Chelsea’s first 30 years had seen us establish a reputation for assembling entertaining teams full of exciting talent, which correspondingly attracted large crowds to Stamford Bridge. Unfortunately, we had also gained a reputation – jokingly referenced in the music halls and cinemas of the age – for being unable to convert that talent into success.

The man tasked with changing that was Leslie Knighton, who had replaced long-serving manager David Calderhead. But he couldn't improve much on his predecessor and guided us to a series of mid-table finishes in Division One.

The challenge of turning Chelsea into winners was passed on to Billy Birrell in 1939, and the Scot arrived with big plans, including the formation of a youth system to produce our own players to supplement the star signings.

However, the outbreak of war would again put our plans on hold, meaning Birrell would have to wait six years to begin implementing many of his new ideas. The signs for the future were good, though, after we reached two war-time Football League South Cup finals, beating Millwall 2-0 in the second to lift the trophy.

Here are some of our favourite images from Chelsea's third decade...