Founding of Chelsea FC in 1905
A stadium in search of a team: how Chelsea began.
Chelsea Football Club was founded on 10 March 1905 at The Rising Sun pub, now The Butcher's Hook, opposite the present main entrance to Stamford Bridge on Fulham Road. It was founded by businessman Gus Mears to play at the stadium he owned.
Quick Facts
- Founded
- 10 March 1905
- Founder
- Gus Mears
- Place
- The Rising Sun pub, Fulham Road
Lore & Background
In 1904 Gus Mears and his brother Joseph acquired the Stamford Bridge athletics stadium in Fulham, aiming to turn it into a football ground; it was designed for the family by the architect Archibald Leitch. Mears offered to lease it to nearby Fulham F.C., who turned it down, so he founded his own club. Because there was already a Fulham in the borough, the club took the name of the neighbouring borough of Chelsea; Kensington FC, Stamford Bridge FC and London FC were also considered.
Reader's Guide
The Mears family owned the club until 1982, when Ken Bates bought it from Gus Mears's great-nephew Brian Mears for £1.
Chelsea were elected to the Football League shortly after their founding and won promotion to the First Division in their second season. In the early years they moved between the First and Second Divisions, signed star players and drew large crowds, with the highest average attendance in English football in ten separate seasons.
More in Club History & Eras
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