In June 1897 three teams took the field at Stamford Bridge to compete for a "World Championship". One was from Ireland, a second from London and the other from north of the border. The London club had been founded in 1874, a decade after football had been created in the capital and just as football was taking off in Scotland. The Scottish one had been formed almost two decades later, had enjoyed almost instant success winning its national cups in 1897 and 1898, hence the challenge, which was met even though it involved a thousand mile round-trip, and won, as was stated at the tie, "rather easily", 6-1.
And that was the problem with, as it was known then, the Stamford Bridge Athletic Ground. It was the stadium for a miscellany of events. That June day there had been running and throwing and tugging as separate sports not just a part of the game on the pitch but then that was because the game itself was not, as can be told from the score, rugby nor, indeed, football but shinty. It was the London Highland Association's day out. In fact no football was played at Stamford Bridge at all either that day or any. It took place down the road at Craven Cottage, where Fulham were and since 1896 still are.
The Stamford Bridge ground itself had been opened in 1877 and was the home of the London Athletic Club. It was a fine facility but had not been doing as intended, making any money. And it still was in 1894, when it was bought by brothers, Gus and Jo Mears, with the intention of putting on football matches. At that time football was a sport that, having embedded itself in North and the Midlands in the London area was expanding rapidly. Fulham had been founded in 1879, Tottenham and Queens Park Rangers in 1882, Arsenal, Woolwich Arsenal in 1886 largely by Scot,
David Danskin and West Ham in 1895. And it appeared the Mears brothers were missing the boat. The fact that the ground was only leasehold was holding them up badly.
That changed in 1904. The ground's owner died. The Mears acquired the freehold and set about constructing a stadium on what little more than a field. They brought in Archibald Leitch to design it and by 1905 were ready. But what to do with what they had? Having before reconstruction thought about selling the land to the Great Western Railway to dump coal on and then failing to persuade Fulham to move there because of dispute over rent, Fulham in the meantime also bringing in Leitch to revamp The Cottage, the Mears frankly had a white elephant on their hands. Nobody wanted it, they had to fill it and in a scenario not unlike Liverpool and Anfield the only solution was to create a football club, starting with no natural, local spectators, who went to watch The Lilywhites, and no players.
Much is made in Chelsea folklore about how it was founded in March 1905 in the pub opposite the main gates. It might have been, the Mears taking a little much-needed refreshment but the truth is its origins were in a cheque book not enthusiasts. The name Chelsea was chosen just because, it was a marketing ploy, and the blue colours because they were those of Lord Chelsea so more marketing. Then an application was made to join not the Football League, that was rightly seen as above station, but the Southern League. The problem was that both Fulham and Tottenham objected, the former because the new club would be right on its doorstep, and Tottenham because it could. The objections back-fired completely. Instead of going away with its tail between its legs and going back to talking to the railway companies the Mears open the cheque-book once more and recruited some names. One was the absolutely enormous Sheffield United and former England 'keeper, Fatty Foulke. Another, taking a leaf out of Tottenham's book with John Cameron, as player-manager was John Tait Robertson of Rangers and a then current Scottish international. And with those names it was straight back to the Football League and this time they bought it, interested as they were in expanding from their predominantly Northern base. Ahead of Fulham and Tottenham, which had to wait another two and three years respectively, and much to their anger, which continues to this day, Chelsea were admitted to an expanded Second Division.
At this point Chelsea went into overdrive. Furious recruitment followed and by the end of the season there was a squad of twenty-eight, of whom sixteen were Scots, including seven of the eight half-backs, two of them, the Georges Henderson and Key with a cap each. And the squad was young. Thirteen of the twenty-eight was under 23 but noticeably only seven of the younger ones were Scots. In other words Tait Robertson bought on the one hand Scottish experience, and it they who made up the team week-on-week with Robbie McRoberts, ex. centre-forward dropping back as his Scottish attacking centre-half, and on the other he then augmented it with younger and presumably cheaper more local talent. And to an extent it worked. In the FA Cup they were "done over" by a robust Crystal Palace from the Southern League, 7-1, in the Third Round but they were learning and the end of season saw them in a creditable third place, nine points off Bristol City and Manchester United. It all looked set. The foot was firmly in the door. And the following year, in fact it got better. Although Tait Robertson was gone a few weeks into the season after a better offer from Glossop, yes Glossop, the cheque book was out again and David Calderhead, former Scottish international centre-half, was appointed as manager in November. He proved a bargain in terms of financial continuity at least. He would stay for twenty-six years, achieving promotion in his first season, although largely on the foundation laid by Tait Robertson, chug for twenty of them between the First and Second Divisions, only leaving finally in 1933 from the repercussions of the
Nimes Affair and the departure of one
Alex Jackson.