Chelsea was founded in 1905, and since their foundation, they have grown into one of the biggest teams in the history of the game.
With all of that success in mind, we'll attempt to build the greatest Chelsea starting lineup in history, while acknowledging first and foremost that some absolute legends will be omitted from this XI.
The greatest Chelsea XI in history
GK: Petr Čech
Petr Čech's Chelsea legacy will forever be difficult to beat. After arriving from Stade Rennais in the summer of 2004, he helped the Blues win back-to-back Premier League titles in his first two seasons under José Mourinho. In the 2004/05 campaign, they conceded just 15 league goals, a top division English record that is unlikely to ever be beaten.
Overall, Čech won 15 major honours during his decade in West London, saving penalties to deny both Ivica Olić and Bastian Schweinsteiger in the 2012 Champions League Final shootout. He jointly holds the record for the most Premier League Golden Gloves, four, keeping 228 clean sheets in 494 appearances for Chelsea, conceding only 393 goals. This success, just, sees Čech edge out '60s and '70s legend Peter Bonetti for the number one shirt.
RB: César Azpilicueta
The player who holds the record for the most Chelsea appearances by a non-Englishman is, somewhat surprisingly, César Azpilicueta. After joining the newly-crowned European champions from Olympique de Marseille in 2012, the Spanish international appeared 508 times for the club.
He was the first-choice right-back for Mourinho in 2014/15, before adapting to be part of Antonio Conte's back three two seasons later. Azpilicueta then captained the club to their second Champions League triumph in 2021, beating Manchester City at Estádio do Dragão. He departed as a free agent in the summer of 2023, still playing for Sevilla at the age of 36, but will always be synonymous with his time at Stamford Bridge.
CB: John Terry
One of the first names on this team sheet is captain, leader legend himself John Terry. The centre-back accumulated 717 appearances during almost two decades at the club, impressively scoring 67 goals from defence, a rock at the back throughout.
He picked up five Premier League titles as well as enjoying Champions League Final redemption in 2012, getting his hands on the trophy, four years after missing from the spot against Manchester United in Moscow. No 21st century players has played more times for Chelsea than Terry, a record that may never be broken.
CB: Ron Harris
The club's all-time record appearance holder however is another centre-back, namely Ron Harris. Known as Chopper, which gives you some indication as to his playing style, he made a record 795 appearances during 18 seasons at Chelsea, winning the League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, captaining the side to victory in the final against Real Madrid in Piraeus.
As the Blues bounced between divisions in the '70s, many of their players departed, but Harris stayed, cementing himself as an all-time legend, boasting an appearance record that'll surely never be caught.
LB: Ashley Cole
Arguably England's best-ever left-back, Ashley Cole simply has to be included in the lineup. After arriving from Arsenal in the summer of 2006, he appeared 337 times in blue, picking up nine major trophies. Across these two clubs, Cole won seven FA Cups, the most of any individual player, a tally only five clubs can better.
Cole also accumulated 107 England caps, only six men have more, departing West London for Roma in 2014. While Stamford Bridge has witnessed plenty of outstanding left-backs throughout the years, surely no one would argue that Cole is not deserving of a spot in this team.
CM: Dennis Wise
While we could very easily have gone for Claude Makélélé, N'Golo Kanté or Nemanja Matić at the base of midfield, Dennis Wise's longevity sees him just take the spot. The midfielder spent 11 seasons at Stamford Bridge after making the move from Wimbledon, winning two FA Cups, the League Cup, the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and Super Cup, captaining the team against Aston Villa at Wembley in 2000.
In the just before Abramovich-era, Chelsea established themselves as a very successful cup team. Well, Wise was very much at the heart of that, so deserves recognition as a result.
CM: Frank Lampard
The other midfield position is not up for debate, it will forever be in the possession of Frank Lampard. His tally of 648 appearances for the club is behind only the aforementioned Harris, Bonetti and Terry, but is Chelsea's all-time leading goalscorer, Lampard broke that record by netting at Villa Park in May 2013, on target 211 times overall, a tally unlikely to be matched by anyone any time soon.
Lampard was the captain for the 2012 Champions League Final, picking up 13 major honours overall, subsequently returning for two stints as manager.
RM: Gianfranco Zola
Slightly shoehorned in out of position, but one has to make room for Gianfranco Zola. The late '90s in the Premier League was dominated by world class number tens, and Chelsea had one of their own.
Zola scored 80 times in 312 appearances for the Blues, hoisting aloft six major trophies, bagging the only goal of the '98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final against Stuttgart at Råsundastadion. He spent a season back at Stamford Bridge as Maurizio Sarri's assistant, helping guide the team to Europa League glory in Baku, and, as a player, will forever be one of the best the club has ever seen.
LM: Eden Hazard
Arguably, only one Chelsea player in history can rival Zola for pure talent and that is Eden Hazard. The Belgian scored 110 goals in 352 appearances for the club, instrumental in the title victories under Mourinho and Conte. He was Chelsea's player of the season on four occasions, also named both Premier League and Football Writers' Association player of the season in 2015.
However, his best campaign in West London was almost certainly his last. In 2018/19, he scored 21 times across all competitions, tearing Arsenal apart in the Europa League Final, also accumulating 15 Premier League assists that year, the most of any player, picking up the playmaker award.
ST: Didier Drogba
For the last decade or so, Chelsea have tried, and failed, to find a centre-forward as good as Didier Drogba. They're still searching. Part of Abramovich and Mourinho's first spending spree, the Ivorian arrived from Marseille for £24 million in 2004, a huge outlay at the time.
Well, this would prove to be money well spent, spearheading back-to-back title wins, also scoring that towering header in the 2012 Champions League Final. At his best, the Côte d'Ivoire international was unstoppable, scoring 164 times in 381 appearances across two spells with the club. Of these goals, nine came in finals, on target against Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Everton, Portsmouth, Liverpool twice, Arsenal twice and Tottenham, underling that he was the man for the big occasion.
ST: Bobby Tambling
Looking further back into history, it was really tough who to choose as Drogba's centre-forward partner. Kerry Dixon is an all-time Chelsea icon, scoring 193 times for the club, but Bobby Tambling's marginally better record gives him the edge.
Representing the club between 1959 and 1970, he scored 202 times for the Blues, a record that stood for 47 years before being broken by Lampard. Tambling won the League Cup with the club in 1965, on target during the final win over Leicester City, having been a key figure in Second Division promotion just two seasons earlier, scoring 36 league goals that season.