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1996–97 Chelsea F.C. Season
During the 1996–97 English football season, Chelsea competed in the FA Premier League. Season summary With Glenn Hoddle leaving to become England manager, Chelsea gave the managerial role to midfielder Ruud Gullit, who used his continental connections to bring in world-class international players such as France center-back Frank Leboeuf, and Italian superstars such as midfielder Roberto Di Matteo, Parma's playmaker Gianfranco Zola and the Champions League winning striker and Juventus captain Gianluca Vialli. Gullit had a dream start to his managerial career as Chelsea won the FA Cup with a 2–0 win over Middlesbrough, ending Chelsea's 26-year trophy drought and making him the first foreign manager to win a major trophy with an English club. Zola was voted FWA Footballer of the Year after a brilliant first season at Stamford Bridge in which he scored 12 goals and contributed many assists, while fellow countryman and record £4.5 million signing Roberto Di Matteo scored one o ...
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Ken Bates
Kenneth William Bates (born 4 December 1931) is a British businessman, football executive and hotelier. He was involved in the development of Wembley Stadium and is a former owner and chairman of football clubs Chelsea and Leeds United. Bates spent five years as chairman of Oldham Athletic during the 1960s and also had a spell at Wigan Athletic. In 1982, he purchased Chelsea for £1. During his tenure, he helped the club win a long-running battle with property developers who were attempting to evict them from their Stamford Bridge home. By the end of his reign, Chelsea were regularly finishing in the top six of the Premier League and had won their first major trophies since the 1970s, although they had a debt burden of around £80 million. In July 2003, he sold the club to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich from whom he received approximately £18 million. In January 2005, Bates bought a 50% stake in Leeds United, another club struggling under a heavy debt burd ...
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Frank Leboeuf
Franck Alain James Leboeuf (born 22 January 1968), commonly known as Frank Leboeuf, is a French actor, sports commentator and former footballer who played as a centre-back. With the France national team, Leboeuf won the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000 as well as a number of domestic trophies, most famously during his five years at Chelsea. Since the conclusion of his playing career, Leboeuf has transitioned to acting, appearing in stage, film productions and is a regular contributor at ESPN FC. Club career Leboeuf was born in Marseille and raised in Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer. He was introduced to football by his father, a former Rennes coach, who trained children in the sport. After starting his career in 1986 in the lower divisions of the French leagues, Leboeuf moved to Laval in 1988. In 1991, he moved to Strasbourg and played there until 1996, when he made a switch to English club Chelsea for £2.5m. He played over 200 games for the club and scored 24 goals, mainly from pen ...
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Chelsea F
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria, a suburb ** Chelsea railway station, Melbourne Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia, a community * Chelsea, Quebec, a municipality United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament constituency), a former parliamentary constituency at Westminster until the 1997 redistribution ** Chelsea (London County Council constituency), 1949–1965 ** King's Road Chelsea railway station, a proposed railway station ** Chelsea Bridge, a bridge across the Thames ** Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea, a former borough in London United States * Chelsea, Alabama, a city * Chelsea (Delaware City, Delaware), a historic house * Chelsea, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Chelsea, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Chelsea, Iowa, in Tama County * Chelsea, Maine, a town * Chelsea, Massachusetts, a city ** Bellingham Square station, which includes ...
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Southampton F
Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253,651 at the 2011 census, making it one of the most populous cities in southern England. Southampton forms part of the larger South Hampshire conurbation which includes the city of Portsmouth and the boroughs of Borough of Havant, Havant, Borough of Eastleigh, Eastleigh, Borough of Fareham, Fareham and Gosport. A major port, and close to the New Forest, Southampton lies at the northernmost point of Southampton Water, at the confluence of the River Test and River Itchen, Hampshire, Itchen, with the River Hamble joining to the south. Southampton is classified as a Medium-Port City. Southampton was the departure point for the and home to 500 of the people who perished on board. The Supermarine Spitfire, Spitfire was built in the city and Sout ...
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Bolton Wanderers F
Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and villages that form the wider Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, borough, of which Bolton is the administrative centre. The town is within the Historic counties of England, historic county boundaries of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a centre for textile production since the 14th century when Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area, introducing a wool and cotton-weaving tradition. It was a 19th-century boomtown, development largely coincided with the introduction of textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution. At its peak in 1929, its 216 cotton mills and 26 bleaching and dyeing works made it one of the largest and most productive centres of Spinning (textiles), cotton spinning in the world. The Brit ...
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Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shropshire to the south; to the west it is bordered by the Welsh counties of Flintshire and Wrexham County Borough, Wrexham, and has a short coastline on the Dee Estuary. The largest settlement is Warrington. The county has an area of and had a population of 1,095,500 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. The areas around the River Mersey in the north of the county are the most densely populated, with Warrington, Runcorn, Widnes, and Ellesmere Port located on the river. The city of Chester lies in the west of the county, Crewe in the south, and Macclesfield in the east. For Local government in England, local government purposes Cheshire comprises four Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas: Cheshire East, Cheshire We ...
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Matthew Harding
Matthew Charles Harding (26 December 1953 – 22 October 1996) was a British businessman, vice-chairman of Chelsea F.C., Chelsea Football Club and a major financial supporter of New Labour. Early years and education Harding was born in Haywards Heath, Sussex, the son of Paul Harding, an insurance executive. He attended Abingdon School in Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon from 1964 until 1971. He was a member of the badminton first team, for which he was awarded half-colours, in addition to being a cricket first XI player, captain of the colts cricket team and a member of the hockey second XI. Although he enjoyed the sport, he did not enjoy the school ethos, earning his single A level in Latin. Career He left school and went to London. Through his father's friendship with Ted Benfield, he joined the insurance brokers Benfield Group, Benfield, Lovick & Rees and it was in the insurance industry that he made his fortune, starting out by making the tea and going on to be a director. ...
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Stamford Bridge (stadium)
Stamford Bridge () is a football stadium in Fulham, in the Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, in South West London. It is the home of Premier League club Chelsea. With a capacity of 40,173, it is the ninth largest venue of the 2024–25 Premier League season and the eleventh largest football stadium in England. Opened in 1877, the stadium was used by London Athletic Club until 1905, when new owner Gus Mears founded Chelsea Football Club to occupy the ground; Chelsea have played their home games there ever since. It has undergone major changes over the years, most recently in the 1990s when it was renovated into a modern, all-seater stadium. Stamford Bridge has hosted Charity Shield games. It has also hosted numerous other sports, such as cricket, rugby union, rugby league, speedway, greyhound racing, baseball and American football. The stadium's highest official attendance is 82,905, for a league match between Chelsea and Arsenal on 12 October 1935. History Early histo ...
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FWA Footballer Of The Year
The Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year (often called the FWA Footballer of the Year, or in England simply the Footballer of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in Football in England, English football. The award has been presented since the 1947–48 in English football, 1947–48 season, with the inaugural winner being Blackpool F.C., Blackpool winger Stanley Matthews. The latest winner of the award as of 2024–25 in English football, 2024–25 is Mohamed Salah of Liverpool F.C., Liverpool. Nine players have won the award on more than one occasion, with Thierry Henry and Mohamed Salah having won the award on the most occasions, with three wins each. The winner is selected by a vote amongst the members of the Football Writers' Association (FWA), which comprises around 400 football journalists based throughout England. The award was instigated at the suggestion of Charlie Buchan, Charles Buchan, a ...
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Middlesbrough F
Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Valley. History Monks and lords Middlesbrough started as a Benedictine priory on the south bank of the River Tees, its name possibly derived from it being midway between the holy sites of Durham, England, Durham and Whitby. The earliest recorded form of Middlesbrough's name is "Mydilsburgh". Some believe the name means 'middle fortress', since it was midway between the two religious houses of Durham and Whitby; others state that it is an Old English personal name (''Midele'' or ''Myhailf'') combined with ''burgh'', meaning town. In 686 a monastic cell was consecrated by Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, St Cuthbert at the request of Hilda of Whitby, St Hilda, Abbess of Whitby. The cell evolved into Middlesbrough Priory. The manor of Middlesburgh ...
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Juventus
Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in 1897 by a group of Turinese students, the club played in different grounds around the city, and plays now in Juventus Stadium. Nicknamed ("the Old Lady"), it has won 36 official List of Italian football champions, league titles, 15 Coppa Italia trophies and nine Supercoppa Italiana, Italian Super Cups, being the record holder for all these competitions; they also hold two Intercontinental Cup (1960–2004), Intercontinental Cups, two UEFA Champions League, European Cup / UEFA Champions Leagues, one UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, European Cup Winners' Cup, three UEFA Europa League, UEFA Cups (Italian record), two UEFA Super Cups and one UEFA Intertoto Cup (Italian record). Consequently, t ...
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UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a Round-robin tournament, round robin league phase to qualify for the double-legged knockout rounds, and a single-leg final. It is the most-watched club competition in the world and the third most-watched football competition overall, behind only the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championship. It is one of the most prestigious football tournaments in the world and the most prestigious club competition in European football, played by the national league champions (and, for some nations, one or more runners-up) of their national associations. Introduced 1955–56 European Cup, in 1955 as the European Champion Clubs' Cup (), and commonly known as the European Cup, it was initially a straigh ...
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