Before RA arrived I would have said we were a medium-big club that never really won much despite having a great side in the 60s/ early 70s.

Despite what the media have convinced the public to believe we always have had a massively loyal following and are comfortably one of the best supported clubs in the country only usurped by United, Arsenal and Liverpool. I'd rank our domestic support as probably 4th just ahead of Spurs and on a global basis either 3rd or 4th in the UK.

What's your opinion on our current stature as a club? And previous?

Provided this year was a fluke in terms of league position, we'll overtake Arsenal and Liverpool sooner or later. I'm astonished that Liverpool is still considered to have a large global fan base and wish somebody would do the research on that. They haven't been a force for over 20 years.

If we win the CL surely we should be above the gooners. I agree with the comment about Liverpool. They have a massive Irish following but since they seem to on a downward spiral their fan base will get less and less.

As much as i dont like them and wish it wasnt true, we havent got the global fanbase of Liverpool, no matter what sort of propoganda infused stats the club churn out to suggest otherwise. Sorry people.

We are on the right path, and a win on Saturday will be superb for our global recognition but lets not kid ourselves.

Edited May 14, 201214 yr by bjd

6th

Better to be a smaller club and well financed than a huge club with financial doom

Edited May 14, 201214 yr by Zola

At England considering everything we are among 4 biggest clubs. United, City, Arsenal and ourselves. This year was an accident league-wise and wont affect our status that way. Considering we are always in the knockout stages of the CL and this year in the final we can be counted in that group I mentioned. This is the resources, youth development, brand and success combined. With Battersea we'd nail our position there. SB is creating too little revenue atm. This is of course ultimately money combined with success.

Better to be a smaller club and well financed than a huge club with financial doom

Sounds like Everton to me. It is healthier that way, sure. But can't see Chelsea FC wanting to go backwards like that. I like it the way we are. We are a headline maker.

Where we rank could change a lot come the 19th.

If we lose, we're still among the top four clubs. Man City is definitely flying up the charts but our name is well known throughout the World. We've had an off year, but we'll be back and everyone knows it.

If we win, our prestige and World status will increase a lot I believe which obviously will attract more of a fan base. We could propel up the World prestige "ratings" with a CL title under our belt.

I agree, I think a win on Saturday will take us onto the next level and amongst the European elite

6th

Thats judging us on one season, 38 games.

Lets try it over five years, and whilst your at it make it all of Europe...............

Suprise suprise !!!!!!!!!!!!! Were ranked third in Europe by UEFA, and if we win the final we will be very close to manyoo who are in 2nd place.

http://www.uefa.com/...club/index.html

Edited May 14, 201214 yr by coco

Also, only Man Utd have won more top flight sliverware than Chelsea in England since the turn of the century, that makes us ranked 2nd in the country in my book.

Don't really care if people consider us a big club or a sunday league team.

This season we were 6 points off 3rd place whcih I think we can overturn next year . What worries me is we were 25 points behind UTD and City , i don't see the current squad being good enough to claw that back .

Depends who the new manager is and who stays and goes .........

As much as i dont like them and wish it wasnt true, we havent got the global fanbase of Liverpool, no matter what sort of propoganda infused stats the club churn out to suggest otherwise. Sorry people.

We are on the right path, and a win on Saturday will be superb for our global recognition but lets not kid ourselves.

I don't think anybody is in denial over that, its more surprise that they've managed to retain the global appeal considering the state they're in now. Thats just thinking on a footballing level. Consider the damage the Suarez scandal should have done to their reputation for instance.

This season we were 6 points off 3rd place whcih I think we can overturn next year . What worries me is we were 25 points behind UTD and City , i don't see the current squad being good enough to claw that back .

Depends who the new manager is and who stays and goes .........

At the same time, United and City were embarrassed out of all the tournaments while we've already won one and we're finalists in the biggest one of all. Our league position this season is distorted over the civil war our squad had with the manager in the first half of the season. No doubt we're not as strong as we used to be, but I don't believe we're the "6th best team in England" either. Our performances in Europe especially are a testament to that.

Edited May 14, 201214 yr by Castiel

I was being facetious.

However, there was a serious point to be made. Our league position does give a pretty accurate reflection of where we are as a club right now. I'd argue that what we have done in the FA Cup and CL ought to bump us up above Newcastle and probably Spurs. If we manage to win next Saturday then in effect it will do just that.

We shouldn't kid ourselves that we don't have a long way to go to be challenging Man City though. 89 points is a total we've only bettered twice (95 and 91 points in the first two years under Mourinho)

Unfortunately, even if we do win the CL, we haven't made lot of progress in rejuvenating the squad or getting a settled coaching staff. It does feel a bit like groundhog day.

I was being facetious.

However, there was a serious point to be made. Our league position does give a pretty accurate reflection of where we are as a club right now. I'd argue that what we have done in the FA Cup and CL ought to bump us up above Newcastle and probably Spurs. If we manage to win next Saturday then in effect it will do just that.

We shouldn't kid ourselves that we don't have a long way to go to be challenging Man City though. 89 points is a total we've only bettered twice (95 and 91 points in the first two years under Mourinho)

Unfortunately, even if we do win the CL, we haven't made lot of progress in rejuvenating the squad or getting a settled coaching staff. It does feel a bit like groundhog day.

So right.

My biggest fear is seeing the new manager (RDM or whoever) saying 'we dont need wholesale changes' , or 'this group of players still have a lot to offer'.

We've been here so many times before and the constant managerial merry go round makes it seem just like you said - groundhog day.

Where do we rank as a club? Easy....

We are number 1....always have been, always will be.

KTBFFH

So right.

My biggest fear is seeing the new manager (RDM or whoever) saying 'we dont need wholesale changes' , or 'this group of players still have a lot to offer'.

We've been here so many times before and the constant managerial merry go round makes it seem just like you said - groundhog day.

..........and the manager who did try and make wholesale changes to the group of players and move on older players got booted out ...................funny old game

Edited May 14, 201214 yr by Tea Bar Boy

I don't think we should be judged on this season, it was a blip, we know we are better than it. But it's what we do next that is key to what we are in the future. Mess it up and we end up like Liverpool but if we get it right we could have another platform to build upon. This is why I think this summer is the most important summer we have had in years.

As I've seen, from living in Norway this year, Liverpool unfortunately do have a massive fanbase... but remember many of these are from a generation who started supporting them in the 80s (or at least their big brothers did). Give it 10 more years and the kids of today will outnumber the Liverpool fans... but to be honest I don't really care (aside from the biased commentators we are subjected to) and I just hope we never become as arrogant as they are.

At the end of the day the league position can't be argued with which means this year we were the 6th best team in England. It might be a blip but we won't know until next season... we shouldn't take anything for granted... I think in some ways that's the mistake the club made last year.

We still rank as a top English/European club inspite of the dissapointing gap in league points between 6th & 1st.

An F.A.cup win & a place in the Champions League final prove this.

However,history is littered with the bones of 'top clubs' who made the grave error of thinking that they 'had it sussed'........just look what happend to the dirty Leeds scum.

The AVB fiasco & the failure to implement the required squad improvements 2 years ago,must not be allowed to happen again under the watch of this present board.

It's going to be a massively important summer on and off the field & the club will have to get the majorty of the deccisions correct this time.

Where do we rank as a club? Easy....

We are number 1....always have been, always will be.

KTBFFH

We're by far the greatest team the world has ever seen.....

6th in England, 1st in Europe

If we win the CL surely we should be above the gooners. I agree with the comment about Liverpool. They have a massive Irish following but since they seem to on a downward spiral their fan base will get less and less.

We have been on a downward spiral for the last 20 years, and our support is as strong as ever.