Roman’s empire – Chelsea’s trophies under Abramovich leave English rivals behind

Chelsea’s Club World Cup win on Saturday means they have won every trophy they have entered under Roman Abramovich’s ownership.

It is the sixth different major trophy they have won since 2003, excluding the Community Shield and UEFA Super Cup, and with 18 trophies in all they are the most decorated English club in that time.

Here, the PA news agency looks at their record and how they compare to their rivals.

Abramovich’s trophy cabinet

Abramovich’s appointment of Jose Mourinho early in his reign introduced English football to the self-styled ‘Special One’ and instantly established Chelsea as leading trophy contenders.

They won the Premier League in the Portuguese’s first two seasons in charge, adding the 2004-05 League Cup, and while Manchester United regained the title in 2006-07 Chelsea scooped a domestic cup double.

They have won three more titles since, in the debut seasons of Carlo Ancelotti and Antonio Conte in the dugout, with another in Mourinho’s second spell.

FA Cup wins in 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2018 take their total to five in the Abramovich era, with a third League Cup win in 2015.

European success arrived with a Champions League win in 2012 followed by the Europa League the following season, despite a period of managerial instability. They then won all-English finals against Arsenal in the Europa League in 2019 and Manchester City in last season’s Champions League, making it a pair of wins in each competition for Abramovich’s expensively assembled team.

The latter success earned them the right to play in the Club World Cup, where they beat Palmeiras in Saturday’s final in Abu Dhabi.

The club have added two Community Shields and a UEFA Super Cup in Abramovich’s reign. They have yet to feature in the Europa Conference League and will presumably hope to keep it that way.

Top of the pile

Chelsea’s 18 major trophies are three more than any other English club has achieved since Abramovich bought the Blues.

Manchester United and Manchester City have matched the Blues’ five league titles in that time, with United the nearest challengers overall on 14 major trophies – also including two FA Cups, four League cups, the Champions League in 2008, the Europa League in 2017 and the Club World Cup, of which they were the first English winners back in 2008.

City are one behind their neighbours with 13, thanks to six League Cups and two FA Cups. They lead the way in this season’s Premier League as well, but continental success has so far eluded them under manager Pep Guardiola.

Arsenal and Liverpool have six major trophies each in the Abramovich era, Liverpool winning the Champions League twice in that time while Arsenal won 2003-04’s league title unbeaten and have since added five FA Cups.

Leicester won the 2015-16 league title and last season’s FA Cup – beating Chelsea in the final – while there have also been FA Cup wins for Portsmouth and Wigan and League Cups for Middlesbrough, Tottenham, Birmingham and Swansea.