1905–06 Chelsea F.C. season

Chelsea

1905-06 season
Player-manager	John Robertson
Second Division	3rd
Top goalscorer	Frank Pearson (18)
1906-07 →

The 1905-06 season was Chelsea Football Club's first competitive season and first year in existence as a football club. As a new team to the English Football League, Chelsea competed in the Football League Second Division with 19 other teams, playing each at home and away. Under the management of player-manager John Robertson, Chelsea finished third in the division, earning 53 points (under the two points for a win system) in 38 games.

Formation and pre-season buildup

For more details on this topic, see History of Chelsea F.C..

The first Chelsea team in September 1905.

Chelsea Football Club were founded on 14 March 1905 although the club's early existence was hindered with problems. Since there was already a team named Fulham in the borough, a name for the club had to be decided. After London FC, Kensington FC and Stamford Bridge FC were rejected,^[1] the name of the adjacent borough, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, was settled on.

Blue shirts were adopted for the team by the club's founder and first chairman, Gus Mears, along with white shorts and dark blue socks. Further problems arose when the team were denied entry to the Southern League following objections from Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur, so admission to the Football League was applied for. Their candidacy was endorsed at the Football League AGM on 29 May 1905. Scottish international John Robertson was hired as the club's first player-manager, a half-back who would go on to score Chelsea's first competitive goal in a 1-0 win against Blackpool. After this, the club recruited many established players from other teams, including 22 stone goalkeeper William "Fatty" Foulke previously of Sheffield United, and forward Jimmy Windridge who came from Small Heath.

Chelsea were one of four new teams to join the Football League, the other three being Hull City, Leeds City and Clapton Orient, who would later become Leyton Orient.

Season review and highlights

Chelsea's first league match took place away at Stockport County on 2 September 1905, where they lost 1-0.^[2] They remained unbeaten for six games after, winning five, before successive losses to Chesterfield and Burslem Port Vale followed. Despite these unexpected defeats, Chelsea continued to play well, following up with a fifteen match long unbeaten run during which the side won ten and kept successive clean sheets for nine.

After a mid-season defeat to Hull City, Chelsea won five successive matches, a run that included a 7-0 victory over Port Vale, a team that was only one of three successful in defeating Chelsea so far that season. This victory set the early club record for the largest winning margin in a match, replacing the scoreline of 6-0 that Barnsley and Blackpool were defeated by.

The run of form did not continue for Chelsea, and after a defeat to Burnley and two small victories, the team only managed three draws and two defeats from their last five games. They finished third in the Second Division behind Bristol City and Manchester United and one point ahead of West Bromwich Albion in fourth, one place away from promotion.

Results

Second Division

Key:
     – A fixture highlighted in this colour indicates Chelsea won the match.
     – A fixture highlighted in this colour indicates the match was drawn.
     – A fixture highlighted in this colour indicates Chelsea lost the match.

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result
2 September 1905	Stockport County	Edgeley Park (Away)	1-0
9 September 1905	Blackpool	Bloomfield Road (Away)	0-1
11 September 1905	Hull City	Stamford Bridge (Home)	5-1
16 September 1905	Bradford City	Valley Parade (Away)	1-1
23 September 1905	West Bromwich Albion	Stamford Bridge (Home)	1-0
30 September 1905	Leicester City	Filbert Street (Away)	0-1
14 October 1905	Lincoln City	Sincil Bank (Away)	1-4
21 October 1905	Chesterfield	Stamford Bridge (Home)	0-1
30 October 1905	Burslem Port Vale	Athletic Ground (Away)	3-2
4 November 1905	Barnsley	Stamford Bridge (Home)	6-0
11 November 1905	Leyton Orient	Brisbane Road (Away)	0-3
18 November 1905	Burnley	Stamford Bridge (Home)	1-0
25 November 1905	Leeds City	Elland Road (Away)	0-0
2 December 1905	Burton United	Stamford Bridge (Home)	3-0
9 December 1905	Grimsby Town	Stamford Bridge (Home)	2-0
16 December 1905	Gainsborough Trinity	The Northolme (Away)	0-2
23 December 1905	Bristol City	Stamford Bridge (Home)	0-0
25 December 1905	Manchester United	Old Trafford (Home)	0-0
26 December 1905	Glossop North End	North Road (Away)	2-4
30 December 1905	Stockport County	Stamford Bridge (Home)	4-2
6 January 1906	Blackpool	Stamford Bridge (Home)	6-0
20 January 1906	Bradford City	Stamford Bridge (Home)	4-2
27 January 1906	West Bromwich Albion	The Hawthorns (Away)	1-1
5 February 1906	Leicester City	Stamford Bridge (Home)	3-3
10 February 1906	Hull City	Anlaby Road Cricket Ground (Away)	4-3
17 February 1906	Lincoln City	Stamford Bridge (Home)	4-2
24 February 1906	Chesterfield	Saltergate (Away)	0-2
3 March 1906	Burslem Port Vale	Stamford Bridge (Home)	7-0
10 March 1906	Barnsley	Oakley (Away)	1-2
17 March 1906	Leyton Orient	Stamford Bridge (Home)	6-1
24 March 1906	Burnley	Turf Moor (Away)	2-0
31 March 1906	Leeds City	Stamford Bridge (Home)	4-0
7 April 1906	Burton United	Peel Croft (Away)	2-4
13 April 1906	Manchester United	Stamford Bridge (Home)	1-1
14 April 1906	Grimsby Town	Blundell Park (Away)	1-1
16 April 1906	Glossop North End	Stamford Bridge (Home)	0-0
24 April 1906	Gainsborough Trinity	Stamford Bridge (Home)	1-3
28 April 1906	Bristol City	Ashton Gate (Away)	2-1

Position in league

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GA	Pts
1	Bristol City	38	30	6	2	83	28	2.964	66
2	Manchester United	38	28	6	4	90	28	3.214	62
3	Chelsea	38	22	9	7	90	37	2.432	53
4	West Bromwich Albion	38	22	8	8	79	36	2.194	52
5	Hull City	38	19	6	13	67	54	1.241	44

References

1. ^ Glanvill (2006). Chelsea FC: The Official Biography. p. 55. 
2. ^ "Team History". chelseafc.com. http://www.chelseafc.com/page/HistoryDetail/0,,10268~1328574,00.html. Retrieved 2009-08-11.