John "Joe" Mears (20 January 1905 – 30 June 1966) was chairman of

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 ...

and

the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...

. Mears was the son and nephew of Chelsea F.C. founders,

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 m ...

and

Gus Mears 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. He was born in 1873, the son of Joseph and Charl ...

respectively. He was a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

for the Old Malvernians before joining the Chelsea board in 1931, in doing so becoming the youngest director (aged 26) in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

. He became Chelsea chairman in 1940 following the death of Colonel Crisp. Mears was a

Royal Marine The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, and his duties included the security arrangements for

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

's bunker. Mears' tenure as chairman of Chelsea saw them win their first First Division title in 1954–55, and it was he who subsequently gave in to pressure from the Football League for the club not to take its place in the inaugural European Champions Cup the following season. He later managed the representative

London XI The London XI was a football team that represented the city of London in the 1955–58 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. The competition began in 1955, and the first tournament took three years to complete. The entrants were the major football team of ...

side during its

1955–58 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The first Inter-Cities Fairs Cup took place over three seasons from 1955 to 1958. The competition began with a group stage with each team playing home and away against each other. Due to the competition rules which stated only one side from each ...

campaign; the team reached the final, losing on aggregate to

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

. His son

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 ...

was also a chairman of the club. Mears became chairman of the Football Association in 1963. As such, he was a key figure during England's preparations to host the

1966 World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 July to 30 July 1966. The England national football team defeated West Germany 4-2 in the ...

, and was involved in the furore when the

Jules Rimet trophy The World Cup is a solid gold trophy that is awarded to the winners of the FIFA World Cup association football tournament. Since the advent of the World Cup in 1930, two trophies have been used: the Jules Rimet Trophy from 1930 to 1970, before ...

was stolen. It was he who received the

ransom Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or the sum of money involved in such a practice. When ransom means "payment", the word comes via Old French ''rançon'' from Latin ''re ...

note from the thief, and was subsequently involved in the trophy's recovery.No sale for World Cup ransom note.
BBC News. 18 October 2006. Retrieved 18 July 2010. He died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

on 30 June 1966, two weeks before the World Cup began.

References

* * 1905 births 1966 deaths Chelsea F.C. chairmen and investors Chairmen of the Football Association English football chairmen and investors English footballers People educated at Malvern College Royal Marines personnel of World War II Old Malvernians F.C. players Association football goalkeepers 20th-century English businesspeople {{England-footy-goalkeeper-stub