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Chelsea are one of the biggest clubs in England and have large fan bases all over the world. Founded in 1905, Chelsea have won 6 Premier League titles, 8 FA Cups and 1 UEFA Champions League title.
They also happen to be one of the richest clubs in the world and have signed many great players in the last few decades. The club underwent an overhaul when Russian oil tycoon Roman Abramovich became their owner in 2003. Abramovich’s money was spent judiciously, and Chelsea slowly became a superpower in English football.
Their impact on English football can be gauged from the simple fact that they have won the Premier League title 5 times in the last 15 years. They have also performed well in Europe and won the Champions League and Europa League in the last 10 years.
We would now take a look at Chelsea’s 5 greatest footballers of all time.
#5 Petr Cech
Petr Cech remains one of the finest goalkeepers of his generation, and a lion’s share of his club career has been spent with Chelsea. With his trademark headgear, which he started wearing after a head injury in 2006, Cech protected the Chelsea goal quite efficiently and spent 11 successful seasons with them.
Cech was signed by Chelsea in 2004, and he went from strength to strength while playing for the club. He won Premier League’s best goalkeeper award 4 times and won 4 league titles with Chelsea. He was also the hero in Chelsea’s triumph over Bayern Munich in a penalty shoot-out in the Champions League final in 2012.
Cech is a brilliant shot-stopper and commits very few errors. He also has a calm and assuring presence inside the box and is a good organizer of defence. He played a very crucial role in Chelsea’s rise to prominence in English and world football in the 2000s and 2010s. He made 494 appearances for the Blues.
#4 Didier Drogba
The former Ivory Coast international remains one of the greatest African players to have played in the Premier League. He was one of the most important players for Chelsea in the 2000s and 2010s. Drogba was a big and strong centre-forward who had a knack of scoring important goals.
Drogba scored the vital equalizer against Bayern Munich in 2012 Champions League final. He also won 4 Premier League titles with Chelsea. Drogba started his Chelsea career in 2004 and continued playing for them till 2012. He remained one of the most consistent performers in the Premier League during his prime.
Drogba had a powerful physique and was great in the air. He also was a reasonably swift mover for a big man, and liked to score with shots from the edge of the opposition penalty box. Drogba scored an impressive 157 goals in 341 matches for Chelsea in his 8 seasons with them.
#3 Gianfranco Zola
Zola is arguably the best Italian footballer in the history of Premiership and also remains one of the finest to have played for Chelsea. He was a brilliant attacking midfielder, who could also play as the main striker, support striker or wing-forward. Zola’s versatility and creativity made him an invaluable player for Chelsea.
He joined the Blues in 1996 from Italian club Parma. He went on to spend 7 successful seasons at Chelsea and made them a force to reckon with in English football. Zola won the FA Cup twice and UEFA Cup Winners Cup trophy once with Chelsea. He was also conferred with the Order of British Empire in 2004.
Zola scored 80 goals in 311 matches for Chelsea and became a favourite of the Stamford Bridge faithful. He left Chelsea in 2003, and was aptly nicknamed the “magic box” because of his exquisite playing style and skills.
#2 Frank Lampard
Lampard remained one of the most successful midfielders of his generation, and had a great career with Chelsea. He was signed from West Ham United in 2001, and went on to spend 13 seasons with the club. He was the quintessential box-to-box midfielder with a very impressive work rate.
The hallmark of Lampard’s playing prowess was his ability to be in goal-scoring positions and scoring from them. He regularly averaged 15-20 goals in a season, and used to roam all over the pitch. He also had a very good shot on him and his set-piece skills were excellent.
Lampard scored 211 goals in 648 matches for Chelsea, and won a Champions League and 3 Premier League titles with them. He also won the Ballon d’Or Silver Award in 2005. He left Chelsea in 2014 and remains one of their greatest players to have played for the London-based club.
#1 John Terry
Terry is quite possibly the greatest English central defender of the last 20 years. Big, strong and athletic, Terry was a Chelsea player from 1998 to 2017. He was a rock in Chelsea’s defence and won quite a lot of silverware with the Blues.
Terry started his career with Chelsea and played his first match in 1998. He became the Chelsea captain in 2004 and lifted the UEFA Champions League trophy in 2012. He also won 5 Premier League and 5 FA cup titles for the London club. Now the assistant manager at Aston Villa, Terry formed a great defensive partnership with Ricardo Carvalho in the late 2000s and early 2010s. He scored 67 goals in 717 matches for Chelsea in his distinguished career.
Terry was a strong tackler and phenomenal in the air. He scored a number of goals via headers from free-kicks and corners. He was also a great leader on the pitch and remained an inspirational character throughout his career. He hung up his boots in 2018, having already ensured his place in English football’s hall of fame.
