In partnership with
Chelsea draw the last match of match week 1 and it’s a tough one, heading the 1.5 miles across Fulham, West London to Craven Cottage to take on Fulham Football Club Monday, August 24, 2p CST.
New managers for both sides. Chelsea’s biggest question will be who to start, lots to choose from. 10th place last season is not good enough at Chelsea. Heading on the road in a West London Derby and getting all three points would set the tone that this season will be better.
Chelsea
“The Blues”
2025/26 Finish - 10th Place
Disappointing, not in Europe
67 - Over/under projected points.
Global brand, Big 6 London Club with history, titles, great traditions and high expectations. C’mon Chelsea! That’s what you’ll hear at Stamford Bridge from the very passionate fans. A great place to watch a match, great fans and a fun team to follow knowing you are going to be in the thick of the titles.
Back-to-back EPL titles in 2014/15 and 2016/17, FA Cup in 2017/18, Champions League 2020/21 and the FIFA World Cup in 2021 and 2025 - and the cups have been there.
Yet there is some anxiety among the fans on the direction of the club.
The “sale” or “taking” of the club from Roman Abramovich in 2022 led to the BlueCo and Todd Boehly ownership bringing uncertainty in strategy. There is a sense that from top to bottom of the club there are different priorities. This club has changed managers nonstop, 8 managers in 4 years (and good managers too). Thomas Tuchel just led England in the World Cup to Bronze. Mauricio Pochettino, the USMNT. Enzo Maresca is now at Man City.
It’s not just the managers. The Club has been on a spending spree, buying young stars at a pace that would allow Chelsea two “A” teams. They then play players and try to sell them during the transfer windows for a profit. In fact, when Enzo Maresca left, he said it was in part with his not being able to select the team to play. Ownership was telling him who to play so they could feature players they wanted to sell.
The talent is there. Can new manager Xabi Alonso manager the club and get them to all row in the same direction and get back into contention for titles. Expectations are HIGH, they have the money and talent. Expect them to bounce back, but if things are not at the pace ownership want will they stick the course or continue to make changes.
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
Kit: Nike
Shirt: TBD
Sleeve: TBD
History on the Pitch
6 Titles, last in 2017
8 FA Cups
2 Champions League, 2 Europa League, 1 UEFA Conference League
Have never been outside the top two leagues and have won all cups at least once
Notable Players In History
Frank Lampard, Peter Osgood, Didier Drogba, John Terry, Eden Hazard, Cesar Azpilicueta, Petr Cech, N’Golo Kante.
Home Kit
Away Kit
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 155 Matches Chelsea have 77W 46L 32D. The other 3 clubs have won 50, 47 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.
Word Association
Blues, Stamford Bridge, Todd Boehly, Roman Abramovich legacy, Cup Winners, Big Spenders, London, High Class, Identify, Legacy, Talent, Pensioners, Big Following.
Museum
The Pitch
The Pensioners
Chelsea 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.
Michael Caine
Tara Reid
Bryan Adams
Lil Wayne
Will Farrell
Owen Wilson
Raquel Welch
Jimmy Paige
Billy Idol
Kevin Garnett
Sex Pistols, Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, many many more
Song
The 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!"
CleanSheeters - The Chelsea Pensioner
Game Day Pub Guide
Fan Sites
“Chelsea in America” is the supporter’s group that has factions across America, and is a great way to get connected to fellow Chelsea fans (Highbury Pub - @thehighbury on X - in Milwaukee, is an example)
Official X
@ChelseaFC
High Follows on X.
@ChelseaFCinUSA (850k)
@CFC_CHelseaFC (120k)
@AbsoluteChelsea
@CFCInAmerica
@LondonBluePod
@ChelseaFC
@AlwaysBayChe
The Team
The Gaffer
Xabi Alonso (Spain), 44yo.
Played for Spain National Team, 114 appearances.
Played for Real Sociedad, Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munch.
Coaching success at Bayer Leverkusen, not as much at Real Madrid.
Roster Notes
Full Roster click link
Americans on the Roster
Caleb Wiley (21 yo)
Roster
Cole Palmer
Moises Caideco
Morgan Rogers
Enzo Fernandez
Joao Pedro
Extevao
Reece James
Pedro Neto
Liam Delap
Many more to choose from
Goalkeeper
Robert Sanchez - Top 15 in PL.
ODDS
To Win League +1,000
Top 4 +120
To Be Relegated +6,600
Stamford Bridge
1,000+ Claude Prompts Top Professionals Actually Use at Work
Claude can be your analyst, editor, and strategist.
But most professionals are using it to fix grammar.
These 1,000+ Claude prompts take it from grammar tool to your most powerful AI work assistant.
Sign up for Superhuman AI and get:
1,000+ ready-to-use Claude prompts to get real work done in minutes — researched, tested, and used by professionals at Google, Microsoft, and NASA
Superhuman AI newsletter (4 min daily) so you keep learning new AI tools and skills to stay ahead in your career — the prompts are just the beginning
