Chelsea

Nickname: The Blues

Formed: 1905

Stadium: Stamford Bridge

Manager: Carlo Ancelotti

Last season: Premier League third, Champions League semi-finals, FA Cup champions, League Cup fourth round.
ITALIAN Carlo Ancelotti comes to Stamford Bridge as the fifth manager in less than two years. Ancelotti, who won the Champions League title with Milan in 2003 and 2007, will be held to the same lofty standards at the English Premier League club as the 2008 Champions League runner-up chases the elusive title. Favourites for the league title, the Blues come into the season with confidence and stability after knocking back any transfer deals for captain John Terry in the off-season. Striker Didier Drogba is locked in until 2012 with the goal to win more titles. “I am ambitious to pick up lots more trophies, regain the Premier League title, win cups. It is for this that I have extended my time at Chelsea,” the Ivory Coast international said at the time of extending his contract by two years. “But my number one objective is to win the Champions League. I am convinced that this year we can go to the end and finally lift this trophy.” With talent including Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack, Michael Essien et al and summer signing Yuri Zhirkov from CSKA Moscow, Drogba may not have to wait long. Chelsea fans had to wait 50 years for their first league title (1955) and another 50 years for their second (2005). But since Russian Roman Abramovich bought the club in 2003, the big-spending oil magnate can claim half (6 of 12) of the domestic honours, including back-to-back EPL flags in ‘05 and ‘06, in the club’s trophy cabinet … one hopes the reported 700 million-plus pound debt is worth it.

Trophy Cabinet – League Titles (3): 1955, 2005, 2006
FA Cups (5): 1970, 1997, 2000, 2007, 2009
League Cups (4): 1965, 1998, 2005, 2007
Cup Winners' Cups (2): 1971, 1998
Super Cups (1): 1998