Best owners and administrators in English football - A Tribute to the late Mr. Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha

ROMAN ABRAMOVICH

Chelsea had attained some success in the years before Roman Abramovich joined in 2003. They had won the FA Cup in 1997 and 2000, and the League Cup and Cup-Winners Cup in 1998. They didn't manage to rival Arsenal and Man United as the top teams of that period, but this changed once Abramovich came in.

After the foundation was cemented by the late Matthew Harding and Ken Bates, Chelsea had sound infrastructure and needed further bolstering to take them forward.

Didier Drogba was one of the definitive players of the Abramovich Chelsea period

This is where Abramovich came in. Eager to enter the world of football ownership, he saw that Chelsea as a club with recent success, a completed stadium, Champions League football, and top players such as Desaiily, Lampard, Terry, etc. It was primed to challenge at the very highest level.

An initial step was to bring in Jose Mourinho, a then up and coming manager who attained major success with FC Porto via the Champions League.

Moreover, they unleashed mega money on top players, such as Mutu, Drogba, etc. and this soon brought them the League Cup and league title in 2005. They retained the league in 2006 and won the FA Cup in 2007.

Mourinho left in the same year, but this didn't deter the big spending. Not all managers succeeded in this period, as Scolari, Grant, etc. didn't, but Guus Hiddink won them the FA Cup again in 2009. The League/Cup Double was attained in 2010 under Carlo Ancelotti, and the biggest trophy of them all - the Champions League - was won in 2012, after an epic penalty shootout vs. Bayern Munich.

Mourinho came back in 2013, and won the league again in 2015, but left in controversial circumstances. Antonio Conte came in and made them champions again in 2017 but left too amidst board disputes. Sarri currently has Chelsea playing well, and they're in a strong position in the league and the Europa League.

Some say Chelsea was a small club that struck gold and became big, but they did have some note, as the club of the late Peter Osgood, Ron "Chopper" Harris, Kerry Dixon, and other noted players in the 1970s and 1980s. It's possible they needed investment to fulfil their potential, and this is certainly what happened.