David Calderhead

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David Calderhead (19 June 1864, in Hurlford, – 9 January 1938 in London) was a Scottish footballer who later became a manager, notably of Chelsea.

Calderhead was a central defender and played for various clubs, included Queen of the South and Notts County, with whom he won the FA Cup in 1894 after a 4-1 victory over Bolton Wanderers. He won a solitary Scotland cap, in a 7-0 win against Northern Ireland at Ibrox in the British Home Championship in March 1889.

He then moved into management, taking over at Lincoln City in 1900. After leading his side to a shock replayed win over Chelsea in the 1906-07 FA Cup, he impressed the board at the West London club enough to appoint him manager later that year.

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. In his time there, the team were relegated twice, in 1909-10 and 1923-24, and subsequently re-promoted as Second Division runners-up on both occasions. He took Chelsea to their first FA Cup final, in 1915, though on the day they were beaten by Sheffield United 0-3 at Old Trafford. The club later reached two more semi-finals under Calderhead and were on course for a domestic double in 1919-20 but ultimately finished 3rd in the First Division and were denied in the FA Cup by Aston Villa.

Calderhead was notoriously shy of the media, earning the nickname "The Sphinx of Stamford Bridge"). But he was not afraid to spend headline-making transfer fees on star strikers (especially fellow Scots), bringing the likes of Hughie Gallacher, Alex Jackson and Alec Cheyne to Stamford Bridge. Despite the glamour of the squad, real success still eluded the club.

He left the job in June 1933 to be replaced by Leslie Knighton and died five years later in London at the age of 73.