The Landmarks of the ChelseaArea


Chelsea is an affluent area by the river Thames in South-West London. The area is famous for its football team Chelsea F. C., which is based at Stamford Bridge. The stadium itself is located between Chelsea and Fulham. Stamford Bridge is often simply referred to as The Bridge. Its capacity is 41,798. It opened in 1877 and was used by the London Athletic Club until 1905. The stadium has been renovated several times through the years and the most recent renovation happened in 1990s, when it was made an all-seater stadium. The Bridge has hosted various sports such as rugby, cricket, greyhound racing, American football, baseball, speedway and, of course, football. The stadium has been used for Charity Shield games, FA Cup Semi-finals, FA Cup Finals and many international matches.

The record attendance of a venue organized at the stadium was on 12 October, 1935 when 82,905 people attended the football match between Chelsea and Arsenal. Brothers Mears acquired Stamford Bridge in 1904 with the idea of staging high-profile professional football matches. Gus and Joseph Mears founded their own club – Chelsea. The architect Archibald Leitch was hired to construct the stadium. The capacity of Stamford Bridge had been 100,000 then. One of the most notable matches in the history of the stadium, the one between FC Dynamo Moscow and United Kingdom happened at the end of the Second World War in 1945.

Centenary Museum or Chelsea Museum, which is now the largest football museum in London, opened in 2005.

Among the landmarks of the area of Chelsea are - the statue of Thomas More on Cheyne Walk; the statue of King Charles II; Chelsea Bridge; the house of Oscar Wilde on Tite Street; Chelsea Carpet Cleaning building, Crosby Hall on Cheyne Walk, the survivor of the Great Fire of London.