There are many stories which have helped to shape 120 years of Chelsea history, and Ingledew has witnessed 40 years of them at Stamford Bridge as a supporter. Furthermore, for many years, he was the one responsible for capturing those stories, telling them and preserving them for posterity, in his role as a club photographer.

A collection of the stunning pictures he took, both officially and as a supporter, are currently on display at the prestigious Saatchi Gallery, just down the road from the Bridge, as part of the This Game Is What We Make It exhibition celebrating 120 years of Chelsea. Entry is free and you can visit the exhibition until midday on Monday 24 March.

But Ingledew was a fan first, and like most supporters his love affair with Chelsea started at a young age, long before he picked up his camera and turned it into a profession, being drawn to the club by the players and culture which inspired him.

‘My first time coming week in, week out would have been about 1980,’ recalls John. ‘I was a Chelsea fan from childhood. In the playground most kids wanted to be Georgie Best, but I wanted to be Alan Hudson.

‘It was just the glory of that 1970s team, the dash of it, of Peter Osgood, Charlie Cooke and particularly Hudson – he was our Georgie Best. I had a drink with Alan before the last home league game against Leicester, it was lovely to see him.

‘It was that team which made me a Chelsea fan. But coming week in week out, the first team I came to see regularly would have been the Micky Droy team of the early Eighties.’

His other passion in life, photography, meant he would often take his camera to matches and had a talent for catching the side of the game lesser seen by those outside of the stadium.

He would often turn his lens away from the action on the pitch to show the passion in the stands, as well as capturing the fan culture of those following the team home and away, leading to an unexpected invitation to record those moments officially for Chelsea itself.

‘The work I was doing as a photographer was very different to the photojournalism that I did photographing Chelsea fans. I was a portrait photographer working a lot for the BBC, Radio Times and a lot of other places and magazines, which was very different from taking my camera to Chelsea. But what came out of taking my camera to Chelsea was my first book, A View From The Bridge. That’s what got me the work with the club.

‘When I got the phone call I thought it was a wind-up from my mates. They said they were calling from Stamford Bridge and they wanted me to go down and photograph training a couple of times a week and go to the games home and away. The club were redesigning their Onside newspaper as a magazine and doing this new thing called a website!

‘The first week I started they sacked Ruud Gullit, so that was a pretty busy week, but then we had Gianluca Vialli who was fantastic. There are certain individuals that you feel incredibly lucky to have worked with.

‘It was just brilliant, I feel incredibly privileged to have worked with some of those players who are just so wonderful and charismatic. Vialli was one of those, Gus Poyet was fantastic to work with, Robbie Di Matteo is the only player who stopped to take my photograph!

‘It was also brilliant to see the career of JT blossom. I took the first photographs of Frank Lampard after he signed, which was fantastic, and seeing that team gel and the development through Claudio Ranieri in preparation for that extraordinary first season of Jose Mourinho.’

‘Some games are unforgettable. In April 1984, on my birthday, beating Leeds 5-0 was absolutely brilliant. I can still see Paul Canoville’s goal so clearly.

‘I was there at Galatasaray on an empty supporters’ plane, because everyone had been put off about going, and we went and it was absolutely brilliant. We were treated incredibly respectfully, it was really well stewarded, and we won 5-0.

‘Gabriele Ambrosetti got his only Chelsea goal and he signed my ticket, that’s in the scrapbook. Galatasaray away was a very special one.

‘There were a couple of 6-0 wins I remember. We beat the team of the moment Newcastle 6-0. That was the Clive Walker team which then evolved into one of the greatest attacking and creative Chelsea teams that I’ve seen, with the great triumvirate of Kerry Dixon, David Speedie and Pat Nevin.

‘Speedie’s story was extraordinary, he had been in the pits as a coal miner before playing for Chelsea, when’s that going to happen again? And Nevin had once-in-a-generation skill, exactly like Cole Palmer now. It’s worth the money just to see them because when they have the ball at their feet time stands still.

‘My last game as a Chelsea photographer was away at Bolton at the Reebok Stadium, winning the league after the 50-year wait. I remember sitting in the press room with one of the other photographers Francis Glibbery, with big cigars, and we said that was as good as it could get. So it seemed like not a bad time to hang up my camera for Chelsea.

‘For that game I was able to get to the tunnel and literally walk to the side of the pitch as the players went on. At some games that would be impossible. So when Frankie scored, both times he celebrated right up close in front of me.

‘It was just brilliant to be there. For me that was just an unforgettable day. We’ve had some very memorable games that I will always remember, but winning the league was extraordinary.’

He may no longer be capturing the club’s history in an official capacity, but Ingledew can still regularly be found in the stands at the Bridge cheering the Blues on as a fan, always with his camera within reach, just in case an opportunity for that perfect photograph arises.

‘Like all Chelsea fans it’s part of my life,’ John concluded. ‘To still go to Stamford Bridge is so important. It’s been a big part of our lives, travelling to this little patch of earth every other Saturday for four or five decades. I love doing that walk up Fulham Road, bumping into people on the way to the game.

‘I still go with the same bunch of chaps in the Shed End lower I’ve been going with for over 40 seasons, since we were “the boys in Blue in Division Two”. I love the camaraderie of it, I love the passion of it.’

That camaraderie and passion of the Chelsea fans, as well as some intimate behind-the-scenes moments with the players, are now proudly on display at the Saatchi Gallery in the This Game Is What We Make It exhibition, getting the recognition as the works of art they unquestionably are.