Tony Farmer

Tony Farmer is the founder and inaugural manager of women's association football club Chelsea F.C. Women, then called Chelsea Ladies F.C. He successfully petitioned Chelsea F.C. to create the club in 1992, which installed him as its first manager, a role he served in until 1997. During his time as manager, Farmer recruited youth players to the team who would become prominent England national team players and the foundations of Chelsea's early top-flight competitions, including Fara Williams and Casey Stoney. He also led Chelsea's women's side to its first league championships and promotions.

Managing career In the early 1990s, Farmer coached youth clubs in the London area, including women's squads at Crystal Palace and Bedfont United.

In 1992, Farmer wrote a letter to Chelsea F.C. to propose adding a women's side, which the club had not done since the 1970s, to help rehabilitate the club's reputation with the broader public. and began recruiting youth players to the club, including many from his former team Bedfont United. At the time players had to pay to play the team, and its training grounds were a redgra surface at a community college near Feltham. As a reward the men's side invited the women to appear at halftime of its penultimate home match in the nascent Premier League, where the stadium gave the women's side a standing ovation, and provided Farmer with a £3,000 budget to cover the club's costs. Forward Julie Newell scored more than 80 goals in her first 50 appearances for the club. The protest ultimately failed, and The FA's restructuring resulted in the demotion of WSL 2 champions Sunderland and WSL 2 club Blackburn Rovers and the promotion of lower-division clubs such as Manchester United and West Ham United, all on financial grounds.