Be it title races, cup finals or setting standards, there has been no shortage of intense competition between the Blues and Man City, and the rivalry only intensified last season when the teams met in four consecutive games.

Ahead of Friday’s showdown at the Bridge, we revisit the history of a fixture that has brought us so much drama and intrigue over the years...

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The first blow

It was in 2014 that Manchester City entered the WSL - and they wasted little time becoming a thorn in Chelsea’s side. It was a sign of what was to come.

On the final day of that campaign, the stage was set. The Blues started the finale at the summit of the table and a win at City would secure Emma Hayes and her side a maiden top-flight title.

However, Chelsea were not the only club in contention. Second-placed Birmingham City and Liverpool, who began the day third, were also in the hunt for the trophy. It could not have been more dramatic.

A painful 2-1 defeat to City saw Chelsea finish the campaign in second. That result and Liverpool’s 3-0 victory over Bristol City secured the Merseyside club the title on goal difference.

‘I signed for Chelsea in the December and was hearing all about it,’ Millie Bright told us last year.

‘All the girls were annoyed; I think the thorn stuck from that. When you suffer a loss like that...it’s personal. For me, coming into the club it was the motivation. You don’t really understand that until you’re in the environment. You don't want to feel like that again.’

Title winners

In the three seasons that followed, the title was exchanged between those wearing the blue of Chelsea and the blue of Man City.

The title-winning feeling – one we have become familiar with – was first experienced by the Blues in 2015. The league triumph was joyfully celebrated, especially given how agonisingly our attempt to do so the previous year had gone. Man City ran the Blues close during that historic campaign, finishing two points behind us in second place.

‘The first time we won the title, it was extra special because of how the girls had lost it the previous season,’ Bright recalled.

Lucy Bronze was a Manchester City player during this period, and she played a key role the following season as they went unbeaten to win the WSL in 2016.

‘After finishing second the year before, it was a big transition to then winning the league,’ Bronze said. ‘It was like: 'OK, City are a top team and one of the best in England', especially in the manner that title was won.

‘I think the title going from Chelsea to City saw the managers create probably the healthiest manager rivalry I’ve seen. Emma [Hayes] and Nick [Cushing] loved each other but hated each other. They were really good friends but as soon as the game started, it was a rivalry like no other.

‘I don’t think I’d ever seen two managers in the WSL competing so hard at such a high level. There was a mutual respect.’

It is not only in the WSL that Chelsea and City have dominated in recent years. Eight of the previous nine FA Cup finals have been won by either club – and the two faced off in the 2021/22 showpiece. It was a thrilling match which the Blues edged 3-2.

The League Cup has also been won three times by Chelsea and four times by City since 2014, with the final at Pride Park earlier this year a typically tight encounter. A late own goal settled the contest in our favour, and supplied Sonia Bompastor with her first trophy as head coach.

Four on the spin

Remarkably, that was the first of four straight matches between the two clubs in just 12 days in the spring. There had never been a run quite like it before!

After the League Cup final, City exacted a degree of revenge with a 2-0 victory in the first leg of our Champions League quarter-final tie. But then Chelsea hit back with a fantastic come-from-behind victory at the Etihad in the WSL as the seesaw nature of the rivalry continued unabated.

The fourth and final instalment of this tetralogy took place at a fervent Stamford Bridge. Bompastor’s Blues produced a stunning first-half display to overturn the deficit and ultimately prevail 3-2 on aggregate.

‘I'm so glad this four-game period is over,’ Bright admitted post-match. 'It's been really intense. It’s been a lot of lessons learned, to be honest. It's been a new experience, but yeah, I'm glad it's over.'

Setting the standard

As someone who has had a foot in both camps, Bronze knows better than anyone just why these two clubs have helped shape the ever-improving landscape of the women’s game in this country.

‘It’s amazing,’ she explained. ‘They are probably the teams in England who have been spearheading women’s football.

‘City, in terms of their facilities, were the ones that kicked on and started the trend that the women needed to have everything the men had. Now you see that in every single club.

‘Then you look at Chelsea, the club that clearly said: 'We want to win and we want to be the best.' City said the same too, of course, and I think that pushed other clubs forward because they didn’t want to be there to make up the numbers.

‘Chelsea and City helped set the standard and everyone else looked to follow suit. They have both come from finishing lower in the league to rise to the top through the grit of the players and the buy-in of the clubs.’

And when the teams reconvene on Friday for the first time since that four-game bonanza in March, we will again see the highest of standards the WSL has to offer.

You can be there to see Chelsea in action at Stamford Bridge against Manchester City in the first Women's Super League game of the season this Friday! Secure your tickets for that fixture here.