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- 24/25 Season Preview 20 in 20 - Chelsea
24/25 Season Preview 20 in 20 - Chelsea
11 of 20 - The Blues
nick lochner
August 05, 2024
The 2024/25 Season kicks off Friday August 16 when Fulham travel to Man United.
For previous team previews and additional content check out our website: CleanSheetEPL.beehiiv.com.
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Big Thanks to CS subscriber Jim for some of the content in this season preview - and check out his Podcast - “Always Bayern Chelsea” (link to apple podcasts).
Chelsea“The Blues” | 2023/24 Finish - 6th PlaceWill play in Europa Conference League. |
Upward Trend. 2022/23’s 12th place finish was a low point in the last 30 years for the club and the first half of last season seemed on track to challenge that low water mark. However, manager Maricio Pochettino and his highly paid and young team started to gel and figure things out as they fought their way in the second half of the season to a 6th place finish and secure a spot in Europe for this season. The next step is a top 4 finish and a Champions League spot once again.
Stability. That word has NOT been one to describe Chelsea the last couple of seasons as Owner Todd Bohley would make drunken sailors or George Steinbrenner look conservative with their money. Chelsea have been spending pretty much non-stop since Bohley took over a couple years ago, changing managers for a 5th time in 2 years and buying players at an impressive clip. No question they are looking to win titles.
New Phone, Who Dis. Get a text from Todd Bohley and that may be your response as Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter, Frank Lampard and Poch have all come and gone under his ownership. Enter Enzo Fernandez. Enzo led Leicester City to The Championship title and promotion to the PL last season, and in what was a somewhat surprising move, answered the call from London. It’s a bold move by Chelsea going with the relatively young Enzo who will be managing his first PL match opening weekend although he did have success managing Man City’s development squad. The expectation will be to win a Cup and a top 4 finish in the PL, nothing less.
Young Talent. The strategy seems to be to buy young players, a lot of them, and see who “fits” best. Injuries were an issue last season, and some key players will be returning in Lavia, Fofana, James and Nkunku. Add to that having arguably the biggest breakout player of last season in Cole Palmer, and then adding key pieces this off-season (Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (Leicester City), Tosin Adarabioyo (Fulham), Marc Guiu (Barcelona), Renato Veiga (Basel), Omari Kellyman (Villa), Filip Jorgensen (Villarreal)) and The Blues are not lacking for talent.
The Club
Located in Fulham, West London Stamford Bridge 41,000 capacity Rough estimates $755M Annual Revenue (5th PL 9th world) $250M Player Payroll  Sponsorship
| History on the Pitch
Notable Players in History
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 Home Shirt |  Away Shirt |
Biggest Rival - Hard To Say
This is interesting - supporters would say Arsenal, Tottenham and Leeds.
They also are 1 of 4 teams in the West London Derby with Queen Park Rangers (QPR), Brentford, and Fulham. They may not consider them rivals given their dominance - in aggregate of 147 Matches Chelsea have 73W 44L 30D. The other 3 clubs have won 47, 45 and 45 respectively.
Ownership
Prior to 2022:
Chelsea had a lot of success with Roman Abramovich, a Russian Oligarch worth $13B, owned Chelsea. Then Russia invades Ukraine (I am not going to get into the human impact or the politics of it) but it brought to the forefront the term Sportswashing - the idea that people or governments try to use sports to improve their reputations, often with unlimited funds.
This created the opportunity to put pressure on Russians with influence. The British say he acquired his wealth illegally and has direct ties to Putin and the UK banned him from living in the UK. Roman came out with a statement that he was giving the Trustees of the Charitable Foundation stewardship and care of Chelsea FC to protect the club. However, the trustees didn’t agree to it before the announcement. In the statement he didn’t mention war or even acknowledge the conflict. He got hammered for it, and the UK government froze his assets including his $150M home in the UK. Supporters demanded change. Should he have been targeted? I don’t know. From a pure soccer standpoint, he is missed.
Post 2022:
BlueCo was created just for this takeover bid of Chelsea, which was approved at $5.5B. BlueCo is led by Todd Boehly, an American businessman and investor. Boehly attempted to buy the club in 2019 for $3B but was rejected by Abramovich. Boehly also owns 20% of the LA Dodgers, 27% of the LA Lakers and is an owner of DraftKings.
The Culture
Chelsea is a “suburb” within Central London that is very affluent, internationally diverse and loaded with high-end shops, restaurants, and luxury. Like the “suburb”, Chelsea FC is an international club and fan base, and depending on how you count have a top 5 fan following in the world. Interestingly, Chelsea started when Gus Mears, a businessman, purchased Stamford Bridge with the hope of luring Fulham to use the stadium. They declined. So Mears founded his own club.
The club has always been very close with the community as demonstrated by their beginning as “The Pensioners” (see below). You can see this play out with their passionate supporters and gameday atmosphere. The club’s supporters, known as the “Chelsea Pensioners,” are known for their songs, chants, and passionate support of the team. Opposing fans love to poke fun at one of the main chants, “Chelsea, Chelsea, Chelsea".
Heading to a Match and want to be among the most vocal supporters? Sit in the “Shed End”, although regardless of where you sit Stamford Bridge provides fantastic supporter viewing. And make sure to see the museum and take a tour of the Bridge on a non-match day.
 Museum |  The Pitch |
The PensionersChelsea has undergone many changes over its history. The club nickname started out as The Pensioners (Veterans of Wars, like the VA in the US). In 1952 the crest changed to a lion, and has changed 3 times since, most recently 2005. Manager Ted Drake felt the club needed adapt to the times, and “The Pensioners” was retired and “The Blues” were created, to fit the teams historical colors. This fit with Drake’s no nonsense approach. Pensioners still have a quota of seats allocated for home matches.
 | SongThe song was produced in 1972 by Penny Farthing Records and has sold over a million copies worldwide and hit#5 in the UK Charts. “Blue is the colour, football is the game, We’re all together, and winning is our aim, So cheer us on through the sun and rain, ‘Cause Chelsea, Chelsea is our name.” Margaret Thatcher used the song successfully as part of her election campaign to Prime Minister. "Blue is the Colour;" "Maggie is her name;" "we're all together" (...verse....) chorus.... "Margaret Thatcher is her name!"  The Chelsea Pensioner Game Day Pub Guide |
Fan Sites
| Official Twitter@ChelseaFC High Follows on Twitter @ChelseaFCinUSA (850k) @CFC_CHelseaFC (120k) @AbsoluteChelsea @CFCInAmerica @LondonBluePod @ChelseaFC @AlwaysBayChe |
Chelsea in America this Summer
The Team
The Gaffer
 ODDS
| Roster NotesFull Roster click link Projected to finish 4th Americans on the team (as of Aug 2)
Interested in playing Fantasy Soccer? Here are the basics. Typical teams have a budget of $100M and 15 players - $6.7M per player.
Goalkeeper
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Stamford Bridge
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