Head into one corner of the Chelsea Museum and there you’ll find, sandwiched between pennants adorning the iconic colours and crests of Barcelona and AC Milan, a smaller, rectangular piece of memorabilia commemorating a game we played in Copenhagen on 30 September 1958.

You’ve probably never heard of Frem, or Boldklubben Frem to give them their full title, but this club from the Danish capital are worthy of taking such pride of place in our museum. They were the first we ever met in a competitive European fixture.

It was fitting we travelled to Copenhagen for such a momentous occasion, one that would prove the beginning of an adventure in European competitions few clubs can rival. For it was Copenhagen that had hosted our very first overseas fixture, all the way back in May 1906 – barely a year after our founding.

That was a friendly game against local side B93. In 1958, a new continent-wide competition, created with UEFA and FIFA’s blessing, was in its third year. Originally named the International Industries Fairs Inter-Cities Cup, or Coupe des Villes de Foires in French, it was now better known as simply - and mercifully! - the Fairs Cup.

Sir Stanley Rous, the secretary of the Football Association and a future FIFA president, had been instrumental in the tournament’s creation, around the time the European Cup came to being. The development of air travel made it easier for football teams to reach hitherto faraway lands, while televised prestigious international friendlies showed there was an appetite for such cross-border contests.

‘In the wake of war, there was a new spirit of cooperation within Europe and football was proving an ideal medium for healing old animosities and establishing new friendships,’ Rous reflected years later.

‘We opted for a competition between those cities which had staged international trade fairs and exhibitions. Such cities were all large and widely spread, East as well as West.

‘Such a competition might increase international cooperation on a much wider basis bringing a new form of contact for administrators and businessmen as well.’

Fulfilling fixtures amid busy domestic schedules proved problematic. The first Fairs Cup match took place in June 1955, but the final, contested between a London XI and Barcelona XI, was three years in the making.

The first leg in the English capital actually took place at Stamford Bridge, with our own Jimmy Greaves scoring London’s opening goal in a 2-2 draw. Peter Sillett was also in the XI, but both missed the return game in Spain. London were thrashed 6-0.

For the next edition of the tournament, which would run from later in 1958 until Barcelona beat Birmingham City in May 1960, Chelsea were chosen to represent London. Unlike other competing cities, we did not draw on players from fellow capital clubs.

When the Blues travelled to Copenhagen in the autumn of 1958, we did so without John Mortimore and Peter Brabrook, pillars of our starting XI. Cliff Huxford and Colin Court, both 21, were handed their Chelsea debuts. It would prove to be Court’s only appearance for the club.

Before kick-off, under a Harvest Moon at the Valby Idraetspark, Chelsea captain Sillett exchanged pennants with Frem’s skipper. It is a tradition that has stood the test of time, and it is wonderful the Frem pennant on display in our museum has been kept in such pristine condition.

In and around the ground, meanwhile, matchday programmes were sold. It is believed approximately 200 are still in circulation, and when one came up for auction in 2022, the club moved quickly to acquire it. It now sits proudly in our Hall of Fame cabinet in the museum.

On the pitch, Ted Drake’s Chelsea made heavy weather of overcoming the Danish amateurs, whose team included two internationals, and three star guest players. Greaves set up Mike Harrison to score from close range midway through the half, but our lead lasted just 90 seconds. Harold Gronemann, a 31-year-old ex-boxer, fired in a spectacular 25-yard shot.

Until Greaves scored eight minutes into the second half, Chelsea were ‘guilty of contempt’, wrote the legendary Daily News reporter Ian Wooldridge. Harrison repaid Greaves by setting up his goal. Our star striker deftly flicked in with his left foot from two yards out, despite the attention of several Frem defenders. It was Greaves’ 17th of the season already – remember this was late September!

Unfortunately, thigh injuries left Greaves limping, and Ron Tindall just a passenger for the last third of the match. Despite our numerical deficiency, poor floodlights hampering our keeper Reg Matthews’ sight, and the French referee Pierre Schwinte making what Wooldridge described as ‘some incredible anti-Chelsea decisions’, Tony Nicholas hammered another Harrison cross into the roof of the net in the final minute. It finished 3-1 to Chelsea, the type of hard-earned European away win that, frankly, never gets old.

The second leg, five weeks later, drew a crowd of just 13,104 to Stamford Bridge, a very low figure by the standards of the day. The novelty of the competition and first leg result probably didn’t help, nor that the second half was broadcast live on television, between a telerecording of Pope John XXIII’s coronation, and an episode of The Inheritors: Africa.

Chelsea won 4-1, but again the Danes gave us a scare, cancelling out an early own goal with a well-worked equaliser straight from kick-off. On the half-hour, it needed a fine Matthews penalty save to keep us level.

As the game wore on, Chelsea’s superior fitness told. Greaves, on the cusp of a first England cap, ended a six-game drought a couple of minutes before the interval. He beat two players on the edge of the box and finished with customary aplomb. Greaves added a second later on, with Sillett rounding off the scoring for a 7-2 aggregate success.

‘Greaves tames the game Danes’ was the catchy headline in the Daily News. Chelsea’s European journey was up and running.

You can find out more about our history and see amazing artefacts in the flesh at the Chelsea FC Museum at Stamford Bridge!