Chelsea were named as the first winners of the new Club of the Year award at Monday night’s prestigious Ballon d’Or ceremony.
It was the first of two new awards at the annual ceremony in Paris, alongside Goalscorer of the Year.
Success was also obtained for Chelsea players, with Jorginho accepting the bronze award for Player of the Year. It follows his successful campaign for club and country last season in which the midfielder won the Champions League with Chelsea and European Championship with Italy.
Jorginho said: “‘I am very happy, but I achieved this not by myself but with the help of the whole team.
“I’m just really grateful for that and I’m really happy and proud of myself and proud of the whole group and proud of this team because we deserve it, all together.”
The Ballon d’Or award is presented every year by France Football magazine to the best male footballer playing in Europe over the last 12 months. It is voted for by journalists, alongside the managers and captains of European national teams, though last year’s ceremony did not take place due to Covid-19.
Chelsea forward Sam Kerr also took home bronze in the women’s Ballon d’Or award. It was the third time the 28-year-old was named on the shortlist in her career.
Edouard Mendy was named as the second-best goalkeeper in European football, missing out to Paris Saint Germain’s Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Mendy said: “It is an incredible achievement for me and I am really proud to be in Chelsea and to be part of the club.
“For football, 2021 is the best year of my life because it was an amazing season, we won the biggest title in Europe in my first year in a big club. It’s my best year at the moment but I hope the next years will be better or the same.”
Chelsea fan Brendan Fossey, 22, said he felt that Mendy had been “robbed” and that there had not been a better goalkeeper in the world in the last year.
He added: “Chelsea winning Club of the Year shows how far we’ve come in a relatively short amount of time.
“We were nowhere near challenging for the (Premier League) title or the Champions League until (Thomas) Tuchel came in […] he has completely changed the club.”
