The Smiling Man and Hebert Chapman - the ghosts said to haunt Chelsea and Arsenal grounds at Halloween

Halloween has arrived in London but over at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea supporters have been enduring a terrifying time of it lately even without the international day of all things ghoulish.

The Blues have been haunted by the success of yesteryear as a series of managers have struggled to get the team firing to lofty expectations, a 2-0 derby day defeat to Brentford on Saturday the latest spook for the Bridge faithful.

Sitting 11th in the table and with no European football to blame for Premier League form, Mauricio Pochettino may feel the grim reaper is looming large over his time in West London with the side in desperate need of a bounce-back against Blackburn Rovers in the Carabao Cup before a difficult run of fixtures against Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and Newcastle United.

The Chelsea Smiling Man of Stamford Bridge

Pochettino is in desperate need of a little luck and perhaps the 51-year-old could do with making an unscheduled trip to Stamford Bridge on Halloween with the hope of bumping into the stadium's rumoured resident ghost.

With the phantoms at their most powerful on Halloween, any chance encounters with the shadow realm would be advised but the figure said to haunt Stamford Bridge is actually believed to bring luck to any that see it.

The story goes that the historic stadium, which has been in use since 1877, is haunted by the Smiling Man. The ghost's name has an unnerving sound to it, but crossing paths with the figure at the ground could be a blessing.

Tales online report that there was once a Chelsea supporter named Rebecca Leros who claimed to have been attending a meeting between the Blues and Manchester United at Stamford Bridge when she met the Smiling Man while purchasing food at half-time. The supporter claimed that she spotted the man smiling at her, she looked away and when she looked back he had disappeared.

Rebecca was left unsettled but was reassured by her husband that the Smiling Man was believed to bring good luck and, sure enough, a week later the fan won a new car from a raffle entered at Stamford Bridge that day.

Whether Pochettino and his staff believe in such an old wives' tale, tough times may cause for dramatic measures, although the side's form may be quicker solved on the training ground than searching Stamford Bridge for the Smiling Man.

Hebert Chapman haunts old Arsenal ground Highbury

Stamford Bridge isn't the only stadium said to be haunted by a ghost with Arsenal's former home ground of Highbury also a particularly creepy place to visit on Halloween.

The ground, which was in use from 1913 to 2006, saw many of the club's most famous triumphs, including 13 league victories and the rise of the Invincibles. The ground has now become the Highbury Square residential development but has still kept elements of the original stadium due to its listed status.

The story goes that the Gunners' most successful pre-war manager Hebert Chapman felt so at home at Highbury that he continues to wander the ground in ghost form today. Chapman won two First Division titles with Arsenal in 1931 and 1933, as well as an FA Cup in 1930.

Chapman was a pioneering manager but died prematurely at the age of 55, while still in charge of Arsenal. The Gunners legend returned to London having scouted next opponents Sheffield Wednesday in January 1934 but had picked up a cold. Soon after his illness worsened, pneumonia set in and the manager passed away before being buried at St Mary's Churchyard in Hendon.

Hendon is seven miles away from Highbury but some people report to have seen Chapman's ghost at highbury alongside the shadow of a horse, who was believed to have died during the construction of the ground's North Bank stand. In 2010, a group of fans even went to the old ground with a Ouija board to try and bring about a meeting with the stadium's ghosts.