Chelsea: No nonsense on 4/1 when it comes to the numbers 4 and 1

Chelsea have not played football for three weeks, and they may not be playing football within three months. This is no time for levity.

With everything going on in the world, any attempt at humour, pranksterism or frivolity would be woefully tone deaf. As the writer most responsible for triggering Chelsea fans worldwide over the last few years, I wear the burden of maintaining especial gravitas today. To avoid any potential misunderstanding, here are Chelsea facts related to the the numbers 4 and 1, as today is April 1 (i.e., 4/1, or 1/4, depending on where you’re from) and only April 1.

The following are among the more notable Chelsea players to have worn the No. 4 jersey: Andreas Christensen, Cesc Fàbregas, David Luiz , Claude Makélélé, Juan Sebastián Verón, Steve Clarke, Ruud Gullit, David Lee, Craig Burley, John Bumstead, Colin Pates (one of Chelsea’s all-time best captains not named John Terry, per my colleague Kevin), Doug Rougvie, Ron Harris (another of Chelsea’s all-time best captains not named John Terry – is Andreas Christensen the leader this club needs? Harris is also one of London’s best one-club men), John Hollins, Peter Osgood, Eddie McCreadie, Charlie Cooke, Terry Venables

The following notables wore the No. 1 jersey: Kepa Arrizabalaga, Willy Caballero, Asmir Begovic, Petr Cech, Kevin Hitchcock, Peter Bonetti

Chelsea have won two trophies one time each: the Champions League and the UEFA Supercup. The FA Community Shield is the only trophy they have won exactly four times.

Since 2003/04, Chelsea have bought four players from each of Benfica, Barcelona and Porto. In that same time, they have sold four player to each of AS Roma, Stoke City, Werder Bremen, Wigan, Brentford, Leeds, Nottingham Forest and Hull City.

Of the players Chelsea have used this season, only Andreas Christensen was born in April. No player currently in the squad was born on the first of this or any other month. Two players have four goals this season – Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso – while Kurt Zouma is the one player with one goal. Ross Barkley has four assists, while Fikayo Tomori and Emerson each have one assist. Fikayo Tomori and N’Golo Kante each have four yellow cards, and four plus one Blues have one each.

4 * (4 – 1) + 1 = 13. Jorginho has 13 yellow cards this season.

Former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has won domestic league titles in four countries: Portugal, England, Italy and Spain. The only trophies he has won one time each were all cups: the FA Cup, the Coppa Italia and the Italian supercup.

Chelsea have been champions of England six times, and four managers have accomplished the feat: Ted Drake, Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and Antonio Conte.

Finally, Maurizio Sarri coached Chelsea for precisely one season before resigning to take what he thought was a better offer at Juventus.