Historical Cult Hero: Chelsea – Gianfranco Zola
It’s almost unheard of these days for a Chelsea player to be universally liked – in fact, in many cases for those that frequent the Stamford Bridge turf, it is quite the opposite.
But it was his attitude and irresistible smile that made Gianfranco Zola special, and saw the Blues’ Italian wizard adored both within and outside of south west London.
Chelsea supporters would have a tough time choosing just one Premier League cult hero; Dennis Wise, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Tore Andre Flo, Gus Poyet and even the mop-haired David Luiz have all been fans’ favourites in recent times.
But when Zola joined the club back in 1996, a £4.5m signing by Ruud Gullit, Chelsea were nothing special and the ‘Magic Box’ was one of the catalysts behind a 20-year renaissance for the Blues.
Big impact
Zola was immediately involved in a successful Chelsea side, helping to steer Gullit’s men to their first FA Cup triumph in 26 years, and he was voted FWA Player of the Year despite having only joined in November.
He went on to score the winning goal in the European Cup Winners’ Cup final against Stuttgart in 1998 – Chelsea’s second of three trophies that season as they also won the League Cup and European Super Cup.
Tackling Europe
When Chelsea made their first appearance in the Champions League in 1999-00, Zola was a key player, scoring three goals in the run to the quarter-finals, including a curling free-kick against Barcelona, and also won the FA Cup again that season.
And while his appearances became more restricted under Claudio Ranieri, who showed the door to some of the club’s aging stars and preferred Hasselbaink and Eidur Gudjohnsen up front, Zola’s FA Cup goal against Norwich was the standout moment in English football in 2001-02.
From Graeme Le Saux’s corner, Zola arrived at the near post and back-heeled the ball home in mid-air, a goal manager Ranieri described as ‘fantasy’.
In his final season at the club in 2002-03, Zola notched his highest tally of goals with 16, helped the club qualify for the Champions League, and was not only voted Chelsea’s player of the year, but also their ‘best ever player’ in a fans poll.
A beautiful ending
Zola’s last match in a Chelsea shirt was arguably the most important in the club’s history; a fourth-place deciding shootout against Liverpool.
Goals from Marcel Desailly and Jesper Gronkjaer helped the Blues to a 2-1 win that guaranteed Champions League football, with Zola delivering a moment of magic before his impending move to his native Caglieri.
Twisting and turning in the corner in a 20-minute cameo, Zola left Jamie Carragher on his backside before beating Bruno Cheyrou and Danny Murphy to send Stamford Bridge into raptures one last time.
But within a week of that win, Chelsea was acquired by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich – who had based his decision on Champions League football, and was such a big fan of the Italian that he even tried to buy the entire Cagliari club as well to reverse Zola’s departure.
The rest, for the Blues, is history, with Abramovich’s millions bankrolling five Premier League titles, four more FA Cups, and one Champions League and Europa League triumph.
No other Chelsea player has held Zola’s number 25 shirt since his departure, although it has not been officially ‘retired’.
