The first Football League match between two teams.Two years after their founding, we play host to Woolwich Arsenal in front of over 55,000 spectators at The Bridge and win 2 - 1. On the left, the two captains, WIndridge and Sands, shake hands. On the right, the Chelsea goalkeeper makes a save. Date: 9 November 1907

Paris 1937: Paris Exhibition Trophy Final,

Bologna 4-1 Chelsea

Venue Colombes Stadium. Venue for the 1924 Olympic Games.

BOLOGNA: Ceresoli; Fiorini, Gasperi; Montesanto, Andreolo, Corsi; Busoni, Sansone, Schiavio, Fedullo, Reguzzoni.

CHELSEA: Jackson; Barkas, Barber, Mitchell, Craig, Weaver, Spence, Argue, Bambrick, Gibson, Reid.

REFEEE Leclercq (France)

SCORERS: 14′ Reguzzoni (B), 20′ Busoni (B), 30′ Reguzzoni (B), 72′ Reguzzoni (B), 78′ Weaver (C).

From Le Figaro, 7th June 1937 

The favourites from day one Bologna have won the Paris Exhibition Trophy.

They beat Chelsea 4-1 yesterday in Colombes as the Italians took the trophy. Before the match, three-quarters wouldn’t have backed Bologna after Chelsea were put on a pedestal after beating Austria Vienna on Thursday that perhaps the British side were not worthy of. That’s not to minimise the triumph of the Italians.

As against Sochaux eight days ago, Bologna imposed themselves physically and with their ferocious desire to win but they also showed a sense of security which hindered the British side. Bologna gave a great demonstration of what was expected of them and it would be foolish to doubt the quality of this team or Italian football.

In this regard, there has been a tendency on this side of the Alps to doubt Italian footballers. Before the match, the Sochaux goalkeeper Di Lorto who faced Bologna the Sunday before told me “I don’t believe that this is the real strength of Bologna. Sunday’s win was because Sochaux played very badly.”

Was Di Lorto made to realise his error minutes later? How many directors and football experts thought like he did and were really convinced of this? The match between France and Italy will be at the start of the next season.

Yesterday’s result showed what we suspected of Italian football but it was much more physical than we expected. To take on these athletes, will we find a French side who are competitive on their level? It will be necessary to take to the pitch with fast, strong and athletic players.

Quality is what we have been searching for for years in our national team and France vs. Italy seems as though it will be a very difficult match.

The first ten minutes saw the English look brilliant and inspired but their opponents were able to organise themselves and take control. Faster and more determined, the Italians completely imposed themselves. A mistake from the full-back Barkas allowed Reguzzoni to open the scoring.

Six minutes later and Busoni had scored the second goal. Before the break, Reguzzoni added a third. In the second half, Bologna relaxed as they were three goals up. The English took advantage by regaining control of the match but they found themselves against Bologna’s solid difference as Ceresoli and Gasperi were particularly distinguished. 

The Italians then scored another through Reguzzoni. Before the end, Chelsea restored some honour with a goal thanks to some good individual play from Weaver. Bologna’s best players were Ceresoli, Reguzzoni, Sansone, Andreolo and Fedullo and it’s noted that three of these players are from South America.

Chelsea really disappointed. Only Argue and Weaver looked really determined. The others made obvious mistakes that we are not used to seeing from British sides.

Thanks to Archivio Timf- Historic research on Bologna

https://www.bolognafc.it/en/paris-1937-final-bologna-4-1-chelsea/

Looks of hats and caps worn to The Bridge for this game game against Grimsby Town in April 1929.

25,079 was the official attendance! 😀

Edited August 23, 2025Aug 23 by erskblue

John Jackson makes a save in a 2-2 draw with Birmingham City. Wed 6th March 1935 with a 3.30pm kick off.

The official attendance for this game is given as 13,016!

Perhaps that’s just those on the terracing in this picture !😀

A vintage postcard featuring headshots of Chelsea FC footballers superimposed on an illustration of a football and a goal, circa 1907-1908.

Included are: Billy Bridgeman (1882 - 1947), Frank Lyon (1879 - 1917), George Henderson (1880 - 1930), Jack Whitley (1880 - 1955), Jimmy Stark (1880 - 1949), Jimmy Frost (1880 - 1928), Ben Whitehouse (1881 - 1941), Martin Moran (1879 - 1948), Norrie Fairgay (1880 - 1968), James Windridge (1882 - 1939), George Hilsdon (1885 - 1941), Fred Rouse (1881 - 1953), William Brawn (1878 - 1933), Ted Birnie (1878 - 1935), Bob McRoberts (1874 - 1959), George Key (1882 - 1958), Tommy Miller (1882 - 1932), Jock Cameron (1879 - 1950) and Bob Whiting (1883 - 1917). (Photo by Paul Popper/Popperfoto via Getty Images).

Peter Barnard playing for the Chelsea youth team in March 1953

Boyne posted this in The other Vintage Thread. Cheers mate!🍻

Today is the 120th anniversary of our first league game. Away at Stockport County. We lost 1-0.

Our first home match. West Brom in Sept 1905.

Hence the Name of this thread!

Edited September 2, 2025Sep 2 by erskblue

Posted this at the start of this thread. Thought it worth a repost.

https://playupliverpool.com/1905/09/09/the-chelsea-club-1905-06/

The Chelsea club 1905-06

September 9, 1905
The latest recruit to southern football is the Chelsea Club, which opened its gates to the public on Monday evening, September 4. It bids fair to be a power in the football land, for its enclosure, when completed, will be one of the most comfortable and commodious in Great Britain, and the team should prove strong enough to gain a prominent position in the second Division of the League.

Already upwards £30,000 has been spent on the ground, and accommodation is being made for 150,000 spectators. The covered stand is a model structure. Built to hold 6,000 people, it is replete underneath with rooms for the players, officials, and visitors, and the baths provided for the men are in advance of any in the South.

The right sort of sportsmen are connected with its management too, The Earl of Cadogan and Mr. C.B. Fry are the President; and the directorate include Mr. H.A. Mears and Mr. G. Thomas. Mr. Mears owns the ground, and he is practically superintending its making. He is a keen sportsman, and is as well-known in racing circles as in connection with football.

In Mr. Thomas, of Southampton, he has a worthy colleague, for there is no more enthusiastic supporter of the winter pastime than the Sotonian. He is proprietor of the Southampton Club’s ground, accompanies the men to most of the matches, and an international game would not seem itself if he, and Mrs. Thomas, were not among the spectators.

Then there is Mr. Fred W. Parker, as hon. financial secretary. Mr. Parker has been connected with athletics for many years, and is one of our best-known handicappers. He is found of sports in all its forms and occupies the position of secretary of the London Athletic Club.

The players are all good-class men, the older ones having made great reputations on the field, while the younger are full of promise. A few particulars about them may be of interest.

Goal:
Bill Foulke (captain and goalkeeper) comes from Sheffield United. He has kept goal for England. He is the bulkiest football player living, and is such a mountain of flesh between the posts that opposing forwards are said to have complained that they had not sufficient of the goal to shoot at. As a compromise that marks should be drawn on Foulkes. If the ball hit him inside the marks it was a save, but if outside the shot should count as goal.

Mick Byrne (Southampton) is understudy to Foulkes, and is likely to make a great name for himself.

Backs:
Bob Mackie (Heart of Midlothian) is 22 years old, a clever and determined tackler at back, and was one of the fastest men in Scotland last year.

Dougal Watson, jun. (Sunderland), 23 years, is a young player of great promise.

Tommy Miller (Falkirk), 22 years, was looked upon as the Burgess of Scotland. He is little, but strong, and absolutely fairless.

Bob McEwan (Glasgow Rangers), 23 years, has had experience both with Bury and the Rangers. He is a player of the “Donald Gow” type, with plenty of speed and a safe kick.

Half-backs:
George Key (Heart of Midlothian), 24 years, should be one of the “stars” of the team. He is a Scottish international, a safe tackler, and players well to the forwards.

Bobby McRoberts (Small Heath), 29 years, was formerly a centre-forward, but is now playing centre-half, where his speed and judgment should prove of great account.

John T. Robertson (manager), 28 years, comes from Glasgow Rangers, and formerly played for Southampton. He holds seventeen International, and six Inter-League caps; and has captained Scotland both for the Nation and the League. He is a half-back of resource, tireless and determined, and the wing facing him will have to be clever to get the better of the argument.

He does not like the sea, and twice refused to play against Ireland as he dreaded the voyage. His friends say that he makes up on land for any fear he may display on the water.

Forwards:
Marty Moran (Heart of Midlothian), 25 years, is well-known in the South owing to his connection with Millwall. He is tricky, cool, and centres well.

David Copeland (Tottenham Hotspur), 28 years, used to play inside left for the Spurs, but has been transferred to the other wing.

Jimmy Robertson (Small Heath), 22 years, the centre-forward, combines well, is speedy, and a capital shot at goal.

Jimmy Windridge (Small Heath), 22 years, is a coming international. He has speed and cleverness, and shoots well.

Jack Kirwan (Tottenham Hotspur), 27 years, is the Irish International who did such sterling service for the Spurs.

Charles Donnachie (Glasgow Rangers), 21 years, is built on the small side. He has got command over the ball, and centres beautifully.

Walter Toomer (Southampton), 23 years, is very fast and a good shot.

Reserves.
Half-backs:
Jim Craigie (Manchester City), 21 years, is good enough for any team, and a capital emergency man.

Fred Wolfe (Hull City), 20 years, is likely to turn out well.

Forwards:
Francis O’Hara (Coatbridge), 20 years, controls the ball cleverly, has speed, and puts plenty of power into his shooting.

Altogether the team appears a strong one from the goal to the centre-forward.

(Penny Illustrated Paper: September 9, 1905)

16 hours ago, erskblue said:

Our first home match. West Brom in Sept 1905.

Hence the Name of this thread!

This, photo of our match v West Brom,was,of course, our second home match.

It was played on Saturday 23rd September 1905. We won 1-0 in front of 10,123 spectators.

The first was against Hull City on Monday 11th Sept with a 5pm kick off.

We won 5-1 in front a crowd of 6,000 spectators

I do apologise! 😀😀😀

Chelsea v Liverpool 4-0 (Friendly: September 4, 1905

 

September 4, 1905
Match: Friendly, at Stamford Bridge, kick-off: 17:15.
Chelsea – Liverpool 4-0 (0-0).
Attendance: 10,000.
Referee: Mr. John Lewis (Blackburn); linesmen: Messrs. John James Bentley and Charles Sutcliffe.
Chelsea (2-3-5): Bill Foulke, Bob Mackie, Bob McEwan, George Key, Bobby McRoberts, Tommy Miller, Marty Moran, David Copeland, James Robertson, Jimmy Windridge, Jack Kirwan.
Liverpool (2-3-5): Ned Doig, Alf West, Billy Dunlop; Maurice Parry, Alex Raisbeck, Robert Robinson, Arthur Goddard, George Shalders, Charles McGibbons, Sam Raybould, John Cox.
The goals: 1-0 McRoberts, 2-0 McRoberts, 3-0 Moran, 4-0 Windridge.

Match report:
* Liverpool Daily Post: “Liverpool fall at Stamford Bridge”.

x
Bill Foulke, Chelsea F.C. (Athletic News: November 20, 1905).

x
James Robertson, Chelsea F.C. (Athletic News: October 16, 1905).

x
Bobby McRoberts, Chelsea F.C. (Athletic News: September 18, 1905).

Match report in the Liverpool Daily Post.

September 5, 1905

Liverpool met Chelsea under somewhat disadvantageous terms at Stamford Bridge, last evening, before 10,000 spectators.

The Notherners played McGibbons in the place of Parkinson, in view of the latter’s regrettable accident on Saturday. Shalders displaced Robinson at inside right, and Fleming (left half) gave way to Robinson. Otherwise it was the same team that lost points to the Woolwich Arsenal. Liverpool won the toss, and played with the sun at their backs. The Liverpool men set the pace, and Chelsea responded with a fast forward movement, Doig having to ward off a couple of hot shots.

Chelsea kept up the pressure, and the Liverpool defence was being hard put to it when Cox raced down the left and centred for Shalders to shoot feebly. Dunlop stopped an ugly move on the part of the Chelsea forwards, and Goddard improved the Liverpool position.

The Chelsea forwards made the running again, and Moran shot wide close up. Chelsea were having all the best of the match. Shalders and Goddard did some nice things, and transferred play to the Chelsea quarters, McGibbons making a weak attempt at goal.

Liverpool taking a serious view of the position, sent Cox down the left, and McGibbons was pulled up for offside right in the goalmouth. Chelsea attacked, and should have scored. McRoberts over-running the ball when close in. When half-time arrived the score had not been opened.

Liverpool took up the running on the resumption. The attack was not of long duration, for the Chelsea front men secured and dribbled the length of the field, a nice-looking maneuver culminating in a goal by McRoberts.

Liverpool gave way after this, and Windridge centred finely for McRoberts to put Chelsea two points ahead. Chelsea were let in again, Moran, taking advantage of a temporary misunderstanding in the Liverpool back line, sending in the third point. Misfortune followed misfortune, and Windridge put Chelsea four on top.

It was a comfortable win for Chelsea. Result: Chelsea 4 goals, Liverpool nil.

Chelsea: Bill Foulke, Bob Mackie, Bob McEwan, George Key, Bobby McRoberts, Tommy Miller, Marty Moran, David Copeland, James Robertson, Jimmy Windridge, Jack Kirwan.
Liverpool: Ned Doig, Alf West, Billy Dunlop, Maurice Parry, Alex Raisbeck, Robert Robinson, Arthur Goddard, George Shalders, Charles McGibbons, Sam Raybould, John Cox.
(Liverpool Daily Post: September 5, 1905)

120 years ago today.

Liverpool at The Bridge. 4th Sept 1905. Friendly.

Our first ever match at Stamford Bridge was in a friendly played on Monday 4th September when Liverpool were the visitors.

A four page programme ( shown above) was produced to commemorate this event.

The front cover obviously focuses on the birth of Chelsea Football Club.

The style of writing used remained in Chelsea's programmes right up to the Second World War, with the use of plays on words and snappy short paragraphs.

The second page contains a pen picture of that days referee, a Mr John Lewis whom Chelsea claimed, "In the whole history of Football there has been no more efficient, popular or respected referee."

John Lewis was one of the founders of Blackburn Rovers for whom he played for 25 years previously. He refereed three Cup Finals and retired from officiating in March 1905, but was persuaded to return and officiate Chelsea's opening home game.

The second page also contains season ticket price details, the best seats being £1's.

Also listed were forthcoming fixtures at Stamford Bridge, both football and athletics, as well as an appeal for advertisers to use Chelsea's programme.

The linesmen were also prominent members of the Football League being the president and future president respectively.

Page three contains a photograph and profile of William Foulke, Chelsea's new captain. It tells that he stood at 6ft 3in tall and weighed 22 stone, and in their words ‘he, as fine a specimen of manhood as ever stepped onto the field’!

In spite of his bulk he possesses all the agility of a cat, combined with the playfulness of a kitten.

The line-ups appeared on the back page. Chelsea ran out 4-0 winners. Liverpool had played in the capital two days previously against Arsenal, losing 3-1.

The Sheff Utd goalkeeper is beaten by Vivian Woodward, as we win 4-2 at The Bridge. 14th Sept 1912.

John Tait Robertson article,

Dumbarton born left half John Tait “Jacky” Robertson began his football career in 1892 with junior club Poinfield and played for Sinclair Swifts in 1893 before joining Scottish League Morton in 1894. He moved to Everton in October 1895, not making his Football League debut until September 1897 when he played against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Goodison Park, but he became a regular member of the Everton line up during 1897-98 scoring once in 31 appearances before joining Southern League Southampton at the end of the season. Robertson made his debut for Scotland on 2nd April 1898 while at Everton, in a 3-1 home defeat to England in the Home Nations Championship at Celtic Park.

He spent a single season at Southampton in 1898-99, making 22 appearances as Southampton won the Southern League. His second Scotland cap came in a 2-1 defeat to England at Villa Park on 8th April 1899, while still at Southampton. 

Following that, he returned to Scotland to join Scottish champions Rangers, making a scoring debut in a 6-2 victory over Clyde in August 1899, and he won three consecutive Scottish League titles at Rangers in his first three seasons as well as a Scottish Cup winners medal in 1903. He scored 6 times against Celtic, including his last 2 goals for the club. A decisive strike in a 2-0 Scottish Cup semi final win in April 1905, then the Rangers goal in a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat in a League decider playoff in May. That match was to be his last in Royal Blue.
All of his 14 remaining caps for Scotland came during his spell at Rangers, he scored 3 times for Scotland. He captained the Scots in his fourth match, as they beat England 4-1 at home on 7th April 1900 and also he played 6 times for The Scottish League between March 1900 and May 1905, scoring once, all but one of these appearances coming against The Football League.

Overall, he scored 30 goals in 178 games for Rangers before, in May 1905, Robertson was the first player to be signed by the newly formed Chelsea Football Club, and served as their player-manager in their first ever Football League season. Among his first signings were 22 stone goalkeeper William "Fatty" Foulke and George "Gatling Gun" Hilsdon, who would become the club's first 100-goal striker.

It was Robertson who scored Chelsea’s first competitive goal, in a 1-0 win at Blackpool on 9th September 1905 and he also played in their inaugural League fixture a week earlier in a 1-0 defeat at Stockport County. In his first season, he led the club to a third place finish in the Second Division, one place off promotion.

Robertson then surprisingly resigned from the club (third in the table at the time) on 27th November 1906. Chelsea were promoted to the top flight at the end of that season under caretaker secretary-manager William Lewis, Robertson scored 4 goals in 39 appearances during his time at Stamford Bridge. 

In December 1906 Robertson became player-manager of Glossop, where he remained until summer 1909 scoring 10 goals in 49 appearances, when he became reserve team manager at Manchester United, before playing a leading role in the early development of Hungarian football in a spell from 1912 as manager at MTK Budapest.

He died in Wiltshire after a long illness on 24 January 1935 aged 57 and was seen off by many old international teammates at Rutherglen Cemetery, Glasgow

THE MAN WHO MADE CHELSEA

Chelsea FC began life with a stadium – and nothing else. The person who built an almost-immediately successful squad from scratch was a 28-year-old midfielder from Dumbarton.

This article first appeared in Issue 4 which was published in June 2017.

www.nutmegmagazine.co.uk

THE FIRST MANAGER OF CHELSEA AND THE FIRST GOALSCORER FOR CHELSEA, ROBERTSON HAD THE CONFIDENCE TO ENCOURAGE AN ULTRA-ATTACKING STYLE OF FOOTBALL AT THE BRIDGE.

In the spring of 1905 an experienced half-back from Dumbarton, with an impressive 16 Scotland caps and more than 100 appearances for Rangers under his belt, was asked to become player-manager of a brand new football club in west London.

John Tait Robertson, at 28 years old, was still young enough and good enough to choose his next move in football, but who could resist the challenge of building a whole squad from literally nothing, with a generous board waving their cheque book behind you? These days you only get to do that in video games. The only thing these ambitious directors had was a stadium – the biggest in London, no less. Now they needed a team to play in it, and a league to compete in.

So, while they set about securing their club’s election to the Football League in time for the 1905/06 season, ‘Jacky’ Robertson was charged with recruiting the first squad of players for Chelsea Football Club.

Take a moment to think about what that would entail: taking on a club without any players or pre-existing supporters; it’s your job to help them achieve all of those things, while trying to win some football matches as well.

Fortunately, Robertson was a well-connected man. He was one of the best players of his generation: a technically gifted left-half who was not averse to the odd bone-crunching challenge was and strong in the air too, Robertson had already starred for Morton, Everton, Southampton and Rangers, who had paid the Saints £300 – a fortune at the time – for his services in 1899. He had skippered Scotland to victory in the 1900 Home Championships, which was secured with a 4-1 win over England.

With such pedigree and such a broad geographical spread of clubs behind him, you can see why Chelsea turned to Robertson. Crucially, because of his age, he could call on friends and peers who were still in the prime of their careers to join him at the Bridge. Former team-mates signed for him out of friendship; former adversaries signed for him out of mutual appreciation.

So William Foulke, the gigantic England international goalkeeper – nicknamed “Fatty” – became one of the first names on the books at Chelsea, along with Joe Kirwan, the Ireland national team’s star winger, who was tempted away from Tottenham Hotspur. These men had played against Robertson in home internationals and were among the star names in the game at the time, especially Foulke, whose striking 22-stone figure between the posts was said to add thousands to the attendance, out of sheer curiosity, each time he turned out for the Blues.

But it wasn’t just a case of picking out the big names and inviting them down to Stamford Bridge. Robertson also had to canvass other clubs for players they might be willing to let go and held trials for enthusiastic local players as he looked to add depth to his steadily forming squad. The response was overwhelming, as Robertson revealed in an article later that season.

“My work has not been without its amusing side,” he wrote. “Among the many applications I received was one from a man who said he was a splendid centre-forward, but if that position was not vacant he could manipulate a turnstile. Another wrote, ‘You will be astonished to see me skip down the line like a deer’.”

A further applicant had declared himself willing to “be linesman, goal-keep, or mind the coats.” Some of them would have to be let down lightly, of course, but Robertson had more success with his letters to other league clubs. He managed to seal deals for a host of experienced professionals, many of them fellow Scots, like Bob McRoberts and James Robertson, who were brought in from Small Heath (the original name of Birmingham City) for a combined fee of £150. The same club sold him the promising English forward Jimmy Windridge, who set the club back a further £190, but went on to bag 16 goals in his first season.

He didn’t get the club’s first goal, however. That honour was secured by JT Robertson himself, as the player-manager got the ball rolling in the club’s second league game, at Blackpool, following the anti-climax of a 1-0 opening day defeat away to Stockport County.

The first manager of Chelsea and the first goalscorer for Chelsea, Robertson had the confidence to encourage an ultra-attacking style of football at the Bridge. His team registered 90 goals in 38 games that season, including a 7-0 win over Burslem Port Vale, 6-0 victories over Barnsley and Blackpool and a 5-1 thumping of Hull City in their first-ever league game at Stamford Bridge.

Those games were played in the Second Division of the Football League, to which Chelsea had been admitted without previously playing a single competitive match, thanks largely to the smooth-talking director Fred Parker, who had wowed the League’s committee with a confident presentation. Yet, despite finishing third and missing out on promotion by one league position that first season, Chelsea were already being talked about as much as the country’s top teams, and a crowd of 67,000 had turned out for their Good Friday game against Manchester United at Stamford Bridge.

A team at the heart of London, with an impressive stadium and a celebrity goalkeeper, playing entertaining football – it was a big story, and the club had a single, straightforward aim in their second season: promotion.

Robertson was showing himself to have a great eye for a player and his directors were not shy in backing his hunches. During that first season, he had been alerted to a promising half-back playing for West Ham reserves, so he went along to watch him play at Fulham with Parker. Midway through the game, Robertson leant over to his boss and observed: “Never heed yon half, just watch that young inside-left… He’ll make a champion centre-forward, ye mark my words.”

That inside-left was George Hilsdon, and he was in a Chelsea shirt for the start of the following season. Having signed on a free transfer, the 19-year-old rewarded Robertson’s faith in him by bagging five goals on his debut – at centre-forward, of course – in a 9-2 win over Glossop North End on opening day.

Robertson’s team was looking good for a promotion campaign, but despite having put together such a competitive squad, his relationship with the board was becoming strained due to questions over his professionalism. His whereabouts were not always known and when, in November 1906, he failed to show up for a board meeting, the secretary, William Lewis – who would eventually take over as temporary manager following Robertson’s departure – demanded that an explanation be given for his absence.

The minutes from the following meeting, reproduced in Colin Benson’s book The Bridge, suggest that the directors’ trust in their manager was no longer implicit, and on  November 21 it was resolved “that the teams be selected by the Directors with the assistance of the manager”.

In truth, the suggestion that Robertson’s commitment was on the wain is backed up by the records, which show that he played in just three of Chelsea’s opening 12 games that season, prior to his no-show at the board meeting. All was not right somewhere along the line, and he finally resigned a week later, asking to be granted a free transfer from his playing contract as well.

His request was accepted on the condition that he would not join another club in the Second Division, but, comically, he did exactly that when, in January 1907, he pitched up at Glossop – the team that had been on the end of that opening day thumping – but not before a bizarre incident was reported in a concerned letter to chairman Claude Kirby.

“Dear Sir,” read the correspondence from H. Raucorn, also republished in The Bridge, “Knowing that Mr J.T. Robertson was no longer an official of the Chelsea F.C. I thought it my duty to inform you that he was in your office after 11pm last Thursday Nov 29th.”

We can only speculate as to what the recently departed ex-employee was doing in the chairman’s office at such a late hour, but it is clear that Robertson was not alone in upsetting the board with his indiscipline that week. That same month another Scot – Ayrshire-born forward David Copeland – turned up at a separate board meeting as a representative of the players “in a state of intoxication”. He was subsequently suspended indefinitely by the club, until a letter of apology and a grovelling follow-up appearance in the boardroom resulted in a reprieve.

For all this, the Blues went on to finish the campaign in second place and, with that, were promoted to the top flight. It seems a shame that Robertson was not there to enjoy it, but despite his unceremonious departure from Stamford Bridge, his influence on Chelsea’s first major footballing achievement cannot be underestimated. Having formed the squad from dust at the outset, and added to it sensibly in the year that followed, it is to be hoped that he could at least take some sort of satisfaction from seeing his signing Hilsdon score 27 goals in 32 games to fire Chelsea into the First Division.

Robertson’s new club Glossop, meanwhile, could count the teams below them on one hand when the final Second Division table was printed. He must have cast a few envious glances towards the capital from his office in the sleepy Derbyshire market town, where he spent two years under the chairmanship of Samuel Hill-Wood before the latter moved to begin a family dynasty in the Arsenal boardroom. However, Robertson was unable to lift Glossop out of the Second Division and departed in 1909 to serve briefly as Manchester United’s reserve-team coach.

Perhaps fearful that his career was going stale, perhaps searching for a new challenge, in 1912 Robertson made the bold decision to move to Budapest, where the game was just beginning to take hold. In fact, in the months that followed, he played an important role in the development of the intricate passing style that would become Hungary’s hallmark in the decades to come.

In his influential 1950s book, Soccer Revolution, the celebrated football writer Willy Meisl explained that “Austrians, Hungarians and Czechs moulded their game on the Scottish last – precise short passing and clever positioning.”

He had produced that book in response to the Hungarian national team’s convincing home and away victories over both England and Scotland in 1953 and 1954.

However, in the days before the outbreak of the First World War any professional or top amateur side in Britain was capable of crushing any Hungarian club side.

The nation’s journey from absolute beginners to world beaters took just 40 years and it began with MTK Budapest’s appointment of John Tait Robertson as their coach.

He took on that role in the latter stages of the 1911/12 season and, in an early interview with local publication Sporthirlap, informed readers that a lot of work needed to be done before the Hungarian players would reach anything close to the standard he was accustomed to back in Britain.

In fact, just reading Robertson’s assessment of the level of play he witnessed in those first few days on the job, it is astounding to think that Hungary would be considered one of the strongest nations in world football within a couple of decades of his arrival.

“The mistake the players commit – which is quite common with other local teams as well – is that they only use one foot,” he said. “I think a player should be able to use both of his feet.

“The aerial game is very weak and I am surprised how many times the players use their hand – they have to lose this habit.

“The half line does not play well with the backs – when the backs lose the ball, the halves should be there to provide cover. The halves are not working together with the forward line either, and their shots are not good. Brodi is clearly the best centre-half but it does not mean that he would be exceptional – I have not seen a really good centre-half in the whole league.”

Robertson set to work on remedying these factors and remained at the helm of MTK for just over a year. In that period they finished as league runners-up in consecutive seasons, but his work seems to have had an impact because the following year they went unbeaten on the way to the first of 10 straight league championships won between 1914 and 1925.

As one obituary explained, “it was often said by leaders of the game in Austria and Hungary that it was Jacky Robertson who laid the foundations of the cultured style of football played there.”

Unfortunately, his time in Budapest appears to have ended in a similar fashion to his Chelsea tenure six years earlier, with one Hungarian newspaper reporting that he was sent home by MTK having “neglected his job”.

Although the euphemistic language of the press cuttings and club records of the time prevent us from knowing precisely the circumstances in which he lost his two most high-profile positions, Robertson clearly had his troubles and, sadly, they appear to have affected his work.

What we can say with certainty, however, is that he was a man of great footballing insight. He was prepared to take on a project from scratch, laying the foundations at two clubs who would go on to become hugely successful after he had left.

For all the great men who coached Chelsea and MTK in the decades to come, the record books will forever show that John Tait Robertson was the first.

A match at The Bridge during our first season. 1905-06.

The two above are from the match v West Brom on 23rd Sept 1905.

Our last home match v Lincoln City was on 29th October 1910.

We won 7-0. 25,000 saw the game.

Programme cover courtesy of www.bounder.friardale.co.uk

A 2-1 win at Plymouth Argyle in 1925/26.

A packed Bridge in the 1920s.

Tommy Lawton scoring v Derby 30th August 1947.

We won 1-0 in front of a crowd of 59,919.

1922-23 .

Chelsea FC

Foreign Tours 1906-1938.

www.rsssf.org

Tour of 1906 (Denmark, Bohemia, Hungary, Austria)
 
13- 5-1906  København        Boldklubben 1893 - Chelsea FC                2-6              Friendly W
14- 5-1906  København        Southampton FC - Chelsea FC                  1-2              Friendly W
16- 5-1906  Praha            Deutscher FC Prag - Chelsea FC               0-4              Friendly W
17- 5-1906  Praha            Deutscher FC Prag - Chelsea FC               1-6              Friendly W
18- 5-1906  Budapest         Budapesti Torna Club - Chelsea FC            0-4              Friendly W
20- 5-1906  Budapest         Magyar Athletikai Club - Chelsea FC          0-6              Friendly W
22- 5-1906  Budapest         Ferencváros TC - Chelsea FC                  1-3              Friendly W
24- 5-1906  Wien             Vienna Cricket FC - Chelsea FC               1-3              Friendly W
27- 5-1906  Wien             First Vienna FC - Chelsea FC                 0-3              Friendly W
29- 5-1906  Wien             Wiener Ramblers - Chelsea FC                 0-6              Friendly W

Tour of 1907 (Netherlands)

12- 5-1907  Haarlem          Haarlemsche FC - Chelsea FC                  3-7              Friendly W

Tour of 1908 (Netherlands)

 3- 5-1908  Haarlem          Everton FC - Chelsea FC                      4-0              Friendly

Tour of 1910 (Belgium, Germany)

15- 5-1910  Bruxelles        Blackburn Rovers - Chelsea FC                3-1         De Decker Cup 
16- 5-1910  Bruxelles        Belgium XI - Chelsea FC                      1-7              Friendly W
23- 5-1910  Frankfurt        Chelsea FC - Blackburn Rovers                3-5              Friendly

Tour of 1922 (Denmark)

19- 5-1922  København        Select København - Chelsea FC                1-1              Friendly D
21- 5-1922  København        Select København - Chelsea FC                2-1              Friendly L            

Tour of 1929 (Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil)

25- 5-1929  Buenos Aires     Combinado Buenos Aires - Chelsea FC          2-3              Friendly W 
26- 5-1929  Buenos Aires     Combinado Buenos Aires - Chelsea FC          4-0              Friendly L
31- 5-1929  Buenos Aires     Select Argentina - Chelsea FC                0-1              Friendly W
 2- 6-1929  Buenos Aires     Combinado Buenos Aires - Chelsea FC          3-2              Friendly L
 ?- 6-1929  Buenos Aires     CA San Lorenzo Almagro - Chelsea FC          0-2              Friendly W
13- 6-1929  Montevideo       CA Peñarol Montevideo - Chelsea FC           2-1              Friendly L
15- 6-1929  Avellaneda       CA Independiente Avellaneda - Chelsea FC     1-1              Friendly D 
16- 6-1929  Rosario          Select Rosario - Chelsea FC                  2-1              Friendly L
17- 6-1929  Santa Fe         Unión Santa Fe - Chelsea FC                  5-1              Friendly L
20- 6-1929  Avellaneda       Racing Club Avellaneda - Chelsea FC          1-0              Friendly L
 ?- 6-1929  Buenos Aires     Estudiantil Porteño - Chelsea FC             2-3              Friendly W
 ?- 6-1929  Montevideo       Montevideo Wanderers - Chelsea FC            0-1              Friendly W
28- 6-1929  Rio de Janeiro   Select Rio de Janeiro - Chelsea FC           1-1              Friendly D 
30- 6-1929  Rio de Janeiro   Select Rio de Janeiro - Chelsea FC           2-1              Friendly L 
 4- 7-1929  São Paulo        SC Corinthians SP - Chelsea FC               4-4              Friendly D 
 7- 7-1929  São Paulo        Select São Paulo - Chelsea FC                3-1              Friendly L 

Tour of 1932 (Germany, Netherlands)

15- 5-1932  Berlin           Victoria/Preußen Berlin - Chelsea FC         2-0              Friendly L
16- 5-1932  München          FC Bayern München - Chelsea FC               1-2              Friendly W
20- 5-1932  Stuttgart        Select Stuttgart - Chelsea FC                0-3              Friendly W
21- 5-1932  Leipzig          Select Leipzig - Chelsea FC                  2-7              Friendly W
22- 5-1932  Stuttgart        Stuttgarter Kickers - Chelsea FC             0-2              Friendly W
26- 5-1932  Rotterdam        Select Rotterdam - Chelsea FC                1-2              Friendly W

Tour of 1934 (Netherlands)

 9- 5-1934  Rotterdam        Select Rotterdam - Chelsea FC                1-4              Friendly W
12- 5-1934  Amsterdam        Zaandam AC - Chelsea FC                      2-3              Friendly W

Tour of 1936 (Poland, Netherlands, Sweden)

 9- 5-1936  Amsterdam        Blauw Wit Amsterdam - Chelsea FC             2-3              Friendly W
13- 5-1936  Stockholm        AIK Stockholm - Chelsea FC                   0-6              Friendly W
22- 5-1936  Göteborg         Select Göteborg - Chelsea FC                 0-4              Friendly W
23- 5-1936  Warszawa         Select Poland - Chelsea FC                   0-2              Friendly W
24- 5-1936  Kraków           Wisla Kraków - Chelsea FC                    1-0              Friendly L

Tour of 1937 (France, Austria, Yugoslavia)

 9- 2-1937  Paris            Racing Club Paris - Chelsea FC               1-3              Friendly W
17- 5-1937  Wien             Wiener SC Admira - Chelsea FC                3-0              Friendly L
19- 5-1937  Graz             Steiermark Graz - Chelsea FC                 4-2              Friendly L
25- 5-1937  Beograd          Beogradski SK - Chelsea FC                   6-1              Friendly L
27- 5-1937  Zagreb           Gradjanski Zagreb - Chelsea FC               0-1              Friendly W
31- 5-1937  Antibes          Olympique Marseille - Chelsea FC             1-1    Tournoi Expo Paris D
 3- 6-1937  Paris            FK Austria Wien - Chelsea FC                 0-2    Tournoi Expo Paris W
 6- 6-1937  Paris            Bologna FC - Chelsea FC                      4-1    Tournoi Expo Paris L

Tour of 1938 (Denmark)

16- 5-1938  København        Select København - Chelsea FC                1-3              Friendly W
18- 5-1938  København        Select København - Chelsea FC                1-4              Friendly W
20- 5-1938  København        Danish XI - Chelsea FC                       0-2              Friendly W

A queue outside The Bridge for our game against Grimsby Town in 1928/29.