Season by Season: 1936/7

August 1936 was an extraordinarily turbulentperiod in European history. During the team’s stop-off in Germany during thesummer, the players had noted the immense construction projects taking place.Already dictators were on the march and war was on the horizon.

In contrast, Chelseafootball club appeared becalmed in the undistinguished mid-table mire andlacking the cohesion and camaraderie to put a consistent run together.

We were still a glamorousdraw wherever we played, attracting huge crowds to see the likes of goalscorersJoe Bambrick, Jimmy Argue and the mighty George Mills, or well-lovedinternational ’keepers Vic Woodley of England and John Jackson of Scotland. Thestardust was still sprinkled around a decent squad.

Average home gatesremained healthy at over 32,000, but down on the previous season’s average ofjust under 35,000 per game. And a throng of 42,000 crammed into a freezing ColdBlow Lane for the fourth round FA Cup clash in January with Third DivisionMillwall. 

Unfortunately, Chelsea succumbed 3-0 to our London neighbours in anall-too recognisable fashion. It was of no consolation that the Lions went onto become the first club from their division to reach the semi-finals thatyear.

“We were unfavourably impressed by the habit of nearly all the players of shouting at one another throughout the game.” Daily Mirror, September 1936

In the League, though,there was not much to cheer. Home wins over high-flying Arsenal and Charlton,creditable draws – 0-0 draw at Maine Road and a spectacular 4-4 (Mills notchinga hat-trick) at the Bridge – with eventual champions Man City were high points,but Arsenal’s 4-1 win at Highbury and defeats at West Brom, Bolton andespecially Portsmouth (4-1) helped sully the season.

With their reputationrising abroad after several season in the top flight, though, Leslie Knighton’smen were invited to take part in numerous lucrative friendlies during thisperiod – Holland, Poland, the Balkans, France, Austria. To the fans, such exoticdiversions must merely have emphasised Chelsea’s lack of achievementdomestically.

If you ever wondered whenthe nickname ‘Chelski’ was first used, look no further than the Football Star,who used the pun to announce the club’s summer jaunt to Poland to face WisłaKraków.

In 1936/7...

Facts &figures: Chelsea boasted the first choice goalkeepers of England and Scotland.

League finish: Thirteenth in Division One.

Cup run: Reached the fourth round, losing to Millwall.

All the rage: The age ofairships dramatically ends as 35 die when the Hindenburg crashes in flames.

Season by Season: 1934/5

The great Hughie Gallacher turned out for Chelsea for the last time in November 1934. With their customary ability to mark historic moments by a disappointing showing, the team lost 2-5 at Elland Road. Gallacher, who would stay up north with Derby County, scored one, George Mills grabbing the other.

There was some symbolism in that: Mills, the dogged and resolute forward matching his inspirational but unreliable strike partner for the last time. It almost represents the unresolved riddle at the heart of the club ever since 1905. Do we prefer showmen or grafters? Do we want to win at all costs, or be entertained?

In truth, the loss of the Scots genius would have been a more bitter blow had he been on top of his game and his lifestyle. The ready attractions of west London and his unstable home life were taking their toll on his performances though. This did not escape club management.

Once Gallacher left Chelsea, his life rapidly and sadly declined. Once out of football he returned to the north-east and tragically committed suicide by throwing himself in front of a train.

In the summer of 1934 Leslie Knighton had planned ahead, bringing in another Emerald Isle star, the prolific Linfield and Ireland centre forward Joe Bambrick. He re-signed wandering Alec Cheyne, who returned from a money-spinning two-year spell with Nimes in France, and brought in winger Dickie Spence, a crucial signing from Barnsley.

Yorkshireman Dickie (pictured, above left) was a tiny, sparky livewire on and off the pitch, good with both feet, and with a healthy appetite for goals.

Spence set a Chelsea record for goals by a winger of 19 in his first term – an incredible 12 of which were penalties, many earned through his pace and trickery against cumbersome opponents. He scored all our goals in a 4-1 drubbing of Liverpool and became a regular England international.

"Mr A.J. Palmer, Stamford Bridge official ... doubts if any winger has equalled Spence's performance. Yes, the Stamford Bridge team is improving. The greatest achievement nowadays is a better club spirit." W.H. Bee, 'Daily Mirror', after Dickie Spence's four-goal haul against Liverpool in Dec 1934

Spence's promising Chelsea career, like so many others’, would soon be interrupted by war, but it was after the conflict that he would have his greatest impact at Chelsea. Spence was one of those who set up and ran the Chelsea Juniors scheme well into the Seventies.

His skills as a trainer and nurturer helped bring through the likes of Bonetti, Brabrook, Bridges, Greaves, Harris, Hollins, Houseman, Hudson, Murray, Osgood, Sillett, Tambling, Tindall and Venables.

In 1971, as many of those progenies celebrated winning the Cup-Winners’ Cup, Dickie could look back on 37 years of service at Chelsea.

Back in 1934/5, Chelsea at last looked like a side capable of holding its own again in the top flight. Joe Bambrick lived up to his billing, netting 15 times in 21 matches, including four in a 7-1 home battering of Leeds United. The Pensioners finished 12^th, but the remodelling under Knighton was taking shape.

In 1934/5...

Facts & figures: At 11,701, our lowest crowd of the season is for the visit of Everton, Dixie Dean and all.

Cup run: Third round replay, losing to Luton Town.

All the rage: European fascism – “Herr Hitler” and Mussolini strongarm their way into the newsreels.

Season by Season: 1929/30

As related in the previous episode of this chronicle, Chelsea spent the summer of 1929 on a gruelling but inspirational jaunt around South America, squaring up with considerable success to the best players of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.

The Stamford Bridge players undoubtedly helped the Uruguayans in their ultimately successful preparation for the first ever World Cup. But David Calderhead’s squad also emerged from the experience bound together more as a team.

The only significant addition to the playing staff would come not in pre-season, but winter, in the form of George 'The Bomb' Mills, a hulking centre-forward with an unimpressive pedigree around Kentish clubs.

Mills made his debut against Preston North End on December 21st and opened his account in a 5-0 drubbing. He went on to top-score with 14 goals that season, but he wasn’t the only striker finding his range: the habitually goal-shy George Pearson and Harry Miller both found the net with confident regularity as the whole team gelled wonderfully.

The 1929-30 season was exceptional in several ways: it brought 13 of the 41 league goals managed by Miller over his decade and a half at Stamford Bridge; Pearson’s 12 out of a total 33 notches came in what was easily the best of his seven seasons at Chelsea. Even the veteran stylist Andy Wilson managed double figures in his penultimate term as a player.

“Our latest leader, he went over the top at 2.30, and at 2.32 dropped one of his bombs in the enemy’s camp.” The Chelsea Chronicle summarises debutant Mills’ impressive performance against Preston

Mills, though, would become one of our most consistent marksmen, with a return of 116 league goals in 220 appearances. By the time he arrived Chelsea’s season was looking promising.

Regular keeper Sam Millington kept 15 clean sheets; his teenage stand-in, Frank Higgs saw out his entire Chelsea career of just two matches this season and managed one shut-out, a 3-0 thrashing of Spurs.

The decisive period began on Wednesday 12 March 1930. A visit to Bradford brought two points and a 3-1 winning margin. Chelsea won the next four matches to establish one of our best sequences, on the back of which the Blues rose from third place to second.

As the final matches of early May arrived, Chelsea were still clinging to that final promotion slot, and a reassuring second win against Preston set up the closing game, at Bury, thus: rivals Oldham, two points behind but with a superior goal average, would snatch promotion if they won and Calderhead's men lost.

One precious point would suffice.

As it turned out, both hopefuls wilted in the spotlight. In Lancashire the Pensioners were nervy, and a host of chances was "frittered away by needless fanny work," as the Daily Mirror put it, while Bury won 1-0.

Oldham, though, were always behind at relegation-threatened Barnsley, and lost 1-2. As a result, on the 25th anniversary of the club’s existence, Chelsea were promoted back to the First Division.

A few weeks later, an all-time great would arrive from Newcastle to spearhead our top-flight challenge: the mighty Hughie Gallacher.

In 1929/30...
Facts and figures: Chelsea lose once all season at home, winning 17.
Cup run: Third round, losing to Arsenal.
All the rage: the British press rubbishes the World Cup, because foreigners invented it.