The 2008–09 season was Chelsea Football Club's 95th competitive season, 17th consecutive season in the Premier League and 103rd year in existence as a football club.

Kits

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Season summary

After again finishing second to Manchester United in the Premier League the previous season, Chelsea sacked their manager Avram Grant, replacing him with the Brazilian Luiz Felipe Scolari, who had managed the Portugal national team at UEFA Euro 2008 that lost in the quarter finals to Germany. The first few months of his management went according to plan, as Scolari's narrow 4–1–4–1 formation, using Ashley Cole and new arrival José Bosingwa as wing-backs, initially took the league by storm, leaving Chelsea top ahead of Liverpool after 13 games. By the end of November, however, Scolari's Chelsea began to lose their form due to exhaustion. They suffered a 3–1 defeat away to Roma in the Champions League and were eliminated from the League Cup at Stamford Bridge by Championship side Burnley on penalties. In the league, they had a 0–0 draw at home to Newcastle United, (who were later to be relegated). Chelsea lost a home league game for the first time since 2004 (and 86 matches) when they lost to Liverpool, and a second home league defeat to rivals Arsenal dropped Chelsea to second place. Chelsea qualified for the knock-out stages of the Champions League with a 2–1 victory against Romanian champions CFR Cluj at Stamford Bridge in the final match of the group. During the winter months, they drew against West Ham United, Fulham, Hull City and League One's Southend United in the FA Cup. Chelsea suffered defeats away to Manchester United and Liverpool, which left them in fourth place during February which would mean a Champions League place would not be certain. Long-term injuries to Michael Essien and Joe Cole marked the period while Didier Drogba was not included frequently. Chelsea sacked Scolari, replacing him with Russia national team manager Guus Hiddink for the remainder of the season. Hiddink's regenerative effect was immediate, with four-straight league wins, including a vital 1–0 victory away to Aston Villa in his first game in charge, moving Chelsea into the top three. Eleven wins in the team's last 13 league games, marked by a 4–1 victory over Arsenal away at the Emirates Stadium, finally secured third place in the league, and Champions League football for a seventh consecutive season. Although Chelsea's title challenge was already realistically over when he arrived, Hiddink led Chelsea to their fifth Champions League semi-final, knocking out Juventus and Liverpool, where they were eliminated in controversial circumstances by Barcelona on away goals in the semi-final. Despite the Champions League exit, the season culminated in a trip to Wembley Stadium, with Chelsea's final game of 2008–09 contested against Everton in the 2009 FA Cup Final. Chelsea won 2–1, winning the FA Cup for the fifth time in their history.

Key dates

Squad

First-team squad

Reserve squad

(On loan at Northampton Town) (On loan at Norwich City) (On loan at Watford) (On loan at Wycombe Wanderers) (On loan at Real Mallorca) (On loan at Oldham Athletic) (On loan at MK Dons) (On loan at De Graafschap) (On loan at Leyton Orient)

Youth squad

UEFA Champions League squad

(from List B) (from List B) (from List B) (from List B) (from List B)

Club

Coaching staff

{|class="wikitable" !Position !Staff (until 9 February 2009) (caretaker manager) (interim manager) (until 9 February 2009) (until 15 September 2008) (until 9 February 2009) (until 9 February 2009) (until December 2008) (until December 2008)

Other information

Transfers

In

Summer

Winter

Out

Summer

Winter

Loaned out

Overall

Spending

Summer: 24,100,000 £ Winter: 0,500,000 £ Total: 24,600,000 £

Income

Summer: 22,900,000 £ Winter: 12,000,000 £ Total: 34,900,000 £

Expenditure

Summer: 1,200,000 £ Winter: 11,500,000 £ Total: 10,300,000 £

Pre-season

Competitions

Overall

Premier League

League table

Results summary

Results by round

Matches

UEFA Champions League

Group stage

Knockout phase

Round of 16

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Football League Cup

FA Cup

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Start formations

Top scorers

Includes all competitive matches. The list is sorted by shirt number when total goals are equal.

Disciplinary record

Includes all competitive matches. Players with 1 card or more included only. ***** = 1 suspension withdrawn ****** = 2 suspensions withdrawn

Overall

{|class="wikitable"

Honours

Individuals