a stable career, these clubs become the first choice of professional footballers.