Amiga, an off-shoot of Commodore

Amiga, an off-shoot of Commodore, also appeared on the shirts. Chelsea were subsequently sponsored by Coors beer (1995–97), Autoglass (1997–2001) and Emirates Airline (2001–05). Chelsea's current shirt sponsor is Samsung^[106] who took over the sponsorship from their mobile division in 2007–08. Sony VAIO VGN-AW190NBB Battery

The club also has a variety of other sponsors and partners, which include Delta Air Lines,^[107] Sauber, Audi, Gazprom,^[108] Singha, Thomas Cook Sport, BNI, 188BET, EA Sports, Coca Cola, Dolce & Gabbana, Lucozade Sport andViagogo.

In 1930, Chelsea featured in one of the earliest football films, The Great Game.^[110] Sony VAIO VGN-AW190NCB Battery

One-time Chelsea centre forward, Jack Cock, who by then was playing for Millwall, was the star of the film and several scenes were shot at Stamford Bridge, including the pitch, the boardroom, and the dressing rooms. It included guest appearances by then-Chelsea players Andrew Wilson, George Mills, and Sam Millington.^[111] Sony VAIO VGN-AW190YAB Battery

Owing to the notoriety of the Chelsea Headhunters, a football firm associated with the club, Chelsea have also featured in films about football hooliganism, including 2004's The Football Factory.^[112] Chelsea also appear in the Hindi film Jhoom Barabar Jhoom.^[113] In April 2011, Sony VAIO VGN-AW190YBB Battery

Montenegrin comedy series Nijesmo mi od juče made an episode in which Chelsea plays against FK Sutjeska Nikšić for qualification of the UEFA Champions League.

Up until the 1950s, the club had a long-running association with the music halls, with their underachievement often providing material for comedians such as George Robey.^[116] Sony VAIO VGN-AW190YCB Battery

It culminated in comedian Norman Long's release of a comic song in 1933, ironically titled "On the Day That Chelsea Went and Won the Cup", the lyrics of which describe a series of bizarre and improbable occurrences on the hypothetical day when Chelsea finally won a trophy.^[15] The song "Blue is the Colour" was released as a single in the build-up to the 1972 League Cup Final, Sony VAIO VGN-AW190YDB Battery

with all members of Chelsea's first team squad singing; it reached number five in the UK Singles Chart.^[117] (The song was later adopted, as an anthem, by the Vancouver Whitecaps in Canada, after being changed to "White is the Colour".^[118]) In the build-up to the 1997 FA Cup Final, the song "Blue Day",Sony VAIO VGN-AW220J/B Battery

performed by Suggs and members of the Chelsea squad, reached number 22 in the UK charts.^[119] Bryan Adams, a fan of Chelsea,^[120] dedicated the song "We're Gonna Win" from the album 18 Til I Die to the club.

Chelsea also operate a women's football team, Chelsea Ladies. Sony VAIO VGN-AW230J/H Battery

It has been affiliated to the men's team since 2004,^[122] and is part of the club's Community Development programme. They play their home games at Imperial Fields, the home ground of Isthmian League club Tooting & Mitcham United.^[123] The club won the Surrey County Cup in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010,^[124] Sony VAIO VGN-AW235J/B Battery

and were promoted to the Premier Division for the first time in 2005 as Southern Divisionchampions. In the 2009–10 season, they finished 3rd in the Premier League, equalling their highest ever placing, and in 2010 were one of the eight founder members of the FA Women's Super League.^[125] Sony VAIO VGN-AW290JFQ Battery

John Terry, the current captain of the Chelsea men's team, is President of Chelsea LFC.

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. Sony VAIO VGN-AW41JF Battery

Founded in 1905, Chelsea quickly gained a reputation for signing big name players and for attracting large crowds, but failed to win a major trophy in their first fifty years. They spent thirty of their first forty seasons in the First Division, although often found themselves finishing in mid-table or battling relegation. Sony VAIO VGN-AW41JF/H Battery

The closest Chelsea came to success was in the FA Cup; they were runners-up in 1915 and losing semi-finalists in 1911, 1920, 1932, 1950 and 1952. The duck was finally broken by manager Ted Drake, who introduced a series of changes at the club and led Chelsea to the League Championship in 1955. Sony VAIO VGN-AW41MF Battery

The period 1963–72 saw Chelsea regularly challenge for honours for the first time, although they often narrowly missed out. The League Cup was won in 1965, the FA Cup in 1970 and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1971; they were also FA Cup runners-up in 1967 and League Cup runners-up in 1972. Sony VAIO VGN-AW41MF/H Battery

Several problems over the next decade, principally the debt burden caused by an ambitious attempt to redevelop Stamford Bridge, brought the club to the brink of extinction, before a revival under John Neal in the mid-1980s saw the club win the Second Division title and ultimately re-establish itself in the top flight. Sony VAIO VGN-AW41XH Battery

A further revival under managers Ruud Gullit and Gianluca Vialli from 1996–2000 saw Chelsea win the FA Cup in 1997 and 2000, the League Cup and UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1998, and qualify for the Champions League for the first time; the club have not finished outside of the top six in the Premier League since the1995–96 season. Sony VAIO VGN-AW41XH/Q Battery

In 2003, Chelsea were bought by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, ushering in the club's current phase of success. José Mourinho led them to two league titles, an FA Cup and two League Cups in three seasons. The club added a further FA Cup in 2009, and then their first League and FA Cup "Double" in 2010. Sony VAIO VGN-AW41ZF Battery

Under the stewardship of former player Roberto Di Matteo, the club won a seventh FA Cup in 2012, before going on to win its first UEFA Champions Leaguetitle.

In 1896, Henry Augustus "Gus" Mears, football enthusiast and businessman, along with his brother, Joseph Mears, purchased the Stamford Bridge Athletics Groundin Fulham, Sony VAIO VGN-AW41ZF/B Battery

West London, with the intention of staging first-class football matches there, though they had to wait until 1904 to buy the freehold, when the previous owner died. They failed to persuade Fulham Football Club to adopt the ground as their home after a dispute over the rent, Sony VAIO VGN-AW50DB/H Battery

so Mears considered selling to the Great Western Railway Company, who wanted to use the land as a coal-dumping yard. Mears' colleague Fred Parker was trying unsuccessfully to dissuade him. Parker later recounted what happened next:

Feeling sad that the old ground would be no more, I walked slowly by his [Mears'] side when his dog, Sony VAIO VGN-AW51JGB Battery

coming up from behind unobserved, bit me so severely through my cycling stockings as to draw blood freely. On telling the owner "Your damned dog has bitten me, look!" and showing him the blood, instead of expressing concern he casually observed, "Scotch terrier; always bites before he speaks." Sony VAIO VGN-AW52JGB Battery

The utter absurdity of the remark struck me as so genuinely funny that although hopping about on one foot and feeling blood trickling down, I had to laugh heartily and tell him he was the "coolest fish" I'd ever met.

A minute later he surprised me by slapping me on the shoulder and saying, Sony VAIO VGN-AW53FB Battery

"You took that bite damned well, most men would have kicked up hell about it. Look here, I'll stand on you; never mind the others. Go to the chemists and get that bite seen to and meet me here at nine tomorrow morning and we'll get busy".

Thus on a whim, Mears changed his mind and decided to take Parker's advice to instead found his own football club to occupy Stamford Bridge. Sony VAIO VGN-AW70B/Q Battery

Chelsea Football Club were founded on 10 March 1905^[2] at The Rising Sun pub, (now The Butcher's Hook) opposite today's main entrance to the ground on the Fulham Road. Since there was already a team named Fulham in theborough, the name of the adjacent borough, the Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea, Sony VAIO VGN-AW71JB Battery

was settled on after London FC,Kensington FC and Stamford Bridge FC had been rejected.^[3] Blue shirts were adopted by Mears, after the racingcolors of Lord Chelsea, along with white shorts and dark blue socks.

Chelsea initially considering joining the Southern League, Sony VAIO VGN-AW72JB Battery

but were rejected following objections from Fulham andTottenham Hotspur, so they instead applied for admission to the Football League. Their candidacy was endorsed at the Football League AGM on 29 May 1905; a speech by Parker was particularly important, emphasising the new club's financial stability, Sony VAIO VGN-AW73FB Battery

ts impressive new stadium and marquee players such as William "Fatty" Foulke, the 22 stone goalkeeper who had won a league title and two FA Cups with Sheffield United.

28-year-old Scottish international half-back John Robertson was hired as player-manager. The club began with established players recruited from other teams; along with Foulke, Sony VAIO VGN-AW80NS Battery

Chelsea signed forwards Jimmy Windridge and Bob McRoberts from Small Heath, and Frank Pearson from Manchester City. Chelsea's first league match took place away at Stockport County on 2 September 1905. They lost the game 1–0.^[4] Their first home match was against Liverpool in a friendly. They won 4–0. Robertson also scored Chelsea's first competitive goal, in a 1–0 win against Blackpool.^[5] Sony VAIO VGN-AW80S Battery

Chelsea finished a respectable 3rd in the Second Division in their first season, but Robertson steadily saw his position undermined by board room interference. He lost the power to select the team in November 1905, and by January 1907 he had left for Glossop.^[6] Club secretary William Lewis took temporary charge and led the team to promotion at the end of the season, thanks largely to the goals of Windridge and George "Gatling Gun" Hilsdon. Sony VAIO VGN-AW80US Battery

The latter was the first of many prolific strikers/forwards to play for Chelsea; he scored five goals on his debut and 27 in the promotion season en route to becoming the first player to score 100 goals for the club.

Lewis was succeeded by David Calderhead, who was to manage Chelsea for the next 26 years. Sony VAIO VGN-AW81DS Battery

The club's early seasons produced little success, and they yo-yoed between the First and Second divisions. They were relegated in 1909–10, promoted in 1911–12 and finished 19th in 1914–15, the final competitive season before football in England was suspended owing to World War I. Sony VAIO VGN-AW81JS Battery

The club would normally have been relegated, but when regular football resumed in 1919 the league was expanded to 22 teams and Chelsea were re-elected to the First Division.

In 1915, under the shadow of the First World War, Chelsea reached their first FA Cup final, the so-called "Khaki" cup final, owing to the large number of uniformed soldiers in attendance. Sony VAIO VGN-AW81YS Battery

The match against Sheffield United was played in a sombre atmosphere and staged at Old Trafford in Manchester to avoid disruption in London. Chelsea, minus their top amateur striker, Vivian Woodward, who had sportingly insisted that the team who reached the final ought to keep their places, were seemingly unnerved by the occasion and outplayed for much of the match. Sony VAIO VGN-AW82DS Battery

Goalkeeper Jim Molyneux's mistake allowed United to score before half-time, but the Blues held out until the final six minutes, when their opponents added two more to win 3–0.

In spite of their checkered fortunes, Chelsea became one of the best-supported teams in the country, Sony VAIO VGN-AW82JS Battery

with fans attracted by the team's reputation for playing entertaining attacking football and for signing star players, notably half-back Ben Warren and striker Bob Whittingham. The club had the highest average attendance in English football in 1907–08,^[7] 1909–10,^[8] 1911–12,^[9] 1912–13^[10] and 1913–14.^[11] Sony VAIO VGN-AW82YS Battery