Following their inception in 1905 Chelsea had a long wait for their first trophy, winning their first league title in the 1954/55 season under manager Ted Drake. After enjoying success in the 60's and early 70's, silverware began to return to the Chelsea trophy cabinet in 1996/97. With Ruud Gullit at the helm and stars like Gianfranco Zola on board, Chelsea won their second-ever FA Cup with a 2-0 win in the final against Middlesbrough.
The following season, under Gianluca Vialli's management, the Stamford Bridge team added the League Cup and European Cup Winner's Cup to their haul, with the UEFA Super Cup and FA Cup soon to follow.
Another Italian, Claudio Ranieri, took over in 2000, leading the Blues to the 2002 FA Cup final and Champions League qualification. Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich bought the side for £140 million from Ken Bates in June 2003 and, after spending £100 million on new players, with no trophies, Ranieri was soon replaced by Jose Mourinho.
'The Special One' was fresh from winning the Champions League with Porto and it was under the Portuguese that Chelsea flourished, winning the Premiership and League Cup in 2005 and making it to the Champions League semi-finals.
After retaining the title the following season Chelsea were league runners-up in 2006/07, scooping the FA Cup and League Cup double instead. Under Avram Grant in 2007/08 Chelsea, featuring the likes of English internationals John Terry, Frank Lampard and Joe Cole, narrowly missed out in their first-ever Champions League Final against Manchester United. Three days after the loss in Moscow, Avram Grant's contract was terminated. On June 11, 2008, it was announced that Brazilian manager Luis Felipe Scolari would take over for the new season.
Scolari's reign was turbulent, however, and before the end of the season he had left the club to be replaced by temporary manager Guus Hiddink. The miracle of Guus revitalised the club, and after cementing third place in the league they outplayed Everton in the FA Cup final, running out 2-1 winners.
Hiddink has now left, to be replaced by former AC Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti.