Family portrait in 1905

Chapter 1: The decision a hundred years ago

The establishment of Chelsea Club, and the autumn of 1904 It's about Sunday morning, the day Henry Augustus Mears reversed his decision and created one of the Premier League's most successful clubs a century later.

Mills is the founder of Chelsea and he is an avid sports fan. A hundred years ago, football was booming in Britain, but there were still no top-flight teams in London. Mills was optimistic about this football market and decided to get involved. He bought the Stamford Bridge Stadium and planned to recruit a team. First, Mills found the existing Fulham team and hoped that they would occupy Stamford Bridge. However, because the price of the rental venue was not negotiated, Fulham stayed at Craven Cottage (the team's current home stadium). Later, Mills felt the difficulty of running a stadium, and he was ready to quit.

Stamford Bridge in 1905

One Sunday morning in the autumn of 1904, Mills's partner Frederick Parker came to him and persuaded him not to give up, but Mills He seemed to have made up his mind. While the two were strolling and discussing, Mills's dog suddenly bit Parker. The latter was in severe pain and bleeding, but Parker didn't mind it and joked about it. Mills stared at Parker for a while, seeming to be thinking about something. Suddenly, he said: "You can handle 'blows' very well..." Maybe Mills thought that he should be like Parker and face setbacks and frustrations optimistically. , at this moment, he changed his mind. "You come to me at nine o'clock tomorrow, we should get busy." Mills said, just like that, he chose to persist.

Different from the usual team first and then the stadium, Chelsea was established on the contrary. Mills owned the Stamford Bridge stadium and he decided to build a team based on it. On March 14, 1905, Mills and his partners held a meeting in the "Butcher's Hook" pub opposite Stamford Bridge Stadium and decided to form a new football club. At the beginning, people had different opinions on the name of the club. Proposals such as "Stamford Bridge Football Club", "Kensington Club", "London Club", etc. were all rejected. In the end, the name "Chelsea Football Club" was adopted, and a name that has been adopted so far has been A century-long story has begun.

In 1905, Chelsea Club was founded, and John Tait Robertson became the first head coach in the history of Chelsea Club and the main force of the team. The club has also signed contracts with some well-known players, and the team is beginning to take shape. Due to their geographical location, Chelsea should have participated in the Southern League, but it was not approved. Eventually, the Football League, which was mostly composed of northern clubs, recruited Chelsea to join. On May 29, 1905, Chelsea joined the second tier of the Football League. Prior to this, Chelsea had never played an official game.

Chapter 2: They were the first Chelsea people

On September 2, 1905, Chelsea played the first game after the establishment of the club. They lost 0-1 away from home. Stockport. However, Chelsea's subsequent development was very smooth. After the second season, they were promoted to the top league.

In the early days of Chelsea there were some legendary figures. The first goalkeeper in Chelsea's history was Willier Henry Falke, nicknamed "Fatty Foulke". He was born in 1874 and died in 1916. He was 6 feet 3 inches tall (1.90 meters tall). ), weighing 11.3 quarters, approximately 141 kilograms. It is said that he once broke the wooden goal post during a game and the game was abandoned. The last club Falke played for was Bradford, and his weight had increased to 165 kilograms before retiring.

Fat Falke

George Hilsdon, nicknamed "Gatling Gun", was Chelsea's earliest center forward. In six seasons, he Scored 107 goals and became a legend in the club's history. Machine Gun's partner was Jimmy Windridge, who scored Chelsea's first hat-trick in history. Nils Middelboe was Chelsea's first foreign aid and was known as the "Great Dane" by fans. In addition, Vivian Woodward, Bob Whittingham, etc. are all famous players.

During those years, Chelsea was relegated once, but quickly returned to the top league. In the first 10 years, Chelsea's best position was eighth in the top flight. During World War I, Chelsea made a breakthrough in the cup competition and reached the FA Cup final in 1915, but lost to Manchester United 0-3 in the final at Old Trafford.

Chapter 3: Failed Superstar Strategy

In 1912, Chelsea founder Mills passed away, but the club he founded was already on the right track.