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CHELSEA HERE, CHELSEA THERE
If you have been anywhere near a radio over the past forty years, the chances are that at some point you will have heard some smug music aficionado extolling the virtues of The Beatles’ album Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Whether that particular record fully warrants the acclaim it tends to receive is a matter for debate, but there ...
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BRIDGE BOOS GIVES LOYAL CHELSEA THE BLUES
The Filth and Fury – There was a time when I was more proud to be Chelsea because of the fans than the team. On the pitch we were perennial underachievers, often fielding players who had little or no interest in anything other than themselves. Off it, we followed those players to the ends of ...
THE (HIGHLY) ORIGINAL BIG PETE BOROTA
The 1978/79 season was a truly dreadful one for Chelsea. Don’t take my word for it, look at the facts: a measly twenty points garnered from a 42-match league campaign, relegated at Easter and with 92 goals conceded throughout the season (champions Liverpool let in just 16!); these were dark days at ...
BACK IN THE DAY – CHRISTMAS PAST
Renowned Chelsea author Kelvin Barker remembers Christmas and New Year 1988. Chelsea climbed into second spot as a result of the win at Stoke, just a point below Watford, but also only two points above fifth-placed Portsmouth, the next visitors to the Bridge. ...
CHELSEA V LIVERPOOL – A POTTED ‘ISTOREE – PART THREE
FA Cup Round 4 – 26 January 1997 – Chelsea 4 Liverpool 2 For the younger Chelsea fan, whose memory does not stretch back to the Seventies and Eighties, this must surely be the seminal domestic cup clash between the two sides. It was Ruud Gullit’s first season in charge and, backed by ...
CHELSEA V LIVERPOOL – A POTTED ‘ISTOREE – PART TWO
FA Cup Round 5 – 13 February 1982 – Chelsea 2 Liverpool 0 The 1982 game didn’t have the goals and goalmouth drama of other cup clashes between the sides, but it was certainly the biggest giant-killing of the lot. Once again, Liverpool arrived as European champions, and this time they ...
CHELSEA V LIVERPOOL – A POTTED ‘ISTOREE – PART ONE
I’m writing this the morning after the night before. Twelve hours ago I was leaping around joyously as the man who would inevitably be known by the inhabitants of Merseyside as ‘Branny-lad’, assured himself of a place in Chelsea folklore as he emerged as the unlikely hero of a magnificent ...
FROM LEFT WING TO B-WING – A TALE OF A CHELSEA LEGEND
It’s January 1984. Chelsea, after four years of Second Division mediocrity which almost culminated in relegation to Division Three just a few months earlier, have enjoyed an unexpectedly good first half of the 1983/84 season, rising to the top of Division Two, albeit briefly, on New Year’s ...
ORIENT IN NINETEEN SEVENTY EIGHT
We buried my nan this week. She passed away a couple of weeks ago and on Tuesday we gave her a much deserved final send-off. Naturally it was a sad occasion for those of us present, but in reality, this was no occasion for self-pity, rather an opportunity to celebrate a life very much fulfilled – ...
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WHEN THE LEAGUE CUP WAS KING
After so many years in the doldrums, it strikes me that the League/Carling Cup has regained some of its lustre this year. With teams like Leicester City and Tranmere Rovers contesting recent finals, the competition was clearly in danger of becoming as important to some of the country’s top clubs as ...
ON A WING AND A PRAYER
There are few more exhilarating sights, on a football pitch at least, than that of a speedy, skilful winger tearing past his marker at will. Shaun Wright-Phillips’ stellar performance at Wigan last weekend – albeit aided in no small part by the fact that he was being marked by a second-rate left-winger ...
CHELSEA HERE, CHELSEA THERE
If you’ve been anywhere near a radio over the past few weeks, you can’t fail to have heard that The Beatles’ Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album recently celebrated its 40th anniversary. Whether that particular album fully warrants the acclaim it tends to receive is a matter ...
WE’RE ALL GOING ON A SUMMER SPENDING SPREE
I’ve just looked out of the window and the sky is dark grey, the rain is teeming down and the wife’s plant pots are being toppled by the howling wind (nature’s, not mine). The only thing keeping me warm is the radiator behind me. That’s right: summer’s here and the time is right for dancing ...
