Chelsea Football Club

I. Introduction

Chelsea Football Club is an English professional 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 three times, and have won the FA Cup five times, the League Cup four times and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup twice.

The club had their first major success in 1955, winning 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 consecutive Premier League titles in 2005 and 2006, and reaching their first UEFA Champions League final in 2008.

Chelsea's home is the 41,841 capacity Stamford Bridge football stadium in Fulham, West London, where they have played since their establishment. The club are based just outside the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. In 2003, they were bought by Russian oil magnate Roman Abramovich.

Chelsea's traditional kit colors are royal blue shirts and shorts with white socks. The club crest has been changed several times in attempts to modernize 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 2008-09 season was 41,464, the fifth highest in the Premier League.

II. Motivation

I chose Chelsea as the theme for the certificate because I am a lover of football, Chelsea is one of the teams that impressed me and who managed to earn my respect and trust by providing spectacular games.

So I decide to introduce a little of the team that helped define the game of football.

III. 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 FA Cup final in 1915, 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.

Chart showing the progress of Chelsea's league finishes from 1905-1906 to 2007-08

The 1960s saw the emergence of a talented young Chelsea side under manager Tommy Docherty. They challenged for honors throughout the decade, 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. In 1970 Chelsea were FA Cup winners, beating Leeds United 2-1 in a final replay. Chelsea took their first European honor, a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup triumph, the following year, with another replayed win, this time over Real Madrid in Athens.

The late 1970s and the 1980s were 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 FA Cup final in 1994. 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 and the Cup Winners' Cup 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. Chelsea reached their first UEFA Champions League final in 2008.

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, in which they lost on penalties to Manchester United. Grant was sacked 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. Chelsea's season ended with a 2-1 win over Everton in the FA Cup Final. Two days later former AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti was confirmed as Chelsea's new manager.

IV. Stamford Bridge Stadium

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 Football Club, but the offer was 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 rejected 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 West Stand - Entrance

The Stamford Bridge pitch, the freehold, 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. It also means that if the club moves to a new location, they could not use the Chelsea FC name.

The club plans to increase its capacity 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 reiterated their desire to keep Chelsea at their current home.

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.

V. Records

  In England

Football League First Division/Premier League

o     Champions: 1954-55, 2004-05, 2005-06

o     Runners-up: 2003-04, 2006-07, 2007-08

FA Cup

o     Winners: 1970, 1997, 2000, 2007, 2009

o     Runners-up: 1915, 1967, 1994, 2002

Football League Cup

o     Winners: 1965, 1998, 2005, 2007

o     Runners-up: 1972, 2008

FA Charity Shield/FA Community Shield4

o     Winners: 1955, 2000, 2005, 2009

o     Runners-up: 1970, 1997, 2006

Football League Second Division

o     Champions: 1983-84, 1988-89

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

Full Members Cup

o     Winners: 1986, 1990

European Championship

UEFA Champions League

o     Runners-up: 2008

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

o     Winners: 1971, 1998

UEFA Super Cup

o     Winners: 1998

VI. Chelsea in 2011

The  2011 squad consists of many famous football players who will remain in football history:

GK Petr Čech

DF Branislav Ivanović

DF Ashley Cole

MF Michael Essien

DF Ricardo Carvalho

MF Frank Lampard

MF Joe Cole

FW Didier Drogba

MF John Obi Mikel

MF Michael Ballack

MF Florent Malouda

DF José Bosingwa

MF Yuri Zhirkov

DF Paulo Ferreira

MF Deco

FW Salomon Kalou

GK Ross Turnbull

FW Daniel Sturridge

MF Nemanja Matić

DF John Terry (captain)

GK Rhys Taylor

DF Alex

DF Juliano Belletti

FW Nicolas Anelka

GK Henrique Hilário

DF Sam Hutchinson

DF Jeffrey Bruma

FW Gaël Kakuta

FW Fabio Borini

FW Jacopo Sala

MF Nikki Ahamed

FW Daniel Philliskirk

GK Jan Sebek

MF Josh McEachran

DF Patrick van Aanholt

VII. Precise

For me, Chelsea remains one of the most important football teams in the world. Chelsea managed over time to win many major awards, and has now managed to bring his side, some of the biggest names in world football. I am sure Chelsea will become the world's most powerful team and will continue to win the most important trophy in Europe.

VII. Bibliography

www.google.com

Sportmagazine

Prosport

Gazeta Sporturilor

www.wikipedia.com