Chelsea what ifs: The club was never founded in 1905

Chelsea Football Club holds a special place in the hearts of many, but how bad would the world be without the Blues in existence.

Throughout this month, there have been many “what if” situations discussed. But they are all predicated on one simple fact: Chelsea exists.

There is a common story telling trope of something suddenly not existing anymore and seeing what the world is like without them. It usually starts with things seeming better than they were before the person sees that it is all worse.

So what if Chelsea did not exist? How dire would the world be without the Blues in it?

In 1905, the Mears family is able to convince Fulham to come to Stamford Bridge. Thus, there was no need for them to found their own club. Most would be Chelsea fans over the next decades become Fulham fans. They never truly know what success is because they never really get any.

By the time the Premier League rolls around, there is no Chelsea to help push the envelope. Manchester United’s dominance becomes absolute in the league. Without a challenger, the league devolves into a hegemony like Serie A or the Bundesliga in recent years.

Football in London itself is dominated, and that word is used loosely, by the North London clubs. Neither has had any success abroad and the Premier League quickly fades into the background of the European football landscape. Serie A does not maintain its dominance into the 2000s, but it never falls behind England in the football league hierarchy.

Without the cash influx and subsequent success provided by Chelsea, the Premier League becomes known as a “farmer’s league” which is simply a way to say it has no real quality. Big name players occasionally come, but the money and fame are all on the continent.

John Terry and Frank Lampard both become West Ham legends, but they are hardly known outside of the country. Petr Cech and Didier Drogba both continue to play in France, never touching the British Isles. Ashley Cole forces a transfer to Manchester United.

By the year 2020, after United’s fade away, the league is stuck in a financial and playing rut. The big four leagues have complete control over Europe and, by extension, the nations of Spain, Italy, Germany, and France dominate the international game alone. England is lucky to qualify for the Euros or the World Cup.

Chelsea’s massive coaching network does not exist without the club, and that delineation of talent within the country has caused England’s youth development and many clubs to stagnate. The FA is at a loss at what it can do to pull ahead of such leagues as the Belgian Premier League.

All this is not to even mention the lost Chelsea fans both in the country and abroad. The sport barely registers in the city with only Arsenal and Tottenham left to throw support behind and there is virtually no international footprint to speak of. The world is descending into chaos without Chelsea.

Then Frank Lampard woke up and discovered it was all a bad dream. The world is still pretty messed up, but at least on the edge of all that darkness is the light that Chelsea brings many. Football may be a ways off, but when it returns, the Blues will be there.