Nils Middelboe

Middeboe dribbling past two opponents, playing for Denmark In the 1912 Olympics Football Tournament..

Edited August 30, 20205 yr by erskblue

NILS MIDDELBOE: THE BUCCANEERING DANISH BANKER WHO BECAME CHELSEA’S FIRST FOREIGN STAR

15/02/2019 by AIDAN WILLIAMS.  
 

These football times.com

15

 

For a player who, in his own uncompromising words, was “by no means mad about football”, Nils Middelboe was perhaps the most prominent continental footballer of his time. In an era when the Home Nations were still the masters of the game, the “Great Dane”, as he would become known, marked himself out as an extremely talented defender, with a knack for reading the game and carrying the ball out of defence that was well ahead of his time.

He played football the way he lived his life: with a sense of freedom, a smattering of style and panache, and a disdain for the restrictions of the established norms. He shunned tactical limitations to impose his freestyle chic wherever he played, while standing against the tide of professionalism as a stoutly amateur player throughout his impressive career. Still revered as a hero in Denmark, Middelboe was an imposing but skilled giant of a half-back who would forge his reputation in the Olympic arena before subsequently making his mark on the English game.

Football had been introduced to Denmark by British sailors and its popularity had rapidly spread across a country that, in terms of the upper classes, to which Middelboe belonged, was strongly Anglophile. Kjøbenhavns Boldklub (KB), the foremost club of the time, was founded by English-educated Danes to become one of the earliest clubs on the continent. Middelboe made his senior debut for KB at the age of 16, in 1903, where he played alongside his two older brothers. Together they helped drive KB to five titles, a success which would also bring international recognition for Middelboe.

This was an age when British football sat some way ahead of its continental counterparts. However, if there was one nation that could pose something of a challenge to the established order of the time, it was Denmark. The 1908 Olympic Games in London would bring Middelboe’s skills to the attention of the English audience for the first time, as he inspired his Denmark team to a silver medal. His goal in the opening match against France was the first ever scored by an official national team in Olympic football, as well as his country’s first ever international goal.

Denmark were made to settle for the silver medal, losing 2-0 to an England team representing all of Great Britain, but they had made their mark. Noteworthy 9-0 and 17-1 thrashings on the way to the final emphasised just how impressively football had developed in Denmark, and in Middelboe they had a bona fide star.

His excellence wasn’t merely limited to the football field either. He was a national record holder at 800m, as well as a national champion in the triple jump and the sprint relay, in addition to being a dab hand with a tennis racket too. Before his career had run its course, he would add refereeing to his list of notable achievements too.

Back again at the Olympic Games, in Stockholm in 1912, this time as captain, he would have to settle for silver, behind Great Britain once more. Showing his versatility, he would alternate between defence and a more forward-thinking role in midfield, where his elegance on the ball helped Denmark past Norway and the Netherlands on the way to the final rematch with the British. In a career interrupted by the First World War, Middelboe would play 15 times for his country in all, scoring seven goals; a remarkable return considering his primarily defensive role.

His Olympic endeavours brought him far wider-reaching attention and a year after that second silver medal, Middelboe signed for Chelsea, becoming the first foreign player to represent the London club. Such was his reputation, even in an age when foreigners were assumed to be well below the standard of home-grown players, Middelboe was handed the Chelsea captaincy upon his arrival at Stamford Bridge in a significant show of faith from his teammates. He had initially signed for Newcastle but made the move south, to Chelsea, without ever donning the black and white shirt of the Magpies.

In spite of signing for a professional team, Middelboe was a decidedly amateur player. Football was never an all-consuming passion for him and indeed he would never earn a penny from his lengthy career. He was a gentleman amateur in a working man’s game. Despite the potential riches on offer, he earned his living as a banker during his stay in London, while also being a qualified lawyer.

He may have been the team captain but Middelboe’s off-field career took precedence to such an extent that the vast majority of his Chelsea appearances came at home. His job meant that he couldn’t travel with the rest of the team on Friday afternoons for their weekend away fixtures.

It was not only that he had to be at work; he also wanted it that way. The way he saw things, as a devout amateur, playing for money would have detracted from the feeling of freedom and satisfaction that football provided him. But for this stance, he would have undoubtedly played more times for Chelsea – than the 46 games spread over five seasons – either side of the First World War.

Fittingly, in his later days, he would have one final fling with the Denmark national team, in the Olympic Games in Antwerp in 1920, although by this time, Denmark’s prominent position in world football had waned. He would go on to play for the famous amateur club Corinthians before later becoming a director of Clapton Orient. He subsequently moved into coaching with his first club, KB, winning the title again in 1940, as well as working with the national team.

A lifelong devotee of the idea of freedom on the football field, he railed against overbearing coaches who stifled players’ creativity. While working as an interpreter for Edward Magner, the English coach of the Denmark team in 1939, Middelboe supposedly watered down Magner’s tactical instructions which would see the team stuck in the rigid WM formation of the time. “To systemise is to sterilise,” he wrote in his book Common Sense about Football.

This sense of freedom was ably demonstrated not only in the stylish and sophisticated way he played the game throughout his career, but also in the way he lived his life. A trailblazer who became a hero in his homeland and a pioneer in a foreign land, Nils Middelboe played in a manner far ahead of his time, while firmly sticking to the amateur ideals of a disappearing age. Football was, in effect, an unpaid side-line for Middelboe, making his achievements, and the lasting, loving esteem in which he is held in both Denmark and at Chelsea, all the more remarkable.

By Aidan Williams @yad_williams

 

 

 

 

 

The first ever Chelsea Team Group. 
 

Courtesey of the great blunder.friardale site🍺

Half-Time scores in brackets where known

Stockport County (0) 1 Chelsea (0) 0

Date:

Saturday, 2nd September 1905 at 15:30

Table

Competition:	Football League Division 2     Position 19
Venue:	Edgeley Park
Attendance:	7,000
Referee:	D Hammond (Heywood)
Stockport County	Pemble, Heywood, Waters, Suart, Hall, Cresser, Schofield, Crump, Manson, Dodd, Bardsley
Scorer	Dodd 60
Penalty Missed	Schofield 60 (Saved)
Manager	Fred Stewart
Chelsea	1 Bill Foulke, 2 Robert Mackie, 3 Robert McEwan, 4 George Key, 5 Bob McRoberts, 6 Thomas Miller, 7 Martin Moran, 8 John Robertson, 9 David Copeland, 10 James Windridge, 11 Jack Kirwan
Debut Players	Bill Foulke, Robert Mackie, Robert McEwan, George Key, Bob McRoberts, Thomas Miller, Martin Moran, John Robertson, David Copeland, James Windridge, Jack Kirwan
Manager	John Robertson

Our first ever competitive match was on 2nd Sept 1905.  
 

Thought it was worth copying them , shown above , from the great bounder.friardale site.
Hope no one minds.

Mon

 

Programme cover for Chelsea v Liverpool, Monday, 4th Sep 1905

Our first ever match at The Bridge on Monday 4th Sept 1905 v Liverpool and the. historic programme cover is shown above,  6000 saw this game.    We won 4-0.     Our goal scorers were Bob  McRobers with 2, Martin Moran and Jimmy Windridge.
 

 Thanks to Stamford Bridge,com

Chelsea Team: Foulke (cap), Mackie, McKewan, Key, McRoberts, Miller, Moran, Copeland, Robertson, Windridge, Kirwan	Chelsea Goal Scorers: Bob  Bob  Martin Liverpool Goal Scorers: None
Chelsea: Foulke (cap), Mackie, McKewan, Key, McRoberts, Miller, Moran, Copeland, Robertson, Windridge, Kirwan Goals: McRoberts 2, Moran, Windridge

Edited September 4, 20205 yr by erskblue

P

 

Programme cover for Liverpool v Chelsea, Saturday, 5th Sep 1908

 

Above programme cover is from 5th Sept 1908 when we played Liverpool away.

Courtesy of stamfordbridge.com.

Edited September 5, 20205 yr by erskblue

Programme cover for Notts County v Chelsea, Saturday, 5th Dec 1908

 

Notts County away programme cover from Dec 1908. Great team line ups.

Courtesy of stamfordbridge.com

Edited September 5, 20205 yr by erskblue

 

Photo from a 1948 Book called The History Of Football.

osted August 30, 2019 (edit

'Fatty' Foulke: The legend of Sheffield United & Chelsea keeper

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49392889

By Phil Dawkes

BBC Sport

William Henry "Fatty" Foulke was 6ft 2in tall and weighed 24 stone, he is the original subject of the chant "Who ate all the pies?", is the reason ball boys exist, once polished off 11 breakfasts in a sitting and on one occasion ripped a cupboard door off to confront a hiding, cowering referee... while naked.

It is the basis of a great story. Unfortunately, much of it probably isn't true.

What is not disputed is that Foulke existed, from 1874 to 1916. He was a goalkeeper who spent most of his career with Sheffield United, followed by brief spells at Chelsea and Bradford. And as photos attest, he was indeed a very big bloke.

The average height for a man in the UK about the start of the 20th century was about 5ft 8in, but Foulke towered above his peers.

His ample frame didn't go to waste - it is believed that at the peak of his career he weighed about 14 stone and by the end was north of 21.

Not that this prevented him from doing his job. He was one of the most capable goalkeepers of the time, nimble despite his size and who redefined the role with his aggressive style and kicked clearances.

As for the potentially tall tales? Well, we'll get to that.

The big man at the back

An illustration depicting Foulke performing one of his famed kicked clearances

Born in Dawley, Shropshire, it was in the Derbyshire town of Blackwell where Foulke, then working as a miner, first began to gain attention for his exploits on the football pitch.

His displays for Blackwell Miners' Welfare FC as a then relatively svelte 19-year-old earned him rave reviews in the local press.

This period also provided the first apocryphal tale, which tells of a friendly against a Derby County XI in 1893 in which Foulke is said to have come out to punch a ball clear but instead performed some amateur dentistry on England forward John Goodall.

A move to Sheffield United followed - a deal that cost them £20 (about £2,500 in today's money) and proved the catalyst for the most successful period in the club's history.

In Foulke's 11 seasons at Bramall Lane, United claimed their maiden first division title (1897-98), finished runners-up twice (1896-97 & 1899-1900) and won the FA Cup on two occasions (1898-99 & 1901-02). At one point he was part of a Blades XI comprised entirely of England internationals, with his sole cap coming in a 4-0 win against Wales at Bramall Lane in March 1897.

"Any footballer that can win two FA Cups, a league title and play for his country in a little over a decade speaks for itself," Sheffield United historian John Garrett told BBC Sport. "I've seen reports describing him as 'as big as a mountain, as agile as a cat'.

"It is fair to argue that Foulke was one of football's first real superstars. There was a showman aspect about him. You think of your Paul Gascoignes with their flamboyance or your mavericks of the 1970s like Tony Currie or Stan Bowles.

"Ernest Needham, a Sheffield United player who was revered by everyone in football as arguably the best half-back who ever played the game, said Foulke was far and away the best goalkeeper he had ever seen or played with."

As Foulke increased in size, so did his legend.

There are differing accounts of where and when this incident took place, but it is told that he once got into the dining room of a hotel he and his team-mates were staying at and polished off all 11 breakfasts.

Another notorious tale followed the 1902 FA Cup final, which saw United concede a controversial late equaliser to Southampton, and which tells of Foulke, naked and dripping from the shower, rampaging after the referee (some variations also have him ripping a cupboard door off to get to the official).

It was his celebrity which ensured that even as his skills began to fade, he remained an asset and, when his playing time was curtailed at Bramall Lane, other suitors were happy to tap into his unique appeal.

London calling The Chelsea museum has a tribute to Foulke

It was inevitable that Foulke would end up in London - a larger-than-life character in the big smoke.

Having helped put Sheffield United on the map, he was now tasked with doing the same for a newly formed club in west London called Chelsea.

He would stay only a year at Stamford Bridge before the draw of his family, who had remained in the north, grew too great, but his impact was considerable.

Backed by affluent founders Gus and Joseph Mears, Chelsea knew how to play the PR machine, and they leant on Foulke's legend to boost attendances and attention.

One - again possibly tall - tale suggests that the placement of young lads behind the goal at Chelsea games, principally to exacerbate Foulke's size, was the origin of what would become ball boys.

So did Foulke eat all the pies?

After his year-long London adventure, Foulke would play one more season - at the recently formed Bradford City - before his body gave up on him, initially in the form of a leg injury, but exacerbated by the impact of inactivity on an already ample physique and the early stages of what would later be diagnosed as cirrhosis, the illness later noted on his death certificate.

Even his retirement was fertile ground for legend, though. An oft-repeated myth has him living out his final years in poverty as a sad sideshow attraction on Blackpool beach, saving penalties from holidaymakers for a penny a shot.

The reality is that he spent his later years in Sheffield, as the owner of a shop on Matilda Street and, at one stage, a beer house. He could be seen sauntering around the city in tailor-made suits and a hand-made chain around his neck, from which dangled one of his FA Cup winner's medals.

There would be one last, neat link between Sheffield United and Chelsea that involved Foulke. In the 1915 FA Cup final, United beat the Blues 3-0. The scorer of the first goal that day, Jimmy Simmons, was the big man's nephew.

Finally then, what of the suggestion - made in the Penguin Book of Cliches - that Foulke was the original subject of the chant "Who ate all the pies"?

It is tempting to just accept it as truth to provide him with a very audible legacy to this day. However, the fact that 'Knees up Mother Brown' - the tune to which the chant is sung - originated in 1918, two years after his death, means it is highly improbable.

As with so much surrounding Foulke, when the legend became fact, they printed the legend.

 

9th Sept 1905 -  Our player/manager John Tait Robertson scored our first ever goal . Blackpool away.. Thanks to Stamford-bridge.com for the picture.

 

 

This is a reproduction of an old footballer card Jacky Robertson shown in his Glasgow Rangers days.

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.

Scottish Football’s Coaching Pioneers 4: Jacky Robertson

By Teddy (@ComedyTeddy)

It always seems strange that these days not only are there so few Scottish players abroad, there are also so few Scottish coaches. Especially when things weren’t always that way. Far from it.

I’m attempting to put together a show for Previously…Scotland’s History Festival that gives some recognition to the Scottish coaching pioneers who helped play a formative role in the foundation of football in countries – and at clubs – which have gone to be of major significance in the beautiful game. This is the 3rd of my articles on the topic. If you have any more information or corrections to add to the piece below then please get in touch via the comments section below.

Remember the first of this series of articles and its mention of how Slavia Prague may initially have been looking to recruit the coaching services of J.T. ‘Jacky’ Robertson instead? Well, Robertson did eventually make his way to Central Europe too, even if the details of his coaching reign(s?) there are particularly hazy.

It does seem possible that Robertson had contact with Central European clubs in 1905 as in 1904, Rangers had visited Vienna to play in a tournament celebrating 10 years of First Vienna FC’s existence. Despite putting 9 goals past the Austrians, Rangers were impressed enough to enter into talks to sign their goalkeeper, Karl Pekarna. He became the first professional Austrian footballer when he moved to Glasgow. Pekarna would have been a teammate of Robertson’s for a few months, before both leaving the club in 1905, Pekarna returning to Vienna due to homesickness. ((http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Pekarna))

In 1905, the year Madden took over at Slavia, Robertson had been in the market for a coaching position. In the end though, he proved to be bound for London. The formation of Chelsea as a football club is a slightly strange one in that the club were set up to make use of the stadium, rather than vice versa. In 1904, Gus Mears had acquired the Stamford Bridge athletics stadium, intending to use it as a football ground. When Fulham turned down the chance to use it…he set up his own club, Chelsea, naming them after the neighbouring borough. Hence, Chelsea actually play in Fulham ((http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Chelsea_F.C.))

John Tait (Jacky) Robertson

 

The first player to sign for the club was Robertson, then a 28 year-old Rangers player with 16 Scotland appearances to his name (captaining the side on 3 occasions ((http://www.huszadikszazad.hu/cikk/blackburn-rovers-ellenfelei-a-ftc-es-mtk)) ). One of his notable appearances for Scotland saw the national team playing in the colours of Lord Rosebery (something they did on at least 9 occasions between 1881 and 1951) in a match in which they defeated England 4-1. Robertson captained the side that day and was told by his Lordship, “I have never seen my colours so well sported since Ladas won the Derby.” ((http://www.toffs.com/Scotland-1900-Rosebery/productinfo/3065/))

Robertson signed on at Chelsea to be player-manager. He became the West London club’s first signing, first manager…and as it would turn out, first scorer (in a 1-0 away win over Blackpool on the 9th of September, 1905 ((http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1905–06_Chelsea_F.C._season)) ). In their first season, Chelsea finished 3rd in the 2nd Division, one place off promotion. Strangely, the next season, he decided to quit in November, with Chelsea again sitting third in the table. They would go on to be promoted at the end of the season. Shortly after quitting Chelsea he took up a new position…as player-manager of Glossop.

That sounds bizarre, but bear in mind that Chelsea had only been in existence for just over a season (and indeed it would be 1955 before they won their first major trophy, the league championship) so the heights they were capable of reaching were as yet unknown. Also, Glossop had made it to the top flight in 1899-1900…albeit, Glossop is often regarded as the smallest town to have had a club in the English top-flight. ((http://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-21474,00.html))

What is most likely to have swung Robertson’s resignation from Chelsea and then appearance at Glossop is that the latter were funded at the time by Sir Samuel Hill-Wood (who would later become chairman of Arsenal, his son Denis and grandson Peter also serving as chairmen of the club). Hill-Wood “poured in money” ((http://www.theguardian.com/football/2009/may/10/fa-vase-glossop-north-end-arsenal)) to the club. So perhaps the Glossop were actually more worthy of a ‘moneybags’ title than Chelsea at that time.
And so, according to Wikipedia, it’s here that Robertson’s coaching career ends. 

That wasn’t the case though. As one article on the rivalry between Austrian and Hungarian football states:

“The emergence of Schlosser made a huge difference, as did the arrival in 1911 of a Scot, John Tait “Jacky” Robertson, formerly of Everton, Rangers, Southampton and Chelsea, as coach of MTK. The stereotype – that the Austrians held the advantage in technical quality and played the better football while the Hungarians held the edge in temperament and hence were more effective – began to change, Robertson’s tenure at MTK prompted a Rangers club obituary to state that “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”. ((http://www.hungarianreview.com/article/great_expectations))

Robertson’s presence in Budapest is agreed upon by Richard McBrearty, curator of the Scottish football museum at Hampden:

“By 1911 Robertson was in Budapest coaching the MTK Club and would help to raise the standards of the Hungarian game to match that of the Austrians. During this period Celtic became the first Scottish club to visit Hungary. The Parkhead side travelled to Budapest in 1911 and 1914.” ((http://footballcurator.blogspot.co.uk/2013_05_01_archive.html))

Robertson had certainly kept in touch with football in Central Europe. In 1906 he had been present at a match in Vienna between MTK and the Vienna Cricket and Football Club (at football, that’s just the full name of the club). ((http://www.huszadikszazad.hu/cikk/blackburn-rovers-ellenfelei-a-ftc-es-mtk
)) At some point, he’s also believed to have crossed paths with Madden, who told him that coaching football in Europe made for a far better life than being a riveter in the shipyards! ((http://www.thecelticwiki.com/page/Madden,+Johnny+-+Pics))

Unfortunately for Robertson, in his time with the club he was unable to guide MTK to the title. They finished 2nd behind city rivals Ferencvaros, though he did have the consolation of a 1-0 derby victory over them. ((http://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/1911–1912-es_magyar_labdarúgó-bajnokság_(első_osztály)))

As with Madden, Robertson appears to have brought an attention to physical preparation and treament with him. The Hungarian international and MTK player, Jeno Konrad, said “I do not suffer from Anglomania but the recovery rate of Hungarian players is solely down to the influence of the English trainer, Robertson.” ((http://www.mlsz.hu/blog/2012/05/13/neves-elodok-nyomdokain-a-dvsc/)) 

We’ll just have to forgive him for his geographical confusion! Konrad would go on to manage a number of clubs himself, including Austria Vienna and Nuremberg, as well having as spell as assistant-coach of Sporting Lisbon. ((http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenő_Konrád)) His words suggest that his time under Robertson had an influence.

Unfortunately, I can’t find much more information on Robertson’s time on the continent. He seems to have left MTK in 1913 (the club having finished 2nd in the league to Ferencvaros again) and been succeeded by an Englishman called Robert Holmes. ((http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:MTK_Budapest_FC_managers)) Holmes held the post for a season, before being replaced by a man called Jimmy Hogan…who wasn’t Scottish but was influenced hugely by Scottish players and coaches and would go on to be credited with laying the groundwork for the ‘Magical Magyar’ era of Hungarian football. ((Jonathan Wilson, The Anatomy of England: a History in Ten Matches (Orion Publishing Group, London 2010))

The historian Billy Kay mentions Robertson having a spell as coach of Rapid Vienna, however he doesn’t appear in the club’s list of coaches from 1910 onwards (nor for Austria Vienna or First Vienna). ((http://www.billykay.co.uk/Pages/fitba.asp)) If he is to be remembered for tactical innovation as well as for innovations in physical preparation, then its for a disappointingly defensive one. John Cairney’s book ‘A Scottish Football Hall of Fame‘ suggests that Robertson may have been responsible during his playing career for introducing the pass back to the goalkeeper! ((http://books.google.at/books?id=BkICPoHh3oAC&pg=PT26&lpg=PT26&dq=%22john+tait+robertson%22+rapid&source=bl&ots=PPtKLC-S2r&sig=r0Jm5LQJOpEsR5gnbvT_ITn3qII&hl=sk&sa=X&ei=VbocUsrWIoGo0AXB64BI&ved=0CFsQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=%22john%20tait%20robertson%22%20rapid&f=false))

Robertson died in Wiltshire in England at the age of 57. 

 

 

Match 

Above is our match v Newcastle Utd on 12th Sept 1914.     Very poignant cover.

Lest we forget.

Programme cover from Stamford.bridge.com

Background

Chelsea joined the League before they had played a single game - an achievement they share with Bradford City. The club came into being at the behest of a builder, Gus Mears and his brother who aquired the site of the Stamford Bridge Athletic ground and a neighbouring market garden with a view to building a football stadium. The plan lay fallow for a while until the Great Western Railway Company approached the brothers to buy the land for marshalling yards. Rather than sell their asset, the Mears brothers raised the money they needed to build the second largest stadium in England after Crystal Palace and called it Stamford Bridge. When Fulham FC declined an invitation to move in because the annual £1,500 rent was too high, the brothers simply went ahead and formed their own club, Chelsea FC. After an approach to join the Southern League was snubbed following objections from Spurs and Fulham, Chelsea successfuly applied to join the Second Division of the Football League.

Initially, Chelsea played in the racing colours associated with the Earl of Cadogan, who was the club's president and also held the title Viscount Chelsea. Weatherby's Ltd, who maintain historical records of racing silks, have confirmed to HFK that these colours were Eton blue and white. Club historians have suggested several dates for the switch to royal blue but the earliest reference, a match programme found by Nik Yeomans (April 2019) records that Chelsea wore "blue and white" against Lincoln City on 13 October 1906.
 

From historicalkits.co.uk

Edited September 17, 20205 yr by erskblue

Just as a matter of interest does anyone know what the 10 most sort after chelsea matchday Home or away programmes are today ?
 

i guess programmes Get sorted after for various reasons > to finsish whatever seasons  Collection > cup final > or Even that CFC v Spurs FA-cup was it the 4th round when programme cover was just black with a anti hooligan message on the front by Mr.Bates was different .

thanks in addvance 

courtesey of the great bounder.friardale site.🍻

 

 

Programme cover for Sheffield United v Chelsea, Saturday, 19th Sep 1908

Edited September 19, 20205 yr by erskblue

Thanks to Stamford bridge.com..Above programme cover posted there. Incidentally we won 3-1😀

1929. Dixie Dean of Everton challenges Chelsea goalkeeper Sam Millington. Twitter

 

Part of the 61,316 crowd at Stamford Bridge for the 1929 FA Cup 3rd Round match between Chelsea and Everton.The League Magazine on Twitter 

Some of the 67,054 fans at Stamford Bridge for the 1920 FA Cup 2nd Round match between Chelsea and Swindon Town