Product Description

Chelsea has always written it's own headlines, on and off the pitch. From its controversial admission to the football league in 1905, to today's Premiership success. It has remained artistic, innovative, erratic and aloof. But it has always entertained.

Rick Glanvill uses original sources and talks to key figures including Jose Mourinho, John Terry, Frank Lampard and those involved with the Roman Abramovich takeover, to offer a fresh insight into one of the most fascinating football institutions.

From the silverware to the boardroom battles, the heroes to the hooligans, the entire century is laid bare.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #26123 in Books
• Size: One Size Only
• Published on: 2006-07-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 1.10 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

About the Author
A Chelsea fan for almost forty years, Rick Glanvill has written more than 15 books. He is an experienced journalist, broadcaster and researcher in publishing, TV and radio, and has over ten years’ association with Chelsea, writing for the matchday programme and the Onside/Chelsea magazine.

Customer Reviews

A roller coaster ride of being a Chelsea fan in 300 pages
Some books claim to give you the inside track, but most fail to deliver.
This book is spot on, packed with nuggets, insights and stories that capture the 100 yr history of a football club. What I liked best was it wasn't organised decade by decade like a diary, but grouped into subject areas like being a fan, the ground and glories.

I laughed out loud at some of the stories from the players and smirked at the interview the Ken Bates.

A priceless look inside the world of football. Highly recommended.

Surprisingly intelligent insight into the Blues
This book is a real surprise. I am a Chelsea fan with over 35 years service and thought I knew our history, but I learnt much. The narrative, if sometimes a bit chatty and rooted in the present, explores the chequered history of the club without airbrushing the hooligan and racist episodes. It also revealed the fact that CFC has always been a rich club. I knew we had been historically inconsistent, but hadn't realised the extent that our location and history made us different from others. And that squandering money and talent had been a constant theme. Dividing the history into themes rather than the typical chronological approach has been a bold step which is completely vindicated. Even non CFC fans will find much of interest.

Good read
For a club sponsored book this is very good. A sign of the new openess at Chelsea must be that this book devotes a chapter to the hooliganism problem that blighted the club for years rather than sweep it under the carpet. What with this and the excellent The Special Ones: Chelsea By The Fans we seem to be witnessing, at last, some quality books on our club rather than usual journo/cuttings jobs that follow the flavour of the month around like hungry seagulls.