Chelsea TV was a British subscription based sports television channel, dedicated to the fans of the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club,

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. The channel first launched in August 2001 on Sky Digital. The station was registered with

Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-ranging powers acros ...

as Chelsea Digital Media Ltd. It was broadcast daily from 10:00am to midnight. Until it was removed in early 2010, it used to be broadcast in Channel 427 on

UPC Ireland Virgin Media Ireland is Liberty Global's telecommunications operation in Ireland. It is the largest digital cable television provider within the country. As of 31 December 2014, the company offers broadband internet, digital television and d ...

. The channel closed on 30 June 2019, and was moved to an online only service.

Programming

Chelsea TV was broadcast live everyday from 10am to midnight from the studios at

Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium), in L ...

. Top shows included ''Friday Night Live'' which broadcast each Friday with former players

Kerry Dixon Kerry Michael Dixon (born 24 July 1961) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a forward. His club career was spent most notably at Chelsea, where he won the Second Division twice. His 193 goals for the club across all co ...

and Jason Cundy. ''Friday Night Live'' allowed fans to call in and share their views on all things Chelsea. The show regularly had first team players join the phone-in, the 2009–10 season saw Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Mikel, Malouda and Kalou all answer the fans' questions. Live build-up to midweek games was on ''Matchnight Live'' which broadcast from 6pm and had previews to the game, team news first and analysis. Every midweek game followed with a live fans' phone-in from 10pm. Chelsea TV was the only place to watch the Chelsea Reserves and Academy Teams in action. ''Reserves Live'' had full coverage of every Reserve game some of which took place at

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground is in a predominantly residential area and was ...

in the

London Borough of Hounslow The London Borough of Hounslow () is a London borough in West London, England, forming part of Outer London. It was created in 1965 when three smaller borough councils (forming part of the former Middlesex County Council area) amalgamated under ...

, the home ground of

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

. ''Blues News'' was the daily news programme with headlines at 1pm and 5pm followed by a full news bulletin at 6.30 pm and 10 pm. ''Paper View'' was broadcast live from the studios every Thursday with the finest

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was na ...

reporters discussing the news surrounding the club. ''Inside Cobham'' showed the week's training sessions and exclusive players interviews from the Chelsea's

training ground A training ground is an area where professional association football teams prepare for matches, with activities primarily concentrating on skills and fitness. They also sometimes form part of a club's youth system, as clubs consider it important t ...

in Cobham,

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. Exclusive interviews from the first team players and management was seen on ''The Big Interview''. Many new shows and series were shown throughout the year. In 2009 a new fans' post-match phone-in was introduced called "Extra time at the Bridge" this allowed fans' to share their views after every weekend home game by calling the studio or emailing Chelsea TV.

Presenters

The channel has various

presenters A presenter is a person or organization responsible for the running of a public event, or someone who conveys information on media via a broadcasting outlet. Presenter may refer to: People * News presenter, person who presents news during a new ...

, including former players

Jason Cundy Jason Victor Cundy (born 12 November 1969) is an English former professional footballer and radio broadcaster for talkSPORT. As a player, he was a defender, who notably played in the Premier League for Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur. He also p ...

Tommy Langley Thomas William Langley (born 8 February 1958) is an English retired footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s as a striker. He is currently one of the hosts of ''Matchnight Live'' on Chelsea TV. Club career Chelsea Langley began his career ...

Scott Minto Scott Christopher Minto (born 6 August 1971) is an English former professional footballer and sports television pundit. As a player he was as a left back who played in the Premier League for Chelsea and West Ham United and in Portugal for Benf ...

and

. Regular hosts include Gigi Salmon, Alison Bender, Ben Andrews, Lee Parker as well as Neil Barnett. Chelsea matches are mainly commentated by Trevor Harris, Ben Andrews (who hosted the 2007 League Cup Final,

2007 FA Cup Final The 2007 FA Cup Final was played on Saturday, 19 May 2007 between Chelsea and Manchester United. It was the 126th FA Cup Final and the first to be played at the new Wembley Stadium. Chelsea beat Manchester United 1-0 thanks to an extra-time goal ...

and

2008 UEFA Champions League Final The 2008 UEFA Champions League Final was a football match that took place on 21 May 2008 at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, to determine the winner of the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League. It was contested by Manchester United and Chel ...

), Mark Tompkins, Dan Roebuck and

Gary Taphouse Gary Taphouse is a football commentator from Bournemouth, England. He mainly works for Sky Sports and Premier League Productions. He has worked for Sky Sports since 2005 and commentates on English Premier League matches for Sky Sports' Match Ch ...

. Cundy is often co-commentator and is highly enthusiastic when Chelsea score in big games. Gigi Salmon currently presents many shows on the channel and has been a Chelsea TV station presenter since the channel was launched in August 2001. Some of the programmes she presents include ''Blues News'' and ''Matchnight Live'' and ''Paperview''. Neil Barnett has been presenting since the launch of the channel in August 2001. He began working for The Blues in the 1980s writing articles for the club's magazine.

Chelsea TV Online

On 1 July 2019, Chelsea TV Online launched as a new way to view Chelsea TV via a PC or Mac: Chelsea TV Online is powered by the club's internet partner Perform, with content from the Sky channel, Chelsea TV and includes exclusive interviews, live press conferences, Bridge Kids and many behind the scenes features, exclusive to Chelsea TV.

References

External links

Official siteChelsea TV OnlineChelsea TV LiveChelsea TV listings
The Guardian {{Chelsea F.C. Chelsea F.C. Football club television channels in the United Kingdom Television channels in the United Kingdom 2001 establishments in the United Kingdom Television channels and stations established in 2001 Premier League on television