TED DRAKE, barnstorming centre-forward, scorer of Arsenal’s winning goal in the 1936 FA Cup final, of seven goals in a game at Villa Park in 1935, of 42 in his first full league season with Arsenal, 1934-35, was destined to achieve a double metamorphosis.

In the early 1950s, as manager, he transformed Chelsea from a protracted music-hall joke into league champions, and himself from a noisy, roistering jester into a quiet, pinstriped executive.

Founded in 1905, when a journalist prophesied that “Chelsea will stagger humanity”, the club had yet to win anything of significance at all.

Indeed, in the late 1930s, a popular comedian actually released a record called The Day That Chelsea Won The Cup, satirising their lack of silverware. One of the first things that Drake did was to take the image of the pensioner off the front of the programme. Chelsea’s nickname, The Pensioners, itself a kind of surrender, was no more.

With the advent of Drake, realism came to Stamford Bridge. It was hardly surprising, given the kind of player he had been, utterly fearless, forever in the wars, time and again carried off the field on the sturdy shoulders of the Arsenal trainer, Tom Whittaker. When he scored that FA Cup winner against Sheffield United at Wembley in 1936, it was with a heavily bandaged right leg. Two years earlier his tackle on centre-back Luisito Monti, 90 seconds into the England-Italy match at Arsenal, had sparked off what became known as the Battle of Highbury.

Drake’s playing career would end in 1945 at Reading when, still an RAF officer, he fell so heavily on his back that he could never play again. Two years later, he effectively became Reading’s manager, twice taking them to second place in the Third Division South — then only the champions were promoted.

Arriving at Stamford Bridge, he already had on his books a major star: Roy Bentley. An exponent of the deep-lying centre-forward game long before Nandor Hidegkuti came to Wembley in 1953 to shatter the England defence, Bentley, a Royal Navy wartime sailor, joined his local club, Bristol City, as an inside-forward.

In 1946, he went to Newcastle United for £8,000 before Chelsea signed him for £11,000 in 1948 and turned him into a centre-forward.

He led the England attack in the ill-starred 1950 World Cup in Brazil, and scored two marvellous goals that year against Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-final at Tottenham, only for Arsenal to prevail. He hit no fewer than 22 goals in 41 games when Chelsea became champions.

The club’s next leading scorer that season was inside-right Johnny McNichol, with 14 goals. He was Drake’s first signing, coming from Brighton of the Third Division South for £15,000. Another inside-forward, Les Stubbs, was bought from Southend United, of the same division.

From the Third Division North’s Crewe Alexandra for £7,000 came the precociously talented teenage blond outside-left, Frankie Blunstone, then still serving in the Royal Army Medical Corps. Future England manager Ron Greenwood, by then a veteran centre-half, was transferred from Bradford Park Avenue, another coup by Drake.

Greenwood would split 42 league games with big Stan Wicks, signed during the season from Reading. There was sturdy support from another veteran, Scottish defender, John Harris, who had been at the club since 1945 and was switched from centre-half to right-back. But it was another of Drake’s signings, powerful full-back Peter Sillett, bought from Southampton and appearing 21 times, who played a key role in the season, scoring in the 3-0 victory over Sheffield Wednesday that won the title.

There was also versatile right-half Ken Armstrong, and the busy outside-right, Eric “Rabbit” Parsons, both at Chelsea before Drake. But the championship team was emphatically the one that Drake built.

Seamus O’Connell, a blond inside-forward who was signed as an amateur, played only 16 championship games, yet scored 11 goals.

Despite an extraordinary match at the Bridge in October 1954, when Manchester United won 6-5, only Sunderland and Burnley would have better defensive records than Chelsea, who scored 81 goals. Chelsea’s 52 points was the lowest winning total since Arsenal were champions in 1938, but Wolves, the runners-up, ended four points behind.

Fast and effective on the wings, inspired by Bentley’s clever wanderings and strong finishing, Drake’s Chelsea deserved their title.

They wouldn’t, in his time, come close to it again, and in 1961 he was dismissed. Not for half a century would he be emulated.

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