Chelsea are one of the most successful clubs in England and Europe. For a football club, success is determined by the number of trophies in the cabinet, and the Blues have a lot of silverware in theirs.
The west Londoners added the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup this season to their trophy haul. Chelsea have now won all major trophies in club football.
However, getting to this level of success hasn't been easy. There have been some rough patches on the road to glory for the London club. Chelsea have lost repeatedly in some major finals.
This article will thus look at the three competitions in which the Blues have ended runners-up on three occasions consecutively.
#3 FA Community Shield
The FA Community Shield is a match between the winners of the Premier League and the FA Cup. It is usually played at the start of the season, to usher in the new football season in England.
Chelsea have won the Premier League five times, and the FA Cup on eight occasions. This means they have made a handful of appearances in the FA Community Shield.
The Blues have appeared in the Community Shield 13 times. Eleven have come in the Premier League era, and Chelsea have won three of their first six PL-era appearances in the showdown (2000-01, 2005-06, 2009-10).
However, since 2010, they have been unlucky, losing five Community Shield finals in five appearances. The first was against Manchester United (2010-11), followed by consecutive losses to Arsenal (2015-16, 2017-18) and twice also to Manchester City (2012-13, 2018-19).
#2 UEFA Super Cup
Another competition where the Blues have suffered consecutive final defeats is the UEFA Super Cup. The Super Cup is a tie which pits the winners of the Champions League and Europa League against each other.
It was not until recently that the west Londoners added this trophy again to their cabinet, having appeared in the final four times in the decade.
After winning the Champions League in 2012, they faced Atletico Madrid in the Super Cup and were thrashed 4-1. The following season, they won the Europa League and faced Bayern Munich, only to lose 6-7 on penalties (the tie ended 2-2 after extra time).
A third consecutive Super Cup defeat came in 2019 after winning their second Europa League title. Coached by club legend Frank Lampard, the Blues lost another Super Cup on penalties, this time to Liverpool.
However, they broke the jinx in 2021, defeating Villarreal 7-6 on penalties to finally win the UEFA Super Cup.
#1 FA Cup
The English FA Cup is the oldest cup competition in the world and Chelsea can brag of being one of the most successful teams in the competition. They have won the FA Cup eight times and are only behind Manchester United (12) and Arsenal (14).
However, the Blues have failed to add to their FA Cup tally in the past three seasons. Losing the 2022 FA Cup final to Liverpool on Saturday, May 14, they set an awful record of becoming the first club to lose three consecutive FA Cup finals.
Thomas Tuchel's side met Liverpool at Wembley for the second time in 2022. Having lost the Carabao Cup final against them in February, the Blues lost again on penalties. They also lost the FA Cup to Arsenal and Leicester City in 2020 and 2021 respectively.