Chelsea

Chelsea FC is a professional football club based in affluent west London who were formed on the 14th March 1905 at The Rising Sun pub, opposite the present-day main entrance to the ground on Fulham Road.

The club was formed by brothers, Joe and Gus Mears, who bought the lease to Stamford Bridge, which had previously been home to the London Athletics Club and a World Shinty Championships since its opening in 1877. The Mears’ wanted to establish a top class football club at the ground and after failing to convince Fulham FC to move in, they formed their own club.

Their application to join the Football League was successful as they became member for the 1905-06 season; immediately setting out their intentions by recruiting big name players from other clubs, including twenty two stone goalkeeper William ‘Fatty’ Foulke and Scottish international John Robertson who was appointed as player-manager.

The noted stadium architect, Archibald Leitch was given the job of redesigning Stamford Bridge. He created a Main Stand exactly the same as the one he'd already built at Craven Cottage. The rest of the ground was open banking around a track, with the land being excavated from the construction of the Piccadilly Tube Line. The stadium would go on to stage the first three FA Cup Finals after the World War One.

In 1906-07 Chelsea won promotion to Division One, but were demoted in 1909-10, while George "Gatling Gun" Hilsdon became the first player to score one hundred goals for the club. David Calderhead became team manager, taking the team back to the top flight in 1911-12.

In 1915 Chelsea reached the final of the FA Cup for the first time, but they were defeated 3-0 by Sheffield United at Old Trafford. Massive crowds flocked to Stamford Bridge after the Great War to see stars such as Ben Warren and Bob Whittingham.

The team were relegated in 1923-24 but regained their top flight status in 1929-30. The club made more big signings with Hughie Gallacher, Alex Jackson and Alec Cheyne heading to the Bridge. Calderhead was replaced by Leslie Knighton in 1933 but the inconsistencies on the field continued, while crowds remained loyal.

Billy Birrell took over as manager in 1939 just before World War Two. Once peace was restored Chelsea hosted Dynamo Moscow who were touring to try to restore good will. An estimated crowd of 100,000 packed into Stamford Bridge to see the 3-3 draw.

The club continued to splash the cash with big name signings as the forward trio of Tommy Lawton, Len Goulden and Tommy Walker joined ‘The Pensioners’ as the club were nicknamed at the time. Lawton was sold in 1948 with Roy Bentley coming in to replace him.

Birrell’s biggest contribution to the club was the setting up of a successful youth system which would go on to produce future first team stars such as Jimmy Greaves, Bobby Smith, Peter Osgood, Peter Bonetti, Ray Wilkins, Ron Harris, Bobby Tambling, Alan Hudson, Terry Venables and John Hollins.

In 1952 Chelsea appointed former Arsenal and England striker Ted Drake as manager. One of his first moves was to change the club nickname to ‘The Blues’ with the introduction of the lion on the club crest.

Drake moulded a fine side together including Ron Greenwood, Frank Blunstone, Charlie Thomson, Peter Sillett and striker Bentley who went on to win the Division One title in 1954-55. Chelsea were denied permission to become England’s first ever entrants into the European Cup by the Football League and the FA who didn’t hold the tournament in high esteem.

Jimmy Greaves became the darling of the Stamford Bridge faithful with his goalscoring feats in a side labelled ‘Drakes Ducklings’ because of their young age. However he was sold to AC Milan and form dropped which led to the sacking of Drake, who was replaced by Tommy Docherty.

When Docherty took over the team were already destined for relegation in 1962-63, but he led the side to promotion at the first attempt as he moved on older players to be replaced by youngsters as he built for the future.

He took the side straight back to the top flight at the first attempt with Bobby Tambling, Ken Shellito, Barry Bridges, Ron Harris, George Graham and Eddie McCreadie played some fine football as they finished in fifth place in their first season back in Division One.

Docherty’s exciting team matched the image of London’s swinging sixties with Chelsea becoming the place to be seen as celebrities such as Michael Caine, Steve McQueen, Raquel Welch, Terence Stamp and Richard Attenborough became regular attendees.

Docherty moved players in in the summer of 1966 with winger Charlie Cooke coming to the fore with youth prodigy Peter Osgood. Chelsea reached the 1967 FA Cup Final but were defeated 2-1 by Tottenham Hotspur.

Docherty was sacked soon into the following season to be replaced by Dave Sexton who added the signings of defender David Webb and Ian Hutchinson to the emerging talent of Alan Hudson and Peter Houseman to the side.

Chelsea reached another FA Cup Final in 1970 to come up against Leeds United in what would turn out to be one of the most famous of all finals. The first game at Wembley was played on a quagmire with the game ending 2-2 after a physical battle.

The replay at Old Trafford had plenty of skill on offer but is talked about for the uncompromising nature of the game as over the top tackles flew in at regular intervals. Chelsea came from behind to win the cup with goals from Osgood and Webb. You can view the highlights of the replay here.

Chelsea entered the 1970-71 UEFA Cup Winners Cup, defeating Aris, CSKA Sofia, Club Brugge and holders Manchester City to set up the final against Real Madrid at the Karaiskakis Stadium in Athens. The first game ended in a 1-1 draw before goals from John Dempsey and Osgood sealed the cup in the replay.

The cracks began to appear at the club following the success as old style Sexton fell out with some players over their lifestyle and attitude. The team lost the 1972 League Cup Final to Stoke City while Osgood and Hudson were sold early in 1973 while the construction of the new East Stand saddled the club with debt.

Sexton was sacked early in the 1974-75 season. Ron Suart was appointed as his replacement but couldn’t save the team from relegation. The cost of the stand rocketed over the period owing to many difficulties with Chelsea being unable to buy any new players for the next few years.

At the same time the crowds dropped, with some of those remaining being involved in serious crowd trouble both home and away as Chelsea’s hooligan element giving the club a bad name for several ensuing seasons.

Former full back Eddie McCreadie took over as team manager and took side led by the  youthful Ray Wilkins but with plenty of experience by way of Harris and goalkeeper Bonetti to promotion in 1976-77. Chelsea fans were banned from away games in April 1977 because of several incidents throughout the campaign, although many defied the order.

MCCreadie departed after a disagreement with chairman Brian Mears to be replaced by Ken Shellito who kept the side in Division One in their comeback season. However he departed to be replaced by Danny Blanchflower half way through the 1978-79 campaign which resulted in relegation.

Geoff Hurst came in as the new manager but he could not take the team back to the top flight and was sacked in he summer of 1981.  Chairman Mears appointed John Neal as manager before selling the club to former Oldham Athletic chairman Ken Bates for £1 to end his family’s seventy six year association with the club.

While Bates owned the club he didn’t purchase the freehold of Stamford Bridge, which would lead to severe complications. The club was in dire straights financially and losing money every week before Bates tightened the ship.

For the following couple of seasons Chelsea struggled badly on the pitch while Bates sorted out issues behind the scenes. Marler Estates had bought a large shareholding in Stamford Bridge from Mears and Lord Chelsea and began a campaign to move the club out and build on the land.

Neal made signings in the summer of 1983 which would turn around the fortunes of the club as Kerry Dixon, Pat Nevin, Nigel Spackman, Eddie Niedzwiecki and David Speedie linked up with player-coach Hollins.

The team romped to promotion playing attractive football along the way at the completion of the 1983-84 season. Neal resigned due to ill health in the summer of 1985 while Bates came up with the idea of an electric high fence around the pitch to counter the clubs hooligan problems and pitch invasions. The plans were blocked by the Greater London Council.

Neal was replaced by Hollins with the club established back in the top flight while Bates launched the ‘Save the Bridge’ campaign off the pitch. In March 1986 Marler Estates had their plans to build on the stadium site approved by Hammersmith and Fulham Council before the decision was reversed by the newly elected Labour council a few months later.

Hollins was sacked during the 1986-87 season after fall outs with players affected form. Bobby Campbell came in but could not save the side from relegation as they went down via the play-off format of the time against Middlesbrough in another game blighted by crowd trouble at the Bridge.

Campbell led the side back up at the first attempt as the goals of Dixon and Gordon Durie led them to the Division Two title. By now Cabra Estates had bough out Marler Estates and served a notice to quit the stadium to Chelsea despite Bates having plans accepted to turn the Bridge into a modern football arena.

On their return to the top flight Chelsea fared well with new midfield signings Andy Townsend and Dennis Wise. However the 1990-91 campaign was a disappointment as Campbell moved on to be replaced by Ian Porterfield who in turn was sacked mid way through the 1992-93 campaign by former player Webb.

Better news came off the pitch as Cabra Estates went bust with Bates being able to strike a deal with their creditors, the Royal Bank of Scotland to purchase Stamford Bridge for the club. At the same time he set up the Chelsea Pitch Owners. This was a non profitable organisation which owned the freehold of the stadium and ensured that property developers would no longer own the site.

A new stand construction started at the south end of the stadium with the removal of the old greyhound track to bring fans close to the action for the first time. Glenn Hoddle was appointed as the new manager in the summer of 1993. Matthew Harding came forward to offer significant finance to the club and gave Hoddle the opportunity to make big signings.

After a couple of mid table finishes the club signed Mark Hughes, Ruud Gullit and Dan Petrescu in the summer of 1995, while Harding and Bates clashed over the direction the club was taking. Hoddle led the side to another mid table ending in 1995-96 before departing to take up the England job.

Ken Bates eventually banned Harding from the Chelsea boardroom and effectively limited his input and influence over the club. The dispute between Bates and Harding was continual and was only stopped after his untimely death in 1996.

Gullit was appointed as player-manager and bringing in Gianluca Vialli, Frank Leboeuf, Gianfranco Zola, Roberto Di Matteo, Gus Poyet and Tore André Flo. Gullit led the side to a sixth place finish as well as winning the 1997 FA Cup with a 2-0 victory over Middlesbrough.

Gullit departed in February 1998 over a contract row as Vialli was made player-coach. 

The team went on to win the League Cup after victory over Middlesbrough before reaching the final of the UEFA Cup Winners Cup. Chelsea won the competition for the second time as a Zola goal defeated VfB Stuttgart at the Råsunda Stadium in Stockholm.

The 1998-99 season saw Chelsea finish in third place and qualify for the Champions League the following campaign. Marcel Desailly and Didier Deschamps had been added to the squad as Chelsea became the first ever English club to take the field without a single Englishman in the side.

Chelsea went on to win the final ever FA Cup Final to be played at the old Wembley Stadium in 1999 with Di Matteo scoring in the second final. In the post season Vialli added Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Eiður Guðjohnsen to his squad but he was dismissed a few games into the new season with Claudio Ranieri coming in as his replacement.

Ranieri’s side finished in sixth place as he moved players on with John Terry, William Gallas, Frank Lampard and Jesper Grønkjær coming in. In 2002 Chelsea reached the FA Cup Final where they were defeated by Arsenal.

With rumours of financial troubles raising their head at the club once again, Ranieri led the side to fourth place in 2002-03 before Bates sold the club for £60M to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich who quickly paid off most of the clubs £80M debt and then authorised the signings of Claude Makélélé, Geremi, Hernán Crespo, Glen Johnson, Joe Cole and Damien Duff.

Chelsea went on to finish as Premier League runners-up in 2003-04 as well as reaching the semi-final of the Champions League before being defeated by AS Monaco. Ranieri was criticised for his continual tinkering of the team line up and was sacked with FC Porto boss José Mourinho coming in as his replacement.

In came Arjen Robben, Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira and Petr Čech as Chelsea lifted the 2004-05 Premier League title while Lampard and Didier Drogba banged in the goals. To add to the championship win, the Blues defeated Liverpool 3-2 to win the League Cup. However, they went out to the same opponents in the semi-final of the Champions League.

Chelsea retained their Premier League crown in 2005-06 before finishing runners-up the following season but winning the League Cup against Arsenal and the first FA Cup Final at the new Wembley when Manchester United were defeated by Drogba’s extra time goal. Once again Liverpool defeated Chelsea in the semi-final of the Champions League.

Mourinho surprisingly departed from the Bridge in September 2007 to be replaced by Avram Grant. The team reached the League Cup Final where they were defeated by Tottenham Hotspur. Chelsea finished as runners-up to Manchester United in the league but reached the final of the Champions League to face up against the same opponents.

The all English final was held at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. The match ended in a 1-1 draw after extra time with Lampard netting for the Blues. The match went to a penalty shoot out. Club stalwart Terry had the chance to win it, but he slipped taking his kick to allow United back in. Nicolas Anelka missed the decisive spot kick as Chelsea ended as runners-up.

Grant was sacked a few days after the final as former Brazil boss Luiz Felipe Scolari coming in. The new boss only lasted until February 2009 after some poor performances. Russia national team coach Guus Hiddink was appointed caretaker manager until the end of the season.

Hiddink took the team to another Champions League semi-final; this time going out to FC Barcelona. Consolation came a few weeks later when Chelsea came from behind to defeat Everton 2-1 in the FA Cup Final to lift the trophy for the fifth time.

Carlo Ancelotti was appointed in the summer of 2009 with the Italian leading Chelsea to the Premier League and FA Cup double, with Portsmouth the defeated team at Wembley as Drogba scored the winning goal once again.

£50M was spent on Fernando Torres from Liverpool along with another signing, David Luiz, for the 2010-11 season but the move failed to pay off. Ancelotti's side finished runners up, but that wasn't enough for Abramovich and the manager was duly dismissed.

The owner turned to the highly successful young manager of FC Porto; Andre Villas-Boas to lead a revolution of the playing squad and to bring long term glory to The Bridge. Unfortunately AVB, as he was to be known in the media, came a cropper as he tried to change things too quickly as he made lots of signings.

This led to a dressing room revolt as the senior Englishmen were believed to be unhappy and liaised with Abromovich. Form on the pitch and atmosphere at the club suffered and by March 2012 Villas-Boas was sacked.

Roberto Di Matteo was made caretaker manager with fellow former player Eddie Newton as his assistant. Form was suddenly transformed as the team stormed to the FA Cup Final, where they went on to defeat Liverpool. However, the greatest achievement was to finally bring the Champions League trophy to Stamford Bridge.

Napoli and Benfica were seen off before FC Barcelona were defeated in an absolute classic Champions League semi final. In the final Chelsea had to play Bayern Munich in their own Allianz Arena. 

Once again the team battled against all the odds with captain Terry missing through suspension. The majestic Didier Drogba carried on his amazing run of form to score a late equaliser. The game went to penalties before Chelsea won 4-3 as Drogba stroked home the decisive kick.

Plans for the new Stamford Bridge

To much surprise Di Matteo didn't last much longer following his triumph. The hugely unpopular decision to bring in Rafael Benitez brought out the anger in The Blues faithful, even though the Spaniard took the team on a fine run of league form as well as leading the side to a second European trophy in as many years. Benfica were beaten in Amsterdam as Chelsea lifted the Europa League crown.

However, Benitez departed to Napoli while the fans hero José Mourinho returned to the Bridge, making several astute signings along the way. In his first season back in third spot, but significant signings including Cesc Fabrigas and Diego Costa in the summer of 2014 promised much for the 2014-15 campaign.

The promise was fulfilled as Mourinho's side won the Premier League with relative ease thanks in no small part to their defensive record with keeper Thibaut Courtous returning from his loan spell at Atletico Madrid. The League Cup was also collected for the fifth time following a 2-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur.

Chelsea looked to strengthen in the summer of 2015, with Pedro arriving from Barcelona and Rademal Falcao on loan from Monaco. However, the season turned into a disaster with rumours of huge fall outs between the manager and players.

Mourinho was sacked for a second time in December 2016 as the team lost nine out of sixteen league games. Guus Hiddink was brought back as interim manager until the end of the season before Chelsea appointed the former Juventus and current Italy manager Antonio Conte.

Conte made the valuable signing of midfielder N'Golo Kanté and surprisingly bought back David Luiz. The moves proved pivotal around a happier and more settled squad as Conte’s side played some scintillating football with Luiz and Hazard putting in outstanding performances.

Chelsea were crowned as Premier League champions for 2016-17 as well as reaching the final of the FA Cup before losing 2-1 against Arsenal. However, the side didn’t perform to the same level in the Italian’s second season in command.

Costa departed back to Atletico Madrid in January 2018 after a prolonged dispute while the team ended in fifth place which saw Conte depart at the end of the season despite Chelsea lifting the FA Cup against Manchester United thanks to an Eden Hazard goal.

Maurizio Sarri arrived as the new team boss after leaving Napoli in the summer of 2018, leading his side to lift the Europa League following a 4-1 win against Arsenal in Baku through a Hazard brace and goals from Pedro and Olivier Giroud.

FIFA ruled that Chelsea had broken rules on signing overseas youngsters, leading to a transfer ban for the following two windows. Sarri left for Juventus while Hazard moved on to Real Madrid. Former playing legend Frank Lampard was appointed as the new manager.

Young players were given their chance in 2019-20 as the side did better than expected, finishing fourth in the league as well as reaching the FA Cup final where they lost 2-1 to Arsenal. After expensive new signings failed to gel, Lampard was replaced by Thomas Tuchel in January 2021.

The decision was inspired. Tuchel led the team to the FA Cup final, where they went down 1-0 to Leicester City. However, Chelsea won their second Champions League title when they defeated Manchester City 1-0 in Porto with a Kai Havertz goal as N'Golo Kanté stood out in a brilliant tactical team performance. 

Major trouble was to land at the club in 2022. Owner Abramovich was forced to leave because of sanctions imposed by the British Government on Russia owing to their invasion of Ukraine. Initially he tried to hand it over the stewardship to the Chelsea Foundation. He then wrote off the debt owed to him and put the club up for sale.

The side lost on penalties in both the League Cup and FA Cup finals to Liverpool in the 2021-22 season before a group led by American Todd Boehly bought Chelsea. Huge sums were spent including the capture of Raheem Sterling, but Tuchel was sacked early into the 2022-23 season, partly through a disagreement over the signings.

Graham Potter arrived from Brighton & Hove Albion but found managing Chelsea to be a completely different experience. Enzo Fernández was signed for a record British fee of for £107M but results didn’t improve. Potter was dismissed in April 2023.

Former hero Lampard was brought back as interim, with again results being poor. Mauricio Pochettino was appointed as manager in the summer of 2023. The team failed to gel and fans became restless during the season. Pochettino was replaced by Enzo Maresca in May 2024 after doing a fine job with his young side.

Chelsea FC will play in the Premier League in the 2024-25 season.

My visits

Chelsea 1 Scarborough 1 (Tuesday 19th September 1989) Football League Cup Round Two First Leg (Att: 10,439)

Chelsea were to experience their most successful period although they were top of the old First Division when Scarborough were drawn to play them in the League Cup Second Round. The first leg at The Bridge was in September 1989. I booked to go on the Supporters Club coach with Crusher and his dad, George. 

In a somewhat unusual development the coach got us down there well before kick off, before 6pm. Chelsea had a bit of a reputation for not being the most welcoming to away fans so we were summing up whether to go for a beer or not. At that point Chelsea and Boro fan Andy Borrie, who'd taken a bus of 'Blues' to the game appeared. 

We went with him to a pub he assured us was fine. I reckon it was probably The Rising Sun looking back. We kept quiet for some time and tried to be discreet but there was no worries. The home fans knew we weren't locals but they came up to us and started chatting and were fine.

Boro had about 400 fans in attendance. The locals obviously thought the game would be a formality and not worth attending. We were on the vast open North Terrace which curved around the disused track like The Shed End opposite. The stadium had staged athletics, speedway, greyhounds (until 1968) and a few games of floodlit cricket in the early 80's. 

To the right was the West Stand which was two large shallow tiers of seating built into the original bank with a flat roof, while on the other side stood the tall three tiered East Stand that nearly bankrupted the club some years earlier. Just to the left of where we were once stood an unusual elevated North East Stand which stood all on its own until it was demolished in the late 70's.

The game itself did not go how the Chelsea fans (or indeed the more realistic Boro fans) had anticipated. Ken Monkou put Boro ahead with an outrageous 40 yard own goal which would be nigh on impossible to replicate if he tried from his location on the wing. Chelsea equalised in the second half for the score to end 1-1. 

Although there was no violence it was obvious from their body language that not all the Chelsea fans were wanting to be quite as hospitable at full time, even more so after the second leg when Boro came from two goals down to win 3-2 and progress to the next round.

Chelsea 2 CSKA Moscow 0 (Tuesday 20th October 2004) Champions League (att: 33,945)

In October 2004 I was training for my new position as a Customer Service Assistant with London Underground when the phone went. I had won two tickets for the Chelsea v CSKA Moskow tie in the Champions League through a competition on Talksport. 

I met Colm my drinking pal in Earl's Court before the game before we headed down to the stadium. The seats were for the upper tier of the West Stand.

This was a relatively new structure with two tiers of seats being separated by sumptuous corporate facilities. The only part of the stadium that remained from my previous visit was the East Stand. To the left the two tiered Matthew Harding Stand replaced the North Terrace and was home to the more vocal of the home fans. 

At the other end stood The Shed Stand which was not dissimilar to its compatriot behind the other goal only smaller in size and containing more corporate boxes. Behind this stood "Chelsea Village", a creation by Bates to stabilise the clubs finances which included a hotel, apartments, bars and restaurants. 

The original Shed back wall has been retained, otherwise there would be no indication of the grounds former shape. It was now rectangular with stands right up to the pitch.

CSKA gave a decent performance but an early goal and one right on half time closed out the contest. It was quite a dull second half with us leaving before the end to beat the crowds. The game finished 2-0 before a crowd which turned out to be lowest of the season.

Chelsea 2 Hull City 0 (Sunday 22^nd January 2017) Premier League (att: 41,605)

Following work at Ruislip I took the tube down to Parsons Green where I met my brother Nick, nephew Stan and niece Sally outside the impressive White Horse, where the Oakham Ales JHB was most welcome. We were joined by Andy and his little lass Heidi before we walked to the ground and was in for kick off just twenty minutes after supping up.

A shocking head injury to Ryan Mason knocked heck out of the first half after Diego Costa came very close of 10 seconds. The ref and medical staff did so well with their prompt attention to both Mason and Cahill immediately after their sickening clash. There was also great work from Tom Huddlestone and Abel Hernandez in holding their team mate down when he wanted to get up.

City dulled the atmosphere further with a doughty defensive display. Eventually Chelsea found a deserved way through as Victor Moses's cut back was rifled home by Costa. We had an excellent view from our lofty seats in the upper section for £30. The excellent programme was £3.

There was quite a bit of consternation in the away section regarding the amount of ‘tourist fans’ where City’s hard core support should have been.

Don't get me wrong, there will always be some looking to get in, especially at the bigger clubs. I'll be one myself at various German grounds this weekend; but you don't expect at least a third of the away section to be none English speakers. It got the goat of the City fans and there were a few close to the knuckle remarks passed on as the tourists played incessantly with their phones or sat in silence.

City gave the second half a real go, creating a few half chances and being turned down a stone wall penalty. William fell over with nine minutes to go and referee Swarbrick was suckered in. From the resulting free kick, new striker Oumar Niasse decided it was more prudent to kneel down than challenge Gary Cahill, who scored with a free header. Just before full time Eldin Jakupovic saved a one on one from Costa.

Harry Maguire was head and shoulders above the other defenders on display. I'd have been amazed if no club went in for him before the end of the transfer window.

All in all it was a good afternoon out, Mason’s injury aside. It was great to be able to take three City mad (two of whom were under ten) youths to a game. I warned them all of what League One would look like if the mad Allam's did't sell up! Chelsea’s fans had gone up in my estimation. They seemed a decent bunch.

I left not quite sure how 60,000 will get away when the Bridge was rebuilt? It was pretty congested as it was. I walked back to Earls Court and eventually got home at 8.30 because of no Jubilee or Met line trains because of Engineering works.

The evening was a little bit nervy, with no thanks to certain tabloids claiming that Ryan Mason was fighting for his life. The truth of the matter was that his condition was under control thanks to the amazing emergency services and surgeon at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington.

Monday 30th November 2020

Click here to read about a further visit as part of my 100 mile Sawasdee Cup Charity Walk late in 2020 as I called in on all the clubs in the top five tiers within Greater London to raise money for Junior Cricket Development in Thailand.

Many of the pictures of the 'old' Stamford Bridge have been taken from the internet.