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SYNOPSIS OF THE YEAR 1996/97

ABOUT CHELSEA HISTORY

the 1996/97 season

 ( THE BEGIN OF TROPHY LADDEN ERA )

www.theshedend.com

manager : RUUD GULLIT

achievements:

FA Premier League NO.6

FA Cup WINNER

League Cup THIRD ROUND

NEW SIGNINGS :

- FRANK LEBOEUF ( £ 2.5 mil from STRASBOURG )

- GIANLUCA VIALLI ( FREE TRANSFER FROM JUVENTUS )

- ROBERTO DI MATTEO ( £ 4.9 mil from LAZIO ) - CLUB RECORD SIGNING

- GIANFRANCO ZOLA ( £ 4.5 mil from PARMA ) 

Top goalscorer League:

VIALLI (9)

All:

Mark Hughes 14 goals

GIANFRANCO ZOLA 12 GOALS

GIANLUCA VIALLI   11 GOALS

ROBERTO DI MATTEO  9 GOALS

FRANK LEBOUF      7 GOALS

Dennis Wise  6 goals

PETRESCU   4 GOALS

- After Glen Hoddle stepped down as Chelsea Manager, Chelsea quickly appointed from within by unveiling Ruud Gullit as new MANAGER-PLAYER position.

- Using his European's superstar status and european connection , Gullit succeeded in luring plenty of big names to Chelsea , 4 signings he made in his first season this year proved to be a solid foundation and key personel in developing team capable of competing for honours on the late 90s. Gullit signed French Center Back Frank Le Boeuf from Strasbrough , Roberto Di Matteo , Gianfranco Zola from Parma and Champions League Winning Captain and Striker of Juventus, Gianluca Vialli.

- Ruud Gullit ended his first season in a style and a success when he became the first non british manager winning a major trophy with an english club , consequently ending Chelsea's long drought for trophy ( 26 years ) by beating Middlebrough at the FA Cup Final in 1996.

- Gianfranco Zola was voted FWA Footballer of The Year by scoring 12 goals and creating plenty assists.

- However, this season will also be remembered by the lost of Chelsea director Matthew Harding who tragically killed in helicopter crash in Cheshire . and to commemorate his name, one of Stamford Bridge stand  was named after him .

first ix

- Frode Grodas ( GK )

- Dan Petrescu ( RB ) , Frank LeBoeuf  ( CB ), Steve Clark ( CB ), Scott Minto  (LB )

- Ruud Gullit ( MID ), Dennis Wise ( MID )

- DiMatteo ( Attack MID ) , Gianfranco Zola ( Attack Mid )

- Vialli ( Striker ) , Mark Hughes ( Striker )

- Subs : Jody Morris, Eddie Newton, Dmitrie Kharine, John Spencer, Craig Burley , Frank Sinclair

key player 1996/97

- Gullit, Wise, DiMatteo,Zola,Vialli,Hughes

1) FRANK LEBOEUF

( FIRST WORLD CLASS CENTER BACK AT THE BRIDGE )

1996-2001 (24 goals in 200 games )

- Signed from Strasbourg in 1996 at the age of 28.

- One of prolific center back , he scored 24 goals for chelsea mainly from free kick and penalties.

( note : he took more than 20 penalties for Chelsea, missing only 3 ! )

- a Jorginho's version of center back !

- key defensive cog when Chelsea lifting FA CUP 1997, LEAGUE CUP 1998, EUROPE CUP WINNERS CUP 2998, FA CUP 2000, CHARITY SHIELD 2000 , UEFA SUPER CUP 1998.

- LeBoeuf was a leading center back for France when he was Chelsea player when he won WORLD CUP 1998 AND EURO 2000 .

- One of his biggest strength was accurate long range pass.

- LeBoeuf was sold to Marseille at 33 years old , ending his 5 years association with Chelsea due to emergence of younger Center Back like Terry and William Gallas.

2) GIANFRANCO ZOLA

( GENIUS WIZARD - MORE A LEGEND THAN EDEN HAZARD ? )

1996-2003 ( 80 GOALS + 310 games )

- Regarded and voted as Greatest Chelsea Player ever in 2003 .

- Zola joined Chelsea from Parma in 1996 at the age of 30 with £4.5 mill transfer fee.

- Zola was what Eden Hazard used to be to us before, creative, technically-gifted right footed, superb ball control , skillful dribbling ability, vision and  passing ability, quick and agile,ability to change direction with the ball very quickly at tight spaces, ability to beat on 1 vs 1 duel with superb feints skill, as Zola was hailed as a  "MAGIC BOX" during his career at  Chelsea

- set piece and  Free Kick master , one aspect which set him a class above Hazard

**scored16 goals at his final season with Chelsea at the age of 36  !!

** his farewell skills, where he simply fooled 4 liverpool defenders with a fantastic piece of skills and dribble at the final match with Chelsea was being given a round of applause by both set of Chelsea and Liverpool supporters.

3) ROBERTO DI MATTEO

( BIG GAME PLAYER LIKE  DROGBA FOR US BEFORE ) !

(ATTACKING MIDFIELDER AKA  SHARP LONG SHOOTER )

1996-2002 ( 26 GOALS IN 175 MATCHES )

- possessed secret weapon in his locker which was his " accurate long distance shooting "

- scorer of the vital goals in 3 CUP FINALS for chelsea that enabled us to win ALL those 3 final ( Opening goal in FA CUP FINAL 1997, a goal in the LEAGUE CUP FINAL 1998 and a goal in the FA CUP FINAL 2000 ) , all of those at the old Wembley , his famously quoted ""It's a shame they're tearing the old place down it has been a very lucky ground for me"

- unfortunately, on the start of 2000/2001 season, RObbie suffered "triple leg fracture" injury during UEFA CUP match that ruled him out for 18 months ! This injury ultimately ruled him to make an early retirement from playing at a young age of 31 . 

- However, still the disappointment of his early quit from playing routed him into a coaching and management where he was the Chosen One guiding us to lift the biggest trophy in our club history, Champions League in 2012

( a feat that looked very hard to be repeated even with experienced  manager like Mourinho, Ancelloti, Conte , thus for me even for a brief time, Roberto DiMatteo will be hailed as THE MOST SUCCESSFUL EX PLAYER TURNED MANAGER for our club history . 

4) GIANLUCA VIALLI

( WORLD CLASS STRIKER and JUVENTUS CAPTAIN SWAPS GLORY WITH A CHALLENGE !)

( 3RD MANAGER-PLAYER IN OUR HISTORY )

1996-1999 ( 40 goals in 88 games )

- Vialli joined on a free transfer from Juventus in 1996 just after he lifted Champions League crown as a captain with Juventus in order to join the project by Gullit to revive and revolutionised Chelsea into an elite and top club. (Even though we never qualified to play UEFA CL before ! )

- Vialli was a prolific striker for us, even at advanced age of 32 when he first joined Chelsea, he would end up spending 3 productive years with us scoring 40 goals in just 88 games ( 1 in 2 goal ratio ) , even though he was frequently used sporadically in the starting line up by Gullit due to rows with him.

- Vialli was then himself appointed to take over from Gullit as a Manager-Player at 33 years old in the early 1998

( still he managed to score 10 goals in 20 matches while managing Chelsea as a bit part player )

- Vialli was definitely THE MOST SUCCESSFUL manager in 1990s after Ruud Gullit himself, under his guidance, Chelsea won 5 MAJOR TROPHY IN JUST 3 SEASON :

 1-  LEAGUE CUP 98, 

 2- EUROPE CUP WINNERS CUP 98, 

 3- EUROPEAN SUPER CUP 98 VS REAL MADRID (WHO WAS A CHAMPIONS LEAGUE WINNER PREVIOUSLY )

 4- FA CUP 2000

 5- FA CHARITY SHIELD 2000/21 VS M.U 

- Under his tetulage, Chelsea managed to end season 1997/98 at the 3rd place ( just 4 points shy of eventual league winners Man United ) on that season

**THIS WAS THE HIGHEST LEAGUE FINISH BY CHELSEA SINCE 1970 , ENABLED US TO QUALIFY INTO CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN OUR HISTORY

- On the debut season of Champions League in 1998/99 , Vialli guided us into Quater Finals which we lost 4-6 on aggregates to Barcelona 

- But, every glory and wonderful story usually have an ending, Vialli was sacked after just 5 games into season 2000/21 due to palpable discord ( him reportedly losing dressing room , with rows with key players like Zola,Deschamps and Petrescu )