SOCCER/English Premiership: Around 200,000 Chelsea fans turned out in their thousands to pay tribute to Jose Mourinho and his all-conquering squad yesterday.

In west London blue was the colour as the streets around Stamford Bridge were packed.

They turned the pavement into a sea of waving flags and many fans had waited patiently for the Premiership winners' open-top bus since early morning.

One canny street trader was also doing a mean trade in £5 balloons, shaped just like the Premiership trophy, while every T-shirt printer inside the M25 seemed to be cashing in on makeshift stalls along the route.

Metropolitan Police estimated the crowd size at 200,000, with fans travelling from all over the country to take their place on the three-mile route. One family even made a special journey from Bremen in Germany.

Mourinho and his squad only jetted in from Korea late on Saturday afternoon, following their 1-0 friendly win over Suwon Samsung Bluewings. But there were no obvious signs of jetlag, although plenty wore sunglasses to hide tired eyes from their adoring fans.

Mourinho admits he has never been a great fan of celebrations and he allowed his players to bask in the crowds glow, while standing quietly at the back of the bus with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.

However, he raised a smile as the bus passed a Kings Road restaurant called La Reserve, whose staff had draped a giant flag of the Portuguese manager's face from their second-floor window.

He will be back at his desk first thing today, admitting there are pressing decisions to be made on new arrivals before flying to Portugal with his wife and children on Monday week.