Ranking five of the greatest Chelsea FC captains

Captains play a very important role in football, they represent the team both on and off the pitch. They are also tasked with duties like keeping motivated and positive. You never really know what you have lost in this regard until you lose it. Every great team requires leaders and Chelsea has had plenty of them. Here we’ll see who have been the best 5 Chelsea FC captains of all time.

#5: Marcel Desailly

 After 5 years at AC Milan and right after winning the World Cup with France in 1998, Desailly moved to England in a deal worth 4.6 million pounds. He spent the next 6 years in West London making 222 appearances in total. The Frenchman made a formidable partnership with Frank LeBoeuf at the heart of the Chelsea FC defence.

Known as ‘The Rock’, Desailly was a calm and composed figure at the back. Desailly also had a heart of gold and provided encouragement to a lot of younger players. He is also often credited with shaping the career of a certain John Terry, Chelsea FC’s best central-defender of all-time.

Desailly has been one of the best centre-backs to ever play for France or in the Premier League. His ability to read the game was second to none, and his charisma combined well with his tough tackling style of play. The Frenchman was very effective at breaking down the opposition’s play by organising his back-line to perfection.

He also provided a lot of help to Gianluca Vialli who was the player-manager during that time. Desailly excelled during a time in the Premier League which was still dominated by English players.

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#4: Roy Bentley

A figure from the yesteryears, Roy Bentley captained the Blues to their first-ever League title back in 1955. After serving with the Royal Navy during World War 2, Roy played for Bristol City, Bristol Rovers and Newcastle.

He signed for Chelsea in 1948 from Newcastle for an 11,000-pound fee. He spent the following 9 years at the club and scored 150 goals in 367 appearances. His tally of goals for the Blues remains the 5^th highest in club’s history level with Peter Osgood.

The captain was a prolific striker and scored 22 goals in 44 appearances en-route to Chelsea’s first-ever league title in 1955.

Bentley was still involved with the club long after his retirement, as he was often seen in the stands supporting the club where he got so much love.

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#3: Dennis Wise

The diminutive midfielder had it all. He could dribble, score goals, provide teammates with exquisite through balls and defend. Dennis Wise loved a strong tackle. He was often referred to as a little terrier who was always snapping at the heel of his opponents.

Signed from Wimbledon in 1990, Wise spent over a decade at the club, making 445 appearances and scoring 76 goals.

After club captain Andy Townsend left the club in 1993, manager Glenn Hoddle picked Wise to lead the team whose stature at the club was growing with the minute.

Dennis Wise led the club to the FA Cup final in his very first season as captain, however, they lost to Manchester United at the final hurdle.

Wise won 5 major trophies as captain which included 2 FA Cups, 1 League Cup, 1 UEFA Cup Winner’s Cup and 1 UEFA Super Cup.

He was sold to Leicester in 2001 for 1.6 million pounds as new manager Claudio Ranieri was looking to lower the average age of the squad.

In a transition period, Wise’s blues managed to win a respectable amount of silverware and ended Chelsea FC’s 26-year trophy drought that had begun in 1971.

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#2: Ron Harris

Ron ‘Chopper’ Harris made his Chelsea FC debut in 1961 after making the step up from the youth side. He spent the next 19 years with the Blues, being the captain in several of those. With 795 appearances to his name, he also holds the record for the most appearances in Chelsea blue in history.

He led the Blues to two FA Cup finals and their maiden European honour in 1971 when Chelsea won the UEFA Cup Winner’s Cup.

Ron was a tough-tackling centre-back who often took both the man and the ball. He was aggressive but effectively. The centre-back was also a true leader of men both on and off the pitch. He had Chelsea blue written all over him. Since he was a Chelsea FC youth product, the fans took to him even more.

His performance in the 1970 FA Cup final is still ringing sweet memories in Chelsea FC’s supporters’ ears. His aggressiveness was on full show as he Chelsea FC beat rivals, Leeds United, in a close contest.

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#1: John Terry

This is the easiest pick of the lot, John Terry is undoubtedly Chelsea FC’s best ever captain. Terry broke through in the 1998 season after getting cup games when Desailly and LeBoeuf were rested.

John Terry has been Chelsea’s most successful captain of all-time. He has won 5 Premier League titles and the Champions League among many other trophies.

Terry was a typically no-nonsense defender who was equally capable on the ball with both feet. His ability to read the game and organise the backline was crucial to each of Chelsea FC’s title wins. Every time that Chelsea FC has won the League, it has been more often that not the defence and Terry who have been the star of the show.

Terry has made a name for himself as one of the best central-defenders to ever play the game. He has won the UEFA Best Defender of the Year award 3 times in 2005,2008 and 2009 and has been included in the FifPro World XI 5 times.

Terry also popped up with crucial goals every now and then which made him even more valuable.

Since John Terry left the club in 2017, the Chelsea FC squad has felt a real need of leaders in the squad, as managers Maurizio Sarri and Frank Lampard have both complained about the players being unmotivated a lot of the time.

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