Having spent one hundred and sixteen years in inception, Chelsea Football Club has gone on to be one of the most prestigious clubs in the world, winning laurels locally and on the continent.
Obviously, these successes wouldn’t have been achieved if not for the characters and personnel at the Blues’ disposal.
The fact that these players made their days count for the most number of times at the club is more than enough reason to celebrate them.
Here is a list of the Chelsea players with the most appearances
- César Azpilicueta – Spain (412 and still counting)
Azpilicueta’s Chelsea career has turned out to be a colorful one since he arrived at the Bridge in 2012. Still the club captain, Azpi has barely spent a decade with the Blues but has his name in the club’s history books already being a reliable and excelling defender not only in one position but three
The versatile defender will surely go down as one of the shrewdest signings of the roman Abrahimovich era given that he’s grown from strength to strength having arrived as an unknown player.
Years 2012– till date
League:289
FA Cup: 31
League Cup:26
Europe:60
Other:6
Total: 412
- Kerry Dixon – England (420 Appearances)
Dixon played for ten clubs altogether but he was at Chelsea for the most part of his club career. Dixon, a tall, athletic, and pacey striker possessed an incredible goalscoring ability using his head and one of the best ambidextrous forwards in his days.
In his four hundred and twenty appearances for the Blues, Dixon scored 193 goals in the process making him Chelsea’s third-highest goalscorer of all time behind two other legends of the West London club, Bobby Tambling and Frank Lampard.
Years:1983-1992
League: 335
FA Cup: 20
League Cup: 41
Europe :0
Other:24
Total:420
READ ALSO: 5 Of The Best Chelsea Youngsters To Look Out For
- Steve Clarke – Scotland (421 Appearances)
Here’s the second defender making this list. Clarke’s career at Chelsea was for eleven years, during which he became one of Chelsea’s greatest defenders not only by making more appearances but by also winning laurels.
In 2005, Clarke was voted into Chelsea’s centenary XI, occupying the right-back berth. After he retired in 1994, Steve has had managerial stints at different club sides across England. He’s currently the Scottish National team manager. He’s become the first man to lead Scotland to a major tournament in more than two decades after he qualified the British nation for the EUROS 2020.
Years:1987-1998
League: 330
FA Cup: 36
League Cup: 26
Europe:12
Other:17
Total:421
- Dennis Wise – England (445 Appearances)
Dennis Wise was an integral part of Chelsea’s squad in the late 1990s to early 2000s. It was an upcoming Chelsea team filled with great personalities who had flamboyance and confidence – Wise was one of those great players.
Between 1990 and 2001, Dennis Wise donned the Chelsea jersey for three hundred and thirty-two times and ultimately, bagged a few trophies along the way. And upon his retirement, he’s been opportune to manage the English U21 team, the England Team B, and the English National team.
Years:1990-2001
League: 332
FA Cup:38
League Cup:30
Europe: 38
Other: 7
Total: 445
- Petr Čech – Czech Republic (494 Appearances)
This is undoubtedly the greatest goaltender in The Blues’ history; his case is the perfect example of ‘grass to grace’. Čech came to Chelsea from Rennes in 2003 for a trial and luckily for him, the trial turned to an eventual permanent transfer in 2004.
The rest is now history as he spent fifteen years at the club, winning three Premier League titles, UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League in the process before joining Arsenal in the summer of 2015.
However, he returned to Chelsea in June 2019 after retiring as a technical and performance advisor.
Years: 2004-2015
League: 333
FA Cup: 33
League Cup: 17
Europe: 103
Other: 8
Total: 494
- John Hollins – England (592 Appearances)
Hollins was a very talented and hard-running midfielder who played as a full-back in his latter days as a player and was part of Chelsea’s success in the late 60sa and early 70s.
He’s currently Chelsea’s fifth-ranked player with most appearances with over 500 appearances for the Blues in two spells spanning over 13 years.
After he retired at Chelsea in1984, he came out of retirement in February 1989 to sign for the Irish club, Cobh Ramblers.
Years :1963-1975 & 1983-1984
League :465
FA Cup :51
League Cup: 48
Europe: 27
Other ;1
Total ; 592
- Frank Lampard – England (648 Appearances)
A legend across board. Frank Lampard’s ignominious two years spell as a Chelsea manager hasn’t debased his legendary status at the club.
To show how instrumental Lampard was to the Blues’ success, he joined the club from West Ham in 2001 and left in 2014 as the club’s record goalscorer in the space of thirteen years.
In addition to his eyes and nose for goals, Lampard wasn’t lazy in his creative and defensive duties being a box to box midfielder.
His thirteen years spell at Chelsea was quite productive, winning three Premier League titles, four FA Cups, two League Cups as well as UEFA Champions and UEFA Europa League.
Years:2001-2014
League:429
FA Cup:58
League Cup:34
Europe;117
Other:10
Total:648
READ ALSO: 5 Of Chelsea Most Expensive Signings
- John Terry – England (717 Appearances)
This is definitely one of Chelsea’s recruits Abrahimovich would forever be proud of. Terry has written his name in a golden book of soccer not as the greatest defender in Chelsea’s history alone, but as one of the best defenders in England has ever produced and one of the finest center-backs to have played football.
Terry possessed great leadership skills and the ability to give his all to the team. He captained The Blues for thirteen years till he left winning everything that was there to win in England including the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.
No doubt, Terry remains the most successful captain in Chelsea’s history, a record that will be extremely difficult to be broken for years to come.
Years:1998-2017
League: 429
FA Cup: 58
League Cup: 37
Europe:124
Other:6
Total:717
- Peter Bonetti – England (729 Appearances)
Clearly, Bonetti is one of the players in this list that stayed for longer years at Chelsea. He was a Blues’ goalkeeper for 18 years of which he was the club’s first choice for a longer time. However, he had two stints in Chelsea.
He was part of the young, energetic and athletic Chelsea side that dominated English football in the 60s alongside Bobby Tambling, Terry Venables et al.
An agile goalkeeper and a brave legend by miles who helped The Blues win three cups. He died in 2020.
Years :1960-1975 & 1976-1979
League:600
FA Cup:57
League Cup:45
Europe: 26
Other :1
Total:729
- Ron Harris – England (795 Appearances)
Harris was tagged as ‘The Chopper’ in his playing days due to his toughness and rigidity on the field of play. His Chelsea career spanned for close to two decades, (19 years precisely).
The English defender etched his name in Chelsea’s history book with a reputation as an uncompromising and talented defender with a series of strong (and sometimes notorious) performances.
In ten of Harris’ years at Chelsea, he averaged 41 out of 42 League games, which validates the narrative of him being durable and consistent.
The Chopper finally left in 1980 when he was offered the role of a manager by Brentford.
Years:1961-1980
League: 655
FA Cup: 64
League Cup: 48
Europe:27
Others :1
Total: 795
