There are not many people who can say they have been a Chelsea fan for a century but that is exactly what Doris Wilkinson is.

The feisty lady turned 100-years-old on Tuesday (11) as she celebrated at a party with friends at the Chiswick Nursing Centre in Ravenscourt Gardens.

Having lived all her life in Fulham, she remembers the area fondly - playing tennis in Bishop’s Park with her beloved husband, John, watching the annual University Boat Race and of course supporting Chelsea FC.

“We used to watch the Boat Race on the river bank in Fulham every year and now I watch it on TV but it really hasn’t changed. I’ve always supported Cambridge because I prefer the colour, sky blue is much better than Oxford’s dark blue!

“I’ve always been a Chelsea supporter, never Fulham despite living there. I still watch the matches on TV, up the Blues!”

The youngest of five children, Mrs Wilkinson left school at 14-years-old and started working at a luxury leather goods store in Picadilly which she remembers with much fondness.

She said: “We sold all types of leather goods, wallets, cases, luggage. I was a cashier and we had lots of well-to-do people coming into the shop, it was lots of fun and I learnt a lot but it’s no longer there.

“I also volunteered at the Royal Brompton Hospital which was so rewarding. I made great friends there and it’s such a fantastic hospital, I've got very good memories of working there.”

She lived with her husband John in Queensmill Road opposite Fulham Palace Cemetery for many happy years but they had only been married for a year when the Second World War broke out and he was subsequently taken as a prisoner of war in Poland. “We got married in 1938 then the war broke out in 1939 and he went off with the army and was then captured so I didn’t see him until he came back to London in 1945.

“It was difficult but then everybody was going through the same thing so we all helped each other out and everyone was much more friendly back then. We had to go to air raid shelters but luckily I didn’t have to sleep in the tube like lots of people did, it must’ve been horrible sleeping with hundreds of others all around you.

“When John returned from the war there was no fanfare, we just got on with and it was lovely having him back so we could at last enjoy our marriage. He was such a lovely man, the love of my life.”

The Wilkinsons used to run around Fulham in a yellow Ford Anglia, driven by Doris with John navigating. “John didn’t know how to drive so he was always the one reading the map. We made a good team, it was such fun driving that car.”

And as for the secret to living for that long, Mrs Wilkinson said one does not exist. “I never thought I’d live ‘til 100. Just live life to the full and enjoy it.”

Mrs Wilkinson has been at the Chiswick Nursing Centre for a few years now and had high praise for the staff and facilities there and it was obvious they are just as devoted to her.