Downfall: Chelsea FC 2022-2026 Quiz

Answer: West Ham United

Chelsea were in a good place heading into the 2021-22 season, having won the Champions League in 2021 and being considered by many to be a contender for the Premier League title. With manager Thomas Tuchel leading the side and Romelu Lukaku leading the team's strike force, some considered the Blues to be favourites to win the league. Chelsea's only losses in their first 21 games came in a 1-0 defeat to Man City in September and a 3-2 reverse against West Ham in December.

Answer: Roman Abramovich announces he is giving up "stewardship and care" of the club

On 24 February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Abramovich, who had been long-reported to have a personal friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, suspected that the UK government would sanction him or freeze his assets. Two days later, Abramovich announced he would be "giving trustees of Chelsea's charitable foundation the stewardship and care of Chelsea FC". A day later, the Blues lost the EFL Cup final to Liverpool on penalties after a goalless draw.

On 10 March, the British government announced it had frozen Abramovich's assets. This created a knock-on effect throughout the club, with Chelsea unable to sell tickets, merchandise, buy or sell players or negotiate contracts. The situation became so dire for the club that it was reported the Blues could not afford to fuel the team bus or use club credit cards. Hyundai announced after the freezing of Abramovich's assets that they would suspend their sponsorship of Chelsea.

Answer: Atalanta

The Raine Group, an American bank, was responsible for finding a new owner for the club. In late March, the shortlist was whittled down to four potential owners. This included the Ricketts family, co-owner of the MLB's Chicago Cubs, American businessman Todd Boehly, former Liverpool chairman Sir Martin Broughton and Atalanta co-chairman Stephen Pagliuca.

The Ricketts' bid was withdrawn after supporters' clubs became aware of previous Islamophobic comments made by the family patriarch Joe Ricketts. Abramovich had reportedly stalled his sale of the club, eager to restructure the sale of Chelsea to ensure that he received £1.5bn worth of loans he had given to the club.

However, on 6 May the sale of Chelsea to Boehly's BlueCo consortium was confirmed.

Answer: Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 1 May 2022, Everton defeated Chelsea 1-0 at Goodison Park which brought the Blues' Champions League qualification into question. On 6 May, the ownership group led by Todd Boehly proceeded with their purchase of the club. The next day, Chelsea faced Wolves at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea led 2-0 thanks to two goals from Romelu Lukaku, but two late goals by the visitors ensured that the match would end 2-2.

Chelsea's first win since the announcement of the club's takeover came in a 3-0 victory over Leeds on 11 May. Watford were Chelsea's final opponents of the 2021-22 season, with the Blues winning 2-1 thanks to a late winner from Ross Barkley. Chelsea finished third on 74 points, 19 points behind Manchester City who won the title.

Answer: Mislav Orsic

The takeover of the club had led to massive changes behind the scenes. Bruce Buck, who had been club Chairman since 2003, stepped down from his position. Chief Executive Marina Granovskaia also departed after eight years of working in various roles at the club. Club legend Petr Cech also left his role as technical and performance advisor for the club.

Such change, alongside a radical shift in transfer and recruitment policy, would have catastrophic short-term effects on Chelsea's performance. Chelsea had been inconsistent in the early stages of the 2022-23 season, losing to both Leeds and Southampton (both of whom would be relegated at the end of the season), but Tuchel's sacking after a 1-0 loss to Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League was a huge shock. There had been rumours of unrest and tension between Tuchel and the club's executives, but Tuchel had received plenty of praise for guiding Chelsea through a period of turmoil in the second half of the 2021-22 season.

Orsic scored the winner in Zagreb in Tuchel's last game. Armstrong scored the winner in Southampton's win over Chelsea on 30 August, while Kane had scored a late equaliser in a tense 2-2 draw between Chelsea and Spurs on 14 August. The Spurs match is perhaps best remembered for a tense handshake between Tuchel and Spurs manager Antonio Conte at the end of the game. Baturina featured in Zagreb's win over Chelsea.

Answer: Benoit Badiashile

Chelsea appointed Graham Potter as manager on 8 September. A bad run of form before domestic football was suspended for the 2022 World Cup led to Chelsea spending over £300m on new players in the January window.

Badiashile, Mudryk, Fernandez and Madueke were the most expensive new recruits. Badiashile was the first new player to join, arriving from Monaco on 5 January. Mudryk's deal from Shakhtar Donetsk was confirmed on 15 January, with the club beating rivals Arsenal to the transfer. Madueke joined five days later from PSV Eindhoven. Fernandez's transfer was the headline maker. His move from Benfica was a record for a British club. He joined on 31 January, the final day of England's transfer window.

Answer: 1993-94

Potter's short-lived reign at Chelsea started positively, with the team sitting 4th after 12 games following wins over Crystal Palace, Wolves and Aston Villa. The team lost their last three games before the World Cup break and form worsened even further in the new year. Chelsea won just one of their first nine league games in 2023 and the team was plummeting down the league table as a result. Potter was sacked on 2 April, having lost 2-0 at home to Aston Villa the previous day. The team's form did not improve following Potter's sacking. Under Bruno Saltor and then Frank Lampard, Chelsea picked up just six points from their last ten games and won just once. They finished the campaign in 12th on 44 points, scoring just 38 times and losing on 16 occasions.

Chelsea's performance in the league was their worst for nearly three decades. In 1993-94, long before the club became a financial powerhouse, the Blues had finished 14th in the Premier League in a 22-team league. 2022-23 also marked the first time that Chelsea had failed to finish in the Premier League's top-half since 1995-96, when they finished 11th in the league. They had finished 11th in 1992-93 and 1994-95 too.

Answer: 4

Chelsea made over £200m in player sales over the summer of 2023. Their three biggest sales came from Chelsea selling to other Premier League clubs. Kai Havertz joined Arsenal while Mason Mount left for Manchester United. Mateo Kovacic left for champions Manchester City. Callum Hudson-Odoi departed for Nottingham Forest. Ethan Ampadu joined Leeds United, but they had been relegated from the Premier League by the time the Welshman joined.

Christian Pulisic, Kalidou Koulibaly, Edouard Mendy and Ruben Loftus-Cheek also departed while N'Golo Kante and Cesar Azpilicueta, two members of the club's 2016-17 Premier League title winning campaign, left on free transfers.

Answer: Ben Chilwell

Of the 11 players that started the final, eight were signings that had been made since Todd Boehly and BlueCo's takeover. These were Djordje Petrovic, Malo Gusto, Axel Disasi, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez, Cole Palmer, Raheem Sterling and Nicolas Jackson. Two of the team's starters were academy graduates in Levi Colwill and Conor Gallagher. Chilwell, who had arrived from Leicester City in the summer of 2020, was the only Abramovich era signing to start.

Lukaku was signed by Chelsea twice during Abramovich's era as owner (2011, 2021) but by 2024 he was on loan at Roma after his second stint at Stamford Bridge had ended in disappointment. Silva was still at Chelsea at the time but was injured and missed the 2024 EFL Cup final.

Chelsea's collapse in the final was a hugely disappointing moment for the club. Liverpool had injuries to several key players and had substituted academy graduates onto the field when their first-team players needed replacing. Sky Sports commentator Gary Neville quipped that Chelsea were "billion pound bottle jobs" after the loss, a reference to the huge money spent on transfers over the past two seasons with little to show for it.

Answer: Marc Guiu

Guiu scored six goals in just 287 minutes of play to lead Chelsea's scoring charts. Only Afmico Pululu (Jagiellonia Bialystok) and Cedric Bakambu (Real Betis), both from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, outscored Guiu. Nkunku scored five goals throughout the competition. Palmer set up two of Chelsea's goals in the final, a 4-1 victory over Real Betis.

As a result, Palmer won Man of the Match in the final. Fernandez netted Chelsea's 65th minute equaliser in the final.

Answer: Flamengo

Chelsea's group matched clubs from four different continents. Alongside the Blues, Brazilian side Flamengo, Tunisian side Esperance de Tunis and American side Los Angeles FC featured. Chelsea won two of their three group games, dispatching LAFC 2-0 and Esperance de Tunis 3-0. However, a 3-1 loss to Flamengo ensured that the Brazilian side won the group. Chelsea qualified as runners-up. The Brazilian side lost 4-2 to Bayern Munich in the last 16. Boca finished third in their group behind Benfica and Bayern. Fluminense had a superb tournament, reaching the semi-finals and achieving victories against Champions League runners-up Inter Milan and Saudi club Al-Hilal. Chelsea defeated Fluminense 2-0 in the semi-finals.

In the final, Chelsea were underdogs as they faced Paris Saint-Germain. PSG had just won the Champions League and were expected to add the Club World Cup to their list of honours. Chelsea won 3-0 thanks to two goals from Cole Palmer and a goal from new signing Joao Pedro.

Answer: 5th

Maresca had overseen considerable success during his year and a half in charge of the club. In 2024-25, Maresca returned the Blues to the Champions League and won both the UEFA Conference League and FIFA Club World Cup. In late November, the Blues were second in the table and seemed set for a successful campaign.

However, Chelsea won just one of their last seven games of 2025, leaving the club fifth in the table when Maresca resigned on 1 January 2026. His last game in charge was a 2-2 draw with Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge.

Answer: It was Liam Rosenior's last match in charge

The match was a good opportunity for Chelsea to find some form after consecutive Premier League losses to Newcastle United, Everton, Manchester City, Manchester United and Brighton and Hove Albion. Incredibly, the Blues had failed to score in those five previous losses. The 3-0 reverse to Brighton two weeks earlier had been Rosenior's last game in charge, ending his spell at Stamford Bridge after just 23 games in all competitions.

Forest were preparing for the second leg of their Europa League semi-final against Aston Villa, having taken a 1-0 lead after the home leg. As a result, they made eight changes to their starting XI for the visit to Stamford Bridge. Forest were 2-0 up within 15 minutes thanks to a goal from Taiwo Awoniyi and a penalty from Igor Jesus. Awoniyi added a third in the second half before Joao Pedro netted a consolation for the Blues in stoppage time. The result eliminated Chelsea from contention for a Champions League spot, and a loss to Manchester City in the FA Cup final ensured that the club would fail to qualify for Europe.

Answer: Marc Cucurella

Despite Chelsea's chaotic approach to transfer activity and inconsistent results, Chelsea's approach to stockpiling young players they can make profit on has seen the club maintain a sense of financial stability. Cucurella joined Chelsea in the summer of 2022, but the Blues made a loss when they sold the Spaniard to Real Madrid in 2026.

Jackson joined Chelsea in 2023 and they received more when he joined Aston Villa in 2026. Fernandez was a British record transfer when he joined Chelsea in January 2023, and equalled the British record fee set by Alexander Isak's move to Liverpool in 2025 when he left Chelsea for Manchester City for the same fee in 2026. The Blues acquired on Liam Delap in 2025, and after an inconsistent season he was sold to Nottingham Forest for a profit.

Answer: Graham Potter

Of the first four permanent appointments of the BlueCo era, Potter's win percentage of 38.71% is the worst. He won just 12 of his 31 games in charge at Stamford Bridge. Maresca's was the best, winning almost 60% of his games with 55 wins in 92 games. Pochettino's record was just above 50% in his single season at Chelsea, winning 26 of his 51 games. Rosenior's ending was shambolic, but his good start meant he left Chelsea with a 47% win percentage.

He won 11 of 23 games.