Quote Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman View Post
Yes, they were. Very much so.

Did you know that Chelsea had an average attendance of 30,850 as far back as 1907/08?

Their rankings in terms of average attendances for some of the early years of the Football League:

1907/08 - 1st
1908/09 - 2nd
1909/10 - 2nd
1910/11 - 3rd
1911/12 - 1st
1912/13 - 1st
1913/14 - 1st
1914/15 - 3rd
1919/20 - 1st
1920/21 - 2nd
1921/22 - 1st
1922/23 - 4th
1923/24 - 1st
1924/25 - 4th
1925/26 - 1st
1926/27 - 5th
1927/28 - 3rd
1928/29 - 6th
1929/30 - 6th
1930/31 - 2nd

In 1925/26, Chelsea topped the national attendance charts despite playing in the Second Division. The only other clubs who have done that are Manchester City (1927/28), Newcastle United (1946/47 and 1947/48), Tottenham Hotspur (1949/50) and Manchester United (1974/75).
For balance, can you let us know which clubs were 1st in the seasons Chelsea were not in this pre ww2 period, just so we can see who the other big clubs are in this period.