Gus Mears, a businessman passionate about football, spotted the potential for a club to play at an old athletics ground at Stamford Bridge, an open piece of land in west London.
Football had taken northern Britain by storm, but had not had the same effect in the capital as no teams from London were playing in the Football League First Division, at the turn of the century.
But Mears had a colleague, Frederick Parker, who was also fascinated by the football stadium project and tried to dissuade him from selling that piece of land. But, Parker was told he was nothing but wasting his time.
However, on a fateful Sunday morning, as the two were out walking, Mears' dog bit Parker and that made Mears change his mind about giving up his dream.
Parker later recounted how it happened:
"Feeling sad that the old ground would be no more, I walked slowly by his [Mears'] side when his dog, coming up from behind unobserved, bit me so severely through my cycling stockings as to draw blood freely. On telling the owner "Your damned dog has bitten me, look!" and showing him the blood, instead of expressing concern he casually observed, "Scotch terrier; always bites before he speaks."
The utter absurdity of the remark struck me as so genuinely funny that although hopping about on one foot and feeling blood trickling down, I had to laugh heartily and tell him he was the "coolest fish" I'd ever met.
A minute later he surprised me by slapping me on the shoulder and saying, "You took that bite damned well, most men would have kicked up hell about it. Look here, I'll stand on you; never mind the others. Go to the chemists and get that bite seen to and meet me here at nine tomorrow morning and we'll get busy"
Early years
The proximity to the vibrant centre of town made Stamford Bridge a perfect venue for football, but Fulham Football Club rejected an offer to abandon the less grand Craven Cottage and move in, because of financial disagreements.
Mears decided to build a team for a stadium, rather than the other way round, and on March 10th 1905 Chelsea FC's story began, after a meeting at The Rising Sun pub, now called The Butcher's Hook.
The name of the adjacent borough, the Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea, was settled, after names like Stamford Bridge FC, Kensington FC and London FC were all rejected.
After that, a squad of respected players was signed, and John Tait Robertson, a Scottish international became Chelsea's first player/manager, and the club started looking for a league to compete in.
Chelsea rejected the idea of joining The Southern League, the natural choice for their location, and set their sights higher going straight for the northern-dominated Football League, and on May 29th 1905, the Football League AGM dramatically elected them to the Second Division.
Fred Parker proved persuasive, once again, and Chelsea went on to become the first club ever to make the League without having kicked a ball.
1910s to 1940s
Chelsea's first competitive game was on September 2, 1905, a 1-0 defeat away at Stockport, but it didn't take long until they proved worthy of the League's support. On Good Friday of that first campaign, the crowds flocked to Stamford Bridge with 67,000 recorded against
Manchester United, and at the end of the second season, they were promoted to Division One.
The club remained in the First Division up until the 1910s, with the club suffering one relegation back to Division Two in that time.
They were promoted back to the top flight quickly, but eighth-place in Division One was the highest in the club's first ten years of existence.
Chelsea reached their first FA Cup final, during the First World War, in 1915. The final was held at Old Trafford against Sheffield United, who were more local.
The considerable number of military uniforms amongst the largely Yorkshire crowd was obvious and the game became famously dubbed as 'The Khaki Final', with Chelsea losing 3-0.
The 1920s started with the highest league placing up to that point, third place in Division One behind West Brom and Derby. However, relegation was suffered in 1924 with return to the top flight only coming in at the end of the 1929-30 season.
Crowd figures at the Bridge continued to rise, and in an October Saturday in 1935 a total of 82,905 crammed into the curving terraces for a league game against Arsenal - the highest official attendance ever recorded at the ground, which remains as the biggest attendance in English league football.
Many competitions were abandoned for regional versions and guest players turned out for sides, during the Second World War. In Chelsea's case, that meant games for Matt Busby, future England captain George Hardwick and future England manager Walter Winterbottom plus Scotland legend Billy Liddell and former Arsenal star Eddie Hapgood.
Chelsea's first appearance at Wembley was in the Football League South Cup Final in 1944. They lost to Charlton that year, but won in front of the King in the same competition 12 months later against Millwall.
The first title success (1950s)
In 1952, former Arsenal and England midfielder Ted Drake took over as Chelsea manager and decided to modernise the club. He swept away the last vestiges of a more amateur age from Chelsea, declaring: "Let's have people eating, sleeping and drinking Chelsea."
Drake banished 'The Pensioners' nickname that had been bestowed soon after the formation of the club, and used his knowledge of the lower divisions to sign a different sort of Chelsea player, favouring value-for-money players who liked the club and were hungry for their first silverware.
He built Chelsea's first complete team and led the club to their first title success, in the penultimate game of the season, with a 3-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday at home on St. George's Day 1955.
Drought after glory
Chelsea's success proved, however, unsustainable. The year after winning the League the Blues finished 16th and a succession of lower table finishes followed.
They suffered relegation to Division Two in 1974, four years after clinching their first European triumph, when they beat Real Madrid in the European Cup Winners' Cup, in Greece.
After long seasons were spent in Division Two, the summer of 1983 marked a turning point in Chelsea's history. Manager John Neal made a series of crucial signings, including striker Kerry Dixon from Reading, skilful winger Pat Nevin from Clyde, midfielder Nigel Spackman from Bournemouth and goalkeeper Eddie Niedzwiecki from Wrexham.
Upon their return to the First Division, Chelsea were unlikely European contenders in the 1984–85 season, eventually finishing in 6th place, although the events at Heysel that term rendered European qualification moot.
After four years back in Division One, Chelsea were relegated once more, with a talented squad still there. They cruised to the Second Division Championship a year later with 99 points and a club record unbeaten league run, and followed up by an impressive fifth place on the First Division return.
However, disloyal actions by former directors allowed ownership of Stamford Bridge to fall into the hands of property developers and a long war of attrition took place, with the club being forced to make big spends in legal fees, millions s that could have been spent on players.
Ken Bates, a businessman who had previously been asked to invest in the club, reorganised Chelsea, and at the beginning of the 1990s decade, the club made its first £1 million-plus purchases, buying midfielders Andy Townsend and Dennis Wise.
However, the seasons that followed were frustrating with the club failing to rise above mid-table and being knocked out of the cups by lower league opposition.
But in 1993 Glenn Hoddle was appointed as new manager and almost immediately the club's profile was raised and the quality of their act also improved, with the new boss leading Chelsea to an FA Cup Final appearance, at the end of his first season.
The next campaign Hoddle's tactics took a squad of limited size and ability to the European Cup Winners' Cup semi-finals, but his biggest contribution came in the following summer when he persuaded Dutch legend Ruud Gullit to leave Italy for west London.
He then signed striker Mark Hughes from Man United, and Romanian international wing-back Dan Petrescu soon after.
It took just one season for Gullit to be considered Chelsea's best player ever and in the summer of 1996, when Hoddle left to become England manager, Gullit became player manager and led the Blues to FA Cup glory.
Gullit was replaced by Vialli in early 1998, after new contract talks broke down, and under the Italian boss Chelsea claimed the European Cup Winners' Cup, as well as clinching one League Cup.
Another Italian succeeded Vialli, Claudio Ranieri, who led Chelsea to their first Champions League qualification.
Abramovich Era
In June 2003, Bates sold Chelsea to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich for £140 million. Another £100m were spent in new players. However, manager Ranieri failed to clinch any titles that year and ended up being replaced by Jose Mourinho.
The self-labelled 'Special One' led the Blues to their first top flight title since 1955. He had won his first trophy in charge of Chelsea in February 2005, when they beat
Liverpool 3-2 after extra-time in Cardiff to win the Carling Cup.
With core players Petr Cech, John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, Mourinho led the Blues to back-to-back titles becoming the most succesful manager in the club's history.
The acclaimed Portuguese coach's impressive tenure as Chelsea boss came to an abrupt end in 2007, with Avram Grant replacing him.
Grant led the club to their first Champions League final, but they were defeated by
Manchester United after penalties.
Abramovich became known for sacking several managers with a list of nine coaches to have managed Chelsea during the tenure of Russian billionaire owner, after the return of Mourinho in the summer of 2013.
After Grant, Luiz Felipe Scolari, Guus Hiddink, Carlo Ancelotti, Andre Villas-Boas, Roberto Di Matteo and Rafael Benitez were all hired and dismissed by Abramovich.
The latter two coaches enjoyed great successes in Europe but were still forced out by the unhappy Abramovich. Roberto Di Matteo led Chelsea to a famous Champions League final victory over Bayern Munich in 2012, before Benitez led Chelsea to their first Europa League title in 2013, after a hard-fought 2-1 win over Benfica in Amsterdam.
Several high-profiled players were also signed during the Abramovich era, including Didier Drogba, who scored over 150 goals in all competitions for Chelsea and club legends Petr Cech, John Terry and Frank Lampard, who remain at Stamford Bridge.
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