Chelsea Football Club has been good at
celebrating special anniversaries. The year 2005 saw us
reach the major milestone of 100 years-old. What better
way was there to mark the centenary than by becoming
champions of England for the second time in our
existence?
Our golden jubilee had been similarly honoured. The club
won silverware in the 1960s, the 70s, the 90s and at the
turn of the new millennium, but 1955 was the year we
finished above all other teams in the League for the
first time.
It was also Chelsea is earliest major trophy. The first
five decades had seen the club develop into an integral
part of sporting life in England capital city with
famous players and a large, often full stadium.
Chelsea were popular, but achievement fell a long way
short of that now enjoyed by the current team, which
began the second 100 years of Chelsea history as the
best in the land and the biggest football story
throughout the world.
Even if trophy success proved elusive in the first 50
years, the club had been set up for the big time from
the moment Henry Augustus Mears had a change of heart
one Sunday morning in the autumn of 1904.
Of all the decisions that have shaped the history of
Chelsea FC, there can be none more crucial than the one
this Edwardian businessman made that particular day.
Gus Mears was an enthusiast for a sport that had taken
northern Britain by storm but had yet to take off in the
capital in quite the same way. London at the turn of the
century failed to provide a single team to the Football
League First Division.
Mears had spotted the potential for a football club to
play at an old athletics ground at
Stamford Bridge, an open
piece of land in west London. It was a ground he planned
to massively redevelop.
But unforeseen problems had followed, as did a lucrative
offer for the land. Mears was on the verge of selling up
and abandoning his sporting dream.
Colleague Frederick Parker, an enthusiastic supporter of
the football stadium project attempted to dissuade him
but on the fateful Sunday morning, Parker was told he
was wasting his time.
As the two walked on, without warning Mears' dog bit
Parker, drawing blood and causing great pain, but only
an amused reaction from Parker.
"You took that bite damn well," Mears announced before
telling his accomplice he would now trust his judgement
over others. "Meet me here at nine tomorrow and we'll
get busy," he said. Stamford Bridge was alive once more.
Not that
Chelsea FC was in the original plan. The finest
sports stadium in London seemed a little out of place on
the edge of well-heeled and arty Chelsea but as history
shows, Mears had chosen well. The proximity to the
vibrant centre of town made it perfect as a new venue
for football.
Due to financial disagreement, nearby Fulham Football
Club, already in existence declined an offer to abandon
the less grand Craven Cottage and move in. So in
contrast to the history of so many clubs, Mears decided
to build a team for a stadium, rather than the other way
round.
On March 10th 1905, a meeting convened opposite the
stadium in a pub now called The Butcher's Hook. One item
on the agenda was a name for the new club.
Stamford Bridge FC, Kensington FC and intriguingly,
London FC were all rejected.
Chelsea FC was what it was to be - and the story had
begun.
John Tait Robertson, a Scottish international was the
first player/manager and a squad of respected players
was signed, providing a league could be found to compete
in.
The Southern League was the natural choice for our
location but they were unwelcoming to these upstarts.
Undaunted, Chelsea simply set our sights higher and went
straight for the northern-dominated Football League.
On May 29th 1905, the Football League AGM dramatically
elected us to the Second Division. Parker again proved
persuasive as we became the first club ever to make the
League without having kicked a ball.