Goal!《一球成名》（精讲之四）

Chelsea Football Club 切尔西足球俱乐部

Chelsea Football Club (also known as The Blues or previously The Pensioners) are an English professional football club based in west London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League (英格兰足球超级联赛) and have spent most of their history in the top tier in English football. They have had two broad periods of success, one during the 1960s and early 1970s, and the second from the late 1990s to the present day. Chelsea have won three league titles, four FA Cups, four League Cups and two UEFA Cup Winners' Cups.

Chelsea's home is the 42,055 capacity Stamford Bridge football stadium in Fulham, West London, where they have played since their foundation. Despite their name, the club is based just outside the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. In 2003, the club was bought by Russian oil tycoon Roman Abramovich.

The club's traditional kit colors are royal blue shirts and shorts with white socks. Their traditional crest is a ceremonial blue lion holding a staff; a modified version of this was adopted in 2005. Chelsea are one of the best-supported clubs in the UK, with an estimated fan base of around four million. The club have also made a contribution to popular culture, appearing in films and the music charts.

Crest

Chelsea's first crest

Club crest 1953-1986

Since the club's foundation, Chelsea has had four main crests, though all underwent minor variations. In 1905, Chelsea adopted as their first crest the image of a Chelsea pensioner, which obviously contributed to the "pensioner" nickname, and remained for the next half-century, though it never appeared on the shirts. As part of Ted Drake's modernization of the club from 1952 onwards, he insisted that the pensioner badge be removed from the match day programme in order to change the club's image and that a new crest be adopted. As a stop-gap, a temporary emblem comprising simply the initials C.F.C. was adopted for one year. In 1953, Chelsea's crest was changed to an upright blue lion looking backwards and holding a staff, which was to endure for the next three decades.

Centenary club crest

This crest was based on elements in the coat of arms of the Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea with the "lion rampant regardant" taken from the arms of then club president Viscount Chelsea and the staff from the Abbots of Westminster, former Lords of the Manor of Chelsea. It also featured three red roses, to represent England, and two footballs. This was the first club badge to appear on shirts, since the policy of putting the crest on the shirts was only adopted in the early 1960s.

Club crest 1986-2005

In 1986, with new owners now at the club, Chelsea's crest was changed again as part of another attempt to modernize and to capitalize on new marketing opportunities. The new badge featured a more naturalistic non-heraldic lion, yellow and not blue, standing over the C.F.C. initials. It lasted for the next 19 years, with some modifications such as the use of different colors. With new ownership, and the club's centenary approaching, combined with demands from fans for the club's traditional badge to be restored, it was decided that the crest should be changed again in 2004. The new crest was officially adopted for the start of the 2005-06 season and marks a return to the older design of the blue heraldic lion holding a staff.[4] As with previous crests, this one has appeared in various colors, including white and gold.

Colors

Chelsea have always worn blue shirts, although they initially adopted a lighter shade than the current version, and unlike today wore white shorts and dark blue socks. The lighter blue was taken from the racing colors of then club president, Earl Cadogan. The light blue shirts were short-lived, however, and replaced by a royal blue version in around 1912. When Tommy Docherty became manager in the early 1960s he changed the kit again, adding blue shorts (which have remained ever since) and white socks, believing it made the club's colors more distinctive, since no other major side used that combination; this kit was first worn during the 1964–65 season.

Chelsea's traditional away colors are all yellow or all white with blue trim, but, as with most teams, they have had some more unusual ones. The first away strip consisted of black and white stripes and for one game in the 1960s the team wore Inter Milan-style blue and black stripes, again at Docherty's behest. Other memorable away kits include a mint green strip in the 1980s, a red and white checked one in the early 90s and a graphite and tangerine addition in the mid-1990s. The current Chelsea away strip consists of a white shirt with two thin blue lines running up to the collar. It is worn with white shorts and white socks, although the socks can be worn as blue depending on the opposition's kit. Chelsea also launched a European kit which consists of black shirts, shorts and socks.

Chelsea's kit is currently manufactured by Adidas, which is contracted to supply the club's kit from 2006 to 2011. Their previous kit manufacturer was Umbro. Chelsea's first shirt sponsor was Gulf Air, agreed midway through the 1983-84 seasons. Following that, the club was sponsored by Grange Farms, Bai Lin tea and Italian company Simod before a long-term deal was signed with computer manufacturer Commodore International in 1989; Amiga, an off-shoot of Commodore, also appeared on the shirts. Chelsea was subsequently sponsored by Coors beer (1995-97), Autoglass (1997-2001) and Emirates Airline (2001-05). Chelsea's current shirt sponsor is Samsung Mobile.

考考你

用今日所学将下面的句子译成英语。

1. 老板整个上午都死死地盯着我。

2. 选手从裁判那获得了同意的信号。

3. 周三瑞士勉强拿到了世界杯决赛的入场券。

Goal!《一球成名》（精讲之三）考考你 参考答案

1. 他们整晚都在唱歌。

They kept on singing all night.

2. 他和妻子吵架后就把她抛弃了。

He had a row with his wife and just walked out on her.

3. 去温布尔登给我打场胜仗吧！

Go kick some ass at Wimbledon for me!