So here we are at our second away game of the season and it’s nice to get one of main rivals out of the way early. What I have decided to do is on home fixtures, do the team of top appearances makers, and on away fixtures I’m going to put in profiles on our previous Managers/Coaches.

Liverpool Vs Chelsea

Good Days and Bad Games

25^th Dec 07: W 4-1..Goalscorers:Henderson,Hilsdon2,Windridge

28^th Dec 35: W 3-2..Goalscorers:Oakton 2,Burgess

24^th Mar 13: W 2-1..Goalscorers:Freeman,Brown

17^th Aug 03: W 2-1..Goalscorers: Veron, Hasselbaink

18^th Oct 19:W  1-0..Goalscorer:Brittan

 

20^th Apr 35: L 0-6

21^st Sept 96: L 1-5...Goalscorer: Lebeouf

7^th Sept 46: L 4-7...Goalscorers: Argue, Machin 2, Goulden

14^th Dec 86: L 0-3

9^th Aug 69: L 1-4...Goalscorer: Hutchinson

 

Manager Profile: John Tait Robertson: Was already 30 years old when he arrived at Chelsea, so right from the off his Chelsea career was going to be short lived, but he was acknowledged as a good judge of footballing talent. A stylish winger Robertson has the distinction of not only being our first manager but also our first player manager and also the first Chelsea player to ever score for us. His playing career was nearly as brief as his managerial career, playing just 39 times scoring 4 goals. His managerial record was …Played 81 won 50 drew 15 lost 16, a win rate of 62%. In the middle of Chelsea’s second season Robertson decided that the £8 a week wasn’t enough so he quit and went to the Mighty Glossop North End. At the end of the 1906-07 season Chelsea got promoted with William Lewis in a caretaker roll, but it was the team put together by JT Robertson that really got the plaudits. John Tait Robertson Manager from Apr 05-Oct 06. 

On This Day: It’s December 14^th 1986 and having had to endure Stuck with you by Huey Lewis and the news and the Bangles walking like Egyptians, people were consoling themselves by watching some classic TV shows such as the Golden Girls, Moonlighting & Miami Vice. All this fun was too much for the people on minimum wage of just $3.35 ph. So some tried to get on the BBC world service and listen to the Liverpool Chelsea game, and it probably was very nice to listen to as we got a good beating 3-0. But hey it was better than the previous result, (we lost 4-0), but not as good as the next result (we lost 2-0) (to spurs of all teams!!!). Our team at Anfield that day was…Niedweicki, Rougvie, Dublin, Pates, McLaughlin, Bumstead, McAllister, Spackman, Durie, Speedie, Murphy..Sub…Wood 

Unsung Hero: Ok I know I said that the only players eligible for this spot had to have played fewer than 200 games but this guy played in 4 major cup finals for us, so maybe he should have been in the Legends spot last year…You decide. His name Tommy “the sponge” Baldwin. Tommy came to us in a part exchange deal involving George Graham in Sept 66. He spent 8 years at Chelsea. Although not one of our most stylish players Tommy was known to have the ability to hold onto the ball whilst under pressure, and some say this is how he got his nickname, others think it was down to the way he could hold his liquor. Nevertheless, he was a vital part of the Chelsea team from the glamorous 70’s. He made his debut in Oct 66 scoring the fourth in a 4-1 win over Man City, and by the end of his first season at Chelsea he had scored 16 goals in 30 games. Twice capped at England U21 level, Tommy received medals for the 1967 and 1970 FA Cup Finals, ECWC Final in 1971, and the league Cup Final in 1972. By the time Tommy had drunk the Kings Road dry he moved on to Milwall in Nov 74. He had played 227 games and scored 92 goals …A legend Or A Unsung hero…the choice is yours  

Flashback: It’s the 1962-63 season and we were still languishing in the 2^nd division. After finishing 22^nd in the first division last season we needed to bounce straight back up, but there were plenty of other teams who had the same idea as us. We started off really well with 3 wins in a row and not conceding a goal, our fourth game was at Scunthorpe away, which we lost 0-3 and from then until Huddersfield away we only won 4 of the next 10. But after that game in mid-Oct we went on a good little run of winning 10 of our next 11 games, we drew the other. But by the end of this run the weather was beginning to play havoc with just about everything in England. At the end of the run of 11 games, which finished on Dec 26^th, Chelsea only played two league games until Mar 2^nd 63. The winter of 63 really wasn’t that bad until we played Luton on Dec 26^th but after that it got really bad, by the 29^th there was 3 foot of snow in most parts of London. On Jan 02, 63 there was several more inches of snow but there was good news on the horizon as forecasts predicted a slight thaw for a few days from the 3^rd till the 5^th. But it turned cold again and temperatures were down below freezing for another month or so. By the 10^th The River Thames was beginning to freeze. By the middle of Feb there was a very slight thaw and there was some football being played, both games we played were away in Wales, vs Cardiff & Swansea and we lost both 0-1 & 0-2. By the time the big freeze was over we had lost our momentum from winning all those games prior to the unforeseen climate change and promptly lost our first 3 games in Mar 63. From Mar 27^th until the end of the season we only managed to win 6 from 13, and with promotion in the balance right up until the end every point was valuable. Two of our last three games were against teams who were also pushing for promotion, so into May we just needed to keep winning to go up, and yes you guessed it Chelsea had to play Stoke at home and we lost…’SURPRISE.’ We the had to play Sunderland away, again another promotion rival, we managed to beat them with a goal that struck Tommy Harmer where it hurts us men the most, and we were up, our last game of the season was a 7-0 thrashing against Portsmouth. Then it was time to party. Our WLD’S were as follows...24, 14, 4, Goals for 81 Goals against 42.We got promoted on Goal Average not Goal difference as it is now. Venables & Mortimore were our only ever presents, and Tambling was top goal scorer with 35 goals from 40 games.

A To Z of Chelsea FC:

B: Bonetti: The Cat is probably our greatest keeper ever, having played 729 games. From Apr 2^nd 60 through to May 14^th 79 he let in 970 goals and kept 208 clean sheets.

C: Can we play you every week: Was the song ringing out around Stamford Bridge during our Oct game Vs Man Utd, in which we thrashed them 5-0, maybe one of our most satisfying league results ever.

I: Italian connection: Wilkins, Gullit, Greaves, Bogarde, Cudicini, Desailly, Weah, Panucci, and Crespo have all played for Chelsea & AC Milan. 

Games Played This Week in Past Years:

21 Aug 99: Vs Aston Villa (H) W 1-0...Goalscorer: OG...Att...35,071

21 Aug 65: Vs Burnley (H) D 1-1..Goalscorer: Venables..Att 34,067

20 Aug 49: Vs Birmingham (A) 3-0..Goalscorers.. Bentley, Williams 2...Att 45,068  

Who Am I?

I was born in Romania

I started my career with Dynamo Bucharest

I then moved to play in Italy

I gained 32 caps for my country

I was signed as a replacement for Zola

I was sacked in Oct 04

I now play back in Italy

Who Am I? 

Last weeks answer: George Hilsdon 

Next week’s fixture Portsmouth (Home)