Birrell was appointed Chelsea manager shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War. Three games into the 1939-40 season, first class football was abandoned in Britain for the duration of the conflict, meaning that all wartime results are only regarded as unofficial. Chelsea competed in a series of regional competitions and, like every other club, saw their squad severely depleted by the war effort (only two members of Chelsea's 1938-39 team ever played for them again).
The club thus fielded a series of "guest" players, most notably Matt Busby, Walter Winterbottom and Eddie Hapgood. They also competed in the Football League War Cup, during which they made their Wembley debut, losing 1-3 to Charlton Athletic in the 1944 final, and beating Millwall 2-0 a year later in front of crowds of over 80,000. After the latter match, John Harris became the first Chelsea captain to lift a trophy at Wembley, receiving the cup from Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
In October 1945, with the War having just ended, the English football authorities sought a way to celebrate the return of the peace-time game. As part of a goodwill gesture, it was announced that FC Dynamo Moscow, reigning champions of the Soviet Union, would tour the United Kingdom and play several home teams, including Chelsea. The match took place on 13 November at Stamford Bridge with Chelsea wearing an unfamiliar red uniform due to a clash of colors with Dynamo's uniform. Before kick-off, the Dynamo players presented a bouquet of flowers to their opposite number. Despite British people viewing this as a faux pas, the Russian team surprised many observers with their talent and tenacity by fighting back from 0-2 and 2-3 down to a 3-3 draw, albeit with a goal some feel should have been rules out as offside. An estimated crowd of over 100,000 people attended the match, with thousands entering the ground illegally. This crowd is the highest ever recorded at Stamford Bridge. Spectators watched from numerous obscure places, including many on the dog track and on the top of stands.
Following the war, Chelsea again spent big, and again bought three big-name forwards, this time Tommy Lawton, Len Goulden and Tommy Walker, for around £22,000. The trio provided both goals and entertainment - Lawton scored 26 goals in 34 league games in 1946-47 - but Chelsea finished 15th that season and never finished above 13th under Birrell. Birrell's biggest contribution to Chelsea was off the field. He oversaw the development of an extensive new youth and scouting programme, headed by ex-players Dickie Foss, Dick Spence and Jimmy Thompson. Over the next three decades in particular, the policy was to produce a seemingly unending stream of top-class talent for the first team. The period also the saw the arrival of striker Roy Bentley, signed from Newcastle United for £11,500 in 1948 following Lawton's departure.
1950 seemed at last to be Chelsea's year in the FA Cup. After beating Manchester United 2-0 in a pulsating quarter-final, they were drawn to face London rivals Arsenal at White Hart Lane. Two goals from Bentley put Chelsea in control, but a freak goal from Arsenal (Chelsea's goalkeeper misjudged a corner and punched it into his own net) just before half-time turned the game. Chelsea seemed unable to recover from the blow and Arsenal scored 15 minutes from from full-time and then won the replay 1-0. A year later, Chelsea seemed destined for relegation: with four games remaining, they were six points behind, at the bottom of the table, and without a win in fourteen matches. After unexpectedly winning the first three, Chelsea went into their final match needing to beat Bolton Wanderers and hoping for the right result between fellow relegation candidates Everton and Sheffield Wednesday. Chelsea won 4-0 and Wednesday beat Everton 6-0, thus ensuring Chelsea's survival on goal average by 0.44 of a goal. In 1952, Chelsea again faced Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-finals and after a 1-1 tie in the first match, lost the replay 3-0. Birrell resigned shortly afterwards.
The 2010–11 season is Chelsea Football Club's 96th competitive season, 19th consecutive season in the Premier League, and 105th year in existence as a football club. They went into the Premier League as the defending champions, but failed to retain it. Chelsea Premier League Tickets are available at FootballTicketExchangeOnline.com at affordable price. Football fans can buy or sell Football Tickets especially Chelsea Premiership Football Tickets at FootballTicketExchangeOnline.com conveniently.
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