Much of the information in this section is taken from the Book "Chelsea Grit", a full colour, hard copy production which records the history of the club from it's establishment in 1911, to it's Centenary in 2011.

The Author of Chelsea Grit Col Counsel, came to Chelsea from Richmond as a five year old in 1950. Growing up in a very spacious environment, he enjoyed great freedom of movement around the town as was common in those days.
 
Chelsea, with its magnificent beach and vast areas of unexplored territory was a most wonderful place for young boys to grow up in. Whether it be horse riding across the sandhills that stretched out from Bonbeach right through to Patterson River or bike riding along the foreshore, kids were free to roam in relative safety.
 
In 1960, Col had his first contact with Chelsea Football Club through his involvement in the Under 17s (Chelsea Thirds). As a small and younger member of the team, he played in the back pocket with the task of looking after resting rovers, something that he discovered wasn’t beyond him. It was during the ensuing years that he was exposed to the full range of personalities present in the Club and unbeknownst at the time, established many lifelong friendships as he moved through the grades becoming a regular in the senior team as a back pocket player in 1964.
 
A premiership player in 1966, he succumbed to injury mid-season 1967 in a game that would prove to be his last for the club as family commitments, career moves and friendship guided his path in other directions.
 
Col’s return to the Club occurred in 2000 when he became involved in the forty year re-union of the sixties’ teams. It was here that he took his first steps into the annals of CFC’s history with the production of premiership frames and the creation of a small book entitled “The Camelot Years” which examined the club’s golden run of success through this period.
 
With a strong bond to the club that was established in his youth and his previous historical work, it seemed inevitable that it would rest on Col to create this written history of the club. That he has done so with such obvious attention, care and sensitive insight is evidence of his great love of Chelsea Football Club and all who are associated with it.