POST SEASON BRIEFING – 2009/10
So, have you got your breath back yet? If so, let's add some facts and figures to the thrilling story. They've been supplying all the info all season and now club historian Rick Glanvill and club statistician Paul Dutton review nine months that shook SW6...
'Veni, vidi, vici,' enthused Italy's daily newspaper La Repubblica on 9 May. 'New Julius Caesar, Carlo Ancelotti, conquers England on his first attempt to become the king of London.'
Those words, drenched in history, for a fellow countryman - elsewhere dubbed 'King Charles III' - who had just delivered to Chelsea our first Premier League title since 2006, and the third in six seasons, were perhaps the most fitting amid the universal praise for his achievement.
No Italian coach has ever previously won the Premier League title, and only his Stamford Bridge predecessor José Mourinho had done so in his first season after arriving in this country.
When Ancelotti added the FA Cup to his honours the following weekend (surpassing Mourinho) he joined Kenny Dalglish as the only manager since 1888 to win the Double in England in his debut season. Only six other clubs have achieved a League and FA Cup Double.
Chelsea's silverware-laden season (which also included the Community Shield) was remarkable in so many ways. The club and individuals set several new benchmarks, climbed many all-time rankings and once again proved one of the biggest sporting attractions on the planet.
The Blues' title chase, which went to the wire against Manchester United, was watched by a bigger live TV audience than for any since 2003/4, and the BBC's highlights show, Match Of The Day, reportedly recorded its best figures for a decade.
On the final weekend of the season, the Blues' eight-up against Wigan, and the subsequent trophy presentation, was watched live on Sky by an average of 1.1m people, 7.4% of the satellite-viewing nation - the highest multichannel figure that weekend.
In early season, for the showdown at the Bridge between Chelsea and Manchester United, 12% of the non-terrestrial channel-viewing public - more than £3m viewers - watched John Terry score the decisive goal. (That was a bigger draw than ITV2's 'Xtra Factor' later the same day, and 1.2m more than tuned in to England's T20 cricket final victory last week.)
Chelsea's decisive win at Old Trafford in April, which the satellite channel used to launch its new 3D service, weighed in with an even heftier market share - 22.3% - and an average of 2.25m viewers.
