Club History

Chelsea’s story runs from a London athletics ground in 1904 to a club that has won every major UEFA competition except the old European Cup. This is the short version.

1905	Chelsea founded on 10 March
1955	First league title
1971	First European honour, the Cup Winners’ Cup
2003	Roman Abramovich buys the club
2004-05	First Premier League title under Jose Mourinho
2012	First Champions League, under Roberto Di Matteo
2021	Second Champions League, under Thomas Tuchel
2022	BlueCo takeover
2025	Conference League and Club World Cup
2026	Xabi Alonso appointed; Clearlake takes full control

Stamford Bridge from inside the stadium, looking across the pitch — Stamford Bridge. Photo: Ank kumar, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Founding

In 1904 Gus Mears bought the Stamford Bridge athletics stadium and offered to lease it to Fulham. Fulham declined, so Mears founded his own club. With a team named Fulham already in the borough, he chose the name Chelsea.

The Abramovich years

Ken Bates sold the club to Roman Abramovich in June 2003 for £60 million. Jose Mourinho won back-to-back league titles in 2004-05 and 2005-06. Chelsea also won the 2010 league and FA Cup Double under Carlo Ancelotti, their first Champions League in 2012 and a second in 2021 under Thomas Tuchel.

BlueCo and after

On 7 May 2022 Chelsea confirmed agreed terms with a group led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, later known as BlueCo, in a £4.25 billion takeover. Enzo Maresca led the club to the Conference League in 2025. Xabi Alonso was appointed on 17 May 2026.

Sources

Chelsea F.C. (Wikipedia); Records and statistics (Wikipedia).