Introduction - Stamford Bridge History

Stamford Bridge History - Introduction

Stamford Bridge, known fondly to myself as ‘The Mecca’. We go there, some of our Dads went there and some of our granddads did as well (not to mention Mums and Grans!). In the long, grand, and often not so grand history of the club we adore we have seen a plethora of players come and go, managers succeed but mostly failed, made friends, lost friends, met programme sellers, and argued with ticket sellers (unless it was Ken in the 80s!). Many faces met, many forgotten, many moved on and sadly many have died.

Throughout all this change, all this history and all this camaraderie there is one element that binds it all together, one thing that unquestionably provides a clear link from Zola to Greaves, from Mourinho to Drake, from me to you, my Dad to yours, from each and everyone to Dorset’s Grandad and from Dorset’s Grandad to Bluebeard! That thing, of course, is Stamford Bridge. And this is the reason why my flabber is always ghasted when I hear talk of Chelsea considering moving to a new stadium. Leaving the Bridge would, in effect, be cutting an umbilical cord between everything that has happened to Chelsea since 1905 and leave us with a state of the art stadium that would look fabulous when filmed from above on Match of the Day but would be utterly soulless (and half empty on far too many occasions).

So I offer you a massively summarised history of the Bridge and to its past, present and, hopefully very long, future I raise my bottle of ‘Old Speckled Hen’ (Owners of Morland please note this piece of free advertising and have 10 cases of OSH delivered to my door by Special Delivery!).

I have split it into 7 chronologically ordered chapters

Chapter 1 - Twenty Eight Years BC (1877-1905)

The opening chapter tells the tale of the Bridge in the years 'Before Chelsea', from its opening as an athletics stadium to the day Chelsea were formed.

Chapter 2 - From the Blues to the Doghouse (1905-1935)

Follow the early years of the Bridge as a football stadium as it entertains a whole motley crew of people from football players to baseball players and from soldiers to royalty and at the end of it all we even let the dogs in.

Chapter 3 - Moscow and Motors (1935-1950)

A lot can happen in 15 years and between 1935 and 1950 it surely did. Records were broken, albeit unofficially, war came and went, petrol heads came to the Bridge and 'The Shed' was born.

Chapter 4 - Dreams are Free, Building Them Isn't (1950-1974)

The West Stand filled Chelsea with confidence, misplaced confidence - this nearly brought the club to a premature end.

Chapter 5 - Saving the Bridge (1975-1993)

Ken Bates - think of what you like now, and of the later mistakes he made, but never forget what we have to thank him for.

Chapter 6 - And finally....... (1993-2008)

After many failed dreams the Bridge finally gets a full face lift, although there was still one last brush with near disaster!

Chapter 7 - The Future (2008 - ????)

What lies ahead for the Bridge, will the next generation see Chelsea play there?

Click here to read Chapter 1 - Twenty Eight Years BC (1877-1905)