Chelsea Football Club boasts a long and illustrious history, with many supporters of clubs up and down the land being more than aware of who its owners have been in the modern era of the game. What many people might not realise, however, is the fact that the Blues were owned and operated for a huge chunk of the club’s history by members of the same family. Not only that, but it was actually the family that set the Blues up in the first place, largely thanks to the fact that two brothers had bought a ground and needed a club to play in it.
Gus & Joseph Mears
Henry Augustus Mears was born in London in 1873. The son of Joseph and Charlotte Mears, he became a respected businessman and in 1896 he and his brother Joseph decided to buy the Stamford Bridge Athletics Ground. They also bought the nearby market garden, intending to turn it into one of the best football grounds in the country that could host high-profile matches. Initially, Mears attempted to persuade the Chairman of Fulham Football Club, Henry Morris, to move his team to the ground but was unable to convince him to do so.
When Morris chose to remain at Craven Cottage, Mears briefly considered an offer for the land that had been put forward by the Great Western Railway Company, who hoped to use it as a coal yard. In the end, however, he chose not to do so, instead setting up his own team. Numerous names for the new side were considered before Mears eventually settled on calling it Chelsea Football Club after the nearby borough of West London. One of the stories is that he was ready to pack it all in when his Scotch Terrier bit a colleague of his, Fred Parker.
Parker was a firm believer in the football project and reacted so well to being bitten that Mears decided to take his advice. Mears became one of the club’s first Directors, soon seeing Stamford Bridge developed into one of the country’s best stadiums. Sadly for Mears, however, he didn’t live long enough to see any real success arrive at Stamford Bridge, passing away in 1912. Although Joseph wasn’t made the Chairman after his brothers death, he did become the dominant force at Stamford Bridge in the years that followed.
Joseph Mears was the elder son of Joseph and Charlotte and in 1907 he bought the business Thames Electric & Motor Launch Co., which was based at Eel Pie Island, going on to build up a large fleet of passenger launches that worked on the Thames. In 1919 he turned his business into Joseph Mears Launches & Motors Ltd., acquiring a garage in Richmond as well as numerous motor coaches. The company continued until 1945, at which point it was passed on to the newly formed Thames Launches Ltd.
Joseph wasn’t just about doing things with coaches and launches, however. He also formed Joseph Mears Cinemas Ltd., which grew to become a series of cinemas that were based around the Richmond area. Many of them were later sold to the Odeon Cinemas chain, such as what became the Odeon Richmond and the Odeon Kensington. He served as the Mayor of Richmond between 1931 and 1932 and when he died in the October of 1935 it is believed that he left behind a fortune worth around £30 million.
John ‘Joe’ Mears
Born on the 20th of January 1905, John ‘Joe’ Mears was the son of Joseph Mears and the nephew of Gus Mears. He briefly played in goal for the Old Malvernians, joining the Chelsea board in 1931. In doing so, he became the youngest Director in the Football League. When the Chelsea Chairman after Gus Mears, Colonel Crisp, died in 1940, John Mears became Chelsea’s next Chairman. He served as a Royal Marine during the Second World War, with his duties including doing the security arrangements for Winston Churchill’s bunker.
There is an argument that John Mears’ time as Chelsea owner was the most successful of his family, given the fact that it was during his time in charge that the club won its first First Division title. That came in the 1954-1955 campaign, with Mears then bowing to pressure from the Football League not to take part in the European Champions Cup. When a London XI was asked to take part in the 1955-1958 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, it was Mears who was asked to manage the side and reached the final, losing to Barcelona.
Remembering former Chelsea Chairman on his Birthday
R.I.P Joe Mears #CFC #CFCHeritage pic.twitter.com/Chkyfv1A4r
— Chelsea Lookback ⭐⭐ (@1JamesCHELSEA) January 20, 2025
In 1963, Mears was given the role of Chairman of the Football Association. This meant that he was a key figure during England’s preparations to host the World Cup in 1966, also being part of the controversy that emerged when the Jules Rimet Trophy was stolen. He was handed the ransom note by the thief, meaning that he was later part of the trophy’s recovery. Sadly, Mears died of a heart attack in Oslo on the 30th of June 1966, meaning that he missed out on the start of the World Cup that he helped to organise by around two weeks.
Brian Mears
Joseph Brian Mears was born on the 25th of April 1931, the son of John ‘Joe’ Mears and the grandson of co-founder Joseph Mears. Born in Richmond in Surrey before being educated at Malvern College. In 1950 he decided to emigrate to Canada, working in a seed factory before returning to the United Kingdom in order to carry out his National Service. In order to do so he worked as a radio operator for the Royal Air Force. Chelsea Football Club had remained in the ownership of the Mears family, boasting different Chairmen.
When Len Withey died in 1969, Brian Mears took over the role of Chairman from him. There is an argument to be made that it was him, rather than his father, who was in charge of the club during its most successful period. The Blues won the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in successive seasons in the 1970s, but what followed was a period of rapid decline. As a result, he was removed from the position of Chairman as a result of a boardroom coup d’etat that was led by the Viscount Chelsea.
The poor state of the club was largely due to the fact that Mears had overseen an attempt to redevelop Stamford Bridge, putting the Blues into a perilous financial situation. In 1982, Mears chose to sell Chelsea to Ken Bates for the nominal fee of £1. He then came under fire when he sold his shares of the Stamford Bridge freehold to property developers, blaming his wife. He relocated to the United States of America, getting involved with several North American football teams and writing several books about Chelsea. He died on the 28th of July 2009.