Chelsea FC’s 110th Anniversary: A Brief History Part Two
The Roman Empire
By John Dobson [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia CommonsWith the club’s financial situation in jeopardy, Ken Bates eventually sold the club (along with its 80 million pounds dept) to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich for 60 million pounds. This single act helped push the club to become the European super power it has beome at the moment.
Ranieri, funded by the Abramovich, went on a 100 million pounds spending spree for the 2003-04 season, signing Claude Makelele and Geremi Njitap (both from Real Madrid), Hernan Crespo, Glen Johnson, Joe Cole and Damien Duff. Unfortunately, he was sacked after ending the season trophyless, finishing 2nd in the league and getting eliminated in the Champion’s League semi-final by AS Monaco (after some bizarre tactical decisions, which earned him the nickname “the tinkerer”).
Jose Mourinho was then employed for the 2004-05, which turned out to be one of Abramovich’s most astute decisions. He brought in Ricardo Carvalho and Paulo Ferreira from his 2003-2004 Porto UCL winning side, as well as Olympique Marseille’s prolific striker, Didier Drogba and Arjen Robben and helped the club secure its first League title for 50 years, losing just one game and creating several records that still stand till date.
He also took the team to the semi-final of the Champion’s League which they lost to Liverpool (the side that he had earlier defeated to win the League Cup by 3-2) by 1-0 on aggregate in controversial circumstances. He repeated the same feat the next season, by winning the league, but got knocked out in the Champion’s League and F.A. Cup semi-finals by Barcelona and Liverpool respectively.
In his third season, he lead the team to a 2nd place finish in the league behind Manchester United, but secured both the League Cup and F.A. Cup, beating Arsenal by 2-1 and Manchester United by 1-0 respectively. The Champion’s league campaign ended in a third consecutive semi-final heartbreak, again losing to Liverpool, this time on penalties.
He then left the club by “mutual consent” in the 2006-07 season, after some rumoured issues with Abramovich, and was replaced by Avram Grant (who was the club’s director of football at the time). Grant took the club close to winning the league, eventually losing it to Manchester United with 2 games to go. The team suffered further heartbreak as they lost the League Cup final to Tottenham Hotspurs by 2-1 before losing the UCL, again to Manchester United, on penalties after ending extra time on 1-1.
He was sacked not long after and replaced by Luiz Filipe Scolari, who was then sacked midway through the 2007-08 season after some poor performances and was replaced by Guus Hindink (who was managing the Russian national team at the same time), who took the team to the UCL semi-final, losing to Barcelona in controversial circumstances (which saw Drogba issued a 4-match ban for swearing at referee Tom Henning Ovrebo). He then secured the F.A. Cup with a 2-1 final victory against Everton at the end of the season.
Carlo Ancelotti was appointed to oversee the 2009-10 season and did it in grand style with a brand of attacking football that was pleasing to watch. He helped the Chelsea FC secure a Premier League and F.A. Cup double for the first time in its history. The league was won with 103 goals scored, a current EPL record, while the F.A. Cup was secured with a 1-0 victory over Portsmouth.
His next season did not go as well, despite making the then British record signing of Fernando Torres for 50 million pounds, as well as David Luiz for 25 million. Chelsea failed to win any trophy that season and practically limped out of the Champion’s League. It was even alleged that he was involved in the controversial sacking of Ray Wilkins, who was then his assistant, midway through the season. He was sacked a few days after Chelsea’s last game of the season.
Andre Villas Boas was then signed for the 2011-12 season, but was later sacked after some dismal performances by the team as well as clashes with key players like Lampard, Terry and Ashley Cole. At the time he was sacked, Chelsea were in 5th place in the league and on the brink of elimination from the UCL after a first leg 3-1 defeat to Napoli.
His only positive impact was his signing of Juan Mata who was named Chelsea FC Player of the year in his 2 full seasons at the club. Roberto Di Matteo, his assistant at the time, took over as caretaker manager and turned the club’s Champion’s League campaign around. He oversaw memorable come-backs against Napoli, Barcelona and Bayern Munich in the final at their home stadium to help the club secure their first ever Champion’s League trophy.
He also secured the F.A. Cup, defeating Liverpool in the final by 2-1 to turn around a season that looked to be ending in disaster. Despite finishing the league in 6th position, Chelsea FC were able to compete for the 2012-13 UCL by virtue of winning the previous edition.
Di Matteo was then offered a 2 year contract to become full-time manager, but was then later sacked a few days after Chelsea’s disastrous 3-0 defeat to Juventus at home in the 2012-13 Champion’s League group stage, which ensured that Chelsea would be eliminated at the group stage for the first time in its history.
Rafa Benitez was then appointed as caretaker manager, a decision that was not accepted by the fans, who booed him at every game due to his history with the club while he was manager of Liverpool. He didn’t start his campaign on a good note, losing the FIFA World Club Cup in the final to Brazilian side Corinthians by 1-0 as well as suffering a humiliating League Cup exit at the hands of Swansea City.
But he did manage to help the team secure a second successive European trophy when the team won the Europa League with a 2-1 final victory against Benfica, making Chelsea FC one of only four clubs (including Ajax, Bayern Munich and Juventus) to have won every single European trophy in existence (Champion’s League, Cup Winner’s Cup, Europa League and Super Cup). The team ended the season in 3rd place and Benitez was allowed to leave at the end of the season.
Jose Mourinho was then re-signed for the 2013-14 season, to the delight of the Chelsea FC fans who felt he was harshly allowed to leave in his first spell at the club. His first season back at the club did not end too well as the club failed to win any trophy, finishing the league in 3rd place.
Next: Chelsea FC's 110 Year History Part 1