CFC Intro page
The Blues Brothers !
(Pat Nevin & myself in December 1985)
As the 1983/1984 football season commenced, I was still doing my Saturday job but
Chelsea's opening day 5-0 victory over Derby County was making the headlines, especially
as the Rams were hotly tipped for promotion. So, a couple of months into the season & Fuzz
was starting to rave about the new Stamford Bridge wing wizard - wee Pat Nevin.
Mr Nevin also made the pages of the NME and was surely the first football player in the
history of the game to have a decent music taste. Okay, the Jesus And Mary Chain were
a tad overrated but the Cocteau Twins aural beauty graced my turntable for many years.
I was only able to make a handful of games (mainly midweek) during that season, but I knew
that, football-wise, I'd found my spiritual home. Again, I missed out on the 5-0 mauling of
Leeds United (with all the ensuing chaos) but witnessed the twist & turns of the last home
game (3-1 vs Barnsley) where two dramatic late goals kept (already promoted) Chelsea on course
for the Second Division title.
Season 1984/1985
So the "84/85" season kicked off just after I started full time employment & we all headed
off to a hot & sunny Highbury. Somewhat groggy from Friday night's party, the clock end was
mighty packed & everyone went mental as Kerry Dixon lashed home at our end to earn a 1-1 draw.
My shifts at work meant I missed a couple of home games but even a Friday night late shift didn't
stop Fuzz & myself heading off for St James Park, where we lost 2-1 - a rather long day ! Home
form was solid but the Blues saved the "first away win" until 3 days before Christmas, where
soaked to the bone at Goodison Park, we celebrated a glorious 4-3 win over Everton, with a classic
Gordon Davis hatrick, despite the Toffeemen scoring two dubious penalties in the last 5 minutes.
It was a memorable season (a classic 3-1 league victory over Liverpool & the epic Milk Cup saga
vs Sheffield Wednesday standing out) but Dixon & Speedie's goalscoring exploits weren't the only
things making the headlines. I guess nobody will ever forget the *aggro* that blighted the club
and amongst numerous skirmishes that season the great Milk Cup run ended in utter chaos, as old
boy Clive Walker's breakaway equaliser sealed our fate at The Bridge. By the time it became 3-1
to Sunderland, I'm not sure how many supporters were still watching the game (as opposed to the
running battles and the "Fatman" attempting a slug at Walker in the centre circle) and there was
barely a audible cheer as Pat's late lob made it slightly more respectable at 2-3 on the night
(2-5 on aggregate) but a month or so later, as Chelsea celebrated it's 80th anniversary,
all the talk was about the possibility of "electric fences" !?!
Season 1985/1986
By the summer of 1985, admitting to being a football fan was akin to being a social leper after
Millwall had rioted at Luton & the Heysel Stadium disaster had claimed many lives. Meanwhile, at
Chelsea, supporters eagerly anticipated the start of the new campaign as John Neal moved upstairs
and the ever popular John Hollins was installed as the new Chelsea manager.
my Anfield ticket stub signed by Pat Nevin
Chelsea started well and lost only one of the first nine games - after a couple of small blips
Chelsea went 11 League games unbeaten (of which they won 9 and of the other two included a richly
deserved last minute Pat Nevin equaliser at Anfield, which prompted me to get the match ticket
autographed at the
subsequent Chelsea FC Dinner/Dance that December) before fate conspired against the Blues as Kerry
broke down in the televised FA Cup tie against Liverpool & we were dumped out of the 2 major cups
at home within 4 days. Even then, with a chance to take the top spot in the League, Chelsea (sadly
with both Dixon & Speedie ruled out) dropped 5 home points as they drew 2-2 with Leicester and then
shockingly capitulated 1-4 to lowly Oxford. A minor recovery kept Chelsea in the hunt until the
inaugural Full Members Cup Final at Wembley where rampant (but Dixon & Eddie-less) Chelsea (leading
5-1 with 5 minutes to go through a Speedie hatrick and a Colin Lee brace) hung on for a
nailbiting 5-4 victory. Now comes the funny bit ...
Full Members Cup Final vs Man City 1986
After safely bagging the Full Members Cup (hurrah !) we entertained West Ham, who themselves were
riding high on the goals of Cottee and McAvennie. It was a total disaster and we were stuffed 4-0.
Still shaking heads in disbelief, we headed off to Loftus Road on the Easter Monday where things
went from bad to worse. A shocking 6-0 reverse is still fondly remembered for all the singing "we're
gonna win the league, etc" and David Speedie's blatent late foul which received an automatic red card.
It made you proud to be a Chelsea fan as the Rangers mob were drowned out. A season that finished in 4
straight defeats (ending with Les Fridge's amazing debut, conceding 5 at home to Watford) may have
been taken a bit more seriously had we not all been banned from European competition but had two
corking moments. Firstly, Dixon's double at Old Trafford screwed up United chances then the ultimate
revenge when the Upton Park return fixture (rescheduled from frosted out New Year's Day) ended with
a far past wee Pat header
that ultimately destroyed the Hammers championship pretensions as the
Blues ran very late 2-1 winners. Oh, how we mobbed the Blues coach on the way back to the station !
Season 1986/1987
Over the summer of 1986, my personal circumstances changed somewhat as firstly Deborah and myself
got married, then a week before the new season my daughter Danielle was born. This did not stop me
from going to see Killing Joke headline the Friday night at the Reading Festival followed by an opening
day 0-0 draw vs Norwich at the Bridge. Despite an early televised 1-0 win at Old Trafford & a truly
memorable Hazard inspired 3-1 win at White Hart Lane, where the incessant rain rendered our Chelsea
Collection gift watches broken but our spirits anything but, the good ship Chelsea was in choppy waters.
Already, we had seen several bad defeats (a brief 2-1 lead over the Forest turned into a 2-6 defeat but
thankfully I was not present as Dougie saw red and the Blues crashed 0-4 to Wimbledon) and Chelsea hit
the basement in December before the battling Blues started a major recovery at The Dell on Boxing Day.
The final home game against Liverpool was a 3-3 ding dong and Chelsea finished 14th (out of 22nd) but now
with kit makers Umbro now on board, thankfully no more of that Chelsea Collection malarkey.
Season 1987/1988
During the summer of 1987, I moved my young family up to Peterborough. It was ultimately a naive
decision, but you can only learn from your mistakes. It meant that I would be able to make few
away games, but we scheduled trips to London to coincide with home games, as much as was possible.
Six weeks into the new campaign and Chelsea reached a lofty position of 2nd. Eddie got badly
injured again in late October and this, above everything, seemed to knock the stuffing out of
Chelsea. The strange thing was that, in a doomed season as 87/88 was, I saw very few defeats.
Hardly surprising that, as we only lost 2 home games all season !?! It was crazy, absolutely
crazy. Not only were Chelsea the only team to be relegated via the short-lived play offs (yes,
all the other Division One teams survived) but we only lost 2 of 20 home league games, YET WE
WERE RELEGATED. Nearing the final strait, and with my family safely back in West London rueing
the "Peterborough effect" I vividly remember the manic celebrations in The Shed as Micky Hazard
volleyed past Shilton (vs Derby) as Chelsea gained a vital and overdue 3 home points. The real problem
was 11 home draws, and that carried on (vs Liverpool) with John Barnes late dipping 30 yard free
kick and (vs Charlton) with Paul Miller's inprobable loop home at the Shed end on the final day of the
season that comdemned us to the Play Offs.
Even the odds, of a team winning 3 out of 4 play off games but not progressing past a team that
only won 2 of 4 games, must be high but it happened. After the 6-1 aggregate victory over
Blackburn Rovers (including a fine 4-1 victory at the Bridge), we expected to make it but a 2-0
reverse at Ayresome Park left a cloud of apprehension hanging over Stamford Bridge. Far too much
for me, I'm afraid and I headed off to the Air Fete at RAF Mildenhall, convinced of our fate. By
3pm I was glued to the car radio and Durie's early strike raised the spirits, but the feeling
of inevitability returned ... too good to go down ?
I was upset that I missed Pat Nevin's last official game for Chelsea FC although thankfully he put
on a Chelsea shirt for a final time at the Colin Pates testimonial game (vs Spurs), just before the
start of a new (and very uncertain) Division Two campaign ... blimey, when would the Shed be open again ?
