Chelsea’s incredible 120-year history becomes widely available this week with a new, wonderfully illustrated official book on the shelves in the Megastore at Stamford Bridge and on screen in our online store.
Chelsea FC: The Official History tells the story of the Blues in more than 300 pages of a coffee table-style book with many first-time-published photographs, stories and historical details. There has not been a Chelsea book like this before and it is born out of a lifetime of research by the author, the club’s official historian Rick Glanvill.
The chronological chapters enter into unprecedented detail, with the greatest matches lifted to the fore and game-changing individuals given their own pages, making the book ideal for a long read or for dipping in and out.
Bringing everything to life are photographs taken by those who were there to capture the major moments and the exclusive behind-the-scenes shots. Their work is given pride of place alongside images of historic memorabilia from the club’s museum.
For the first time in a printed publication, the history of the Chelsea Women sides from the 1970s onwards is recounted in full – the result of tracking down those involved at the start and of discovering and delving into the Women’s FA archive of records.
There are other areas of Chelsea history that have previously been underappreciated – but that is the case no more. This book shines a light on them – from the attempt by the wife of one of the original directors to start a club at Stamford Bridge years before 1905, to being the first to trial and then exploit a new offside law, to the incredible tale of a trip abroad to play a friendly in the middle of a run of must-win matches to avoid relegation. There is also new information on the precarious financial juggling that kept the club alive on more than one occasion.
Chelsea FC: The Official History provides a brand-new perspective on a lot of eras, including the most recent, the fruit of the author sourcing every memoir written by a player or coach, some of them unpublished, and trawling through many of the company records. He spoke to relatives of those no longer with us and many who are, so he could paint this full, colourful portrait of the culture at the club.
Produced by award-winning publishers Vision Sports Publishing, the regular edition of Chelsea FC: The Official History is available to buy today online and in store with every copy sold through these outlets containing the signature of legendary goalscorer Kerry Dixon.
In the Megastore at Stamford Bridge and via the online store, there is also a limited number of a collector’s edition of the book, signed by John Terry and presented in a luxury box embossed with the club badge in gold foil and containing a photographic print of the first-ever Chelsea team from 1905. These copies are exclusively available via these two official channels.
Chelsea has always been the big story – in times of immense success as well as dark adversity – and even if you think you already know it all, in Chelsea FC: The Official History you are guaranteed to find something new.