Skip to main content

"If you want some accessible but informative insight into football then I suggest you couldn't do better than the Political Economy of Football website, which is not only intelligible but comes with the added bonus of being written by Addicks fan Wyn Grant."
Ben Hayes - Charlton Athletic programme

Chelsea Football Club Ltd.

Share/Save
Traditional Chelsea football shirt

Chelsea were founded on 14 March 1905 and were elected to the Football League shortly afterwards. In 1982 Chelsea were struggling financially and the stadium freehold had been sold to property developers, meaning the club faced losing its home. At this point it was acquired by Ken Bates for the nominal sum of £1, and after a long-running legal battle, Bates reunited the stadium freehold with the club in 1992 by doing a deal with the banks of the property developers, who had been bankrupted by a market crash. Bates then formed Chelsea Village plc which was floated on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), but after the 2003 close season purchase by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich the club was de-listed.

The club play at Stamford Bridge (capacity: 41,841).

Chelsea have been English champions four times, have won the FA Cup six times, the League Cup four times and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup twice.

Turnover and pre-tax profit figures are in millions and relate to Chelsea FC Ltd except where indicated. * = Chelsea Village plc.

Financial Overview

Year
Turnover
Pre-tax profit
Wages / Turnover ratio (%)
Employees

2007/08

190.082

-70.397

84.5

195

2006/07

165.341

-66.779

74.3

183

2005/06

130.410

-78.297

79.5

160

2004/05

122.657

-132.854

78.6

133

2003/04

118.032

-75.895

 

124

2002/03

75.136

-15.277

 

105

2001/02

75.248

-10.477

63.5

 

2000/01

51.326

-5.962

84.7

 

1999/00*

59.246

2.311

68.6

131

1998/99*

44.076

3.499

56.5

108

1997/98*

37.109

3.067

62.8

105

1996/97*

23.729

-0.513

63.9

99

1995/96*

15.948

-2.045

58.5

104

1994/95

13.500

3.395

44.4

88

1993/94

10.900

-1.362

 

88

1992/93

7.891

 

 

 

Average Match Attendances

Season
Ave. No. Spectators

2009/10

41423

2008/09

41590

2007/08

41395

2006/07

41542

2005/06

41900

2004/05

41870

2003/04

41235

2002/03

39785

2001/02

39072

2000/01

34700

1999/00

34532

1998/99

34750

1997/98

32900

1996/97

27615

1995/96

25598

1994/95

21025

Website: 
www.chelseafc.com

Related Articles

09 May 2013
Mourinho for Chelsea?

With David Moyes set to take up over at Old Trafford, the way is clear for José Mourinho to return to Chelsea. Many United fans might have preferred Mourinho to come to United, but Moyes is clearly Sir Alex Ferguson's favoured successor and will

05 May 2013
The Torres effect

The Financial Times is not slow to comment on football.  It is big business, after all.  In the Pink Un's 'culture' pages one can find the likes of Simon Kuper writing about the broader implications of the game.

However

30 Apr 2013
Football tops sports rich list

Football accounts for nearly half of the hundred sportsmen listed in the new Sunday Times sports rich list. The number of footballers, managers and past players has gone up from 48 to 49 compared with last year. In the first list, the number

26 Apr 2013
Wenger's fear of Chelsea's spending power

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is apparently concerned about how Chelsea might exercise their spending power in the summer transfer window.

22 Apr 2013
Usmanov tops rich list

Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov has moved to the top of the new Sunday Times rich list with a fortune of £13,300m.   The Russian citizen, born in Uzbekistan, shares with Farhard Moshiri (ranked 41=) a near 30 per cent stake in

06 Apr 2013
Chelsea aims to be global brand

An in depth look at Chelsea's finances ahead of the onset of financial fair play regulations argues as its central theme that becoming a global brand is the strategy it is

01 Apr 2013
Would Uefa's FFP rules stand up in court?

We have consistently taken the view that Uefa's financial fair play (FFP) rules are open to challenge in court.    It is therefore interesting to see Belgian lawyer Jean-Louis Dupont, who was part of the team who won the Bosman case in

08 Feb 2013
Are Bonanza days over?

Premier League clubs agreed a new set of financial rules yesterday, but by a very tight margin with the required two-thirds majority only just being obtained.   Thirteen clubs voted in favour and Reading abstained.    Six clubs

07 Feb 2013
Chelsea give ground on financial fair play

It looks as if the Premier League will be able to agreed a watered down domestic financial fair play deal at its meeting today after Chelsea moderated its position.   The key consideration for Chelsea was alllowing owners some scope to cover

04 Feb 2013
Sponsorship deal stores up problems for PSG

Last week Paris Saint-Germain not only signed David Beckham, but also concluded a five year sponsorship deal with Emirates worth £108m.   Given that their previous sponsorship deal was around £3.5m a season, it's a big leap forward, although