Henry Augustus "Gus" Mears (1873 – 4 February 1912)Brian Belton, ''Birth of the Blues'', Pennant Books, 2008, . was an English businessman, most notable for founding

Chelsea Football Club Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, West London. Founded in 1905, they play their home games at Stamford Bridge. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division of English football. ...

He was born in 1873, the son of Joseph and Charlotte Mears. In 1896, Mears and his brother

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

purchased the Stamford Bridge Athletics Ground and later the nearby

market garden A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. The diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically from under to ...

with the intention of turning it into the country's finest football ground and staging high-profile matches there. He failed to persuade

Fulham FC Fulham Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, London, which compete in the . They have played home games at Craven Cottage since 1896, other than a two-year period spent at Loftus Road whilst Craven Cottage unde ...

chairman Henry Norris to re-locate his club to the ground, and considered selling the land to the Great Western Railway Company, who wished to use it as a coal yard. Mears was ultimately persuaded not to sell up, and instead decided to found his own team, Chelsea, in March, 1905. The story goes that he was on the verge of giving up on the football project when his Scotch Terrier bit his colleague Fred Parker, who still supported the idea. So impressed was Mears with his friend's reaction, he decided to take his advice. Mears was on the club's first board of directors, but did not live to see the club achieve any success. His dream of making Stamford Bridge one of England's top stadiums was realised, however, as it staged the

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official atten ...

from 1920-23. His descendants continued to own the club until 1982, when his great-nephew

Brian Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word me ...

sold it to

Ken Bates Kenneth William Bates (born 4 December 1931) is a British businessman, football executive and hotelier. He was involved in the development of Wembley Stadium and is the former owner and chairman of football clubs Chelsea and Leeds United. Bate ...

Death

Mears died in 1912, and his grave is in the nearby

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is a London cemetery, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries. Establ ...

, London.

References

* 1873 births 1912 deaths English football chairmen and investors Chelsea F.C. chairmen and investors Burials at Brompton Cemetery 19th-century English businesspeople {{England-footy-bio-stub