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Thank you, Fulham

Chelsea Football Club owe their existence to the fact that Fulham declined an invitation to move to Stamford Bridge.

In 1904 Gus Mears and his brother acquired the lease to the London Athletic club with a view to building a football stadium. Shortly after, they were approached by the Great Western Railway Company who wanted to buy the land for marshalling yards.

Rather than turn a quick profit, the Mears brothers decided to press on with their plan for a football stadium. They raised the money they needed and built Stamford Bridge, then the second largest stadium in England after Crystal Palace.

Birth of the Blues

When Fulham declined the offer to play at the Bridge, citing the high annual rent, the brothers formed their own team, adopting the light blue racing colours of Lord Chelsea and, after some debate, deciding on the name Chelsea Football Club.

Election to the Football League...without kicking a ball!

After an approach to join the Southern League was turned down the Blues successfully applied to join the Second Division of the Football League. Thus Chelsea joined the League before they had played a single game - an achievement they share with Bradford City.

In their first season, the club finishing third, and in their second season (1906/1907) they were promoted to Division One. However, they made little impression in their early years, despite the many star players who graced the team.

League Champions at last

In 1955, the team managed by Ted Drake finally ended Chelsea's long wait for a trophy, when they won the League Championship for the first time. The following season they returned to mediocrity, finishing 16th in the 22-team division.

In 1961, the club were relegated to Division Two but bounced back the following season to embark on one of the most successful periods in their history.

A Golden Decade

Throughout the decade the Blues finished high up in the League and had success in the cups, winning the League cup in 1965, the FA Cup in 1970 and the European Cup-Winners' Cup in 1971. In 1975 the club were relegated to Division Two, promoted four seasons later, and relegated again in 1979.

Ken Bates saves Chelsea Football Club

Chelsea spent the next five seasons in Division Two, during which time the club was acquired By Ken Bates. At the time the club were crippled by debt and talk of mergers with other West London clubs was rife. It is therefore safe to say that, but for the intervention of Bates, Chelsea Football Club would not exist today.

In 1984, they were promoted as champions, only to be relegated again in 1987/1988. They won promotion, again as Champions, in 1988/1989, and have remained in the top flight ever since.

The late 90's and the early years of the new century saw a steady improvement as a succession of top foreign stars graced the Stamford Bridge pitch.

More Silverware

Chelsea won the FA Cup in 1997, the League Cup and European Cup Winners Cup in 1998 and the FA Cup again in 2000. League performances also improved and the club became a consistent top six finisher.

The Russian Invasion

In 2003, Bates sold the club to Roman Abramovich. The Russian billionaire immediately cleared the club's debts and made a huge transfer kitty available enabling the club to sign some of the world's top players.

The Coming of The Special One

The charismatic Portuguese manager, Jose Mourinho was recruited in 2004 and delivered back-to-back Premier League titles in 2005 and 2006, two League cups (2006, 2007) and the FA Cup in 2007. Inexplicably, the most successful manager in the Blues history was dismissed just 6 games into the 2007/2008 season.

Strange Days at The Bridge

His surprise replacement was the unknown Israeli Avram Grant. Under Grant the Blues endured a frustrating, and ultimately unsuccessful, season ending as Premier League runner-up and beaten finalists in both the Champions League and the League Cup.

They also relinquished their grip on the F.A. Cup suffering an embarrassing defeat to Championship strugglers Barnsley.

Grant was fired within days of the Champions League defeat.

His successor was World Cup winning Brazilian coach Luis Fillipe Scolari, but despite a bright start, the Scolari reign soon ran into trouble and he was fired after just 7 months in charge.

Hiddink's Successful Cameo

Russia coach Guus Hiddink came in on a caretaker basis and guided the Blues to the Champions League semi-final where they were controversially eliminated by Barcelona.

Hiddink's final game in charge was the F.A. Cup final which Chelsea won 2-1 against Everton.

The Double

Former AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti was appointed as manager on 1 June 2009, and the Italian completed a memorable first season, leading the Blues to their first League and FA Cup double - becoming only the 7th team to have achieved the feat.

However, Ancelotti was not able to build on this triumph, a year later the Blues finished trophy-less, and the Italian was dismissed despite finishing second in the league.

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