Chelsea have been serial winners in the FA Cup during the 21st century.
The Blues aren’t competing in this weekend’s FA Cup quarter-finals after being knocked out of this season’s competition in the fourth round by Newcastle United.
However, Chelsea have won the domestic trophy eight times in their history, including six times in the 21st century.
Competition Total Years
FA Cup 8 1970, 1997, 2000, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2018
Chelsea’s record in the FA Cup
Without a doubt, Didier Drogba was the king in the competition, scoring in four different FA Cup finals. The Ivory Coast striker actually netted in 10 different club cup finals.
Yaya Toure reckons Drogba should’ve won the Ballon d’Or during his stellar playing career, but the highest he ranked in the individual award was fourth in 2007.
Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
Frank Lampard stressed the importance of Didier Drogba the day before the 2012 FA Cup final
You could definitely argue that May 2012 is the greatest month in Chelsea’s history, winning both the FA Cup and the Champions League in the space of a couple of weeks.
Ahead of the FA Cup final on 5 May, Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard singled out the importance of teammate Drogba going into the final at Wembley.
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When asked how key Drogba could be in the 2012 FA Cup final, Lampard said via The Telegraph: “We’re very fortunate to have the pair of them (Fernando Torres & Drogba), but Didier has been fantastic at this club, for years and years he’s produced when it matters. He scores big goals. He’s a huge character in the club.
“Fernando is playing very well and is obviously a world-class player, but I can’t speak highly enough for what Didier has done for this place. If you look at his record of scoring in semi-finals, finals and important games generally for us, it’s been top drawer.”
Lampard’s pre-match faith in Drogba was totally justified because he went and scored as Chelsea beat rivals Liverpool 2-1 to lift the FA Cup.
Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool
Ramires goal 11′ Andy Carroll goal 64′
Didier Drogba goal 52′
The 2012 FA Cup final
Remarkably, Drogba was then the hero on 19 May as the Blues beat Bayern Munich to win the first of their two Champions League trophies.
In the list of Chelsea’s greatest centre-forwards, Drogba is top of the pile for everything he achieved in West London. His record of 164 goals in 381 appearances doesn’t really highlight how special he was, particularly on the biggest stage.
Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Nobody can replace Didier Drogba, but Victor Osimhen would be a gamechanger
If Chelsea want to bring in a new talisman to lead the line, Victor Osimhen would be a brilliant option in the current market.
Osimhen, who’s on a season-long loan at Galatasaray from Napoli, has scored 26 goals in 30 appearances across all competitions. In fact, the 26-year-old Nigerian striker has been one of the world’s most clinical strikers in recent years.
Chelsea are keen on signing Osimhen as they continue to be linked with several forwards.
It was claimed last year that Osimhen idolises Drogba as a player, so we’d love to see him follow in his footsteps at Chelsea.