Chelsea Football club are a professional English football team currently plying their trade in England’s top division, the Premier League. They are one of England’s top domestic teams and are regularly challenging for honours in Europe. They were runners up in the Champions League final of 2008.

Chelsea’s home ground is Stamford Bridge in Fulham, West London. They have played there since the team was founded in 1905. On a slightly pedantic note of geographical accuracy, Chelsea are not actually based in the borough of Kensington and Chelsea, rather in Hammersmith and Fulham. Chelsea FC was founded in March 1905 in the Rising Sun pub opposite Stamford Bridge. They occupied Stamford Bridge shortly afterwards, taking over the site from the London Athletics Club which had used the facility for the previous 28 years.

The Chelsea Shirt for home games has always been blue, although it was not always the same dark shade it is today. The strip was finished with white shorts and blue socks. Royal blue shirts were introduced in 1912. The now familiar blue shorts were added by Tommy Docherty in the 1960s. White socks were added, the received wisdom being that the combination of white and blue made the strip more distinctive. The away kit is typically all yellow or all white, however this has gone through some interesting deviations over the years. The first away shirt comprised black and white stripes. In the 1980s a bizarre mint green kit was sported by the Chelsea players. The 1990s saw the Chelsea shirt for away games at its most distinctive with red and white checks, and a grey and tangerine colour scheme all being tried. Large numbers of sponsors have graced the front of the Chelsea shirt over the years. These have included Gulf Air, Coors and most latterly Samsung.

The club crest attached to the Chelsea shirt has gone through four major iterations during the history of the club. The initial crest design was based around the image of a Chelsea Pensioner. This gave rise to the club’s nickname of “The Pensioners”. This crest was in use for fifty years when the design was changed as part of a modernisation programme going on at the club. A temporary solution was to use the C.F.C initials for a year until in 1953 when the new crest of a blue lion locking backwards and holding a staff was introduced. This crest took it’s inspiration from the coat of arms of the Borough Of Chelsea. The crest also featured two footballs and three red roses. This was the first crest to appear on the Chelsea shirt, which was unadorned until this time. Another bout of modernisation in 1986 saw the heraldic lion replaced by a more realistic looking lion in yellow standing over the C.F.C initials. The final big design change came in 2004 where the old design was reinstated for the approaching centenary. This design has appeared on the shirts in different colour schemes. such as white and gold.

Hopefully this article has given an interesting insight into the origins of the Chelsea Shirt and it’s famous crest which has been a famous part of West London life for over a hundred years.

Patrick Attlee writes about all aspects of the Beautiful Game with a particular emphasis on the histories of the big English clubs. You can find out more about the Chelsea Shirt at www.chelsea-shirt.com

What is Deco’s (new chelsea football player) first name?

Recently Deco has joined cfc, and I have noticed that nobody ever puts his name when they announce him in the line up or w.e? What is his name??

Answer
Anderson Luis de Souza is his proper name – don’t know where the shortened Deco comes from!!