Joining Jose Mourinho's First Team on the open-top parade was the academy side who enjoyed a stellar 2014/15 season, picking up the FA Youth Cup and UEFA Youth League trophies.
Working closely with the Club, innovision project managed all elements of the parade, as well as creating a strategic event framework for the delivery of complex road closures, crowd management and health and safety programmes.
With agreement from London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea and the Metropolitan Police, three open-top buses left the Stamford Bridge west entrance at midday, travelling east along Fulham Road, before turning onto Hortensia Road, along King's Road and then onto New King's Road.
At Eel Brook Common, the buses stopped for a short period as interviews with key members of the team were broadcast live to the crowd via big screens and PA.
The required road closures and traffic restrictions in this highly urbanised environment meant that meticulous planning and stakeholder engagement were central to the successful delivery of the parade. Furthermore, in-depth liaison with the emergency services and community engagement were required to minimise disruption and ensure an enjoyable crowd experience.
In addition to all pre-event planning and liaison, innovision was responsible for overseeing all technical production, event control, player logistics and management, content development, health and safety, event infrastructure, crowd management and stewarding, and interfacing with the parade broadcasters, Chelsea TV.
Lauren Rutherford, production account director at innovision said, "This is the third parade we have delivered for Chelsea since 2010 and there is no doubt that the Club's excellence over this period of time also mirrors their approach to parade planning. I'm just really pleased we have yet again been able to add significant value by applying our knowledge, expertise and skills to enable Chelsea to be Champions both on and off the pitch."
Alan Shaw, group company secretary for Chelsea Football Club said, "The heritage of our victory parade has enabled the Club to connect and share success with our local community and fans. This is still very important to us; but our parades now attract a significant global audience as more and more fans across the world are attracted to our brand. Working with innovision not only gives us the confidence of assured delivery on the ground, but expert creative support on how we can project positive global images of Chelsea's ongoing success."
(Jim Evans)
