How Middlesbrough Inspired Chelsea’s Legacy of Trophy Success

As Chelsea begin to hint at being a club on their way to restoration with Antonio Conte at the helm, it’s apt they come to blows with Middlesbrough this weekend. After all, when we think of the Blues’ trophy success in the past 20 years, Middlesbrough is where it all began.

Before Roman Abramovich arrived, Chelsea were winning things, and Boro were helping them do it.

The parallels between Chelsea then and now are striking. In 1996/97 an Italian core had put Chelsea back on the map. With Roberto Di Matteo, Gianfranco Zola and Gianluca Vialli in their ranks, the Blues were reborn as a force in the English game.

Now it’s their compatriot Conte who is breathing life into a team that this time last year seemed well beyond its sell-by-date. Yes, Chelsea were reigning Premier League champions, but their sudden and immediate downfall confirmed the long-held concerns about an imbalance within the squad and a lack of direction.

Johnsen, Leboeuf, @morriskid, Di Matteo, @denniswise and Petrescu celebrate during Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Middlesbrough, August 1996. pic.twitter.com/q4rtM0bM4u

— 90sChelsea (@90schelsea) September 22, 2016

Even with Messiah Mourinho at the helm, things were not quite right. Losing Jose in the manner they did was painful; fans didn’t want the love affair to end, but the sad truth is that it had to. It had been soured beyond saving, and now Conte has been given licence to resurrect the club.

Twenty years ago, the pain Chelsea had endured lasted much longer than 12 months. It had been a lot more than 12 seasons, in fact. Not since the 1970s could we take seriously the club’s silverware ambitions. There had been the odd flirtation with success—like in 1985/86 when Chelsea finished sixth in Division One but as late into the season as March had been among the title contenders—yet it was never sustained.

Within two years, Chelsea would be relegated to Division Two, demonstrating how the club lived a feast-and-famine existence. Even promotion back to the top flight in 1989 didn’t spell the end of Chelsea’s flirtation with success and failure. Relegation remained a threat, and despite reaching the 1994 FA Cup final, the Blues had been looking dangerously over their shoulder at a potential scrap at the bottom of the Premier League.

It would be three years later that it would all change. Di Matteo scored on his home debut for the Blues against Middlesbrough and the mood suddenly flipped. The revolution that had been hinted at ever since Glenn Hoddle was appointed boss in 1993 had arrived. The Blues had a different swagger about them, especially with Ruud Gullit now in the dugout as Hoddle left for England.

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