A true legend - Drogba & Cech farewell marks new era at Chelsea
- Emmanuel Blankson Asmah
- May 25, 2015
- 2 min read
COMMENT: The end of a successful season for the newly-crowned Premier League champions was punctuated by the potential departures of two club legends
The secondary importance of the football in Chelsea's final day clash with Sunderland was summed up in the 29th minute when Didier Drogba left the pitch in tears.
At the time, Chelsea were 1-0 down but neither the players nor the crowd seemed to care. This was a day to celebrate an emphatic title triumph and to honour two club legends who waved goodbye to Stamford Bridge.
Drogba had already announced in the morning that this would be his final game and led the team out of the tunnel as captain through Sunderland’s guard of honour. He was closely followed by Petr Cech, who has almost certainly played his last game for Chelsea, too. It marks the end of an era for the Chelsea team that first won the title under Jose Mourinho a decade ago. And the start of a brave new dawn has been punctuated in the best possible way with a title win which oozed professionalism and a mentality beyond this side's years. Most of that 2005 side were present at Stamford Bridge and the home of the champions was rocking as the likes of Claude Makelele, Eidur Gudjohnsen and William Gallas were introduced to the crowd before kick-off. John Terry, who lifted the Premier League trophy at the full-time whistle, is now the last man standing of Mourinho’s originals after Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole left last summer. Terry has signed a contract extension and will likely lead Chelsea from the back again next season, but elsewhere Mourinho has expertly phased out the old guard to create his new champions built around the likes of Eden Hazard, Diego Costa, Cesc Fabregas and Willian.
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