CHELSEA- A MODERATE TEAM...GOAL!GOAL!

Chelsea Football Club (also known as The Blues or previously The Pensioners) are 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 in English football. They have had two broad periods of success, one during the 1960s and early 1970s, and the second from the late 1990s to the present day. Chelsea have won three league titles, four FA Cups, four League Cups and two UEFA Cup Winners' Cups.

Chelsea's home is the 42,055 capacity Stamford Bridge football stadium in Fulham, West London, where they have played since their foundation. Despite their name, the club are based just outside the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. In 2003, the club was bought by Russian oil magnate Roman Abramovich.

The club's traditional kit colours are royal blue shirts and shorts with white socks. Their traditional crest is a ceremonial blue lion holding a staff; a modified version of this was adopted in 2005.

Records

Among Chelsea's current players, Frank Lampard has made the most appearances and scored the most goals.Chelsea's highest appearance-maker is ex-captain Ron Harris, who played in 795 first-class games for the club between 1961 and 1980. This record is unlikely to be broken in the near future; Chelsea's current highest appearance-maker is Frank Lampard with 353.The record for a Chelsea goalkeeper is held by Harris's contemporary, Peter Bonetti, who made 729 appearances (1959–79). With 116 caps (67 while at the club), Marcel Desailly of France is Chelsea's most capped international player.

Bobby Tambling is Chelsea's all-time top goalscorer, with 202 goals in 370 games (1959–70).Seven other players have also scored over 100 goals for Chelsea: George Hilsdon (1906–12), George Mills (1929–39), Roy Bentley (1948–56), Jimmy Greaves (1957–61), Peter Osgood (1964–74 & 1978–79), Kerry Dixon (1983–92), and Frank Lampard (2001–). With 193 goals, Dixon is the only player in the club's recent history to have come close to matching Tambling's record. Greaves holds the record for the most goals scored in one season (43 in 1960–61). Lampard is the top scorer currently at the club.

Officially, Chelsea's highest home attendance is 82,905 for a First Division match against Arsenal on 12 October 1935. However, an estimated crowd of over 100,000 attended a friendly match against Soviet team Dynamo Moscow on 13 November 1945.The modernisation of Stamford Bridge during the 1990s and the introduction of all-seater stands mean that neither record will be broken for the foreseeable future. The current legal capacity of Stamford Bridge is 42,055.

Chelsea hold numerous records in English and European football. They hold the record for the highest points total for a league season (95), the fewest goals conceded during a league season (15), the most consecutive clean sheets during a league season (10), the highest number of Premier League victories in a season (29), the highest number of clean sheets overall in a Premier League season (25) (all set during the 2004–05 season),and the most consecutive clean sheets from the start of a league season (6) (2005–06).

The club's 21–0 aggregate victory over Jeunesse Hautcharage in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1971 remains a record in European competition.Chelsea may also hold the British transfer record, but the fee for Andriy Shevchenko, estimated at around £30m, remains unconfirmed.Roberto Di Matteo holds the record for fastest goal in an FA Cup final at Wembley, which came 42 seconds into Chelsea's win over Middlesbrough in 1997.Chelsea hold the record for the longest streak of unbeaten matches at home in the English top-flight. They secured the record on 12 August 2007, beating the previous run of 63 matches set by Liverpool between 1978 and 1980.The record is ongoing, and currently stands at 76 matches.

Chelsea have recorded several "firsts" in English football. Along with Arsenal, they were the first club to play with shirt numbers on 25 August 1928 in their match against Swansea Town.Chelsea were the first English side to travel by aeroplane to a domestic away match, when they visited Newcastle United on 19 April 1957,and the first First Division side to play a match on a Sunday, when they faced Stoke City on 27 January 1974. On 26 December 1999, Chelsea became the first British side to field an entirely foreign (non-UK) starting line-up in a Premier League match against Southampton.On 19 May 2007, they became the first team to win the FA Cup at the new Wembley Stadium, having also been the last to win it at the old Wembley.

Players

As of 15 January 2008.
Current squad
No. Position Player
1 GK Petr Čech
2 DF Branislav Ivanović
3 DF Ashley Cole
4 MF Claude Makélélé
5 MF Michael Essien
6 DF Ricardo Carvalho
7 FW Andriy Shevchenko
8 MF Frank Lampard (vice-captain)
9 MF Steve Sidwell
10 MF Joe Cole
11 FW Didier Drogba
12 MF John Obi Mikel
13 MF Michael Ballack
14 FW Claudio Pizarro
15 MF Florent Malouda
18 DF Wayne Bridge
20 DF Paulo Ferreira
21 FW Salomon Kalou
22 DF Tal Ben Haim
23 GK Carlo Cudicini
24 MF Shaun Wright-Phillips
26 DF John Terry (captain)
33 DF Alex
35 DF Juliano Belletti
39 FW Nicolas Anelka
40 GK Henrique Hilário


Domestic

League
First Division/Premier League: 3

1954–55, 2004–05, 2005–06
Second Division/Championship: 2

1983–84, 1988–89

Cups
FA Cup: 4

1970, 1997, 2000, 2007
League Cup: 4

1965, 1998, 2005, 2007
FA Charity Shield/Community Shield: 3

1955, 2000, 2005
Full Members Cup: 2

1986, 1990

European
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 2

1971, 1998
European Super Cup: 1

1998