Chelsea legends to commemorate the 1998 triple trophy year
By Travis Tyler
Two decades ago, Chelsea won three trophies in the same calendar year. Players from the era are putting on Chelsea blue again to face Inter Milan’s legends.
Over recent weeks, pictures of various Chelsea players of the past visiting Cobham Training Centre have surfaced. It is not unusual for former players to pop up and check in. But now their appearances at Cobham have a reason. They are to participate in a special match against Inter Milan’s legends.
Two decades ago, Chelsea lifted the League Cup, the Cup Winners’ Cup, and the Super Cup in the same calendar year. Inter Milan are similarly celebrating their own anniversary. 20 years ago, they won the UEFA Cup.
To celebrate both achievements, the two clubs will gather their legends of the era for a commemorative match.
Tore-Andre Flo, Graeme Le Saux, Gianluca Vialli, Dennis Wise and Gianfranco Zola are confirmed to be participating on the Chelsea side. Youri Djorkaeff, Francesco Toldo and Javier Zanetti will suit up opposite. Additional participants will be revealed before the 18 May matchday.
The players in the match represent a generation that most modern fans are only aware of. Chelsea was still under the ownership of Ken Bates at the time and was slowly pulling out of mid table obscurity. The performance of the players in ’98 fed into the desire of Roman Abramovich’s purchase of the club years later.
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The announcement of the match comes at a time of “crisis” for the club. The current squad is underperforming, the media is after the manager and the results are slipping. The match will come when the season is essentially over. In the meantime it can serve as a reminder of where the club used to be.
The players in ’98 were not world class. Some had aged past their prime. Others were never at the top level. Chelsea had to fight for trophies against better teams with more resources. The Abramovich era has dulled the feeling of an underdog somewhat but it is still in the club’s DNA.
As the legends prepare for the match, the current generation can learn from the legends’ experiences two decades ago and turn it into results now. In two decades, another crop of players could learn in the same way under the likes of Eden Hazard, Andreas Christensen and N’Golo Kante.
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What players of the era would you like to see participate? Let us know in the comments and on twitter?