Things haven’t been going exactly swimmingly for Chelsea in the Premier League for the last few seasons. Their 12th-place finish in 2022/23 represented their lowest-ever finish in a 20-team Premier League season. They haven’t won the title since 2016/17, and they haven’t really looked like challenging since then, despite lifting the Champions League and Europa League in that period. But fear not, Blues fans, we’re here to inject a little positivity.
After all, it should be remembered that Chelsea are one of just a handful of clubs never to have been relegated from the Premier League. In fact, statistically, they are the third-best Premier League side in terms of titles won and fourth-best in the all-time Premier League table (behind Man United, Arsenal and Liverpool). What’s more, Chelsea hold a good number of Premier League records, as we shall show you.
Premier League Records Held by Chelsea Alone
The following are records held solely by Chelsea at the time of writing (correct as of 18th September, 2023):
- Most Consecutive Wins from the Start of a Season: 9 (2005–06)
- Most Consecutive Home Games Undefeated: 86 (20th March 2004 to 5th October 2008)
- Fewest Goals Conceded in a Season: 15 (2004–05)
- Fewest Goals Conceded Away in a Season: 9 (2004–05)
- Most Goals Scored at Home in a Season: 68 (2009–10)
- Most Premier League Yellow Cards in Total: 1,893 (ok, not a record they would perhaps want but a record nonetheless!)
As you can see, Chelsea achieved most of the above records during the first José Mourinho era at the club. The Blues won the Premier League title in both 2004/05 and 2005/06 and it is clear the Special One propelled Chelsea to greatness during this period.
At the time of writing, Manchester City are chasing down Chelsea’s record of nine consecutive Premier League wins at the start of a season. But given how many amazing teams there have been in the Premier League over the years, the fact that Chelsea are the only side to have won their first nine league games of a season is quite an achievement.
As is Chelsea’s quite astounding run of 86 home games without defeat – a string of results that straddled the tenures of three managers: José Mourinho, Avram Grant and Luiz Felipe Scolari. It should come as no massive surprise that Chelsea hold the record for the fewest goals conceded in a season and also the fewest conceded away from home in a season given Mourinho had a reputation for “parking the bus” at times.
During the 2004/05 season when Chelsea conceded so few goals, they had the brilliant Petr Čech (who holds the individual record for the most Premier League clean sheets, including 24 in that season) between the sticks. They also had the very effective defensive services of John Terry, William Gallas and Ricardo Carvalho, with Paulo Ferreira, Glen Johnson and Wayne Bridge also chipping in. Crucially, Claude Makélélé provided excellent protection in front of the backline and the whole team was incredibly hardworking.
But it is more eye-opening to see that no side has scored more home goals than Chelsea in a Premier League season, something the Blues achieved in 2009/10 when Carlo Ancelotti led the Blues to their first-ever league and FA Cup double. Of course, not all records are positive and – at the time of writing – Chelsea top the charts for having been issued with more yellow cards than any other side in the Premier League era.
Premier League Records Held Jointly by Chelsea
As well as the records which Chelsea hold on their own, they also share several other Premier League records with other clubs.
| Record | Team (season) |
|---|---|
| Most Home Points in a Season: 55 | Chelsea (2005/06), Manchester United (2010/11), Manchester City (2011/12), Liverpool (2019/20) |
| Most Days Spent on Top of the League: 274 | Chelsea (2014/15), Liverpool (2019/20) |
| Most Home Wins in a Season: 18 | Chelsea (2005/06), Manchester United (2010/11), Manchester City (2011/12, 2018/19), Liverpool (2019/20) |
| Defeated All League Opponents at Least Once in a Season: | Chelsea (2005/06), Manchester United (2010/11, 2017/18), Manchester City (2017/18, 2018/19), Liverpool (2019/20) |
As you can see, Chelsea are keeping good company with these rather significant records. To win the most points at home in a Premier League season is no mean feat. Moreover, spending the most days at the top of the Premier League table gives a good indication of how effective Chelsea have been over the last few decades. That the likes of Man United, Man City or Arsenal have not surpassed Chelsea’s achievement in relation to that particular stat is rather interesting. It’s also interesting that Chelsea achieved that during Jose Mourinho’s second stint at the club.
Chelsea are one of only four clubs to have beaten every other side in the division at least once in a season. Even Arsenal’s “Invincibles” of 2003/04 didn’t achieve that. Chelsea have come as close as any other side to having won all their home matches in a season, only dropping points in one home game in 2005/06… a 1-1 draw against Charlton Athletic.
Can Chelsea Relive Their Glory Days?
Aside from their (unwanted) yellow card record, most of Chelsea’s Premier League records were achieved too long ago for the liking of Blues fans. So, what are the prospects of Chelsea rediscovering some of their title-winning, record-setting form? Well, in the near future, we think it will be difficult (to say the least).
The Blues have not had a brilliant start to the 2023/24 campaign (and nowhere near as good as 2005/06!). But Mauricio Pochettino is a quality manager and given the (rather ludicrous) number of changes to personnel, it will take time for him to get a grip of the squad and start making progress.
The question is, will the Argentine boss be given sufficient time to weave the magic needed to get Chelsea competing for honours again? We certainly hope so, and if he does get time, we believe he could be the man to finally bring some smiles back to the Stamford Bridge terraces.