Sky Sports looks back at the career of the Ivory Coast international as he bids farewell to Chelsea.
We look back at the career of the Ivory Coast international
Sky Sports looks back at the career of the Ivory Coast international as he bids farewell to Chelsea.
1978: March 11 - Born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
1998: Begins his professional career playing for Le Mans, where he scores 12 league goals in 68 appearances for the French Ligue 2 club.
2002: January - Signs for Guingamp, where he makes his name by scoring 17 goals in a season, finishing as third-highest goalscorer.
2003: June - Transfers to Marseille from the Brittany club for £4million. In the following season, he scores 19 goals in Ligue 1 and 11 goals in Europe to help his team to the UEFA Cup final, knocking out Liverpool and Newcastle on the way.
2004: May - Voted Footballer of the Year in France.
July - Marseille turn down Chelsea's initial offer of £18m for the Ivory Coast striker and demand £27million.
July 19 - Chelsea agree terms with Marseille over the £24m signing of Drogba and the deal is completed a day later.
2005: May - Finishes the season with 16 goals as the Blues win the Premier League and League Cup.
2006: February - Captains the Ivory Coast to their second African Nations Cup final, but sees his spot-kick saved as they lose 4-2 on penalties to Egypt following a goalless draw.
March 25 - Causes controversy when he admits "sometimes I dive" after a 2-0 win over Manchester City. He immediately retracts the statement.
May - Chelsea retain the league title as Drogba again scores 16 times during the campaign.
June 11 - Scores the Ivory Coast's first ever World Cup goal in 2-1 loss to Argentina.
2007: March - Crowned African Footballer of the Year.
May 19 - Scores an extra-time winner as Chelsea beat Manchester United in the FA Cup final. It caps a season in which he finds the net 33 times and claims the Premier League's golden boot.
2008: April 30 - Drogba scores twice in the semi-final second leg to send Chelsea through to their first Champions League final.He becomes their top European scorer of all time.
May 21 - Sent off for slapping Nemanja Vidic as Chelsea lose the Champions League final on penalties to Manchester United.
October 20 - FA investigate a claim in his autobiography that he wished he'd punched Nemanja Vidic in the Champions League final. Three days later he is cleared.
November 12 - Drogba appears to make a one-fingered gesture and then throw a coin picked up off the pitch into the crowd after scoring against Burnley in the League Cup at Stamford Bridge.
November 14 - FA charge him with violent conduct as a result of the incident and he is banned for three matches.
2009: May 6 - Drogba confronts referee Tom Henning Ovrebo over decisions in Chelsea's exit from the Champions League against Barcelona. He appears to mouth "it's a f*****g disgrace" down a TV camera lens.
May 30 - Scores the equaliser as Chelsea come from behind to beat Everton 2-1 in the FA Cup final.
June 17 - Handed a six-game European ban with the final two games suspended. The ban was reduced by one match on appeal.
September 26 - Scores 100th goal for Chelsea in 3-1 defeat at Wigan
2010: March - Named African Footballer of the Year for the second time.
March 12 - Sent-off as Chelsea crash out of the Champions League 1-0 to Inter Milan at Stamford Bridge, 3-1 on aggregate.
April 6 - Scores second goal in a 2-0 win at Manchester United, handing Chelsea the initiative in the title race.
April 29 - Named among world's 100 most influential people by Time Magazine.
May - Named Chelsea Player of the Year.
May 21 - Chelsea beat Wigan 8-0 to win the Premier League title. During the game Drogba gets visibly angry with Frank Lampard when he will not let him take a penalty which would have put him ahead of Wayne Rooney as the league's top goalscorer. Drogba goes on to score a hat-trick and win the golden boot for the second time.
May 15 - Scores the winning goal as Chelsea beat Portsmouth 1-0 to complete the league and cup double.
June 1 - New Ivory Coast manager Sven Goran Eriksson names Drogba in his 23-man squad for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
June 4 - Suffers broken arm during Ivory Coast's World Cup warm-up friendly with Japan.
June 15 - Comes on as a substitute in goalless draw against Portugal wearing protective cast.
June 20 - Starts and scores in 3-1 defeat to Brazil, a result which effectively ended Ivory Coast's World Cup.
October - First amateur club Levallois Sporting Club names stadium after the striker.
November 8 - Diagnosed with malaria but makes a full recovery.
2011: September - Joins the Truth, Reconciliation and Dialogue Commission to help return peace to his home nation.
November - Rejects new Chelsea contract.
December 31: Scores 150th Chelsea goal against Aston Villa to put him level with club's all-time leading scorers Peter Osgood and Roy Bentley.
2012: February 12 - Misses late penalty as Zambia go on to win African Nations Cup in a shoot-out.
March 10 - Scores 100th Premier League goal, becoming the first African to reach the landmark.
April 18 - Solitary goal secures Champions League semi-final first leg victory over Barcelona.
May 5 - Becomes first player to score in four different FA Cup finals in 2-1 victory over Liverpool.
May 19 - Heads a late equaliser in Champions League final against Bayern Munich and scores the penalty in the shoot-out which sees Chelsea crowned European champions for the first time.
May 22 - Chelsea announce Drogba is to leave.
