Chelsea’s heyday was the late 1960s and early 1970s when the King’s Road was the place to been seen and Chelsea were hailed as the most stylish club in the land. Blessed with the likes of Peter Bonetti, Charlie Cooke and the great Peter Osgood, they were indeed the Manchester United of the day. Whenever I went to the barbers, soon after he stopped putting a wooden board across the arms for me to sit on, you would see pictures of George Best and Peter Osgood on the walls showing off their hairstyles and the barber would charge a bit more if you wanted an Osgood hairdo. I was lucky enough to watch Ozzie play regularly when he came to Southampton in 1974 in some of the first games I watched at the Dell.
Today Chelsea are trying to recapture those glory days and again be the No1 club in the land. Spending millions trying to buy the title from all comers, and sacking their manager for daring to come second in the Premiership are just a couple of ways Chelsea are trying to achieve greatness once again. Chelsea is more commonly known as Chelski these days after their owner, Russia’s most affluent squillionaire Roman Abramovich, and it is he who has designed the clubs soon to be unveiled new badge. (PIC 1) The star, hammer and sickle refers to the Russian takeover and the CFC stands for Chelski Football Club. The star, hammer, sickle, and initials are in the club’s colours of blue and white. Okay, I jest, I designed it myself as a joke, but I had you going didn’t I! Sorry, I am still full of the jolly japes that Charlton got up to on the previous page.
Chelsea has had many badges over the years including the 1905-1952 Pensioners badge. (PIC 2) This, of course, alludes to the clubs old nickname “The Pensioners” and represents the nearby home of old soldiers called Chelsea Pensioners. Just for a year, the club sported the initials CFC in a shield. This was from 1952-1953 and will remind you of nearby Queens Park Rangers, or even Glasgow Rangers. (PIC 3) The next badge was introduced in 1953 and stayed until 1986. (PIC 4) The badge is still evident on a lot of Chelsea merchandise today and is in the roundel with the club name at the bottom, and at the top are three roses and two footballs. The main design is that of a blue lion rampant regardant or, stood up and looking behind. The lion is holding in its paws a red crosier, all on a white background which again makes up the club colours. Now we have to take a look at the Kensington and Chelsea coat of arms for further information on the badge as it is the arms from where the emblems in the badge were taken. (PIC 5) The arms were granted in 1903 and it is quartered by a cross on a red shield. The two main aspects we are interested in are the lion and the crosier. The lion is derived from the arms of the Cadogan family. Lord Charles Sloane Cadogan, born in 1728, married the youngest daughter of Sir Hans Sloane, who is represented by the boar’s heads and sword, both of who were Lords of the Manor of Chelsea. Today’s Lord Cadogan is one of the richest men in the country and his ex-wife, Lady Chelsea, was once famously duped by the Sacha Baron Cohen character Ali G into giving him etiquette lessons. Class!
Back to the badge and the crosier on the arms, that’s the thing that looks like a shepherd’s crook. It alludes to the Abbot of Westminster, whose jurisdiction extended over Chelsea and he is a supposed shepherd of that flock. The remaining symbols are a winged bull, representing St Luke, Patron Saint of the Parish and the stag’s head, which comes from the Stanley family arms. One of Sir Hans Sloane’s other daughters married into the Stanley family. The motto, “NISI DOMINUS FRUSTRA” translates as, Unless God be With All Will Be In Vain.
The next badge came along in 1986 and remained until 2005. (PIC 6) This more modern looking badge has a yellow lion jumping through the C and over the FC of the club’s initials in white, on a background of blue. As well as playing in Blue, the club’s nickname is “The Blues”. In 2005 the present badge arrived and there is nothing I can tell you about it that has not already been said as it is basically the 1953-1986 badge reinvented. (PIC 7) The name Chelsea comes from the Anglo-Saxon place name Caelichyth, meaning, chalk wharf a landing place for chalk or limestone, from the Olde English cealc, taken from Ancient Greek khálix meaning small stone and from the Olde English hwearf, meaning heap or embankment. So Chelsea started life as an Anglo Saxon settlement on an embankment where chalk and gravel were found or delivered to.
Chelsea plays at Stamford Bridge, not to be confused with the Yorkshire Stamford Bridge, the place of the battle in 1066. This Stamford Bridge was named after a bridge that was built over nearby Stamford Creek. This area is now an underground station called Stamford Brook and the bridge is now part of the Fulham Road. Fulham were supposed to be the new tenants of Stamford Bridge when it was first built but were happy where they were at Craven Cottage much to the dismay of the new leaseholders the Mears brothers. They had hoped to build a 100,000 capacity stadium to house Fulham, so they founded their own club named it after the area and in 1905 Chelsea were formed, admitted to the league and housed all in one fell swoop. The Mears Brothers had to settle for an 80,000-capacity ground, still quite impressive and it served the club into the 1960s when some seats were put in which reduced the capacity to 60,000. Today, as an all-seated stadium the Bridge holds 41,630, just over half the original, never the less it is still a daunting place to visit. Rivals of Chelsea are Fulham, Tottenham, Arsenal and from some good old scraps of that 70’s era, Leeds are held as rivals too. For more information on “The Pensioners” get your bus pass and travel to www.chelseafc.com
