While there are often jibes about their history, Chelsea have been one of the most historic teams in English football. The name of their stadium is just as historic.
Why is Chelsea called Stamford Bridge? It is a combination of the names Stanford Creek, an area around the Fulham road and Little Chelsea Bridge, a bridge going across a stream on the Fulham Road.
Many people will have heard of Stamford Bridge outside of Chelsea football club. The name was first used as the place where a battle took place in 1066 between the English army and the invading Norwegian force. It is the battle that preceded the Battle of Hastings and helped weaken the English forces, allowing the Norman conquest of England.
That name is not really related to the current stadium. The battle took place in East Yorkshire, with Chelsea’s stadium being built in West London. In fact, the name actually comes from a much closer-to-home reason.
The stadium is located around the Fulham Road and the King’s Road area. Around that area, there is a stream that is called the Stanford Creek, which at the time flowed down into the Thames.
Where this stream crossed the Fulham Road, there was a small bridge. This was called the Little Chelsea Bridge. These were seen as two local landmarks. When the stadium was built, they decided to combine the two names and the stadium was originally known as Stanford Bridge, later being changed to Stamford Bridge which is still the name today.
What was Chelsea’s original nickname?
Many people nowadays will know Chelsea as The Blues which is their current day nickname, but this is very different from the team’s original nickname. The club’s original nickname was “pensioner” which is because the crest of the club at the time was an image of a Chelsea Pensioner.
This is because the Chelsea football club was set up next to the Royal Hospital Chelsea which was where a lot of army veterans were residing. The nursing home was designed for former army veterans and the original badge of Chelsea was the image of the Chelsea Pensioner.
This nickname stood until 1953 when the coat of arms was changed.
Chelsea Pensioners are still associated with the Chelsea football club. When Chelsea won the Premier League in 2005, they formed a guard of honour as the players and management came out for the trophy presentation. They did this again in 2010.
Has Chelsea FC ever changed its name?
Chelsea FC are one of the few teams at the top level to have never changed their name. When Gus Mears acquired the Stamford Bridge athletics stadium in 1904, he originally wanted to lease it to Fulham FC, but this offer was rejected.
Instead, Mears decided to set up a new football club. He considered names like Kensington FC, Stamford Bridge FC and London FC. He eventually set up Chelsea FC which is still the name of the team today. Since being set up in 1905, the name has never been changed, with the team still being known as Chelsea Football Club today.
Why is Chelsea’s badge a lion?
Considering there are not many Lions in Chelsea, the badge may be slightly confusing. The original crest of the Chelsea team was of a Chelsea Pensioner which is a former army veteran who is based at the Royal Chelsea Hospital. In 1953 it was changed to the upright lion.
The badge was based on the coat of arms of the Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea. The Lion actually comes from the arms of the club’s president at the time Viscount Chelsea. His coat of arms featured a similar lion and so therefore the club decided to adopt a similar badge that also featured a lion.
Who owns Chelsea now?
The ownership of Chelsea Football Club has been a very controversial point over the last 12 months. Former owner Roman Abramovich was forced to sell the club due to his relationship with Russian President Vladamir Putin.
Todd Boehly ended up being the winner of the right to own Chelsea Football Club. For the majority of Chelsea fans, they will not have heard of Boehly before. A state champion wrestler in his youth, Boehly always looked for a career in business and finance.
He began that career with Credit Suisse First Boston and J.H. Whitney & Company, before joining Guggenheim Partners in 2001 where he was crucial in the companies credit investing business and eventually became the president of the company. During his time with Guggenheim Partners, Boehly became very wealthy and started to build a wide portfolio.
He founded Eldridge, which is a private holding company in charge of the majority of his assets. The company owns The Hollywood Reporter, Dick Clark Productions and Security Benefit. This allowed Boehly to begin a career with personal investments and his portfolio is very diverse.
Boehly is invested in many different industries including real estate, ticket exchange, restaurants, insurance and many more. It is clear that he has a smart business mind and estimations say that Boehly is currently worth around $5.3 billion.
He has also used this huge wealth to launch various investments in different sports teams. As a California native, he is a key investor in many different franchises in the area. Boehly owns 20% of the Los Angeles Dodgers and is also a co-owner of the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA.
In July 2021, Boehly and his business partner Mark Walter acquired a 27% stake in the Los Angeles Lakers. He had wanted to get into owning a football team for a long time before being successful.
Boehly actually made his first big to buy Chelsea Football Club in 2019 when his $3 billion deal was rejected by Roman Abramovich. Three years later, Abramovich had no choice but to accept the offer that came in from Boehly, Walter, Hansjorg Wyss and Clearlake Capital.
The bid was approved and successful and Boehly was named the Chairman of Chelsea Football Club in June 2022.