Chelsea were born out of a stadium looking for a team. The club was founded on 10 March 1905 in a London pub, and on 10 March 2027 it turns 122 years old. From the pale blue of the early years to the royal blue of the trophies, this is the story of its shirt.

A ground without a team

Businessman Gus Mears and his brother Joseph had bought the Stamford Bridge athletics ground to stage big football matches. They offered it to Fulham as a home ground, but Fulham said no after a dispute over the rent.

Mears considered selling the land to a railway company. His associate Fred Parker eventually persuaded him to form his own club. According to an often-repeated story, his sudden change of heart followed an incident involving a dog bite.

The Rising Sun pub and the name

The club was founded at the Rising Sun pub, opposite the ground's entrance on Fulham Road. Today the pub is called The Butcher's Hook. Since the borough already had Fulham, the new team took the name of the neighbouring borough of Chelsea.

Other ideas were on the table, including Kensington FC, London United and Stamford Bridge FC. The first nickname was "the Pensioners", after the veterans of the nearby Royal Hospital Chelsea. In May 1905 the club was elected to the Football League without having played a single match.

From Eton blue to royal blue

The first shirt was a pale blue known as Eton blue. According to the club, the shade came from the horse-racing colours of Lord Cadogan, a local landowner and the club's first president.

Soon the pale blue turned into royal blue, worn with white shorts. Sources disagree on exactly when: the club says the 1907/08 season, while other records place the change around 1912.

In 1964-65 manager Tommy Docherty introduced blue shorts, and white socks had arrived shortly before. That created the blue-blue-white combination that still sets Chelsea apart today.

From the Pensioner to the lion

The first crest showed a Chelsea Pensioner, but it never appeared on the shirt. In 1952-53 manager Ted Drake replaced it with an upright blue lion holding a staff, and the old nickname went with it.

In 1986 came a white, more naturalistic lion above the initials C.F.C. For the centenary in 2005, the club went back to the classic heraldic lion.

Trophies and great moments

The first league title came in 1955. It was followed by the 1970 FA Cup and the 1971 Cup Winners' Cup, the club's first European trophy.

The greatest night was the 2012 Champions League in Munich, followed by a second one in 2021. With the 2025 Conference League, Chelsea completed the set of all four main UEFA competitions, and they have also won two Club World Cups, in 2021 and 2025.

The shirt has been made famous by Jimmy Greaves, Peter Osgood, Ron Harris with his 795 appearances, John Terry, Didier Drogba, Eden Hazard and Frank Lampard, the all-time top scorer with 211 goals.

Celebrate with us

From a pub on Fulham Road to the top of Europe, Chelsea have spent 122 years with blue on their chest. Happy birthday to the Blues and to everyone who follows them, from London to Greece!

See our Chelsea jerseys at sportarena.gr.

Photo: Stamford Bridge during Chelsea v Peterborough (2017) – Richard Humphrey, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.