The 2011–12 season was Chelsea Football Club's 98th competitive season, 22nd consecutive season in the top flight of English football (20th in the Premier League), and 106th year in existence as a football club. While their sixth place in the league was their lowest domestic finish since 2001–02, they completed a cup double by winning their seventh FA Cup and their first UEFA Champions League.
22 June 2011: André Villas-Boas is appointed as the new manager on a three-year contract, with immediate effect.
7 July 2011: Villas-Boas and the rest of the first team squad have their first training of the season together.
13 July 2011: Chelsea win their first friendly match against Wycombe Wanderers.
26 July 2011: Chelsea confirm Thibaut Courtois, a Belgian goalkeeper, as Villas-Boas' first signing. He is immediately loaned out to Atlético Madrid of La Liga.
14 August 2011: Chelsea draw first match of the Premier League season away to Stoke City. It finishes 0–0 on Villas-Boas's debut as Chelsea manager.
20 August 2011: Villas-Boas wins his first competitive match as a Chelsea manager after Chelsea defeat West Bromwich Albion 2–1 at Stamford Bridge.
22 August 2011: Chelsea and Valencia agree a deal for Juan Mata, who signs for Chelsea for a fee rumoured to be £23.5 million.
27 August 2011: Juan Mata scores on his debut match in a 3–1 home victory against Norwich City.
27 August 2011: Chelsea and Guadalajara agree a deal for Ulises Dávila. He joins Chelsea on a five-year contract.
31 August 2011: The transfer deadline day sees Raul Meireles join from Liverpool, whilst Yossi Benayoun and Patrick van Aanholt depart on seasonal loan deals. France Under-20 international Gaël Kakuta joins Bolton Wanderers on loan until 1 January 2012.
18 September 2011: Chelsea suffer their first defeat of the season, losing 1–3 to Manchester United at Old Trafford. Fernando Torres scored Chelsea's goal.
29 November 2011: Liverpool knock Chelsea out of the League Cup at the Quarter Final stage, winning 2–0 at Stamford Bridge. The loss is Chelsea's third in four games, and sixth of the season overall.
3 December 2011: Manager André Villas-Boas confirms that Nicolas Anelka and Alex have been transfer listed, and banned from training with the first team, after handing in transfer requests to the club. Both will be allowed to resume full training if the transfer does not happen in the January transfer window. The announcement is made after the away match against Newcastle United, which Chelsea win 3–0.
6 December 2011: Chelsea win their final Champions League group game against Valencia 3–0 to secure progress to the knockout stages. Racing Genk's 1–1 draw against Bayer Leverkusen means that Chelsea top Group E.
12 December 2011: Chelsea become the first team in the 2011–12 edition of the Premier League to defeat leaders Manchester City. Chelsea come from behind in a fiery encounter by goals from Raul Meireles and a late penalty by Frank Lampard to turn the deficit into a victory.
4 March 2012: Villas-Boas is sacked and removed of his duties by the director's board following a 0–1 defeat against West Bromwich Albion. Italian first team assistant manager Roberto Di Matteo Is officially appointed as caretaker manager until the end of the season.
14 March 2012: Chelsea win their second match in the round of 16 of the UEFA champions league against Napoli with a 5–4 aggregate victory. Branislav Ivanović scores the winner in extra time to secure a spot in the quarter-finals. Following defeat of Arsenal by Milan and defeats of the Manchester clubs in their respective Europa League ties, Chelsea becomes the only remaining English representative in all European competitions.
18 March 2012: Chelsea progress to the FA Cup semi-finals for a fifth time in seven years after beating Leicester City 5–2 at Stamford Bridge. Fernando Torres was the man of the match with two goals and two assists.
4 April 2012: Chelsea progress to the Champions League semi-finals for the sixth time in the past nine seasons after beating Benfica 3–1 on aggregate.
15 April 2012: Chelsea progress to the FA Cup final for the third time in four seasons, courtesy of a 5–1 win against Tottenham Hotspur. Controversy over Chelsea's second goal by Juan Mata adds to calls for goal-line technology.
24 April 2012: Chelsea progress to the Champions League final in spectacular fashion, drawing 2–2 with Barcelona at Camp Nou despite playing with ten men for more than two thirds of the game. Chelsea win 3–2 on aggregate.
28 April 2012: Chelsea agree personal terms with Werder Bremen's Marko Marin. He is set to join in the summer.
5 May 2012: Chelsea win the FA Cup for the 7th time after beating Liverpool 2–1 in the Final. Didier Drogba scores in his 4th FA Cup Final – a new record.
19 May 2012: Chelsea win their first Champions League title, defeating Bayern Munich on penalties after a 1–1 draw in the Final. In doing so, Chelsea becomes the 22nd club to win the European Cup, the 5th English team and the 1st team from London to win the trophy.
Supplier: Adidas / Sponsor: Samsung
Adidas yet launched new Chelsea home, away, third and goalkeeper kit for this season.
Home: The new home kit was launched in April 2011 and featured a very broad horizontal shadow design, inspired by the kits in 1980s. The other unique feature was that the trimmings had a white block on them, so they were blue for the first time in the history of the club on the home kit.
Away: The away kit was unsurprisingly black and featured a 'fresh splash' turquoise squares on the upper chest, giving it a unique design.
Third: The new third kit was white with an indigo and yellow block on the upper chest.
Keeper: The new goalkeeper kit turned out to be white with maroon trimmings and socks, while the macaw/black from last season and navy/fluo green goalkeeper outfits from the 2009–10 seasons were retained, should they be needed.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
HG = Home Grown Player
U21 = Under 21 Player
Source: 2011–12 Premier League squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
B = List B Player
HG1 = Association-trained player
HG2 = Club-trained player
Source: 2011–12 UEFA Champions League squad
1Liverpool won the 2011–12 Football League Cup and qualified for the third qualifying round of the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League.
2Chelsea won the 2011–12 Champions League and qualified for the group stage of the 2012–13 UEFA Champions League; assigning Tottenham to the Europa League.
Round of 16
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
Appearances and goals
As of end of season
As of end of season.
As of end of season.
As of end of season.
As of end of season.
