While the million spent in the last few years havent been great for Chelseas reputation across football, it was Boxing Day 1999 that gave their image a huge hit. The Stamford Bridge side became the first ever team to field an eleven without a single British player. Graeme Le Saux, Chris Sutton and Dennis Wise missed the game, so Gianluca Vialli fielded a side that would give them the nickname, the foreign legion, and cause panic for many in the English game. Despite happening over 15 years ago, the reactions then were the same as we see today, with so many foreign players flooding the English game. Youngsters Jon Harley and Jody Morris came off the bench for Chelsea, while John Terry watched on from the bench. That starting 11 showed how far Chelsea had moved from their roots, and played a huge part in their unpopularity today.
I'm Aaron, I'm a Journalism graduate from the University of Sunderland, where I spent most of my time watching sports, films and TV. Hoping that can go to good use on here.
