Chelsea F.C.

Chelsea F.C. is an English football club playing in London. The team has a winning history in the English Premier League, winning in 2004-05, 2005–06 and 2009-10. The team is known as one of the "Big Five" of the Premiership, along with Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United. Chelsea has been considered the "Yankees of English Football", meaning that you either love or hate them, there being no middle ground. The team is owned by Russian oil magnate Roman Abramovich, is managed by Carlo Ancelotti, and is sponsored by Samsung.

## Contents

* 1 History
* 2 Colours and badge
* 3 Roster
* 3.1 Goalkeepers
* 3.2 Defenders
* 3.3 Midfielders
* 3.4 Strikers
* 4 Notable Former Players
* 5 Sources

## History[edit]

Chelsea was formed in 1905 and placed in the Second Division. However, their first trophy came exactly fifty years later, when they won the 1955 league title under the leadership of Ted Drake. Soon after their FA Cup win in 1970, however, the team fell to the Second Division. They climbed back up in 1984 for four years, but in 1989 they returned to Division One and have remained since. Some of the club's greatest successes, however, came under the leadership of Jose Mourinho, now the manager of La Liga's Real Madrid, who won their two Premiership titles in 2005 and 2006.

Avram Grant, an Israeli, led Chelsea to the Champions League final in 2008. They lost on penalties to Manchester United. Carlo Ancelotti, an Italian won the League and FA Cup in 2010 but was sacked a year later, replaced by the Portuguese Andre Villas-Boas. Villas-Boas was sacked during the 2011-12 season, and replaced with Assistant manager Roberto Di Matteo. He would lead The club to victory in the FA Cup and Champions League.

## Colours and badge[edit]

Chelsea are one of few clubs to have never changed their home colour of blue [1] although the shade was lighter before World War I. The blue stemmed from the horse racing colours of Viscount Cadogan, Earl of Chelsea. Originally with white shorts and blue socks, manager Tommy Docherty reversed the pairing in the 1960s to create a unique look, although by the 1980s Chelsea wore all blue. The white socks returned in 1992 at the start of the Premier League.

Chelsea's away colours were, before the 21st century, often yellow or red. However, in recent times, black or white have been more common.

Their badge is based on the coat of arms of Viscount Cadogan and was reintroduced for the 2005 centenary, when it was detailed with gold.

## Roster[edit]

### Goalkeepers[edit]

* 1 Petr Cech
* 30 Rhys Taylor
* 40 Henrique Hilario

### Defenders[edit]

* 2 Branislav Ivanovic
* 3 Ashley Cole
* 4 David Luiz
* 17 Jose Bosingwa
* 19 Paulo Ferreira
* 26 John Terry
* 33 Alex
* 42 Michael Mancienne

### Midfielders[edit]

* 5 Michael Essien
* 7 Ramires
* 8 Frank Lampard
* 10 Yossi Benayoun
* 12 John Mikel Obi
* 15 Florent Malouda
* 18 Yuri Zhirkov
* 44 Michael Woods
* 46 Jimmy Smith
* 47 Lee Sawyer

### Strikers[edit]

* 9 Fernando Torres
* 11 Didier Drogba
* 21 Salomon Kalou
* 39 Nicolas Anelka
* 43 Miroslav Stoch

## Notable Former Players[edit]

* 25 Gianfranco Zola - his shirt number has been retired in honour of his talent, character and philanthropy.

## Sources[edit]

http://www.premierleague.com/page/chelsea-fc

v • d • e

English Premier League Teams

Arsenal • Bournemouth • Brighton & Hove • Burnley • Chelsea • Crystal Palace • Everton • Huddersfield Town • Leicester • Liverpool • Man.City • Man.Utd. • Newcastle United • Southampton • Stoke • Swansea • Tottenham • Watford • West Bromwich • West Ham