Chelsea F.C. was founded on March 14, 1905 at The Rising Sun pub (now The Butcher's Hook) opposite today's main entrance to the ground on the Fulham Road. After being denied entry to the Southern League, the club applied for admission to the Football League and were accepted at the Football League AGM on May 29, 1905. Blue shirts were adopted by Mears, after the racing colours of Lord Chelsea and the club's first match took place away at Stockport County on September 2, 1905. They lost the game 1-0. Their first home match was against Liverpool in a friendly. They won 4-0.The club began with established players recruited from other teams, such as new player-manager John Tait Robertson, FA Cup-winning goalkeeper William "Fatty" Foulke and prolific goalscorer George "Gatling Gun" Hilsdon. Promotion to the top flight was swift, but the club's early years brought no trophies. Chelsea played in the "Khaki" FA Cup final of 1915 (so-called because of the large number of uniformed soldiers in attendance) but lost out to Sheffield United. They also finished 3rd in the First Division in 1920 and reached the FA Cup semi-finals in the same season (thus missing out on a chance to play in the final at Stamford Bridge), but spent much of the inter-war period in mid-table. However, they consistently attracted enormous crowds. 77,952 attended the fourth round FA Cup tie against Swindon on 13 April 1911, and 82,905 attended the league game against Arsenal on 12 October 1935. Safety considerations make such attendances impossible now: the current legal capacity of the stadium is 42,522.
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