History of an English football club
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 proceeded to modernise the club. He removed the club's Chelsea pensioner crest, improved the youth set-up and training regime, rebuilt the side with shrewd 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 failed to 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 the group of talented young players emerging from the club's youth set-up, and Chelsea challenged for honours throughout the 1960s, enduring several near-misses. 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 faltering late on in the other two. 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 took 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 (1952–61).
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 proceeded to modernise 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 the club's old nickname was no more. 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 abandoned the club's old recruiting policy of signing often unreliable stars, opting instead for lesser known but more reliable players from the lower divisions. He also urged the club's fans to be more partisan and to get behind the team. Drake's early years were unpromising, as Chelsea finished 19th and just a point away from relegation in his first season and 8th in his second.
In 1954–55, the club's jubilee year, everything clicked. The team found a consistency rate not previously there as Chelsea unexpectedly 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 old club stalwarts, right back Ken Armstrong, left-back Stan Willemse and veteran defender John Harris. Perhaps the only genuine star in the side was captain, top-scorer (with 21 league goals) and England international Roy Bentley.
Chelsea had begun the season much as they had finished the last, with four consecutive defeats, including a thrilling 5–6 loss to Manchester United, which left them 12th in November. From there the team went on a remarkable run, losing 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 success were two league wins against principal rivals and eventual runners-up Wolverhampton Wanderers. The first was a dramatic 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 club complete a unique quadruple, with the reserve, 'A' and junior sides also winning their respective leagues.
Winning the Championship should have ensured that Chelsea became the first English participants in the inaugural European Champions' Cup competition to be staged the following season. Indeed, they were drawn to face Swedish champions Djurgårdens IF in the first round. Chelsea, however, were denied by 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. 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 a disappointing 16th the following season. The team was aging and there followed a succession of uninspiring mid-table finishes; one bright spot in this period was the emergence of the prolific goalscorer Jimmy Greaves, who scored 122 league goals in four seasons. Along with Greaves, a series of other promising youngsters, informally known as "Drake's Ducklings", emerged in the first team, though their inexperience ensured that performances remained erratic. One of the lowest points for the club in this period was being 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 slumped 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 (1963–71).
Tommy Docherty.
The swinging sixties ushered in an era that saw football and inimitable style merge in the heart of London; with the fashionable King's Road at the heart of the swagger. Superstars of the time, 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 as the team became one of the most glamorous and fashionable in the country. A '60s Chelsea side that oozed charisma and class established the club as a big name for the first time, but ultimately failed to match its swagger with on-field triumphs, and endured several near-misses.
Docherty imposed a regime of strict discipline, sold off many of the club's older players, and replaced them with the new generation of talented youngsters emerging from the youth system, supplemented by some shrewd transfers. By the time he took over in January 1962, the team were already all but doomed to relegation and he used the time to experiment and plan for the future. Chelsea were duly relegated and in Docherty's first full season as manager he led them back to promotion as Second Division runners-up, secured with a crucial and hard-fought 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 thus returned to the First Division with a new, youthful team which included the uncompromising Ron "Chopper" Harris (who would set a club record of 795 senior appearances), goalkeeper Peter Bonetti, prolific 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 elegant 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 a credible 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 a brand of football based on high energy and quick passing and utilising innovative tactics – they were one of the first English teams to use overlapping full-backs. Chelsea set the early pace and emerged in a three-way tussle for the league title with Manchester United and Leeds United. The League Cup was secured thanks to a 3–2 first leg win against Leicester City, with a memorable solo effort from McCreadie proving to be the difference between the sides, and then a hard-fought 0–0 draw in the second leg at Filbert Street.
Cracks were also beginning to appear, however, as the temperamental Docherty increasingly clashed with some of the strong 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 crucial match against Burnley. The bare bones of the team that remained, a collection of reserves and youngsters, were beaten 6–2 as the title challenge collapsed; Chelsea eventually finished third.
The following season proved equally eventful, if ultimately unsuccessful, with Chelsea challenging 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 hit hard by the fixture pile-up. They finished fifth in the League, while in the FA Cup, Chelsea gained revenge for their semi-final defeat by knocking-out holders Liverpool at Anfield en route to another semi-final, where they were drawn to face Sheffield Wednesday, again at Villa Park. Favourites to reach the final, the side froze on the day and 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 reached breaking point, 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 a highly rated teenage striker named Peter Osgood.
Docherty's transfer manoeuvrings initially paid off. Chelsea, with Osgood at the heart of 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 drifted down the league and finished ninth. The highlight 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 kicked off the fierce rivalry between the two clubs. In his finest moment for Chelsea, Hateley headed in what proved to be the winner, but in a hotly contested match, 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