Chelsea F.C.

Chelsea Football Club (/ˈtʃɛlsiː/) are a professional football club based in Fulham, London, who compete in the Premier League. Founded in 1905, the club's home ground since then has been Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea had their first major success in 1955, when they won the league championship. They won various cup competitions between 1965 and 1990. The club's greatest period of success has been the last two decades, winning 17 major trophies since 1997. Chelsea have won five league titles, seven FA Cups, five League Cups and four FA Community Shields, one UEFA Champions League, two UEFA Cup Winners' Cups, one UEFA Europa League and one UEFA Super Cup. Chelsea are the only London club to win the UEFA Champions League, and one of four clubs, and the only British club, to have won all three main UEFA club competitions.

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 have the fifth-highest average all-time attendance in English football. Their average home gate for the 2014–15 season was 41,546, the seventh highest in the Premier League. Since 2003, Chelsea have been owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. In 2015, they were ranked by Forbes magazine as the sixth most valuable football club in the world, at £898 million ($1.37 billion).

2001–02 Chelsea F.C. season

The 2001-02 season was Chelsea F.C.'s 87th competitive season, 10th consecutive season in the Premier League and 96th year as a club.

Season summary

The 2001-02 campaign was the first full season under Italian manager Claudio Ranieri, who had replaced his compatriot Gianluca Vialli after five matches of the previous season. He made his first signing in the shape of French defender William Gallas for £6.2 million from Olympique Marseille, before signing Frank Lampard from West Ham United for £11 million on 14 June. Lampard went on to become Chelsea's highest goal scorer of all time. The signing of Lampard allowed Chelsea to part company with their captain Dennis Wise, who ended his successful 12-season spell at the club by joining Leicester City for £1.6 million. The third and final signing of the window was of French midfielder and 1998 FIFA World Cup winner Emmanuel Petit, who joined from FC Barcelona for £7.5 million on 26 June.

Chelsea players encountered controversy in the second round of the UEFA Cup, when they were due to face Hapoel Tel Aviv on 18 October 2001. Six Chelsea first-team players - Albert Ferrer, William Gallas, Emmanuel Petit, Graeme Le Saux, Eidur Gudjohnsen and captain Marcel Desailly - did not fly to Israel due to fears since the September 11 attacks in the previous month and recent Palestinian insurgency. Chelsea lost the match 2-0, with Desailly's replacement, the Ugandan teenager Joel Kitamirike, making mistakes in his only match for Chelsea. The six players returned for the second leg at Stamford Bridge, but a 1-1 draw saw Chelsea eliminated by an underdog for the second consecutive season.

2006–07 Chelsea F.C. season

The 2006–07 season was Chelsea F.C.'s 92nd competitive season, 15th consecutive season in the Premier League and 101st year as a club. Managed by José Mourinho, the club won both the FA Cup and the League Cup.

The 2006–07 Premier League was decided on matchday 36, after Chelsea failed to win against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. This left them seven points behind Manchester United with two games to go, confirming Manchester United as league champions.

The season was their fourth under the ownership of Roman Abramovich and Chelsea spent heavily in the transfer market before the season. Notable transactions include the signing of Andriy Shevchenko from Milan for £30 million and Salomon Kalou from Feyenoord for an undisclosed fee. They also added Michael Ballack from Bayern Munich on free transfer and also exchanged William Gallas and £5 million with Arsenal for Ashley Cole.

In the Champions League, Chelsea aimed to improve upon their first knockout round exit in the previous season. They managed to reach the semi-finals for the third time in four seasons, but lost to Liverpool 4–1 on penalties after a 1–1 aggregate. Chelsea also lost the pre season Community Shield to Liverpool at the beginning of the season.