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Most influential Chelsea managers

John Robertson was Chelsea's first player-manager © PA Photos

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With rumours that Turkey national team boss Guus Hiddink may soon be making a return to Stamford Bridge, we have selected our First XI most influential Chelsea managers.

John Robertson (1905 - 1906)
After purchasing the Stamford Bridge Athletic Grounds in 1896, businessman and football enthusiast Gus Mears needed a club to occupy that same venue in West London. Dejected after a failed attempt to persuade Fulham Football Club to fulfil that role, Mears (somewhat strangely) decided to found his own club because of the good-humoured response his friend Fred Parker had when being bitten by Mears' Scottish terrier. "You took that bite damn well," Mears announced before telling Parker he would now trust his judgement over others. "Meet me here at nine tomorrow and we'll get busy.'' On March 14, 1905 at a pub now called the Butcher's Hook, the name of the new club was determined, and Chelsea Football Club soon became the latest team to play in England's Second Division after a squad of players was signed and Robertson was brought in as the club's first player/manager. A central defender on the pitch, Robertson steered newly-founded Chelsea to an admirable third place finish in the club's inaugural season, and even scored the club's first competitive goal in a 1-0 win away at Blackpool. Robertson's tenure as Chelsea boss was brief though, as the Scotland international resigned from Stamford Bridge to take the reigns as player/manager of Glossop in November of 1906, almost six months before the 'Pensioners' earned promotion to England's top flight.

Ted Drake (1952 - 1961)
The next half-century proved to be mostly lacklustre for Chelsea with multiple relegations and promotions. A single FA Cup final appearance (1915) was the highlight of a span of nearly 50 years. Despite a volatile period for the club that yielded few positive results, after Robertson, surprisingly only three full-time managers oversaw matters at Stamford Bridge - including a 26-year stand for David Calderhead - before Ted Drake took over as boss in May of 1952. A former Arsenal centre-forward, and Drake quickly set about revamping the club's culture, and its seemingly unexcitable supporters. "Too many people come to Stamford Bridge to see a football match instead of cheering Chelsea," he famously said. "For years now the players must have been thoroughly sick of all the music-hall publicity. Let's have people eating, sleeping and drinking Chelsea." Drake revitalised Chelsea immediately with a series of groundbreaking changes including expanding the club's youth program, involving himself in training sessions, and even removing the Chelsea Pensioner from the team badge as well as the Pensioner nickname and replacing it with the "Lion Rampant Regardant" and introducing the 'Blues' nickname. By the end of the 1954-55 season, Drake had led Chelsea to their first league title in history, and in the process became the first person to ever win the coveted championship as a player and a manager. It would ultimately prove to be Chelsea's sole league title of the 20th Century.

Tommy Docherty (1961 - 1967)
Following the championship triumph of '55, Chelsea saw an injection of players from the youth team gradually invade the club as the title-winning squad was broken up. Extensive runs of inconsistency ensued, and it proved to be more than Drake could handle as he was duly sacked at the beginning of the 1961-62 season. The task of fostering a new wave of raw young talent soon fell to Docherty. After shedding the club's remaining veterans, the newly-appointed Scottish manager suddenly had a squad with an average age of 21 at his disposal. Among these players emerged fresh-faced names such as Bobby Tambling (Chelsea's all-time leading scorer), Ron Harris (most appearances for the club) and Peter Bonetti (perhaps the club's best ever goalkeeper), all of whom were essential to the club's winning the 1965 League Cup over Leicester City. Although several of the relationships Docherty shared with his players soured soon after that, which ultimately led to his resignation in October of '67, the man known as "the Doc" will be remembered for his insistent emphasis on developing the youth players in the Chelsea system, a refrain that can still be heard around Stamford Bridge to this day. Let's not forget his contribution to the club's home kits either, changing the shorts from white to blue.

Dave Sexton (1967 - 1974)
Sexton, who had coached briefly under Docherty before becoming Leyton Orient's boss in 1965, returned to Stamford Bridge two years later to take over as Chelsea's new manager. Straying slightly from his predecessor's methodology of honing youth players, Sexton decided to open the team's chequebook and reeled in defenders John Dempsey and David Webb, as well as striker Ian Hutchinson, but all for just £5,000. The addition of those newcomers, combined with a strong backline and the flair of playmakers like John Hollins, Peter Osgood, and an 18-year-old Alan Hudson, the Blues won their first FA Cup in 1970 and defeated Real Madrid in 1971 to steal the European Cup Winners' Cup, Chelsea's first European trophy. The triumphant times soon faded, however, and Sexton soon fell out with Osgood and Hudson, both of whom were eventually sold. The absence of the two stars had detrimental effects on Chelsea's fortunes, and Sexton felt the brunt of the blame as the club sacked him at the start of the 1974-75 season.

John Neal helped to turn Chelsea's fortunes around © Getty Images

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John Neal (1981 - 1985)
The years following the Sexton era were some of the darkest in Chelsea's history. The Blues were relegated to Division Two just four years after their surprise victory over Real Madrid, and spent the next few seasons teetering between England's top two leagues. As former Middlesbrough boss Neal came on board to become the club's 12th manager, he inherited a team in turmoil who came dangerously close to dropping down to the Third Division at the tail end of the 1982-83 season. With attendances dwindling and Neal handling a modest budget, Ken Bates took over the club he would later describe as 'a social club with a little football played on a Saturday'. With Bates setting to work off the pitch, the manager successfully garnered the services of David Speedie, Kerry Dixon, Pat Nevin and two others for a total of less than £500,000. It turned out to be money well spent as Chelsea secured promotion. Neal then led the club to an impressive sixth-place finish in the top tier the following season, but was forced to retire shortly afterwards due to health reasons.

Bobby Campbell (1988 - 1991)
Caught in a relegation battle toward the end of the 1987-88 season, Campbell replaced John Hollins initially as caretaker manager but was unable to turn the sinking ship around as Chelsea ultimately went down. Campbell, a one-time Fulham boss, however, rebounded in fine fashion the following season and led the Blues to promotion and a Second Division title in 1989. Under Campbell's guidance, the club finished a remarkable fifth in the table the subsequent season - their highest finish since 1970 - and took home the now defunct Full Members Cup over Middlesbrough in 1990. After an 11th-placed finish the following season, however, the English boss opted to step down and pass the torch to Scotsman Ian Porterfield.

Ruud Gullit (1996 - 1998)
Persuaded to join the West London side from AC Milan in 1995 by manager Glenn Hoddle, the former FIFA World Player of the Year was the third player/manager in Chelsea's history when Hoddle departed to coach the English national team in 1996. The Dutchmen used his contacts abroad to bring in stars like Gianluca Vialli, Roberto Di Matteo, Frank Leboeuf, and soon-to-be fan-favourite Gianfranco Zola. In only his second season as player/manager, Gullit led a cosmopolitan side to a 2-0 victory over Middlesbrough in the 1997 FA Cup final, just the second time in history that Chelsea had won England's most prized domestic cup. Reflecting back on his short reign as the Blues' boss, Gullit was resolute in his devotion to the club telling the Daily Express: "Chelsea was the most important thing and everything else was below."

Gianluca Vialli (1998 - 2000)
The Italian talisman was appointed as player/manager following the dismissal of Gullit in February of 1998, after a row with Bates, and had an immediate impact in steering the Blues to victories in both the League Cup and European Cup Winners' Cup in the same season. The following year, led by Di Matteo and Zola, Chelsea defeated Real Madrid once again to capture the European Super Cup and finished third in the Premier League, which guaranteed Champions League football would be played at Stamford Bridge during the 1999-00 season for the first time in the club's history. Although the Blues could not advance past Barcelona in the quarter-finals of Europe's top club tournament, Vialli guided the Blues to a win over Aston Villa in the 2000 FA Cup final and became Chelsea's most successful manager in history after beating Manchester United to win the FA Charity Shield at the beginning of the 2000-01 season to make it five trophies in less than three years.

Jose Mourinho was a popular figure at Stamford Bridge © Getty Images

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Claudio Ranieri (2000 - 2004)
After a poor start to the season and an unfortunate falling out with stars such as Zola and Didier Deschamps, Vialli was replaced by fellow Italian Ranieri, who struggled most notably with the language barrier in his first season as Chelsea boss. In his first two seasons in charge, the club finished sixth in the Premier League table, but the Italian manager made a huge coup when he signed Frank Lampard from West Ham in the summer of 2001. In his third season, Ranieri earned his first Champions League spot when the Blues beat rivals Liverpool on the final day of the season thanks to the '£1 billion' goal from Jesper Gronkjaer. Indeed, it was a defining moment in the club's history as on July 2, 2003 the football world was turned upside down when Russian oil magnate Roman Abramovich bought the club and carried out what would become the most expensive transfer window spending spree in history. ''I don't know if he would have bought Chelsea without my goal but the Champions League made Chelsea far more attractive,'' the Dane said. And, after doling out a whopping £120 million on players that summer, Ranieri had his new assemblage of stars including Damien Duff, Hernan Crespo, Joe Cole, and Claude Makelele. Chelsea, as we know them now, had finally taken shape.

Jose Mourinho (2004 - 2007)
Though he oversaw an impressive squad that consisted of John Terry, Arjen Robben, William Gallas, and Peter Cech in addition to the aforementioned stars, it soon became clear that Ranieri was the wrong man to lead Chelsea to the next level. Enter Mourinho. The self-proclaimed "Special One" had won the prized Champions League with FC Porto and was full of self-belief. With the backing of Abramovich, Mourinho brought in Didier Drogba and Michael Essien to take the Blues finally to the fore as one of football's elite. In just over three seasons Mourinho amassed six trophies - including consecutive Premier League titles in 2004-05 and 2005-06 and the FA Cup in 2007 to etchi his indelible mark in Chelsea folklore as the most successful manager in club history. A falling out with Abramovich resulted in Mourinho's shocking departure from the club on September 20, 2007 by mutual consent. Though he never took the Blues to their first Champions League final, Mourinho's triumphs, histrionics and overwhelming presence with which he always seemed (and still seems) to regale fans and the media won't soon be forgotten by the Chelsea faithful.

Carlo Ancelotti (2009 - 2011)
Following an interim spell by Guus Hiddink as caretaker manager, Chelsea set their sights once again on winning the Champions League, the prize for which Abramovich remains most hungry. A two-time European champion as manager of AC Milan, Ancelotti appeared to be a perfect fit. In his first year as manager, the Italian commanded a high-octane attack that saw the Blues become the first team in Premier League history to eclipse the 100 goal mark, capping off the season with 103. The 8-0 demolition of Wigan on the final day of the 2009-10 season ensured the Premier League trophy would return to Stamford Bridge as Ancelotti became the first Italian manager to win English football's top prize. Days later, Chelsea won the FA Cup over Portsmouth and clinched their first ever domestic double, papering over another season devoid of Champions League glory. After a strong start to the 2010-11 campaign, a paltry run of mid-season form saw the Italian fall out of favour with the club's board and he was sacked on May 22 as Chelsea finished the season without silverware.

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