VINCI PER NOI

Fantastic stuff - not only a magnificent goal from Ossie, but the debut of Ian Britton, one of my heroes from the 'seventies. Throw in an interview with Brian Clough, too, and and it's a great thirty minutes.

Chelsea vs. Newcastle United, 1974. “Why do you support Chelsea, then, Chris?†is a question which I have been asked at least five-hundred times I reckon. Well, I started primary school in my Somerset village at Easter 1970. The Cup Final was earlier than usual that year because of England’s preparations for the Mexico World Cup. Not sure of the exact dates, but school began for me just as Chelsea beat Leeds in the FA Cup Final. I have no recollections of either the first game at Wembley or the replay. But I do know that I used to watch the older schoolboys play football in the schoolyard at break times. One team would be Leeds, one team would be Liverpool or the next week, Manchester United and Arsenal. I think ( and this is the story I always tell ) I heard that either Chelsea were a good team or they had just won a big game, so one team would be Chelsea on one particular day. I think that is how it all began. Who knows…maybe on that fateful day, I perhaps joined in with the bigger boys for the first time. It would be nice to think so. Anyway, from the littlest of acorns do mighty oaks grow – from that initial mention of the name Chelsea, they became my team. Andy Cox was Arsenal, Paul Seviour was Liverpool, Tony Heywood and David Rideout were Leeds, but I was Chelsea. From 1970, I began looking out for their results, but my memories are not particularly great about individual games. I can’t remember the 1971 game in Athens for example. To be honest, my parents weren’t particularly big sport fans…I think my football genes came from my maternal grandfather who had played football and cricket for the village in his youth ( and incidentally, visited Stamford Bridge when he was a young man, the only ground he ever went to…if I am right, he favoured Newcastle and Villa for some reason. ) An important event happened around 1971 or 1972. A friend of ours in Windsor worked with Peter Osgood’s sister Mandy and he said he could get his autograph. I was so excited. The two names I knew at Chelsea were the two Peters, Osgood and Bonetti. I still have that signed photograph and it really cemented my affection for Peter Osgood and Chelsea Football Club. I have no recollection of the 1972 League Cup Final loss to Stoke, but I do remember hearing “Blue Is The Colour†on the radio and that really affected me too. I guess I must’ve seen Chelsea on TV – I only have vague recollections of the old East stand which came down in the summer of 1972, though. The first FA Cup Final I saw was the 1972 one. The first Chelsea game I can honestly remember seeing on TV was the 1972 opener against mighty Leeds. Their goalie was injured, I think Peter Lorimer replaced him and Chelsea won 4-0. I think Ossie scored. I remember – specifically – the build-up to the March 1973 FA Cup game with Arsenal. I remember Ossie’s goal in the first game and then watching the action on the 9.30pm news of the replay at Highbury. I remember Bobby Charlton’s last ever game – at Chelsea - being shown on TV highlights in May 1973. Anyway – you get the picture…I loved playing football at school break times, on Saturdays, in the street, I was a football fan and Chelsea was my team. Imagine my absolute elation when – without prompting from me – my parents announced ( either on Christmas Day 1973 or soon after ) they would take me to see Chelsea play. In London. At Stamford Bridge. I still get chills when I think of that feeling 33 years later. By a cruel twist of fate, of course, both my idol Peter Osgood and Alan Hudson left Chelsea in February of 1974, a month ahead of my Chelsea debut on March 16th. I was upset, but the thought of seeing the team in the flesh more than made up for this. My mother wrote to the club asking for ticket and travel information and I still have the letter the club sent back, nicely embossed with the club crest. It was signed by an office junior called Jackie, who I believe later became Ray Wilkins’ wife. In due course, the West Stand benches tickets arrived…price 60p each. I don’t think any of my school pals could actually believe I was going to see Chelsea live. This was unheard of amongst the village kids. I was only eight remember. At last the great day arrived and it is amazing I remember so much. My father was a local shopkeeper and so he pulled a few strings to get the Saturday off. Unfortunately, he wasn’t in great health at the time. He had been diagnosed with throat cancer and was due radiation treatment in May. Thankfully, this was totally successful, but he was feeling a bit under-the-weather on this momentous day. He drove to London via the Wiltshire countryside and then the M4 motorway. We had arranged to park our car at a nursing home at Park Royal, where an uncle had recently been staying. I suppose we reached there at around 12.30pm. We then walked the short distance to Park Royal tube station and caught the train to Fulham Broadway. I recently visited Park Royal station and it did bring back memories…I recalled walking over the footbridge over the tracks and the art deco façade of the station. In March 1974, my heart must have been beating fast as we boarded the eastbound train. I had been on a tube train before, but this felt so exciting – doing what thousands of Chelsea fans do each week…this is what stuck with me the most I think; a small boy from Somerset being a Londoner for the day. My first game sticks with me so many reasons. I can recall waiting in line at the bottom of the West Stand steps at the turnstiles. As the West Stand was the stand with the TV gantry, I wasn’t particularly sure what the stand looked like. I distinctly remember walking up the banked steps as if it was yesterday…I can recall the sense of anticipation, the noises of the crowd and specifically the blue paintwork at the back of the stand, the turnstiles, the souvenir huts…just writing these words I am transported back to my childhood. I realise that this day was such an important day in my life and I am so grateful my parents took me. We bought a match programme, which I still have. I remember the smudge from my mother’s wet leather glove is still visible…strange, though, I remember the day as being sunny. We walked behind the West Stand, right to the end ( the seats were laid on top of the terraces and the access came right at the top of the stand ) and I caught a glimpse of the pitch and the inside of the stadium which had been obscured from view. How exciting. We walked down the access steps and found our seats…six rows from the front, level with the penalty spot at the North Stand end. We had a black and white TV set at home and of course it was breathtaking to see Stamford Bridge bathed in spring sunshine and in glorious colour. The East Stand was still mid-construction on the other side of the pitch. There was a smattering of away fans mixed in with Chelsea fans on the North terrace to my left. I remember the closeness of those fans to me. The Chelsea team included such players as Ron Harris, John Phillips, John Hollins, Steve Kember, Dave Webb, Ian Hutchinson and Charlie Cooke. Newcastle United fielded Malcolm Macdonald, Stewart Barrowclough, Terry McDermott and Terry Hibbitt. The gate was 24,000 on that day in March 1974. What do I remember of the actual game? I remember the middle part of The Shed twirling their blue and white bar scarves. I remember the goal after ten minutes…a header close in from Ian Hutchinson, which bounced up off the ground before crossing the line. I remember two or three Newcastle fans, resplendent with black and white scarves, being sat right in front of me. I remember shouting out “we want two!†to which one of them replied “we want three!†I remember actually thinking “did I stand up and celebrate the goal correctly?†after the first goal. I promised myself that if there was to be further goals, I would celebrate better…I guess I wanted to fit in. Of course, a second goal came along and I stood up and shouted, but it was disallowed. I remember a Topic chocolate bar at half-time. I remember Gary Locke doing many sliding tackles in front of us in the second half. I remember debutant Ken Swain ( previously unheard of by me ) come on as a substitute. I paid just as much attention to the songs coming out of The Shed as to the play on the pitch. Generally, I remember the overwhelming feeling of belonging…that this was right, that I should be there. As the game ended and the crowd drifted away, I know as I reached the very top of the steps, I looked back at the pitch and the stands with wonderment and hoped I would be back again. My mother bought me a “Chelsea The Blues†scarf at one of the souvenir huts behind the West stand. I was so happy. I wore that same scarf in Stockholm for the 1998 ECWC Final. I remember we enjoyed a hamburger meal at the Fulham Broadway Wimpy Bar ( a big extravagance, believe me ) – the site of the American Burger Grill today. We caught the tube train back to Park Royal and then home to Somerset, but that is a blur. However something important happened to me that day in 1974...eight hundred games later, I’m still going strong.

Maybe I'm speaking out of turn, but don't Chelsea declare the attendance as tickets sold rather than bums on seats too?

Well, what an amazing find. Thanks go to Garry Jones for introducing me to this thread. My first game was in 1974 and I've just spent an hour watching film of my heroes from that era...superb stuff. Hours more pleasure await. (BTW - the 80's photos much beloved by Shattner's Basson were mine. I'm very happy that other Chelsea fans have enjoyed seeing 'em.)