Chelsea's Stamford Bridge debut and how it set the tone for an ambitious, big-spending club

New York Times

20-03-2025

Chelsea Football Club was founded on March 10, 1905, at The Rising Sun pub (now The Butcher's Hook), located just across the road from the main entrance of Stamford Bridge. In 120 years, the club has claimed 51 major honours across its men's and women's teams, cementing its status as a European powerhouse.
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Through all the club's triumphs, the legendary players who have come and gone, and the unforgettable matches, one thing has remained a constant — Chelsea's home of Stamford Bridge.
On the latest episode of Straight Outta Cobham, the first of a three-part series celebrating the club's 120th anniversary, Matt Davies-Adams, Simon Johnson and Liam Twomey reflected on Chelsea's first league game at Stamford Bridge and discussed the significance of the club still playing at the ground where it all began.
A partial transcript has been edited for this article. The full episode is available on the Straight Outta Cobham feed on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Matt: You will have seen on The Athletic Liam's piece charting the defining fixtures of each decade through the history of Chelsea FC. We've touched on a couple of these matches in passing, but let's run through them more thoroughly. We'll start way back in 1905. Chelsea 5 Hull City 1 at Stamford Bridge. Simon… what was the atmosphere like that day (laughs)?
Simon: Hang on a minute…
Matt: I'm joking (laughs). Liam, why is this one so special and why have you picked it?
Liam: Well it was Chelsea's first league game at Stamford Bridge. It wasn't their first league game full stop because they began with two away matches against Stockport and Blackpool. But it was their first competitive outing at Stamford Bridge. The attendance was respectable given it was a brand new club in the Second Division of the Football League. There were around 6,000 people in attendance and Jimmy Windridge, who was signed for a fee of £190 from Small Heath, scored a hat-trick. They also had a tremendous Scottish forward called David Copeland.
There are a lot of Scots in the early decades of Chelsea. The first secretary-manager, John Tait Robertson, was Scottish and he recruited extensively from north of the border. David Copeland had actually won the FA Cup with Tottenham Hotspur… whisper it quietly… before joining Chelsea and he also scored in that first game. But perhaps the most notable thing is that Willie 'Fatty' Foulke saved a penalty in that 5-1 victory against Hull.
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The result signalled from the start — and it's important to note that Chelsea were one of five clubs added to the Football League that season, Hull City were another — that Chelsea weren't there just to make up the numbers. This was an ambitious club that was spending from day one and they would be in the conversation for promotion. They didn't go up that season, but they went up the next year. Chelsea were a club on the up from the very beginning.
Matt: What's so special about us reflecting on that first league game at Stamford Bridge, Simon, is that's where Chelsea still are. Who knows what's going to happen in the future? But if Arsenal, Manchester City or Tottenham are looking back at their history, there would be a bit of wistfulness there, thinking, 'It's a shame we're not still at home'. And Chelsea are still where they began all those years ago.
Simon: Yeah, and that's why the arguments about what to do with the stadium are so complex and sensitive. Chelsea have been there from the very start.
The unusual thing about Chelsea's history is that the ground was there before the football club. It was used for athletics before it was decided to get a football team in there. Fulham were actually asked to play at Stamford Bridge before Chelsea existed and they said no. Hence this intense, heated rivalry was born (laughs). But one of the things every Chelsea fan you talk to loves is that traditional walk to the ground. Whether it be from Fulham Broadway station or through Brompton Cemetery, it's just that reassuring, comforting routine. The pubs that people love to go to and their favourite drinking spots before kick-off… maybe much needed after the final whistle, too. People love it and it all started with that opening game all those years ago in 1905.
You can listen to full episodes of Straight Outta Cobham free on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.