Rick Glanvill
@rickglanvill.bsky.social
Writer•Researcher•Official Chelsea FC historian (my views only)•Family historian•Drummer•Official Islington Tour Guide•*BRAND NEW OFFICIAL BOOK NOV 2025: Chelsea FC – The Official History
Sadly, we had to cancel 😞
November 24, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Sadly, we had to cancel 😞
I’m not recommending it
November 22, 2025 at 3:22 PM
I’m not recommending it
I championed her against the reservations of other two on the panel. Even when she was truculent, nervy and dismissive in the interview. I insisted we hire her and we did. She went on to become a great, challenging friend and a newspaper legend – miss you, Deborah Orr.
November 19, 2025 at 5:40 PM
I championed her against the reservations of other two on the panel. Even when she was truculent, nervy and dismissive in the interview. I insisted we hire her and we did. She went on to become a great, challenging friend and a newspaper legend – miss you, Deborah Orr.
I’d like to put on record that the best pitch I ever received (as deputy editor of City Limits) was for a role in our news dept. From a young woman fresh out of uni in Motherwell. 100 story ideas from the streets of London. Sparky, opinionated, original, compelling. 100 of them.
November 19, 2025 at 5:40 PM
I’d like to put on record that the best pitch I ever received (as deputy editor of City Limits) was for a role in our news dept. From a young woman fresh out of uni in Motherwell. 100 story ideas from the streets of London. Sparky, opinionated, original, compelling. 100 of them.
He actually missed a second penalty a few months later at Arsenal – and had to hare the length of the pitch to stop a counterattack goal. Might explain his one-off at least
November 19, 2025 at 5:27 PM
He actually missed a second penalty a few months later at Arsenal – and had to hare the length of the pitch to stop a counterattack goal. Might explain his one-off at least
The patriarch whose legacy was the JT Mears Trust, Joseph Theophilus Sr, was originally a gardener.
November 18, 2025 at 6:52 PM
The patriarch whose legacy was the JT Mears Trust, Joseph Theophilus Sr, was originally a gardener.
SW London once had the greatest concentration of market gardens per square mile in England. On balance I’m glad football replaced artichokes though.
November 18, 2025 at 6:50 PM
SW London once had the greatest concentration of market gardens per square mile in England. On balance I’m glad football replaced artichokes though.
(Charlotte, darn it, not Catherine.)
November 18, 2025 at 5:50 PM
(Charlotte, darn it, not Catherine.)
From the 1850s, if not before, as T J Poupart. Their name is on the Covent Garden memorial to traders.
November 18, 2025 at 5:45 PM
From the 1850s, if not before, as T J Poupart. Their name is on the Covent Garden memorial to traders.
Further research showed that the Pouparts' home on the market garden land was accessed by a lane on the exact footprint of the Bovril Entrance at Stamford Bridge today. [ends]
November 18, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Further research showed that the Pouparts' home on the market garden land was accessed by a lane on the exact footprint of the Bovril Entrance at Stamford Bridge today. [ends]
And, as a result, their niece – my 5th cousin 4-times removed, Catherine – actually sold the land to Mears, playing a huge part in the formation of Chelsea FC. As the club’s official historian, I was gobsmacked by such a tangible family connection. 11/11
November 18, 2025 at 5:20 PM
And, as a result, their niece – my 5th cousin 4-times removed, Catherine – actually sold the land to Mears, playing a huge part in the formation of Chelsea FC. As the club’s official historian, I was gobsmacked by such a tangible family connection. 11/11
I rechecked church records to confirm the extraordinary revelation to me that Mary Ann Poulain, the granddaughter of Isaac and my ancestor Jeanne, had married the man who had owned Stamford Bridge… 10/11
November 18, 2025 at 5:20 PM
I rechecked church records to confirm the extraordinary revelation to me that Mary Ann Poulain, the granddaughter of Isaac and my ancestor Jeanne, had married the man who had owned Stamford Bridge… 10/11
The name Poulain was very well-known to me – in 1718 at the French Protestant church, Cornhill, Isaac Poulain had married my 8-times-great aunt Jeanne Catherine Levesque – another Huguenot. 9/11
November 18, 2025 at 5:20 PM
The name Poulain was very well-known to me – in 1718 at the French Protestant church, Cornhill, Isaac Poulain had married my 8-times-great aunt Jeanne Catherine Levesque – another Huguenot. 9/11
When I originally saw Mary Ann’s surname – Poulain – I started to think ‘surely not?!’. Like the Pouparts, the Poulains were Huguenots – religious exiles from France who arrived as refugees in c17th Kent. 8/11
November 18, 2025 at 5:20 PM
When I originally saw Mary Ann’s surname – Poulain – I started to think ‘surely not?!’. Like the Pouparts, the Poulains were Huguenots – religious exiles from France who arrived as refugees in c17th Kent. 8/11
They became preeminent wholesalers of fruit and veg at Covent Garden and the Poupart corporation still trades. It’s unclear how their land came to the Stunts but there was a relationship clue in the maiden name of Robert's wife Mary Ann. 7/11
November 18, 2025 at 5:20 PM
They became preeminent wholesalers of fruit and veg at Covent Garden and the Poupart corporation still trades. It’s unclear how their land came to the Stunts but there was a relationship clue in the maiden name of Robert's wife Mary Ann. 7/11
Researching the land ownership further back I could see that the Poupart family had worked the market gardens for a century and even built the elegant Stamford Villas – still adjacent to the stadium – on the Fulham Road in the 1830s. 6/11
November 18, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Researching the land ownership further back I could see that the Poupart family had worked the market gardens for a century and even built the elegant Stamford Villas – still adjacent to the stadium – on the Fulham Road in the 1830s. 6/11
It was Charlotte who sold Stamford Bridge on to Gus Mears, allowing his friend Fred Parker’s vision of a professional football club and a world class stadium to come to fruition on the old market gardens site. 5/11
November 18, 2025 at 5:20 PM
It was Charlotte who sold Stamford Bridge on to Gus Mears, allowing his friend Fred Parker’s vision of a professional football club and a world class stadium to come to fruition on the old market gardens site. 5/11
Robert was bequeathed that land by his father John, a posh bootmaker at 57 Strand, Westminster, who died in 1859. After Robert passed away in 1902 the freehold of the Bridge fell to his niece Charlotte Mary Ann Stunt (he had no children). 4/11
November 18, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Robert was bequeathed that land by his father John, a posh bootmaker at 57 Strand, Westminster, who died in 1859. After Robert passed away in 1902 the freehold of the Bridge fell to his niece Charlotte Mary Ann Stunt (he had no children). 4/11