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"Revolution, in order to be creative, cannot do without either a moral or metaphysical rule to balance the insanity of history." Albert Camus
Since early times, it has been taught in every culture that history and philosophy play a vital role in shaping the future be it an individual, an institution, a regime or even a football club. It is very harsh to say that Chelsea never had any history before Roman Abramovic took over in 2003.
The club was started by a British businessman named Henry Mears and his brother Joseph Mears in early 1905. They purchased the Stamford Bridge Athletics stadium in Fulham, West London.
Thus, yet another club emerged on the other side of the Thames named Chelsea FC. Fast forward a 100 years since it's inception, one would find a dynamic, newer and Bluer London.
After those terrible mid-years of the '70s and '80s, the revival began in the early '90s. Chelsea FC was one of the 22 clubs to leave the traditional First Division and join the Premier League. For some reason or the other, I have personally believed Chelsea is the Inter Milan FC of the Premier League. They were the first team in the league to recruit players outside of UK and Ireland like Inter Milan did a century earlier.
Players who had played on the Italian fronts started to arrive in London. Firstly, it was the Dutch manager and AC Milan player Ruud Gullit to lead the blues in the league. Zola, Deschamps, Desailly, Poyet, Di Matteo were the notable foreigners who joined the club. After Gullit was sacked in 1998 over salary disputes, Gianluca Vialli was promoted as the player-manager under whom, Chelsea FC showed the audacity to sport a team without a single Englishman or an Irishman in the starting eleven. The face of the Premier League was about to change.
Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger were battling for supremacy in England, but work had already begun at Chelsea to challenge two of the biggest managers during that era. It was a farsighted Italian man who established the base for many players who went on to succeed for club and country alike. English Football stars like Frank Lampard, John Terry owe their careers to Ranieri as it was him who gave them the opportunity to play in the best league in the world. Ranieri's Chelsea did manage to wade its way through most of the domestic competitions where they failed to rivals Arsenal on one such instance in an FA Cup final. Arsenal went on to win the double that season.
With financial pressures mounting, Mr. Bates sold Chelsea to a Russian businessman named Roman Abramovic for whom London is his second home. He bought the club reportedly for 60 million pounds and went on a shopping spree buying French maestro Claude Makelele, a talented Joe Cole, Argentine ace Hernan Crespo and many others. 'The Blues', even managed to thrash Arsenal in the UCL knockout rounds only to suffer a defeat at the hands of AS Monaco in the semis. But, the stage was set for the 'Special One' to grace the Premier League.
In 2004, Jose Mourinho had just won a UCL with Porto which was a team full of nobody's. The man from Portugal was considered hot property in football and many were vying for his signature to manage their clubs. Abramovic was swift in his actions as he swooped him in the same summer. Mourinho's arrival changed the face of English football as he won back to back titles with Chelsea. Players like Terry, Lampard who had grown under Ranieri, were the backbone of the club. He brought in quality players like Didier Drogba, John Obi Mikel, Kalou, goalkeeper Petr Cech, Michael Essien, Arjen Robben, Deco, Malouda, Ashley Cole, and many others.
After Mourinho, it was a bit of a bumpy ride with Avram Grant and Carlo Ancelotti's whose regimes did see success but Champions League glory was what everybody yearned for. The Blues suffered from an agonizing defeat in Moscow when club captain John Terry slipped while taking a penalty. That miss eventually ceded the Champions to Manchester United in 2008. Again in 2009, in a controversial semi-final second leg against Guardiola's FC Barcelona, a goal from Andreas Iniesta shattered the dreams of Chelsea faithful. The commentator on air uttered the lines which will be etched in football history forever
'.....And the Chelsea fans cover their eyes in horror....'
Such was the magnitude of the shock. Michael Ballack was running wild behind the referee after there was a clear handball inside the ball of Eric Abidal. The Blues avenged the Blaugrana when a goal from Torres secured their place in the UCL final.
The final was held in Munich and the opponents Bayern Munich were guests in their own backyard. The Bavarians had almost won until Drogba scored a peach of a goal of Mata's corner kick in the 88th minute. Luck was clearly on Chelsea's side when former Chelsea man Arjen Robben failed to convert from the penalty spot in extra time. A miss from Bastian Schweinsteiger in the penalty rounds gave the chance to Didier Drogba who wrong-footed german shot-stopper, Manuel Neuer, to win it for Chelsea. The players were on their knees, some praying. some rejoicing and some, in tears of joy. The following year was even sweeter when 'The Blues' secured a Europa League triumph under former Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez.
Chelsea has never been a club that is shy to recruit new managers almost every season. Abramovic assigned Mourinho which was a roller-coaster ride for the club. Chelsea won the league in 2014-2015 and surprisingly slumped to a 10th place finish the following season. Mourinho was sacked in mid-season after the club had won only 5 of their 19 games and reports suggest that there was brewing tension amongst the grumpy boss and some of his players.
Abramovic seems to love Italians when he hired Juventus boss Antonio Conte in the summer of 2016. Kante was by far his best signing as Chelsea secured the title for the second time in three years. The pendulum again swung in the opposite direction as title ambitions dwindled in the latter stages of season 2017-2018. Olivier Giroud, Alvaro Morata could not do much and the Blues finished fifth behind Spurs. Yet again, another Italian was named manager Mauricio Sarri was snapped from Napoli to lead the team. Those days were gone when teams played a conservative midfield. Sarri brought in Jorginho, a player who had proven himself in the Seria A. Things did go well in the beginning but soon, Sarriball's weaknesses were exposed. Sarri took the team to the EFL Cup final last season only to lose to Guardiola's Man City on penalties. But, the victory in the Europa League in Baku tasted sweeter as they defeated local rivals Arsenal in a thumping 4-1 encounter.
Chelsea is a club that loves to experiment and have many players at their disposal. They have retained many and have lost more that have come and hurt them back. People criticize them for buying success but this story is more about hardships and a bit of luck. Never would have been able to witness those nail-biting matches in Munich and Barcelona, or that Mourinho celebration in front of the KOP. With players like Eden Hazard leaving the club on a high and those like Christian Pulisic coming in to take on the best, Chelsea FC provides a base for any player whose mentality is to win and as Drogba once rightly said:
"You can take a player out of Chelsea, but you can never take Chelsea out of a player"
