Chelsea Football Club, affectionately nicknamed "The Blues" are a professional football club in England. They play in the elite Premiership and are one of the most successful teams in the history of English football. They have been English League Champions three times and have won the FA cup on four occasions.
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. In 1912, royal blue shirts were introduced. The now familiar blue shorts were added by Tommy Docherty in the 1960s. White socks were also added at this time as it was thought that this scheme, not in use by any other club made Chelsea 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 modernization program 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.
It is to be hoped that this brief article has given an interesting background into the shirt and crest of one of England's most successful and famous teams.
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