15 Facts You Must Know about Chelsea F.C.

Adam

Content Writer

Chelsea Football Club is one of the biggest clubs in the world, with fans supporting The Blues across the globe. Whilst Chelsea are known to have some of the greatest fans, especially their away support, there will be many who are unaware of some interesting facts about the club.

From the simplest of facts to some of the least known details, we have curated a list of 15 facts about Chelsea Football Club regarding the club’s history and record-breaking achievements held by icons of The Blues.

Fact 1: Chelsea were founded in a pub

Opening this account of Chelsea FC facts is where the club was founded.

Established in 1905, Chelsea FC was formed specifically in an upstairs room of The Rising Sun Pub on Fulham Road. Now, the pub is known as The Butcher’s Hook, which is located opposite The Blues’ stadium, Stamford Bridge, where many fans indulge in some food and drink before a game.

Fact 2: Chelsea’s Stadium is called Stamford Bridge

Located in West London sits Chelsea’s stadium, Stamford Bridge, which has been their home ground since 1905. Originally built in 1877, Stamford Bridge has hosted the club’s football for over a century, with many special moments taking place. According to Chelsea FC’s website, The Bridge seats 40,044 fans, but there are rumours of an expansion and major development that would see a capacity increase.

Fact 3: Frank Lampard is Chelsea’s All-Time Top Goal Scorer

In 2001, Chelsea signed Frank Lampard from London rivals West Ham for £11 million, who was 22 years old when he joined The Blues, with the transfer being highly anticipated, but no one could have predicted the records he went on to break.

On the 11th of May against Aston Villa in the 2012/13 season, Lampard broke Bobby Tambling’s club goalscoring record of 202 goals.

Lampard finished his Chelsea career with a tally of 211 goals, making the midfielder the current Chelsea record holder for the most goals at the club. What a player!

Fact 4: Ron Harris is Chelsea's All-Time Top Appearance Maker

With 795 appearances for Chelsea, no one has appeared more for The Blues than defender Ron Harris.

Known as Chopper, he spent 19 seasons of his career at Chelsea from 1961/62 to 1979/80, in which he captained 324 games of his 795 appearances, leading the side to the FA Cup and European Cup Winners’ Cup both for the first time.

Ron Harris’s name will forever be engraved in Chelsea’s history; a true icon for the club.

Fact 5: Chelsea’s First Major Trophy Came in 1955

There are many rival fanbases who like to joke around by saying Chelsea lack history and simply bought their success due to Roman Abramovich’s takeover, but in actual fact, Chelsea were fairly successful before the takeover.

Chelsea’s first major trophy came exactly 50 years after their establishment, winning the First Division Championship in the 1954/55 season.

Before the inception of the Premier League, it was called the First Division, and here Chelsea won their first and only First Division title.

Fact 6: Chelsea are the Only Club to have Won Every Major Trophy

At the Club level, the major trophies include European titles, domestic League titles, domestic cups and continental cup trophies. In England, the domestic league title is the Premier League, and the domestic cups are the FA Cup and Carabao Cup (the League Cup). The European titles are the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, the recent UEFA Conference League and UEFA Super Cup. The continental title is the FIFA Club World Cup, which was revamped this year, seeing a new format.

Chelsea are the only club in the world to have won every major trophy, with their most recent additions coming last season with the UEFA Conference League and FIFA Club World Cup.

Chelsea F.C. Major Trophy Cabinet

The Blues has picked up 5 Premier League titles, 8 FA Cups, 5 League Cups, 2 UEFA Champions Leagues, 2 UEFA Europa Leagues, 1 UEFA Conference League, 2 UEFA Super Cups and 2 Club World Cups.

For all Blues fans, you can book a “We’ve won it all” stadium tour that gives you the opportunity to view all the trophies Chelsea has won, and even possibly hold one.

Fact 7: Chelsea is the Only Club to Hold the UCL & UEL Simultaneously

Sticking to the theme of trophies, this fact is a very weird and unique flex. At the end of the 2011/12 season, Chelsea won their first-ever UEFA Champions League, beating Bayern München in their own backyard.

After a poor UCL group stage the following season, finishing third, The Blues exited and dropped into the Europa League, in which they went on to beat Benfica in the final, adding another trophy to their cabinet.

Due to the dates of the UCL and UEL finals, Chelsea’s match against Benfica took place before Bayern München and Borussia Dortmund’s final in the Champions League.

Therefore, technically, Chelsea held both the UCL and UEL trophies at the same time for a total of 10 days even gaining a Guinness World Record Award for it.

Fact 8: Chelsea Hold the Record for the Least Amount of Goals Conceded in a Premier League Campaign

In the 2004/05 season, the iconic José Mourinho became Chelsea manager after leading FC Porto to the UEFA Champions League title.

In his first season at the club, he won the Premier League, doing so in style by conceding only 15 goals and keeping 25 clean sheets, gaining the record for the least amount of goals conceded in a single season.

With Petr Čech between the sticks and a defence consisting of John Terry, William Gallas, Ricardo Carvalho, Wayne Bridge and Paulo Ferreira, this goes down as one of the greatest Premier League records of all time.

Will it ever be broken?

Fact 9: Chelsea Hold the Record for the Longest Unbeaten Home Run in the Premier League

From the 21st of February 2004 to the 26th of October 2008, Chelsea went unbeaten at home for 86 games, the longest such run in Premier League history. Mourinho really built up an atmosphere at Stamford Bridge, making it one of the toughest away games for other clubs in the league at the time. Another record set by Chelsea that may never be beaten.

Fact 10: Chelsea were the First Team to Score 100 Goals in a Single Premier League Campaign

Scoring 100 goals in a single season requires 2.63 goals a game, which sounds easier said than done, with only five teams reaching the impressive mark. In the 2009/10 season, Chelsea became the first team to score 100 goals in a single Premier League campaign.

Managed by the coveted Carlo Ancelotti, The Blues netted exactly 103 goals with the legendary striker Didier Drogba leading the way, tallying 29 goals, earning the Ivorian his second and last Golden Boot.

Unfortunately, Guardiola’s Manchester City side in the 2018/19 season broke the record for the most goals scored in a single Premier League campaign, achieving 106 goals.

Fact 11: The Pensioners was Chelsea’s Original Nickname 

Before Chelsea were referred to as The Blues, many nicknamed the club The Pensioners. Originally, Chelsea’s crest featured a pensioner so therefore, fans simply nicknamed the club The Pensioners. Additionally, it was a reference to the retired British Army veterans who were taken care of at the Royal Hospital Chelsea. In 1952, the crest changed to a plain and simple blue and white badge with the club’s initials displayed, resulting in fans and rivals to simply call Chelsea the blues as a link to the full-blue kit.

Fact 12: The Chelsea Lion was Introduced in 1953

The “CFC” crest, which we previously mentioned, was only part of the club for one season, as in the following First Division campaign was the introduction of The Lion. This change was influenced by Ted Drake, who managed Chelsea from 1952 to 1961.

Drake wanted to create a new era at Chelsea that not only modernised the club but also shaped a fierce identity. Therefore, he implemented a new all-blue kit to change the nickname from The Pensioners to The Blues and The Lion crest because he viewed the pensioners as too timid and nice. Ted Drake’s changes are still part of the Chelsea Football Club today and are synonymous with the club.

Fact 13: Chelsea were the First Club to Hire Ball Boys

A rarely addressed fact about Chelsea is the ball boys. As pointed out, Chelsea were established in 1905, and the club incorporated something so simple yet revolutionary at the time. This was the use of ball boys becoming the first club to implement them. Chelsea’s first ever goalkeeper, William Foulke, was a giant standing at a height of 6”4 and weighing around 23 stone.

Unfortunately, though, he gained the nickname “Fatty.” To make the team appear larger by comparison and perspective, two small young boys were hired to stand behind the goal, also collecting any stray shots to speed up the game.

Now, the use of ball boys is extremely important, as they are involved in goals that have allowed teams to catch opponents out or counterattack.

Fact 14. Chelsea were the First Club to Fly for a Domestic Away Fixture

If you thought the previous Chelsea fact was interesting, how about this one?

Chelsea were the first ever club to fly for an away game in a domestic fixture. On the 19th of April 1957, Chelsea played Newcastle, and they took a plane tom speed up their journey.

But the main reason they wanted to prioritise time was because The Blues had a fixture the next day against Everton at Stamford Bridge - modern-day footballers could never. To make sure players were not too tired or uncomfortable, they flew back to London. The plan was a success as they won both matches!

While fans are aware of the club's European trips, the fact that it was the first to fly for a domestic match back in 1957 (to face Newcastle) is a rarely discussed fact about Chelsea.

Fact 15. Chelsea were Bought for £1

In 1982, Chelsea were on the verge of collapse, with poor results on the pitch and financial struggles off the pitch, owing £2 million. But on the 2nd of April 1982, British businessman Ken Bates bought Chelsea Football Club for £1!

Importantly, this was not a reflection of the club’s value but instead a symbol of the massive debts and financial ruin. Bates saved Chelsea, turning the ship around and improving the club massively by getting The Blue back to the First Division, even nearly bringing the Premier League home. He sold Chelsea to Roman Abramovich in 2003, which is one of the greatest transfers, outside of players, to have ever happened, as the rest is history.

With Chelsea winning the UEFA Conference League and the FIFA Club World Cup last season, we are sure they will add to their trophy cabinet, but it will be interesting to see if they can break any records in the future.

Will any current Chelsea players stick around long enough to break Lampard’s scoring record or Harris’ appearance record? We will see what the future has in store for Chelsea Football Club.