Mourinho's first Chelsea spell: 2004-07 records

Mourinho's first Chelsea spell, from June 2004 to September 2007, is the most misremembered dynasty in Premier League history, because the defensive fortress people remember was actually forged by a defeat. Chelsea lost 1-0 at Manchester City on 16 October 2004, Nicolas Anelka scoring the penalty he won himself, and that was the only defeat of the entire 2004/05 campaign and the last one for 29 games. From that loss they went unbeaten through the rest of the season and set a batch of records that still stand more than two decades later: 95 points, 29 wins, 25 clean sheets, and 15 goals conceded, the fewest any champion has ever shipped. The fortress was built on one loss, and that loss is the part of the story everyone skips.

The man himself arrived in June 2004 with the Champions League already won at Porto, and told the world at his first press conference that he was the Special One. Within a season he had ended Chelsea's 50-year wait for a league title and had made the Premier League's most prolific squad into its meanest. The records from those three seasons, and the way the spell ended in the autumn of 2007 after a Champions League draw with Rosenborg, still shape how the modern Premier League remembers him.

The record season: 2004/05

The 2004/05 Chelsea season is the reference point for every defensive record conversation. The final table read: Chelsea P38 W29 D8 L1, 72 goals scored, 15 conceded, 95 points, 12 clear of Arsenal. The Premier League record set that season were most points (95), most wins (29), most clean sheets (25), fewest goals conceded (15), most away wins (15) and fewest goals conceded away (9). As of the 2025/26 season the clean sheets and goals conceded records still stand.

The numbers behind the records were absurd. Chelsea went 1,025 minutes without conceding a league goal, kept 10 successive clean sheets between December 2004 and February 2005, and conceded only six goals at home all season, where they finished with 14 wins and 5 draws and no defeats. They dropped points from a 1-0 lead only once all season, a 2-2 draw with Bolton at Stamford Bridge. Frank Lampard was the engine and the top scorer with 19 goals from 58 appearances, and his two goals in the 2-0 win at Bolton on 30 April 2005 clinched the title.

But the season's decisive moment was the loss, not the wins. The 1-0 defeat at Manchester City in October was Chelsea's ninth league game, and it triggered the defensive compactness that defined the rest of the campaign. From gameweek 10 to the end they did not lose again. The record season is usually told as a wall that was never breached; it was actually a team that was breached once, learned from it, and never repeated it.

The follow-up: 2005/06

The second title was statistically the better side. Chelsea finished 2005/06 on 91 points, 8 clear of Manchester United, with the same 29 wins, 72 goals, but only 22 conceded. They opened with nine straight league wins, the best start to a Premier League season by any side, and became the first Premier League team to beat every other team in the division in a single season. They won 18 of 19 home games with no home defeat, a joint Premier League record, and lifted the Community Shield on the way to their third national league title. The title itself was sealed with a 3-0 home win over Manchester United on 29 April 2006, goals from Gallas, Carvalho and Joe Cole, with two matches to spare.

The 2005/06 team was the complete Mourinho side: the 2004/05 defensive lessons still in place, but with the attacking output of a team scoring 72 goals. It is the forgotten season of the dynasty, the one that proved the 15-goal season was not a one-off defensive accident but a system. Yet it is 2004/05 that gets the anniversary specials, because records survive better than sequels.

The third season and the end

2006/07 was the season the dynasty cracked. Chelsea finished runners-up to Manchester United, 83 points to 89, and lost to Liverpool in the Champions League semi-final for the second time in three seasons, having also lost the 2005 semi-final to Liverpool. The trophy cabinet was still filled: Chelsea won the FA Cup, beating Manchester United 1-0 after extra time in the first final at the rebuilt Wembley on 19 May 2007, Didier Drogba scoring the winner, and added the Carling Cup. Across three full seasons Mourinho won six trophies: two Premier League titles, one FA Cup, two Carling Cups and one Community Shield.

The end came in September 2007. Chelsea drew 1-1 at home with Rosenborg in the Champions League on a night so flat that the crowd was 24,973, and two days later, on 20 September, Mourinho left by mutual consent with three years left on his contract. Chelsea were fifth after six league games of 2007/08. He left unbeaten in 66 league games at Stamford Bridge, a record set by surpassing Liverpool's 63-match streak from 1978 to 1981. The man who inherited a team that had lost seven matches the previous season left one that had effectively stopped losing at home.

Why the records still matter in 2026/27

Two decades on, the 2004/05 defensive records are still the measuring stick. The best defence in the most recent completed season, Arsenal 2025/26, conceded 27 goals and won the title with 85 points; Chelsea 2004/05 conceded 15. No champion has come within ten goals of the record since. The 25 clean sheets are even more untouchable in an era when every elite team presses higher and the top sides trade chances.

The lesson of Mourinho's first spell is not that parking the bus wins titles. The 2004/05 side scored 72 goals; the 2005/06 side scored the same number while conceding seven more; the 2006/07 side lost the league because the attack went quiet while the defence stayed elite. The dynasty worked because the defence was unbeatable and the attack was still among the league's best. When the attacking edge faded, the defensive fortress was not enough. That is the part of the Mourinho playbook that even his imitators keep missing.

Key takeaways

• Mourinho's first Chelsea spell, June 2004 to September 2007, produced six trophies: two Premier League titles, one FA Cup, two Carling Cups and one Community Shield.
• The 2004/05 records that still stand: 95 points, 29 wins, 25 clean sheets, 15 goals conceded, most away wins (15) and fewest away goals conceded (9).
• The only defeat of 2004/05 was a 1-0 loss at Manchester City in October 2004, Anelka scoring the penalty he won; Chelsea went 29 league games unbeaten after it.
• The 2005/06 team was the better attacking side: 29 wins, 72 goals, 91 points, the first team to beat every opponent in a season.
• The spell ended 20 September 2007 after a Rosenborg draw, with an unbeaten home league record of 66 games.

FAQ

How many trophies did Mourinho win in his first Chelsea spell? Six in three full seasons: two Premier League titles, one FA Cup, two Carling Cups and one Community Shield.

What was Chelsea's only defeat in 2004/05? A 1-0 loss away to Manchester City on 16 October 2004. Nicolas Anelka scored an 11th-minute penalty he won himself after being fouled by Paulo Ferreira.

Do Chelsea's 2004/05 defensive records still stand? Yes. As of the 2025/26 season they still hold the Premier League record for most clean sheets (25) and fewest goals conceded (15) in a season.

Why did Mourinho leave Chelsea in 2007? By mutual consent on 20 September 2007, days after a 1-1 Champions League home draw with Rosenborg, with Chelsea fifth in the league after six games and his relationship with the owner deteriorated.