David Calderhead (19 June 1864 – 9 January 1938) was a Scottish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

. Calderhead played for Queen of the South Wanderers,

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

and Lincoln City. He won the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

with Notts County in 1894 and was capped once for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, in 1889. He then became a manager, working for Lincoln City (1900–1907) and

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

(1907–1933).

Playing career

Calderhead was a

centre half In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

and played for various clubs, including

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

team Queen of the South Wanderers (not to be confused with Queen of the South, formed in 1919). He won one

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

, in a 7–0 win against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

at the first Ibrox Park in the

British Home Championship The British Home Championship * sco, Hame Internaitional Kemp * gd, Farpais lìg eadar-nàiseanta * cy, Pencampwriaeth y Pedair Gwlad, name=lang (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Champio ...

in March 1889; this attracted

. With Notts County he played in two

finals:David Calderhead in the QoS Club History
/ref>"David Calderhead" full career profile on www.qosfc.com
/ref> the

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

side of Thomas Mitchell were 3–1 winners in 1891,David Calderhead in the 1891 Blackburn Rovers v Notts County FA Cup final in the profile on Jackie Oakes
but Calderhead got his hands on the trophy in 1894 after a 4–1 victory over

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

Management career

He then moved into management, taking over at Lincoln City in 1900. In leading his side to a shock replayed win over Chelsea in the first round of 1906–07 FA Cup, he impressed the west

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

club's board enough for them to appoint him manager later that year.

Norrie Fairgray Norman Murray Fairgray (28 October 1880 – 1968) was a Scottish professional footballer who played mainly as an outside left for Maxwelltown Volunteers, Kilmarnock, Lincoln City, Chelsea, Motherwell David Calderhead and Chelsea in the profile on Willie ferguson
Calderhead was Chelsea's first full-time secretary-manager and spent almost 26 years at the club, making him the club's longest-serving manager. Chelsea were

relegated In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

in 1909–10 and promoted back to the First Division in 1911–12. Calderhead took Chelsea to their first FA Cup final, in

1915 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction". *January 1 ...

, but in a match overshadowed by the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

they were beaten by

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

0–3 at Old Trafford. During the war, Chelsea won the unofficial

London Combination The Football Combination was a football competition for the reserve teams of English Football League clubs from Southern England, the Midlands and Wales; other clubs from the Midlands and those from the North playing in the Central League (it is n ...

twice, as well as the War Fund Cup. The 1919–20 season was Chelsea's most successful under Calderhead, finishing 3rd in the First Division and reaching the FA Cup semi-finals, where they lost to

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

. The club were relegated again in 1923–24 and, after a succession of near-misses, the side of

Willie Ferguson William Copeland Ferguson (13 February 1901 – 31 August 1960) was a Scottish footballer and manager best known for his time at Chelsea and Dumfries side Queen of the South. His position was usually as a left winger. Early years Ferguson ...

, Tommy Law and Andy Wilson were promoted again in 1929–30. 1931–32 brought a further FA Cup semi final. Tommy Lang inspired Newcastle to a 2-goal lead and despite Gallacher pulling a goal back, Newcastle progressed to the final. Calderhead was notoriously shy of the media, earning the nickname "

The Sphinx The Great Sphinx of Giza is a limestone statue of a reclining sphinx, a legendary creature, mythical creature with the head of a human, and the body of a lion. Facing directly from west to east, it stands on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of ...

of Stamford Bridge". Nevertheless, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' described him as "one of the managers who started the fashion of paying huge transfer fees and was responsible for bringing many celebrated players to Stamford Bridge, including ughieGallacher and lexJackson." Gallacher, Jackson and

Alec Cheyne Alexander George Cheyne (28 April 1907 – 5 July 1983) was a Scottish footballer who played as an inside forward. He is reputed to have been responsible for the Hampden Roar following his goal in the 'Cheyne International' of 1929. Playing c ...

were purchased for a combined £30,000 in the summer of 1930. In March 1910, in an (unsuccessful) bid to stave off relegation, Calderhead's Chelsea spent the then-considerable sum of £3000 on new players. Despite the big spending on glamorous players, the club failed to win a major trophy during Calderhead's tenure. Calderhead holds the record at Chelsea for managing games – 966. He left the job in June 1933 to be replaced by

Leslie Knighton Albert Leslie Knighton (15 March 1887 – 10 May 1959) was an English football manager. He managed Arsenal, Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic, Birmingham, Chelsea and Shrewsbury Town. Management career Knighton was born in Church Gresley, Sw ...

. Calderhead died five years after leaving Chelsea in

at the age of 73. His son, also called

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

, played for Chelsea while his father was manager and later took charge of Lincoln City.

Honours

Player

Notts County *

: 1894 **finalist 1891

Manager

Chelsea *

: finalists:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calderhead, David 1864 births 1938 deaths Footballers from East Ayrshire Notts County F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. managers Chelsea F.C. managers Scottish footballers Scottish football managers Scotland international footballers English Football League representative players Association football central defenders English Football League players FA Cup Final players