Richy C

That 83/84 Leeds game was special , while a lot of fans went on the pitch I stayed in west stand at the end of the game giving abuse to our Yorkshire friends while they smashed our scoreboard up , I also done Newcastle home and away , for the away game I was on the first special and the old bill had it well sorted getting us escorted in and escorting us out , hardly saw a Newcastle fan outside all day , our support that day was great had the whole end which was packed out , best away support Newcastle had seen for years , and we got a good 1-1 draw , great game no dramas . For the Newcastle home game I remember it being freezing , like an idiot went just wearing a lacoste polo shirt , got to Wimbledon tube station for those who can remember there used to be a little knit wear shop just outside the station , picked up a nice round neck pringle jumper cant remember how much but it was expensive for a 17 year old earning 70 quid a week , as for the game the atmosphere was electric , for me the best I`ve ever been to at our old ground , I was in the west stand which was rocking , the benches were going for it the shed and I mean the whole shed were bouncing , east stand lower ( normaly gate 13 ) but the boys were both sides of the tunnel and rocking we even had big pockets of lads singing in the east upper , as for the game 4-0 fantastic performance . I`m 51 now and a lot of games from 82 83 84 85 will live with me forever , some games I still remember what clobber I was wearing which is sad , I was a season ticket holder for many years up until 2006 following the blues home away and Europe , now when sky put on the old premier league seasons my boys who are Chelsea mad will say were you there Dad , I normally say I think so , I cant remember , My oldest boy who`s 16 is of to the FA cup final this weekend , when I was 16 I was of to Cambridge Utd away div 2 . I would not swap my time for all the tea in China win or lose up the blues Richy

We all know both Chelsea and Nike want to make money from kit sales , what I don't understand is why don't Nike mock up 3 maybe 4 home and away kits ( even if its only computer generated ) which then go on the Chelsea website then season ticket holders and club members get 2 votes (1 home 1 away) each to pick their favourite ones , that way most fans get the kit and colours they want , money wise its a win win for Chelsea and Nike , and it should be the same for every club , its a no brainer for me . As for the 3rd kit let Nike do what they want ( who cares ) , I don't wear colours but my 10 year old son loves getting the whole new kit and my 16 year old son likes getting the new shirt , I`ve told them with the 18/19 one I will not be buying them because it looks s**t , whoever said it looks like a bus or train seat is spot on , just like that black 3rd kit Nike made that looks like a bin liner . Rant over - I`m going for a beer. Win or Lose up the Blues

Totally gutted , a true Chelsea legend and a top bloke. Chelsea through and through and your be missed big time . my thoughts are with the Wilkins family at this sad time. RIP Butch

I was about 10 or 11 ( I`m 50 now) and at Christmas my Nana who was Irish got me a red and white tracksuit ( all red with one white stripe down the arms and legs ) and a red and white football bobble hat and scarf all from woolworths , she knew I was Chelsea mad , I would not mind but she lived in Earlsfield a massive Chelsea area at the time , I think she got confused god bless her ,

I was in the Homesdale end right behind the goal that night in with the Palace fans but with hundreds of Chelsea plotted up all over the place , I remember Palace came out well early for the warm up to suss the pitch out ( which sadly worked ) we came out as normal and never got to grips with the pitch , bad day all round .

I`m going for games that I could have gone to with my mates but didn`t ( gutted ) 83/84 Man City away 2-0 on the Friday night , as usual amazing support - watched it live on the box . 83/84 Grimsby away 1-0 , went to 32-33 games that season but missed these two blinders. 98 Real Betis CWC away 2-1 , a lot of my mates went and had a top jolly up . 2004 Arsenal away 2-1 Champions League . 2005 Bolton away 2-0 - 1st league title in my lifetime . Graffiti was 1981 .

I love this forum , brings back so many memories that have been locked away for years , 1981 boxing day 2-0 QPR plastic pitch , was at my Nans that christmas in Earlsfield and went with my uncle , was in the south Africa road stand seats near the Chelsea end , can`t remember jack s--t about the game but do remember thousands of Chelsea in green flying jackets many with them blue and white stripped woollen gloves going mental , I`ve went to QPR about 5 or 6 times in the 80s and 90s and never been in the Chelsea end , never had to it was always a home game , along with Palace and Fulham , we were away but fan wise it was a home game. I`m yet to pick my 5 , do you have to be born or can it be anytime in our history ?

1983 what a season , Ewell CFC I`m sure we beat Cambridge away 1-0 I remember we had the away end the whole side terrace and took over half their little main stand seats and me and my mates nearly got bashed up by a mob of Chelsea on some fields on the way to the ground , if memory serves me right I remember losing to Man City and Grimsby at home and Sheff Wed away , I could be wrong ? . Away games that season were always interesting , mainly a laugh , sometimes mad , and sometimes sad , I remember going up to Huddersfield ( the old Leeds Road ) with about 2500 - 3000 other Chelsea and being the first team to beat them at home 3-2 in over 2 years , just after kick off about 100 or so Leeds fans ( all casuals ) entered the sparse covered terrace opposite our end , to our right was the main bulk off Huddersfield supporters on a covered side terrace , within moments hundreds of Huddersfield boys surged across the terrace through the normal fans towards the Leeds , I did not see any trouble but the leeds fans left sharpish , it was the same game that a Chelsea fan on his way back to his car a long way from the ground was attacked and passed away from his injuries , I don`t remember anyone getting done for it but it would not surprise me if me if it was that same Leeds firm that were about that day . Fantastic season but had it sad moments also. win or lose up the blues.

I loved the benches , 1983 my proper season going home and away aged 17 and splitting home games between the west stand , gate 13 and the benches depending who we were playing , thousands of lads of all ages dressed in their best tennis and golfing gear , my best memories of the benches were 83/84 Derby first game of the season 5-0 , 83/84 Pompy christmas time 2-2 , started of in gate 13 on the pitch over to the benches to get nearer the Portsmouth fans with hundreds of other like minded young men and this was before the game even started , 84/85 Sunderland semi-final league cup just a mad night inside and outside of the ground , all Clive Walkers fault bless him , I could go on but finally for me was 94 Wolves QF FA cup 1-0 , as I started I loved the benches . Happy Happy days .

Wolves were in the east upper 100% , was in the benches that day , on the pitch at the end with everyone singing the bubbles song thinking we would play West Ham in the semis only for Luton to beat them . Richy

I`m 49 now but like a lot of guys have said above the 83/84 season in Div 2 was special , at the time I was 16/17 and went a lot of the games above which have been mentioned , I`m sure there are a few guys who remember the 84/85 season first time back in Div 1 for a while - Tottenham away - lots of moody tickets available hundreds if not thousands for the seats in the Chelsea end above the terracing , me and a few mates got tickets from a good mate knowing they were moody , Previous home game word went round to meet at Liverpool Street , I remember turning up with my mates and being gob smacked looking down from the stairs their were 2000 + Chelsea boys , no women or children just lads proper lads no colours what so ever , if memory serves me right we went over ground to Tottenham Hale , it would have taken 2 -3 trains to get that Chelsea firm to WHL . The train lot I was with went straight to the ground , we were sussed straight away at the turnstiles old bill checking tickets , gutted should have been there earlier and could hear Chelsea singing in the ground , that day I bet there were hundreds of Chelsea boys sitting on each others laps during the game , for all us thousands who did not get in there would have been hundreds who did get in. As for trouble the only bits I saw was down the bottom of seven sisters road by that estate where the Tottenham Riots had been not long before , about 20 or 30 black lads steamed out of an ally and straight into us , Chelsea went straight back into them , job done but left it there , not sure anyone fancied going on that estate at the time, ended up having a few beers in some north London pub and a few more beers in Victoria before going home , Chelsea bossed the day and Tottenham could not live with us on that day OK not huge numbers in the ground ( sold out allocation plus another couple of thousand all over the place ) but huge numbers without tickets or moody tickets on Tottenham`s patch , Chelsea here Chelsea there Happy Happy Days Richy

Very sad and moving day but a top turn out for a great man , spoke to my mate next day and he was told the church stewards counted in 530 ( full house ) with another 150 outside , also great gesture from Sutton and Wimbledon black cabs giving Carl an escort to the church , if your interested some nice bits on youtube - Carl O`Brien Wurzel , RIP big man , win or lose up the blues , the poem .