The 2001–02 season was Chelsea's 88th competitive season, 10th consecutive season in the Premier League and 96th year as a club.

Season summary

The 2001–02 campaign was the first full season under Italian manager Claudio Ranieri, who had replaced his compatriot

Gianluca Vialli Gianluca Vialli (; born 9 July 1964) is an Italian former football manager and player who played as a striker. Since retiring, he has gone into management, punditry and worked previously as a commentator for Sky Sport Italia. He is currently ...

after five matches of the previous season. He made his first signing in the shape of French defender William Gallas for £6.2 million from Marseille, before signing Frank Lampard from West Ham United for £11 million on 14 June. Lampard went on to become Chelsea's highest goal scorer of all time. The signing of Lampard allowed Chelsea to part company with their captain Dennis Wise, who ended his successful 12-season spell at the club by joining Leicester City for £1.6 million. The third and final signing of the window was of French midfielder and

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

winner Emmanuel Petit, who joined from Barcelona for £7.5 million on 26 June. Chelsea players encountered controversy in the second round of the UEFA Cup, when they were due to face

Hapoel Tel Aviv Hapoel Tel Aviv ( he, הפועל תל אביב) is a sports club in Israel, founded in the 1920s, and part of the Hapoel association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, suc ...

on 18 October 2001. Six Chelsea first-team players—

Albert Ferrer Albert Ferrer Llopis (; born 6 June 1970) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a right back, and was also a coach. Having represented local team Barcelona for almost a decade, he went on to appear for England's Chelsea until his retir ...

, William Gallas, Emmanuel Petit, Graeme Le Saux, Eiður Guðjohnsen and captain Marcel Desailly—did not fly to Israel due to fears since the September 11 attacks in the previous month and recent Palestinian insurgency. Chelsea lost the match 2–0, with Desailly's replacement, the Ugandan teenager Joel Kitamirike, making mistakes in his only match for Chelsea. The six players returned for the second leg at Stamford Bridge, but a 1–1 draw saw Chelsea eliminated by an underdog for the second consecutive season. The club came sixth in the Premier League, as they had done the previous season, and reached their third FA Cup final in six seasons. In

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

against London rivals and Premier League champions

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

at the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rug ...

in Cardiff on 4 May 2002, Chelsea lost 2–0 with both goals in the last twenty minutes of the match. Chelsea were led out into the final by Roberto Di Matteo, who had announced his retirement earlier in the season due to a long-term absence with a leg fracture.

First team squad

:''Squad at end of season''

Left club during season

Reserve squad

Team kit

The team kit was produced by Umbro and the shirt sponsor was Emirates Airline and bore the "Fly Emirates" logo. Chelsea's home kit was all blue with a white trimmed collar. Their new away kit was all white with blue socks. The club's third kit for this season was orange with blue shorts and accents.

Statistics

Transfers

In

Out

Premier League

Classification

Results summary

Matches

UEFA Cup

First round

Second round

FA Cup

League Cup

Notes

References

External links

Chelsea FC Official Website

Chelsea FC on Soccerbase

Chelsea FC on BBC
{{DEFAULTSORT:2001-02 Chelsea F.C. season Chelsea F.C. seasons Chelsea