Club Profile: Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea F.C. are ranked third in UEFA's Club ranking for the 2010/2011 football season. Chelsea are a West London based club, playing in the English Premier League. Since the club was founded in 1905, they have spent the majority of their time in the top flight. In terms of titles, Chelsea have won the League 4 times, the FA Cup 6 times, and the Carling Cup 4 times. Success in Europe has been limited to two UEFA Cup Winners’ Cups. The UEFA Champions League has eluded Chelsea so far in their history and it is one that they have been trying very hard to win, in order to cement their place amongst the best, and biggest, clubs in Europe. The club came very close to winning the Champions League in 2008, when they reached the final, but they lost out on penalties to another English Club, Manchester United.
The Club achieved its first major trophy in 1955, where they won the League title. The last decade has been the most successful time for Chelsea as a club. Winning the Premier League in 2005, 2006 and 2009 has been the highlight along with 2 FA Cup victories and 2 Carling Cups. Chelsea play their football at Stamford Bridge, which seats approximately 42,000 fans. All the seats in the stadium are sold out almost every week. Chelsea are still far behind their title rivals Manchester United and other so-called big clubs such as Liverpool and Arsenal in terms of fan following abroad, but with time, their fan-base has been increasing at a very high rate which means they have a very bright future to look forward to.
Chelsea are currently managed by the Italian Carlo Ancelotti, who guided them to a double of the Premier league and FA Cup in his first year incharge of the club. In recent years, and throughout their history in fact, Chelsea have had far more managerial changes than perhaps they should have, which has led to instability and contributed to unsuccessful seasons. The club was taken over in 2003 by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, who has invested heavily in the squad in order to help Chelsea reach a new level altogether.
The Chelsea Captain, John Terry, is the most successful captain in the club's history, guiding the team to a number of titles under his leadership. He was also the England captain, but has since been replaced by Rio Ferdinand of Manchester United. Frank Lampard is perhaps the most influential player at the club, having scored an astonishing 20 goals for 5 consecutive seasons from midfield. In the last season, Lampard recorded his highest ever goal tally of 27 in a season. His goal-scoring exploits have been instrumental in Chelsea's success on the field. Up front, Didier Drogba has been in awesome form, scoring 37 goals in all competitions. This meant that he was the highest goal-scorer in the Premier League, ahead of Wayne Rooney, and so he was given the Golden Boot in recognition of his achievements.
High profile departures from Chelsea in the close season include Michael Ballack, who has joined his old club Bayer 04 Leverkusen, and Joe Cole, who is yet to decide his future but has been linked with London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspurs. There have been no signings from the English signings so far, who have decided to give the youth a chance by including promising youngsters such as Gael Kakuta, Fabio Borini and Matic a chance of proving themselves in the league. This policy appears to be a wise decision on part of the Chelsea hierarchy. This, in addition to managerial stability, will ensure that Chelsea will be a force to reckon with next season.
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