clubname	Chelsea
fullname	Chelsea Football Club
nickname	''The Pensioners'' (until 1952), ''The Blues''
founded
ground	Stamford Bridge
capacity	41,841
chairman	Bruce Buck
owner	Roman Abramovich
manager	André Villas-Boas
league	Premier League
season	2010–11
position	Premier League, 2nd
current	2011–12 Chelsea F.C. season
website	http://www.chelseafc.com/
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Chelsea Football Club () are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four times. They have also been successful in Europe, winning the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup twice.

The club had their first major success in 1955, when they won the league championship. Chelsea won several cup competitions during the 1960s and 1970s, but after that did not win another major title until 1997. The past decade has been the most successful period in Chelsea’s history, capped by winning Premier League titles in 2005, 2006 and 2010, the latter as part of their first league and FA Cup "Double".

Despite their name, the club is not based in Chelsea, but in neighbouring Fulham. The club's home is the 41,841 capacity Stamford Bridge football stadium in Fulham, where they have played since their establishment. Since 2003 they have been owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.

Chelsea's regular kit colours are royal blue shirts and shorts with white socks, the combination used since the 1960s. The club crest has been changed several times in attempts to modernise or re-brand; the current crest, featuring a ceremonial lion holding a staff, is a modified version of one first adopted in the 1950s. The club has sustained the fifth highest average all-time attendance in English football. Their average home gate for the 2010–11 season was 41,435, the sixth highest in the Premier League.

History

Chelsea were 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, and were elected to the Football League shortly afterwards. The club's early years saw little success; the closest they came to winning a major trophy was reaching the 1915 FA Cup Final, where they lost to Sheffield United. Chelsea gained a reputation for signing big-name players and for being entertainers, but made little impact on the English game in the inter-war years.

Former Arsenal and England centre-forward Ted Drake became 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, and led Chelsea to their first major trophy success – the League championship – in 1954–55. The following season saw UEFA create the European Champions' Cup, but after objections from The Football League and the FA Chelsea were persuaded to withdraw from the competition before it started.

They challenged for honours throughout the 1960s, and endured several near-misses. They were on course for a treble of League, FA Cup and League Cup going into the final stages of the 1964–65 season, winning the League Cup but faltering late on in the other two. In three seasons the side were beaten in three major semi-finals and were FA Cup runners-up. Chelsea won the FA Cup in 1970, beating Leeds United 2–1 in a final replay. Chelsea took their first European honour, a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup triumph, the following year, with another replayed win, this time over Real 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 club, 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 faced losing their home. On the pitch, the team had fared little better, coming close to relegation to the Third Division for the first time, but 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, before being relegated again in 1988. The club bounced back immediately by winning the Second Division championship in 1988–89.

After 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 developers, who had been bankrupted by a market crash. Chelsea's form 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 England's top sides again. Gullit was replaced by Gianluca Vialli, who led the team to victory in the League Cup Final and the Cup Winners' Cup Final in 1998, the FA Cup in 2000 and the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals in 2000. Vialli was sacked in favour of another Italian, Claudio Ranieri, who guided Chelsea to the 2002 FA Cup Final and Champions League qualification in 2002–03.

In June 2003, Bates sold Chelsea to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich for £140 million, completing what was then the biggest-ever sale of an English football club. Over £100 million was spent on new players, but Ranieri was unable to deliver any trophies, so he was replaced by Portuguese coach 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. Grant was fired days later and succeeded by Luiz Felipe Scolari in July 2008.

Scolari spent only seven months in the job before being dismissed after a string of poor results. Russia coach Guus Hiddink was appointed caretaker manager until the end of the 2008–09 season, and guided Chelsea to a second FA Cup triumph in three years. Two days later, former Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti was confirmed as Chelsea's new manager. In his first season, Ancelotti led Chelsea to their first league and FA Cup "Double"; in addition, Chelsea became the first English top-flight side to score over 100 league goals in a season since 1963. Ancelotti parted company with Chelsea in May 2011 and was replaced by then Porto coach Andre Villas-Boas.

Stamford Bridge

Chelsea have only ever had one home ground, Stamford Bridge, where they have played since foundation. It was officially opened on 28 April 1877. For the first 28 years of its existence it was used almost exclusively by the London Athletics Club as an arena for athletics meetings and not at all for football. In 1904 the ground was acquired by businessman Gus Mears and his brother Joseph, who had previously acquired additional land (formerly a large market garden) with the aim of staging football matches on the now 12.5 acre (51,000 m²) site.

Stamford Bridge was designed for the Mears family by the noted football architect Archibald Leitch. They offered to lease the stadium to Fulham, but were turned down. As a consequence, the owners decided to form their own football club to occupy their new ground. Most football clubs were founded first, and then sought grounds in which to play, but Chelsea were founded for Stamford Bridge. Since there was already a football club named Fulham in the borough, the founders decided to adopt the name of the adjacent borough of Chelsea for the new club, having also considered names such as ''Kensington FC'', ''Stamford Bridge FC'' and ''London FC''.

Starting with an open bowl-like design and one covered terrace, Stamford Bridge had an original capacity of around 100,000. The early 1930s saw the construction of a terrace on the southern part of the ground with a roof that covered around one fifth of the stand. It eventually became known as the "Shed End", the home of Chelsea's most loyal and vocal supporters, particularly during the 1960s, 70s and 80s. The exact origins of the name are unclear, but the fact that the roof looked like a corrugated iron shed roof played a part. During the late 1960s and early 70s, the club's owners embarked on a modernisation of Stamford Bridge with plans for a 50,000 all-seater stadium. Work began on the East Stand in the early 1970s but the project was beset with problems and the cost almost brought the club to its knees, culminating in the freehold being sold to property developers. Following a long legal battle, it was not until the mid-1990s that Chelsea's future at the stadium was secured and renovation work resumed. The north, west and southern parts of the ground were converted into all-seater stands and moved closer to the pitch, a process completed by 2001.

When Stamford Bridge was redeveloped in the Ken Bates era many additional features were added to the complex including two hotels, apartments, bars, restaurants, the Chelsea Megastore, and an interactive visitor attraction called Chelsea World of Sport. The intention was that these facilities would provide extra revenue to support the football side of the business, but they were less successful than hoped and before the Abramovich takeover in 2003 the debt taken on to finance them was a major burden on the club. Soon after the takeover a decision was taken to drop the "Chelsea Village" brand and refocus on Chelsea as a football club. However, the stadium is sometimes still referred to as part of ''"Chelsea Village"'' or ''"The Village"''.

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. The CPO was created to ensure the stadium could never again be sold to developers. As a condition for using the Chelsea FC name, the club has to play its first team matches at Stamford Bridge, which means that if the club moves to a new stadium, they may have to change their name. Chelsea's training ground is located in Cobham, Surrey. Chelsea moved to Cobham in 2004. Their previous training ground in Harlington was taken over by QPR in 2005. The new training facilities in Cobham were completed in 2007.

The club plans to increase the capacity of Stamford Bridge to over 50,000. Owing to its location in a built-up part of London on a main road and next to two railway lines, fans can only enter the stadium through the Fulham Road entrances, which places severe constraints on expansion due to health and safety regulations. As a result, Chelsea have been linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge to sites including the Earls Court Exhibition Centre, Battersea Power Station and the Chelsea Barracks. However, the club have consistently affirmed their desire to keep Chelsea at their current home.

Stamford Bridge has been used for a variety of other sporting events since 1905. It hosted the FA Cup Final from 1920 to 1922, has held ten FA Cup semi-finals (most recently in 1978), ten FA Charity Shield matches (the last in 1970), and three England international matches, the last in 1932; it was also the venue for an unofficial ''Victory International'' in 1946. In October 1905 it hosted a rugby union match between the All Blacks and Middlesex, and in 1914 hosted a baseball match between the touring New York Giants and the Chicago White Sox. It was the venue for a boxing match between world flyweight champion Jimmy Wilde and Joe Conn in 1918. The running track was used for dirt track racing between 1928 and 1932, greyhound racing from 1937 to 1968, and Midget car racing in 1948. In 1980, Stamford Bridge hosted the first international floodlit cricket match in the UK, between Essex and the West Indies. It was also the home stadium of the London Monarchs American Football team for the 1997 season.

Crest

Since the club's foundation, Chelsea have had four main crests, though all underwent minor variations. In 1905, Chelsea adopted as their first crest the image of a Chelsea pensioner, which obviously contributed to the "pensioner" nickname, and remained for the next half-century, though it never appeared on the shirts. As part of Ted Drake's modernisation of the club from 1952 onwards, he insisted that the pensioner badge be removed from the match day programme in order to change the club's image and that a new crest be adopted. As a stop-gap, a temporary emblem comprising simply the initials C.F.C. was adopted for one year.

In 1953, Chelsea's crest was changed to an upright blue lion looking backwards and holding a staff, which was to endure for the next three decades. This crest was based on elements in the coat of arms of the Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea with the "lion rampant regardant" taken from the arms of then club president Viscount Chelsea and the staff from the Abbots of Westminster, former Lords of the Manor of Chelsea. It also featured three red roses, to represent England, and two footballs. This was the first club badge to appear on shirts, since the policy of putting the crest on the shirts was only adopted in the early 1960s.

In 1986, with Ken Bates now owner of the club, Chelsea's crest was changed again as part of another attempt to modernise and to capitalise on new marketing opportunities. The new badge featured a more naturalistic non-heraldic lion, yellow and not blue, standing over the C.F.C. initials. It lasted for the next 19 years, with some modifications such as the use of different colours. With new ownership, and the club's centenary approaching, combined with demands from fans for the club's traditional badge to be restored, it was decided that the crest should be changed again in 2004. The new crest was officially adopted for the start of the 2005–06 season and marks a return to the older design of the blue heraldic lion holding a staff. As with previous crests, this one has appeared in various colours, including white and gold.

Colours

Chelsea have always worn blue shirts, although they initially adopted a lighter shade than the current version, and unlike today wore white shorts and dark blue socks. The lighter blue was taken from the racing colours of then club president, Earl Cadogan. The light blue shirts were short-lived, however, and replaced by a royal blue version in around 1912. In the 1960s Chelsea manager Tommy Docherty changed the kit again, switching to blue shorts (which have remained ever since) and white socks, believing it made the club's colours more modern and distinctive, since no other major side used that combination; this kit was first worn during the 1964–65 season. Since then Chelsea have always worn white socks with their home kit apart from a short spell from 1985 to 1992, when blue socks were reintroduced.

Chelsea's traditional away colours are all yellow or all white with blue trim, but, as with most teams, they have had some more unusual ones. The first away strip consisted of black and white stripes and for one game in the 1960s the team wore blue and black stripes, inspired by Inter Milan's kit, again at Docherty's behest. Other memorable away kits include a mint green strip in the 1980s, a red and white checked one in the early 90s and a graphite and tangerine edition in the mid-1990s.

Chelsea's kit is currently manufactured by Adidas, which is contracted to supply the club's kit from 2006 to 2018. The contract was extended on 22 October 2010. Previously, the kit was manufactured by Umbro (1968–81), Le Coq Sportif (1981–86), The Chelsea Collection (1986–87) and Umbro again (1987–2006). Chelsea's first shirt sponsor was Gulf Air, agreed midway through the 1983–84 season. Following that, the club were sponsored by Grange Farms, Bai Lin Tea and Italian company Simod before a long-term deal was signed with computer manufacturer Commodore International in 1989; Amiga, an off-shoot of Commodore, also appeared on the shirts. Chelsea were subsequently sponsored by Coors beer (1995–97), Autoglass (1997–2001) and Emirates Airline (2001–05). Chelsea's current shirt sponsor is Samsung who took over the sponsorship from their mobile division in 2007–08.

Sponsors

!Period	!Kit manufacturer	!Shirt sponsor
1968–81	Umbro
1981–83
1983–84	Gulf Air
1984–86	''none''
1986–87	The Chelsea Collection	Grange Farms, Peter Foster
1987–93
1993–94	[[Amiga
1994–97	Coors
1997–2001	Autoglass
2001–2005	Fly Emirates
2005–2006
2006–2008
2008–	Samsung

Supporters and rivalries

Chelsea have the fifth highest average all-time attendance in English football and regularly attract over 40,000 fans to Stamford Bridge; they were the fifth best-supported Premier League team in the 2009–10 season, with an average gate of 41,472. Chelsea'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. There are also numerous official supporters clubs in the United Kingdom and all over the world.

At matches Chelsea fans sing chants such as "Carefree" (to the tune of Lord of the Dance, whose lyrics were probably written by supporter Mick Greenaway), "Ten Men Went to Mow", "We All Follow the Chelsea" (to the tune of Land of Hope and Glory), "Zigga Zagga", and the celebratory "Celery", with the latter often resulting in fans ritually throwing celery. The vegetable was banned inside Stamford Bridge after an incident involving Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fàbregas at the 2007 League Cup Final.

Chelsea do not have a traditional rivalry on the scale of the Merseyside derby or the North London derby, and their West London derby with Fulham or Queens Park Rangers has not been as prominent over the years with due to the clubs often spending time in separate divisions. A 2004 survey by Planetfootball.com found that Chelsea fans consider their main rivalries to be with (in order): Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United. Their rivalry with Tottenham Hotspur is said to have developed following the 1967 FA Cup Final, the first cup final held between two London clubs. Additionally, 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. More recently, a rivalry has grown with Liverpool following repeated clashes in cup competitions.

During the 1970s and 1980s in particular, Chelsea supporters were associated with football hooliganism. The club's "football firm", originally the Chelsea Shed Boys, now known as the Chelsea Headhunters, were nationally notorious for violent acts against hooligans from other teams, such as West Ham United's Inter City Firm and Millwall's Bushwackers, both during and after matches. The increase in hooliganism in the 1980s led chairman Ken Bates to propose erecting an electric fence to deter them from invading the pitch; the proposal was rejected by the GLC. Since the 1990s there has been a marked decline in crowd trouble at matches, as a result of stricter policing, CCTV in grounds and the advent of all-seater stadia. According to Home Office statistics 126 Chelsea fans were arrested for football-related offences during the 2009–10 season, the third highest in the division, and 27 banning orders were issued, the fifth highest in the division.

Records

Chelsea's highest appearance-maker is ex-captain Ron Harris, who played in 795 first-class games for the club between 1961 and 1980. This record is unlikely to be broken in the near future; Chelsea's current highest appearance-maker is Frank Lampard with 509. The record for a Chelsea goalkeeper is held by Harris's contemporary, Peter Bonetti, who made 729 appearances (1959–79). With 86 caps (84 while at the club), Frank Lampard of England is Chelsea's most capped international player.

Bobby Tambling is Chelsea's all-time top goalscorer, with 202 goals in 370 games (1959–70). Eight other players have also scored over 100 goals for Chelsea: George Hilsdon (1906–12), George Mills (1929–39), Roy Bentley (1948–56), Jimmy Greaves (1957–61), Peter Osgood (1964–74 and 1978–79), Kerry Dixon (1983–92), Frank Lampard (2001–) and Didier Drogba (2004–). With 193 goals, Dixon is the only player to have come close to matching Tambling's record. Greaves holds the record for the most goals scored in one season (43 in 1960–61). Lampard is the top scorer currently at the club with 170.

Officially, Chelsea's highest home attendance is 82,905 for a First Division match against Arsenal on 12 October 1935. However, an estimated crowd of over 100,000 attended a friendly match against Soviet team Dynamo Moscow on 13 November 1945. The modernisation of Stamford Bridge during the 1990s and the introduction of all-seater stands mean that neither record will be broken for the foreseeable future. The current legal capacity of Stamford Bridge is 41,841.

Chelsea hold numerous records in English and European football. They hold the record for the highest ever points total for a league season (95), the fewest goals conceded during a league season (15), the highest number of Premier League victories in a season (29), the highest number of clean sheets overall in a Premier League season (25) (all set during the 2004–05 season), and the most consecutive clean sheets from the start of a league season (6, set during the 2005–06 season).

The club's 21–0 aggregate victory over Jeunesse Hautcharage in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1971 remains a record in European competition. Chelsea hold the record for the longest streak of unbeaten matches at home in the English top-flight, which lasted 86 matches from 20 March 2004 to 26 October 2008. They secured the record on 12 August 2007, beating the previous record of 63 matches unbeaten set by Liverpool between 1978 and 1980. Chelsea's streak of eleven consecutive away league wins, set between 5 April 2008 and 6 December 2008, is also a record for the English top flight.

Chelsea have recorded several "firsts" in English football. Along with Arsenal, they were the first club to play with shirt numbers on 25 August 1928 in their match against Swansea Town. Chelsea were the first English side to travel by aeroplane to a domestic away match, when they visited Newcastle United on 19 April 1957, and the first First Division side to play a match on a Sunday, when they faced Stoke City on 27 January 1974. On 26 December 1999, Chelsea became the first British side to field an entirely foreign starting line-up (no British or Irish players) in a Premier League match against Southampton. On 19 May 2007, they became the first team to win the FA Cup at the new Wembley Stadium, having also been the last to win it at the old Wembley. After the conclusion of the 2007–08 season, Chelsea became the highest ranked club under UEFA's five-year coefficient system used in the seeding of European club competitions in the following season, the first English club to do so in the 21st century. On the final day of the 2009–10 season, Chelsea became the first team in Premier League history to score at least 100 goals in a single season.

Popular culture

In 1930, Chelsea featured in one of the earliest football films, ''The Great Game''. One-time Chelsea centre forward, Jack Cock, who by then was playing for Millwall, was the star of the film and several scenes were shot at Stamford Bridge, including the pitch, the boardroom, and the dressing rooms. It included guest appearances by then-Chelsea players Andrew Wilson, George Mills, and Sam Millington. Owing to the notoriety of the Chelsea Headhunters, a football firm associated with the club, Chelsea have also featured in films about football hooliganism, including 2004's ''The Football Factory''. Chelsea also appear in the Hindi film ''Jhoom Barabar Jhoom''.

Up until the 1950s, the club had a long-running association with the music halls, with their underachievement often providing material for comedians such as George Robey. It culminated in comedian Norman Long's release of a comic song in 1933, ironically titled "On the Day That Chelsea Went and Won the Cup", the lyrics of which describe a series of bizarre and improbable occurrences on the hypothetical day when Chelsea finally won a trophy.

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. (The song was later adopted, as an anthem, by the Vancouver Whitecaps in Canada, after being changed to "White is the Colour".) In the build-up to the 1997 FA Cup Final, the song "Blue Day", performed by Suggs and members of the Chelsea squad, reached number 22 in the UK charts. Bryan Adams, a fan of Chelsea, dedicated the song "We're Gonna Win" from the album ''18 Til I Die'' to the club.

Chelsea Ladies

Chelsea also operate a women's football team, Chelsea Ladies. It has been affiliated to the men's team since 2004, and is part of the club's Community Development programme. They play their home games at Imperial Fields, the home ground of Isthmian League club Tooting & Mitcham United. The club won the Surrey County Cup in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010, and were promoted to the Premier Division for the first time in 2005 as Southern Division champions. In the 2009–10 season, they finished 3rd in the Premier League, equalling their highest ever placing, and in 2010 were one of the eight founder members of the FA Women's Super League. John Terry, the current captain of the Chelsea men's team, is President of Chelsea LFC.

Players

Current squad

Out on loan

Reserves and Academy team

''For the reserve and academy team squads, see Chelsea F.C. Reserves and Academy''

Player of the Year

{| |- |valign="top"|

!Year	!Winner
1967	Peter Bonetti
1968	Charlie Cooke (footballer)>Charlie Cooke
1969	David Webb (footballer)>David Webb
1970	John Hollins
1971	John Hollins
1972	David Webb (footballer)>David Webb
1973	Peter Osgood
1974	Gary Locke (English footballer)>Gary Locke
1975	Charlie Cooke (footballer)>Charlie Cooke
1976	Ray Wilkins
1977	Ray Wilkins
1978	Micky Droy
1979	Tommy Langley
1980	Clive Walker
1981	Petar Borota
1982	Mike Fillery
1983	Joey Jones
1984	Pat Nevin
1985	David Speedie
1986	Eddie Niedzwiecki
1987	Pat Nevin
1988	Tony Dorigo
1989	Graham Roberts (footballer)>Graham Roberts

|width="1"|  |valign="top"|

!Year	!Winner
1990	Ken Monkou
1991	Andy Townsend
1992	Paul Elliott (footballer)>Paul Elliott
1993	Frank Sinclair
1994	Steve Clarke
1995	Erland Johnsen
1996	Ruud Gullit
1997	Mark Hughes
1998	Dennis Wise
1999	Gianfranco Zola
2000	Dennis Wise
2001	John Terry
2002	Carlo Cudicini
2003	Gianfranco Zola
2004	Frank Lampard
2005	Frank Lampard
2006	John Terry
2007	Michael Essien
2008	Joe Cole
2009	Frank Lampard
2010	Didier Drogba
2011	Petr Čech

|}

Notable managers

The following managers won at least one trophy when in charge of Chelsea:

!Name	!Period	!Trophies
Ted Drake	1952–1961	Football League First Division
[[Tommy Docherty	1962–1967
Dave Sexton	1967–1974	FA Cup, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
	1981–1985
John Hollins	1985–1988	Full Members Cup
	1988–1991
Ruud Gullit	1996–1998	FA Cup
Gianluca Vialli	1998–2000	FA Cup, Football League Cup
[[José Mourinho	2004–2007	2 Premier Leagues, 2 Football League Cup
[[Guus Hiddink	2009	FA Cup
Carlo Ancelotti	2009–2011

Coaching staff

!Position	!Staff
Manager	André Villas-Boas
Assistant first team coach	Roberto Di Matteo
Assistant first team coach	Steve Holland (footballer)>Steve Holland
Technical director	Michael Emenalo
Goalkeeper coach	Christophe Lollichon
First team fitness coach	José Mario Rocha
Assistant first team fitness coach	Chris Jones
Head opposition scout	Daniel Sousa
Senior opposition scout	Mick McGiven
Medical director	Paco Biosca
Reserve team manager	Dermot Drummy
Youth team manager	Adrian Viveash
Academy manager	Neil Bath
Match analyst	James Melbourne

Club hierarchy

Chelsea Ltd. :''Owner'': Roman Abramovich

Chelsea F.C. plc :''Chairman'': Bruce Buck :''Directors'': Ron Gourlay and Eugene Tenenbaum

Executive Board :''Chief Executive'': Ron Gourlay :''Finance and Operations Director'' : Chris Alexander :''Club Secretary'' : David Barnard :''Company Secretary'' : Alan Shaw

Chelsea Football Club Board:Bruce Buck, Eugene Tenenbaum, Ron Gourlay, David Barnard, Mike Forde.

Life President:Lord Richard Attenborough

Honours

Domestic

'''First Division/Premier League

*Winners: 1954–55, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2009–10

*Runners-up: 2003–04, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2010–11

Second Division

*Winners: 1983–84, 1988–89

*Runners-up: 1906–07, 1911–12, 1929–30, 1962–63, 1976–77

FA Cup

*Winners: 1969–70, 1996–97, 1999–00, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10

*Runners-up: 1914–15, 1966–67, 1993–94, 2001–02

Football League Cup

*Winners: 1964–65, 1997–98, 2004–05, 2006–07

*Runners-up: 1971–72, 2007–08

FA Charity Shield/FA Community Shield

*Winners: 1955, 2000, 2005, 2009

*Runners-up: 1970, 1997, 2006, 2007, 2010

Full Members Cup

*Winners: 1985–86, 1989–90

European

UEFA Champions League

*Runners-up: 2007–08

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

*Winners: 1970–71, 1997–98

UEFA Super Cup

*Winners: 1998

Footnotes

References

External links

Official Facebook Page

Official Twitter Page

Chelsea FC FA Premier League

Chelsea Formations Football-Lineups.com

Chelsea News Sky Sports

Chelsea FC Team News Carling

Chelsea F.C. Profile at SoccerSurfer.com

History of Chelsea badges TheLeftBack.co.uk

All Chelsea's competitive results and League tables FootballSite

CFCnet.co.uk

Category:English football clubs Category:Association football clubs established in 1905 Category:Premier League clubs Category:Former Football League clubs Category:FA Cup winners Category:Football League Cup winners Category:Edwardian era Category:Football clubs in London Category:1905 establishments in England

ar:نادي تشيلسي an:Chelsea Football Club az:Çelsi (futbol klubu) bn:চেলসি ফুটবল ক্লাব be:ФК Чэлсі be-x-old:Чэлсі Лёндан bs:Chelsea FC bg:ФК Челси ca:Chelsea Football Club cv:Челси Лондон ФК cs:Chelsea FC cy:Chelsea F.C. da:Chelsea F.C. de:FC Chelsea et:Chelsea FC el:Τσέλσι ΦΚ es:Chelsea Football Club eo:Chelsea F.C. eu:Chelsea Football Club fa:باشگاه فوتبال چلسی fr:Chelsea Football Club ga:Chelsea Football Club gl:Chelsea F.C. ko:첼시 FC hy:Չելսի ՖԱ hi:चेल्सी एफ़.सी. hr:Chelsea F.C. ilo:Chelsea FC id:Chelsea F.C. is:Chelsea F.C. it:Chelsea Football Club he:צ'לסי (כדורגל) jv:Chelsea F.C. ka:ჩელსი (საფეხბურთო კლუბი) sw:Chelsea F.C. ku:Chelsea F.C. lv:Londonas "Chelsea" lb:Chelsea FC lt:Chelsea FC hu:Chelsea FC mk:ФК Челси ml:ചെൽസി എഫ്.സി. mt:Chelsea FC mr:चेल्सी एफ.सी. ms:Chelsea F.C. mn:Челси (хөлбөмбөгийн баг) my:ချဲလ်ဆီး nl:Chelsea FC ja:チェルシーFC no:Chelsea FC nn:Chelsea FC pl:Chelsea F.C. pt:Chelsea Football Club ro:Chelsea FC ru:Челси (футбольный клуб) sco:Chelsea F.C. sq:Chelsea F.C simple:Chelsea F.C. sk:Chelsea FC sl:Chelsea F.C. sr:ФК Челси sh:Chelsea F.C. fi:Chelsea FC sv:Chelsea FC th:สโมสรฟุตบอลเชลซี tr:Chelsea FC uk:Челсі (футбольний клуб) vi:Chelsea (câu lạc bộ) zh-yue:車路士 bat-smg:Chelsea F.C. zh:切尔西足球俱乐部

playername	Gary Cahill
fullname	Gary James Cahill
height
dateofbirth	December 19, 1985
cityofbirth	Sheffield
countryofbirth	England
currentclub	Bolton Wanderers
clubnumber	5
position	Defender
youthyears1	2000–2004
youthclubs1	Aston Villa
years1	2004–2008
years2	2004–2005
years3	2007–2008
years4	2008–
clubs1	Aston Villa
clubs2	→ Burnley (loan)
clubs3	→ Sheffield United (loan)
clubs4	Bolton Wanderers
caps1	28
goals1	1
caps2	27
goals2	1
caps3	16
goals3	2
caps4	114
goals4	12
nationalyears1	2004–2005
nationalyears2	2008
nationalyears3	2010–
nationalteam1	England U20
nationalteam2	England U21
nationalteam3	England
nationalcaps1	3
nationalgoals1	0
nationalcaps2	3
nationalgoals2	0
nationalcaps3	3
nationalgoals3	0
pcupdate	17:30, 27 August 2011 (UTC)
ntupdate	22:00, 11 August 2011 (UTC) }}

Gary James Cahill (born 19 December 1985 in Sheffield, South Yorkshire) is an English footballer who plays as a defender for Bolton Wanderers and the England national team.

Club career

Cahill started his career at AFC Dronfield, a Sunday league team in Derbyshire, where he played up until the age of 15. At that point, whilst training with Derby County Academy, he signed for Aston Villa's academy.

Aston Villa

Cahill previously played for Burnley on loan and during his spell, which began in November 2004, he was handed the accolades of Burnley's Player Of The Year and Young Player Of The Year and scored once in the league against Stoke City.

He made his Villa debut as a substitute in the 5–0 defeat at Arsenal and impressed on his first start in the local derby game against West Bromwich Albion at Villa Park on 9 April 2006.

Just a week later he scored his first goal; an overhead kick against rivals Birmingham City. Villa went on to win the match 3–1.

Cahill started the following season injured, but took advantage of an injury to Martin Laursen later in the season to force his way into the Villa team. He made several appearances for Villa during the 2006–07 season and was widely considered to be a terrific prospect.

On 19 September 2007, Cahill joined Sheffield United on a three month loan deal. He made his debut in a 3–2 away defeat at Crystal Palace a few days later. Cahill scored his first goal for Sheffield United in a 1–0 win at Stoke City on 10 November 2007. Under the terms of his loan agreement, Cahill returned to Villa Park in mid December 2007 having played sixteen games and scoring two goals.

Speculation surrounded Cahill's future in the January 2008 transfer window with Villa's city rivals Birmingham City, Bolton Wanderers and Turkish club Beşiktaş J.K. all reportedly showing an interest.

Bolton Wanderers

Bolton Wanderers scout Colin Harvey was impressed by Cahill and on 30 January 2008, Cahill joined Bolton Wanderers on a three-and-a-half year deal. On 2 February 2008 Cahill made his league debut for Bolton in their 2–0 victory over Reading. Cahill has since become a firm favourite at the Reebok Stadium and won the ''"Best Newcomer"'' award at the end of the season. In July 2008, he was handed the number 5 shirt by manager Gary Megson, which was previously worn by Abdoulaye Méïté. On 5 October 2008, Cahill scored his first Bolton goal in a 3–1 victory at West Ham United. In August 2009, 18 months after joining Bolton, Cahill signed a new three year contract with the club.

Cahill suffered a blood clot in his left arm after a training injury which forced him to pull out of the home game against Fulham on 6 February 2010 and he spent the weekend in hospital. The treatment for the ailment meant that he could not play for a number of months.

International career

Cahill was one of a number of uncapped players in Stuart Pearce's first squad as England U21 coach. He was not chosen to start the match, on 6 February 2007, against Spain. His first under-21 cap for England was the first game at the new Wembley Stadium, where he partnered Anton Ferdinand at the centre of the England defence. His final of four caps came in the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, where he made one appearance.

Cahill was called up to the England squad for the match against Kazakhstan on 4 June 2009 following the withdrawal of Rio Ferdinand, but had to wait over a year for his first cap, until he came on as a second half substitute for Michael Dawson on 3 September 2010 against Bulgaria, in a 4–0 win, at Wembley Stadium. In doing so, he became the first Bolton Wanderers player to play for England since Michael Ricketts in 2002.

On 29 March 2011, Cahill made his first start for the national team against Ghana in a friendly that ended 1–1.

Until he played for England he was also eligible to play for the Republic of Ireland through an Irish grandparent. However, his manager at Bolton and former Ireland international, Owen Coyle has said that Cahill only wanted to represent England. He also finished top scorer for the club in the 2003/04 season.

Career statistics

Club

0 3 5 3 1

Club	Season	League	Cup	!colspan="3"	Total
!Apps	!Goals	!Assists	!Apps	!Goals	!Assists	!Apps	!Goals	!Assists	!Apps	!Goals	!Assists
rowspan="6" valign="center"	Bolton
	13	|	1	0	0	0	4	0	0	17	0	1
2008-09 Premier League	2008–09	33	|	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	34	3	4
2009-10 Premier League	2009–10	29	|	1	5	2	0	0	0	0	34	7	1
2010–11 Premier League	2010–11	36	|	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	41	3	0
2011–12 Premier League	2011–12	3	|	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	1	0
Total		!114!!12!!7!!11!!2!!0!!4!!0!!0!!129!!14!!7

''Statistics accurate as of 28 August 2011''

Honours

;Aston Villa:

Goal of the Season Winner: 2005–06

;Burnley:

Player of the Year Winner: 2004–05

Young Player of the Year Winner: 2004–05

;Bolton Wanderers: Players' Player of the Year: 2008–09

References

External links

Category:1985 births Category:People from Sheffield Category:Living people Category:Association football defenders Category:English footballers Category:England under-21 international footballers Category:England international footballers Category:Aston Villa F.C. players Category:Burnley F.C. players Category:Sheffield United F.C. players Category:Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Category:Premier League players Category:The Football League players

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