Chelsea’s first Premier League title-winning season will forever be cherished and fans attending the Legends of Europe match at Stamford Bridge in September will be able rekindle cherished memories of that era, as well as other significant successes in the club’s history.
To what was already a star-studded squad we have now added William Gallas, Eidur Gudjohnsen and Tiago, three who played a big part as the Blues topped the Premier League in 2004/05 with a then-record number of points.
Not only was it the first of the five times we have won the Premier League, it meant we could call ourselves champions again after a 50-year wait, following on from the only time we won the Football League back in 1955.
Half-a-century later, the versatile Gallas was crucial in a defence that still holds the record for the fewest goals conceded in a Premier League season. Ahead of him in midfield, Tiago’s star burned briefly in London but brightly enough for a goal on his full debut that quickly sparked his own song plus a magnificent strike in a win at Old Trafford.
Eidur Gudjohnsen, having already been one half of one of Chelsea’s most potent strike partnerships, was moved back by Jose Mourinho to be a midfield playmaker during the 2004/05 season in order to set the opposition different problems. Its success led to our then-manager later describing the Icelander as ‘the blond Maradona’.
With John Terry, Gianfranco Zola, Michael Essien, Claude Makelele, Carlo Cudicini, Tore Andre Flo, Frank Leboeuf, Salomon Kalou and Florent Malouda already confirmed to be taking part on the big day of Saturday 9 September, more from that title-winning generation will be rolling back the years as well as stars of the 2012 Champions League triumph (Roberto Di Matteo is again managing the Chelsea side and the opposition are Bayern Munich) and with the game being played in memory of Gianluca Vialli, our trophy-collecting side of the late 1990s will also be represented on the pitch.
More Chelsea legends taking part will be announced soon and all proceeds from the game will be split between The Chelsea Foundation and The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, which supports the work of The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust where Vialli, the iconic former Chelsea striker and manager, was treated.