Ahead of Liverpool's visit of Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon, Alan Dawson looks at a corresponding fixture from 103 years ago, and explains it's relevance to the two teams today...
Liverpool and Chelsea have accrued countless talking points thanks to their recent encounters in both domestic competition and the Champions League.
The most notable of which was the 2005 Semi Final in Europe where a Luis Garcia 'phantom goal' separated the two sides and had then-manager Jose Mourinho seething by the touchline and lambasting each and every officiator for chalking a goal on the scoreboard when no ball had seemingly crossed the line.
What the cocky press-savvy Portuguese coach failed to publicly notice though was that his goalkeeper Petr Cech had impeded Liverpool forward Milan Baros prior to Garcia's effort and should the goal not have stood then the Reds could have claimed for a penalty, and the Blues may have had to finish the tie with a goal, and a man, down.
Opposition fans like to play a game of poke the lion when they visit Stamford Bridge. Chants of: ''Sh*t fans, no history!" bellow out the mouths of the visiting support, but what constitutes history? Trophies? Don't be daft. The answer is notable events.
Sheffield FC for instance (not to be confused with Sheffield United or Sheffield Wednesday) are the world's oldest club to still be playing Association Football. Have they won a major trophy though? Ha! Jog on. Of course they haven't. But what they have given football has been recognised by FIFA when the club were awarded the FIFA Order of Merit in 2004; one of only two clubs to have ever received the highest honour to be dished out by the world's governing body for football. The other side being Real Madrid. Do these two facts contribute significantly to Sheffield FC's interesting history? Of course they do.
In a similar vein, despite only accumulating four major trophies in the pre-Premier League era: an old league title in 1955; a League Cup in 1965; an FA Cup in 1970; and a Uefa Cup Winners Cup in 1971, Chelsea do indeed possess history that spans back five score and three years ago.
In a west London hotel in 1904 a chap that answered to the name H R Mears had just bought Stamford Bridge Athletic Grounds with the intention of forming a formidable football club that could be housed there. With the help of John Tait Robinson the pair spent a monkey (£500) investing in the team that included goalkeeper Billy 'Fatty' Foulke; a nifty £50 signing from Sheffield United who was appropriately given the moniker due to his corpulent 306 pound weight.
Despite the rotund nature of the Blues' new captain, Foulke was described back in the day like thus: "As fine a specimen of manhood as ever stepped onto the field. In spite of his bulk he possesses all the agility of a cat, combined with the playfulness of a kitten."
That summer the Pensioners were refused entry to the Southern League, but instead were accepted into Division Two, and their first game was away to Stockport County on the 2nd of September in 1905: they lost 1-0.
The next match was the first ever held at Stamford Bridge. A scheduled friendly against north west club Liverpool who were duly trounced 4-0 two days after the Blues' Stockport trip on the 4th of the same month. Despite the loss the Reds still went on to have a successful season claiming the league title, and nearly winning the FA Cup.
Some things change, some things stay the same... if you were pressed to think for someone that could weigh 22 stone now you would presumably never assume it were the glovesman guarding goal, but the pie-loving gym-dodger in row A.
Liverpool though are again making the trip down south to take on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. The stadium may have been completely rejuvenated over the years, but the home support will be hoping for a repeat scoreline from the corresponding fixture 103 years ago.
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