THIS WEEKEND'S FIXTURE - -Bolton Vs Chelsea

The treasured memory of Frankie smashing in “THAT GOAL” was here at the Reebok Stadium in 2005, but that in mind we actually have a pretty poor record against Big Sam’s boys up there in the nice side of Lancashire .We have played them a total of 48 times of which we have only managed to come away with all the points on 12 occasions, we have shared the points 14 times and let them win 22 times. Our heaviest defeat at Bolton’s home ground, (Burnden Park or Reebok) was a 0-6 drubbing in Mar 59, however our biggest win against them is a 2-5 win on Jan 1^st 59, with goals from... Sillett, O Connell, Bentley 2 & an OG, as for draws we seem to be the 5-5 specialist as that score came up again in Oct 37, with Jimmy Argue scoring 3 of the 5.

Recent Statistics: Bolton came into the premiership in season 95-96 and they left in season 95-96, they weren’t very good, they weren’t good they weren’t…well you know the song!Mind you we weren’t much better. We finished 11^th with only 7 wins at home. Poor ‘ol’ Bolton finished rock bottom. The top (if you can call them that,) goalscorers were…for Bolton... Big John McGinlay with a finger counting 6 from 32 games and for Chelsea…Little Johnny Spencer with a decent return of 13 from 28 games (why did we ever get rid of him?).

 

 

 

Memorable Match: There can only be one memorable match and no its not the one form a couple of years ago or the 4-3 game from Oct 78.The game I’ve picked this week was back in May 83.This was/could have been the lowest point in the history of Chelsea Fc. Basically we needed to win at Bolton to stay in the old 2^nd division .The game was nothing spectacular, it was played out in front of 8,687 fans who were soaked as it continually rained. The first half was uneventful  with the highlight coming from a McDonagh save from a Bumstead shot  .The 2^nd half got underway with a incessant downpour, but slowly Chelsea were getting the upper hand in a game both teams had to win. Eventually after about 70 minutes Chelsea scored with a Clive Walker thunderbolt from roughly 25 yards out. The last 20 minutes were played out and we could have scored another one or two but it wasn’t to be. At the end of the game the players in gratitude threw their shirts into the crowd as a thank you for the undying love and support they had shown in what was our worst league position ever (18^th in 2^nd div).One week later Bolton went down with 44 points, we managed 47 and therefore stay up by that one win. The team that day was…Francis, Jones, Hutchings, Chivers, Droy, Pates, Fillery, Bumstead, Lee, Canoville and Walker. 

Games from this week in year gone by: Nov 24^th 62 Vs Grimsby Town (A) W 3-0...Goalscorers...Tambling 2 OG…Att…10,823

                                                                 Nov 26^th 77 Vs Manchester City (A) L 2-6...Goalscorers... Britton Wilkins…Att 34,354

                                                                 Nov 24^th 84 Vs Tottenham Hotspur (A) D...Goalscorer...Dixon...Att...31,197

CHELSEA LEGEND...RUUDI,RUDDI RUDDI was the shout from all around the ground as Hoddle was off to play manager of England, the Chelsea faithful were letting Mr. Bates know who we wanted as our new man in charge. Thankfully by the start of the following season the king of the dreadlocks was in charge...Ruud Gullit was the reason I got a season ticket, a player of his caliber at Chelsea, it just didn’t seem right. Rudi was a hit right from the off, he was an intelligent player who could put the ball wherever he wanted to with either foot, his best game (imho) was Vs Middlesboro when we crushed them 5-0 in  Feb 96,his passing was immaculate especially in setting up a Gavin Peacock hat trick. Once Ruud was put in charge the media got caught up in our style of football, which later became known as “sexy football” and it was we really did play some great stuff. Rudi led us to our first FA Cup triumph in 27 years when we beat Middlesboro 2-0 in 1997 .He only played  64 games and only score 7 goals, he also managed us for 83 games of which we won 41 and lost 24,but he left (even though it was under a cloud) with a lot of new admirers..Ruud Gullit maybe our first “real” foreign CHELSEA LEGEND.  

QUIZ QUESTIONS:

LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS:

  1: The #9 shirt was not worn by anyone; they all had their numbers on their shorts

  2: West ham were the last team to win the FA Cup with an all English team   

THIS WEEK’S QUESTIONS

  1   : Name the four clubs with an X in their name

  2: Which team is missing from this list & why? Fulham, Everton, Man Utd, Leeds, West Ham, Blackpool, & Liverpool

Until Next Time Then…….Cheerio!  Tel