This article documents the history of Chelsea Football Club, an English association football team based in Fulham, West London. For a general overview of the club, see Chelsea F.C.
Former Arsenal and England centre-forward Ted Drake was appointed manager in 1952 and modernised the club. He removed the club's Chelsea pensioner crest, improved the youth set-up and training regime, rebuilt the side with signings from the lower divisions and amateur leagues, and led Chelsea to their first major trophy success – the League championship – in 1954–55. The following season saw UEFA create the European Champions' Cup, but after objections from The Football League, Chelsea were persuaded to withdraw from the competition before it started. Chelsea did not build on this success, and spent the remainder of the 1950s in mid-table. Drake was dismissed in 1961 and replaced by player-coach Tommy Docherty.
Docherty built a new team around young players emerging from the club's youth set-up, and Chelsea challenged for honours throughout the 1960s. They were on course for a treble of League, FA Cup and League Cup going into the final stages of the 1964–65 season, winning the League Cup but not the other two competitions. In three seasons the side were beaten in three major semi-finals and were FA Cup runners-up. Under Docherty's successor, Dave Sexton, Chelsea won the FA Cup in 1970, beating Leeds United 2–1 in a final replay. The following year, Chelsea won their first European honour, a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup triumph, with another replayed win, this time over Real Madrid in Athens.
Ted Drake: modernisation and the Championship (1952–1961)
In 1952, former Arsenal and England striker Ted Drake was appointed manager. One of the first "tracksuit managers" who used to shake each player by the hand and wish them "all the best" before each match, Drake modernised the club, both on and off the field. One of his first actions was to remove the image of a Chelsea pensioner from the match programme and discontinue the club's old nickname. From then on they were to be known as the Blues. This also led to the introduction of a new "lion rampant" crest.
He improved the training regime, introducing ballwork to training sessions, a practice rare in England at the time; the youth and scouting systems begun by his predecessor were extended and he changed the club's previous recruiting policy, signing lesser known players from the lower divisions. He also urged the club's fans to support the team more vocally. In Drake's first two seasons, Chelsea finished 19th, one point above relegation, and then 8th.
In 1954–55, the club's jubilee year, the team won the First Division title. It included goalkeeper Charlie 'Chic' Thomson, amateur players Derek Saunders and Jim Lewis, central midfielder Johnny "Jock" McNichol, wingers Eric "Rabbit" Parsons and Frank Blunstone, defender Peter Sillett and future England manager Ron Greenwood in central defence, as well club stalwarts, right back Ken Armstrong, left-back Stan Willemse and veteran defender John Harris. The most prominent player in the side was captain, top-scorer (with 21 league goals) and England international Roy Bentley.
Chelsea began the season with four consecutive defeats, including a 5–6 loss to Manchester United, which left them 12th in November. The team then lost just 3 of the next 25 games and secured the title with a game to spare after a 3–0 win against Sheffield Wednesday on St George's Day. Key to the title were two league wins against principal rivals and eventual runners-up Wolverhampton Wanderers. The first was a 4–3 win at Molineux – a game in which Chelsea were trailing 2–3 going into stoppage time – and a 1–0 win at Stamford Bridge in April, secured with a Sillett penalty awarded after Wolves captain Billy Wright had punched a goal-bound shot over the bar.
Chelsea's points total of 52 for that season remains one of the lowest to have secured the English League title since the First World War. In the final game of the season, Chelsea, now champions, were given a guard of honour by Matt Busby's Manchester United Busby Babes. That same season saw the reserve, 'A' and junior sides also win their respective leagues.
Winning the Championship made Chelsea eligible to become the first English participants in the inaugural European Champions' Cup competition to be staged the following season. They were drawn to face Swedish champions Djurgårdens IF in the first round. Chelsea, however, did not take part after the intervention of the Football League and the FA, many of whose leading members were opposed to the idea and felt that primacy should be given to domestic competitions, so the club were persuaded to withdraw.The pressure put on club chairman Joe Mears by the English footballing authorities to withdraw is referenced in this Telegraph article . The objections of Football League Secretary Alan Hardaker are discussed here . Chelsea did play an unofficial UK championship friendly against Scottish champions Aberdeen, which Aberdeen won. Chelsea presented a plate with the club crest to Aberdeen as a reward.
Chelsea were unable to build on their title success, and finished 16th the following season. The team was aging and subsequently recorded several mid-table finishes; during this period, Jimmy Greaves emerged and scored 122 league goals in four seasons. Along with Greaves, a series of other young players, informally known as Drake's Ducklings, emerged in the first team, though their inexperience contributed to inconsistent performances. Chelsea were knocked out of the FA Cup in the 3rd round by Fourth Division side Crewe Alexandra in January 1961. After Greaves was sold to Milan, results declined without his goal contributions. Drake was sacked in September after a 4–0 loss to Blackpool with Chelsea bottom of the league table. He was replaced by 33-year-old player-coach Tommy Docherty.
Emergence (1963–1971) Tommy Docherty
During the 1960s, Chelsea became associated with London's popular culture, with King's Road close to the club's Stamford Bridge ground. Public figures of the period, including Michael Caine, Steve McQueen, Raquel Welch, Terence Stamp and Richard Attenborough (former Life Vice President of the club), were regularly seen at Stamford Bridge. The team became more prominent during the decade, but did not win the league and had several near-misses in domestic competitions.
Docherty imposed a regime of discipline, sold off many of the club's older players, and replaced them with the new generation of young players emerging from the youth system, supplemented by transfers. By the time he took over in January 1962, the team were in a difficult position and he used the time to experiment and plan for the future. Chelsea were relegated and in Docherty's first full season as manager he led them back to promotion as Second Division runners-up, secured with a 1–0 win at rivals Sunderland (and a goal scored via Tommy Harmer's groin) and a 7–0 final day win over Portsmouth.
Chelsea returned to the First Division with a young team which included Ron "Chopper" Harris (who would set a club record of 795 senior appearances), goalkeeper Peter Bonetti, goalscoring winger Bobby Tambling (whose 202 goals remained a club record until 2013), midfielder John Hollins, full-back Ken Shellito, striker Barry Bridges, winger Bert Murray and captain and playmaker Terry Venables, all products of the youth system. To these, Docherty added striker George Graham, left-back Eddie McCreadie and defender Marvin Hinton for minimal fees to complete the Diamonds line-up – Docherty had referred to the team as his "little diamonds" during a TV documentary and the name stuck.
Chelsea finished fifth in their first season back in the top-flight, and in the next were on course for a domestic "treble" of league, FA Cup and League Cup, playing football based on high energy and quick passing and using tactics that included overlapping full-backs. Chelsea set the early pace and emerged in a three-way contest for the league title with Manchester United and Leeds United. The League Cup was secured through a 3–2 first leg win against Leicester City, with a solo goal from McCreadie proving to be the difference between the sides, and then a 0–0 draw in the second leg at Filbert Street.
Tensions also developed, however, as Docherty increasingly clashed with some of the personalities within the dressing room, particularly Venables. The team were beaten by title rivals Manchester United in March and lost 2–0 in their FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool, despite going into the latter match as favourites. They were nonetheless top with four games remaining. Docherty then sent home eight key players (Venables, Graham, Bridges, Hollins, McCreadie, Hinton, Murray and Joe Fascione) for breaking a curfew before a match against Burnley. The remaining team, made up of reserves and young players, were beaten 6–2 as the title challenge ended; Chelsea eventually finished third.
The following season Chelsea again challenged in the League, the FA Cup and the Fairs Cup. Playing a then-club record total of 60 games in the three competitions in the days before substitutes, the team were affected by the fixture pile-up. They finished fifth in the League, while in the FA Cup, Chelsea defeated holders Liverpool at Anfield en route to another semi-final, where they were drawn to face Sheffield Wednesday, again at Villa Park. Although considered favourites to reach the final, they were beaten 2–0 by the Yorkshire club.
Their Fairs Cup run, taking in wins over Roma (a violent encounter, during which the Chelsea team coach was ambushed by Roma fans), 1860 Munich and Milan (the last on the toss of a coin after the teams had finished level), ended in a semi-final loss to Barcelona. Both home sides won 2–0 and on another coin toss, the replay was staged at the Camp Nou, with Barça winning 5–0. Docherty, his relationship with several players having deteriorated, then made the decision to break up a team with an average age of 21. Venables, Graham, Bridges and Murray were all sold during the close-season. Scottish winger Charlie Cooke joined for £72,000, as did striker Tommy Baldwin, who arrived in part-exchange for Graham. Also emerging from the youth set-up was teenage striker Peter Osgood.
Docherty's transfer changes initially had an effect. Chelsea, with Osgood in the team, topped the league table in October 1966, the only unbeaten side after ten league games. But Osgood broke his leg in a League Cup tie and the side's momentum was disrupted. To replace Osgood, Docherty immediately signed striker Tony Hateley for a club record £100,000, but Hateley's aerial game did not suit Chelsea's style and he struggled to fit in. They moved down the league and finished ninth. The notable result of that season was reaching the FA Cup final. En route to that final was a win over Leeds United in the semi-finals, the game widely seen as the one which started the rivalry between the two clubs. Hateley headed in what proved to be the winner, while Leeds had two goals disallowed, one for offside and one for a Peter Lorimer free-kick taken too quickly.
Chelsea competed with Tottenham Hotspur in the first all-London FA Cup final, known as the Cockney Cup Final. It was Chelsea's first appearance in the final since 1915 and their first ever appearance in the final at Wembley. In leading out the side, Ron Harris, at 22, was the youngest ever captain to take to the field in the competition's finale. Chelsea lost 2–1 to a Spurs side containing both Venables and Jimmy Greaves, with a late Tambling header reducing the deficit. Docherty was sacked shortly into the next season with the team having won only two of their opening ten games, which included a 6–2 home loss to Southampton, amid reports of dressing room unrest over bonus payments and whilst serving a 28-day ban from football management handed out by the FA.