Chelsea have always been a popular football club since it’s first competitive appearance in 1905. Stamford Bridge was famously packed with tens of thousands of football fans in these early years, reaching 67,000 spectators one Good Friday against Manchester United.
Obviously, World War I had a huge effect on football, but by 1915, Chelsea had reached the FA Cup final, after fighting back from a disappointing relegation to Division Two. Unfortunately, the odds were stacked against them and ended up losing 3-0 to Sheffield United at Old Trafford.
During the post war years there was high demand for entertainment as a distraction from reality. So with the little spare time and money that they had, Londoners flocked to Chelsea matches, reaching an all time high attendance count in 1935 against Arsenal, of 82,905 spectators - still the largest attendance in an English football league.
World War II saw football competitions break up into regional leagues and fluid team members and guest players, which for Chelsea included such players as Walter Winterbottom and Eddie Hapgood.
[A good crowd turn out at the original Stamford Bridge]
During these years, Chelsea made their first appearance at Wembley was in the 1944 Football League South Cup final and then again the following year against Millwall.
Soon after the war had ended, Russian team Moscow Dynamo decided to begin their UK tour at Stamford Bridge. The turnstiles were closed at the count of 74,496 people, but many football fans, having been deprived of a decent football game for years, gained illegal entry, bumping the estimated crowd count up to a possible wapping 100,000.
In the 1950s Chelsea were in for a re-branding after losing two FA Cup semi-finals to Arsenal. New manager Ted Drake noticed the lack of passion in Chelsea’s crowd and wanted to change the casual spectators at Stamford Bridge to into avid fans, who lived and breathed the name Chelsea. He banished the old Chelsea Pensioners icon from the club’s badge along with their nickname ‘The Pensioners’.
Drake revolutionised the way Chelsea trained and strove to instill a love for the club and a drive to win in the players. He picked the best team from what Chelsea already had to offer and brought in some silverware hungry players from the lower leagues and by 1955 they’d won the Championship.
[Jimmy Greaves warming up]
Jimmy Greaves proved to be a hugely valuable player to Chelsea in the following years, scoring 132 goals in 169 appearances, but could not be ignored by other teams and was sold to AC Milan in 1961.
The youth project was flourishing by the ‘60s, and turning out some true talent. Chelsea’s team were young and healthy and went on to win promotions and get into three semi-finals, ending with a League Cup Final win.
By the end of the 1960s there was a thorough change around throughout the club from chairmen to managers and players. This fresh blood lead Chelsea to win the 1970 FA Cup, the following European Cup and they began to build a new stadium.
But it wasn’t all up from there. Just four years later, after financial troubles and disputes throughout the staff, the club had dropped down to Division Two and the manager was sacked.
By the early ‘80s, Chelsea had hit rock bottom. There was a continued poor crowd turn out who were dissatisfied by the poor level of football being played. On a more worrying level players weren’t being paid and the bank wouldn’t cash Chelsea’s cheques. Ken Bates was called on to save the club, due to his involvement with northern football clubs. After all of the club’s debts, Bates effectively bought the club for £1.
[Roman Abramovich with the players]
After a shaky first season, the club saw promotion to the First Division with a fresh new team made from a tight budget. Although there were more ups and downs to come and millions were spent on legal fees of the ownership of Stamford Bridge.
By 1993 the club improved. With their ground’s future now secure and Glenn Hoddle being appointed as Manager they were now appearing as serious contenders and were winning silverware throughout the ‘90s.
In 2003, a young Russian billionaire, Roman Abramovich, bought Chelsea. Over £100 million was spent on top quality players for the new season and were soon back on form.
Jose Mourinho got the team to win successive UEFA Cup and Champions League among other league cups. Chelsea was soon attracting high class players from around the world and won the Championship with the highest points on record. Team Captain, John Terry was subsequently voted PFA Player of the Year, with Frank Lampard winning Footballer of the Year. This was all finished off with a 2004-5 Carling Cup win.
[The team celebrates their FA Cup Double in 2009/10 bus parade]
Mourinho was the most successful manager in the club’s history, but the torch was passed over to Carlo Ancelotti for the 2009/10 season.
The club won the FA Cup Double in 2009/10 season with Terry and Lampard both reaching 500 Chelsea games in the same season.
After many ups and downs, manager and player changes, Jose Mourinho returned and the club is looking healthy again, and managed to secure the 2012/13 UEFA Cup.