Chelsea show utter contempt for trophy West Ham have helped make famous

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West Ham and Chelsea have both experienced being champions of Europe in recent years but now the Blues have taken UEFA for granted.

There’s no love lost between London rivals West Ham and Chelsea on and off the pitch.

But the Hammers and Blues do share one thing in common in recent years.

Chelsea were crowned champions of Europe in 2021 and two years later so were West Ham.

Fans of both clubs delighted in telling the world what they were.

West Ham fans knew their achievement of winning UEFA’s third tier competition might be sniffed at by some football snobs.

But West Ham didn’t just win the Europa Conference League, they dominated it – going unbeaten and winning all but one of their games on the way to that unforgettable night in Prague last summer.

For much of last season it looked like the Hammers would finish above Chelsea in the Premier League table.

West Ham would firmly ensconced in the top six after a 2-0 win at Arsenal before the turn of the year.

But woeful form in the second half of the campaign coincided with Cole Palmer inspiring a Chelsea surge up to sixth.

Chelsea show utter contempt for trophy West Ham made famous

The Irons finished ninth which meant they missed out on a fourth consecutive season of European qualification.

Chelsea’s finish earned them a spot in Conference League qualifying.

West Ham’s achievement had already been put into perspective by Spurs and Villa being dumped out of the same competition.

And the Blues found out it’s no cake walk for themselves as they lost to Servette to scrape through to the group stages 3-2 on aggregate.

Given the vast sums of money spent on a bloated squad packed full of top quality talent, Enzo Maresca’s side are understandably the favourites to follow in the footsteps of the Hammers by winning the tournament.

But Chelsea have shown complete and utter contempt for the trophy West Ham have helped make famous.

Roma were the first team to win the Europa Conference League.

Then West Ham really put it on the map with the focus of the world on Premier League sides.

Hundreds of thousands of Hammers fans turned out in east London for the trophy parade.

West Ham also helped the Premier League boost its coefficient too.

But Chelsea have showed exactly what they think of UEFA’s third tier competition today.

Chelsea show UEFA their true colours with £235m decision

Chelsea have made the astonishing decision to leave a £235million quartet out of their UEFA squad for the Conference League.

And it includes the player who single-handedly got them there in the first place – Palmer.

Romeo Lavia, Wesley Fofana and Ben Chilwell have also been omitted by the Blues.

It is an arrogant move from Chelsea which suggests one of two things.

They’re not taking the competition seriously and aren’t bothered if they crash out.

Or they think they’re so good it will be a walk in the park.

Chelsea undoing West Ham’s work giving tournament credibility

Whatever the case, where West Ham embraced UEFA’s fledgling tournament, Chelsea have somewhat disgraced it with this call.

It is not great for the competition’s branding and reputation if Chelsea are treating it with the same approach as a second round league cup tie against a League Two outfit.

When Premier League clubs put out second string sides in the FA Cup and latter stages of the League Cup there is outcry. And rightly so.

This is no different.

West Ham love to remind everyone they are massive. But for UEFA and the promotion of the Europa Conference League, they really were.

This from Chelsea is massive too – but for all the wrong reasons.

All eyes now will be on how the Blues get on against highly motivated opponents without their talisman.