LOFTYBILL

Hereford perhaps would be one of the worst grounds of that era, a truly dreadful place!

R.I.P. Chris Garland.
https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/article/chris-garland-1949-2023
It is with great sadness that Chelsea Football Club receives the news of the passing of our striker from the 1970s, Chris Garland.
  He was 74 and had been suffering from a long illness.
Garland spent four seasons at Stamford Bridge, scoring 31 goals in 114 appearances. He was signed in the wake of our European Cup Winners’ Cup victory in 1971, a £100,000 transfer from his hometown club Bristol City. He was an England Under-23 international.
With Keith Weller having left Chelsea after only one season, Garland was brought in to bolster a striker pool of Peter Osgood, Ian Hutchinson and Tommy Baldwin, with the ultra-brave Hutchinson suffering especially from injury problems.
 
Chris Garland playing away at Derby in his first Chelsea season A penetrating, hard-working and unselfish attacker, powerful in the air, the new arrival made his debut shortly after joining, in a home draw with Coventry in September 1971 and set up a goal for Osgood in the first three minutes. However there was scarce action in the early months of that maiden season as niggling injuries hampered him, as they would throughout, but Garland’s first goal was an important one in a big match – an equaliser with a near-post header in what ended a 3-2 win over Tottenham in the first leg of a League Cup semi-final.
He made it back-to-back home goals that late December by netting in a 2-0 win over Ipswich and then came a major moment. In the League Cup second leg at White Hart Lane with Spurs leading, Garland again struck a leveller to make it 1-1. Drama followed when a last-minute Alan Hudson goal secured a 2-2 draw to send the Blues into a cup final for a third successive season. Garland’s goal, a well-struck left-foot shot from outside the area was one he rated as his best for the Blues.

Garland played that Wembley showpiece but sadly Chelsea were pipped 2-1 by underdogs Stoke City. It could have been different. He almost scored a vital injury-time equaliser after intercepting a wayward back pass from Mike Bernard but legendary goalkeeper Gordon Banks made a great save to reduce the player he thwarted to post-match tears.
 
At Wembley in the League Cup final The Blues striker followed that with a goal flurry in April, scoring three times including a winner against Crystal Palace and a strike in a revenge league win over Stoke as the team finished seventh in the First Division.
Garland more than doubled his goal tally the next season, registering 14 in 36 appearances (he was joint-topscorer in the league with Osgood), with that 1972/73 campaign starting especially well with five goals in four games including an opening-day double against big rivals Leeds at the Bridge.
Again the League Cup was the closest he and the team came to silverware but this time the semi-final and Norwich City proved an insurmountable hurdle.
By now matches were being played against the backdrop of problems caused by the drawn-out reconstruction of the East Stand and player unrest. The team was finishing lower down the league table. In 1973/74 Garland scored three times in 26 league games, often in an attack with other recent signings Steve Kember and Bill Garner after manager Dave Sexton dropped and then sold some of his long-time regulars.
 
A Stamford Bridge appearance versus Leicester in 1974 The following season was Garland’s last at Chelsea and after eight goals scored, including a double in a 2-1 win at Highbury, he moved on to Leicester City for a £95,000 fee, thereby remaining in the top flight while Chelsea were relegated.
He later returned to Bristol City. Post retirement, in 1992 he revealed he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease a few years earlier. Former Chelsea team-mate Osgood was one of the first people he told. 
We send our deepest condolences to Chris’s family and friends.

It was a unique ground, full of quirks; then again most old stadia were. Stands were built one at a time and more than often didn’t match what was adjacent to them. Highbury was probably the most symmetrical. 
Most of the new grounds I’ve been to lack character. Give me a higgledy piggedly Luton, over a Brittania Stadium any day of the week, even allowing for inferior facilities 

A QUICKY FOR ANYONE INTERESTED....HICKEY IS BACK IN UK GETTING CANCER TREATED

Barry Bridges: 'Caring for children with disabilities beats playing for England'
Published 22 April 2023.   Image caption, 
Barry Bridges in the garden of his home in Norfolk with his dog, Roger By Matt Precey BBC Look East   Former footballer Barry Bridges scored for England and played as a forward for teams including Chelsea, Birmingham City and QPR. However, although he is proud of his achievements on the pitch, it is not the part of his life which has delivered the most satisfaction. 
"I don't underestimate what I've done as a footballer," says Mr Bridges, who lives in Norfolk.
"But this is just as important," he says, describing his post-retirement role providing respite care to parents of children with disabilities.
"It's the greatest thing I've ever done."
I know first hand just what it means to be on the receiving end of the kind of respite offered by Barry and his wife Megan - because, for a five year period, they cared for our son William, who has epilepsy, autism and severe learning difficulties.
How did a former professional footballer end up providing such support to parents?

'At Chelsea, the maximum wage was £20 a week'
  Image caption, 
Barry and his wife Megan look after disabled children at their home to give families a break. Pay for the top footballers of Barry's generation was modest.
"We didn't get any money," he says. 
"When I first played for Chelsea there was a maximum wage,
“It was £20 per week.”Barry tells us.
The paucity of pay meant players nearly always needed to start a new career rather than retire to a life of luxury.
Barry's best friend Bobby Tambling, for example, went into the building trade. 
Another friend, the former England manager Terry Venables co-wrote a string of novels before going into football management. 
Now aged 82, Barry took on a milk round after leaving football. He later went into business as a news agent.
"Can you imagine Harry Kane retiring from football and delivering milk at 04:00 the morning?" he asks.
 
'It is quite intense'
  IMAGE SOURCE, PRECEY FAMILY Image caption, 
Barry and Megan provided respite care for the author's son, William Barry and Megan first became involved in caring about 20 years ago.
At the time, one of their daughters, who worked at a special school, started caring for children with disabilities.
Barry and Megan helped out here and there but eventually decided they wanted to take on the responsibilities themselves.
The couple went on a fostering course and went through intensive screening process before they were able to care for children at their home.
"You do a lot of training," says Megan. "You go through a process of being approved as a foster carer so it is quite intense and you have to go in front of panels to be approved."
Most of the children the Bridges care for come for short breaks, usually to give their parents a rest.
  Image caption, 
Barry Bridges earned four full England caps and made 176 appearances for Chelsea between 1958 and 1966. Sometimes the couple will care for young people who have a difficult home life. 
Some of these children will stay with the couple at weekends for a number of years, depending on the package agreed with Norfolk County Council.
What does a typical day with the Bridges look like?
"It would it be activities at the table doing drawing and puzzles and different things." says Megan. 
"Then lunch and normally in the afternoon we would take them out bowling or to the cinema or take them out for a drive. Then it is back home for dinner, bath and bed." 
This respite provides parents with a break, enabling them to snatch a few days of normalcy without having to attend to a child whose complex needs will often require constant vigilance and interventions.
Deep connections are formed between the Bridges, the children they care for and the families receiving respite. 
"We've had a young man who is now 20 years old," says Megan. "We've had him since he was four and we've got another young girl who we had since she was four and she's now sixteen.
"So, yes, we do develop long term relationships and they continue after the care package ends sometimes. 
"They become part of your life."
 
Giving parents a break
According to the Disabled Children's Partnership respite - also known as short breaks - provides a way for parents of children with disabilities to get a rest from their caring responsibilities. 
Local authorities are legally required to provide this service. 
Research by the charity Contact in 2017 showed almost a quarter (24%) of parents of children with disabilities provided more than 100 hours of caring every week. 
More than half (56%) were provided more than 35 hours.
Parents were also more likely than other carers to report a poor quality of life "with restricted social and life choices".
A spokesman for the DCP said: "Many families find it difficult or impossible to access the support they need and the majority of local authorities have cut their spending on short breaks."
 
'One lad, he's football crazy'
  IMAGE SOURCE, BARRY BRIDGES Image caption, 
A picture in Barry's hallway shows him (second left) at an England training session with Sir Alf Ramsey, Jack Charlton and Nobby Stiles And yes, if asked Barry will kick a football around with a child in his care.
"I've got one lad, he's football crazy," he says.
This young man plays for a side connected to Norwich City's Community Sports Foundation, an organisation Barry praises highly for the way it supports players with disabilities.
A lot of the major clubs have similar set-ups he says, adding: "You have a lot of professional clubs who get blamed for big money and things like that but people don't realise how much Norwich City and all the clubs do for these kids."
During our conversation, Barry produces a wadge of worn pages containing thousands of signatures from Chelsea supporters.
This, it turns out, was a petition demanding Barry stay at the club when manager Tommy Docherty wanted to sell him
He is a man who knows the ecstasy of scoring at the top flight and the adulation of fans.
  IMAGE SOURCE, PRESS ASSOCIATION Image caption, 
Barry Bridges (left) in his prime as a Chelsea player during a match against against Huddersfield in 1964 But caring, he says, is the best thing he has ever done.
"I do appreciate my career. But what we've done together with these kids is unbelievable.
"I've always said to Megan that if I hadn't been a footballer, if I had a life again and I knew I couldn't be a footballer, I'd have gone full time into this respite thing dealing with these kids because I love it."

Great memories here Tommy Langley was in the year above me at  school in Basingstoke. I can remembe him playing football in our secondary school playground.
Peter and Sally Houseman lived in the house directly behind ours in the village of Oakley. I did a paper round when I was old enough and he was on the round. I always remember he had an Orange Dolomite Sprint with the black vinyl roof and we always used to be around knocking on his door for autographs, he never turned anyone away, a real gent. The kids football league around Basingstoke is still known as The Peter Houseman league. I always hoped his kids were ok after the car crash.

I enjoyed being a fan thru 70s....too young in late 60s....too old now....but those 70s were the greatest football fan times of my life....chelsea had mobs from various parts....away matches were 80% of the time great fun ....chelsea fans at home v bigger clubs ok.....but always thought the shed was pretty sh*t v norm clubs....and could be taken quite easily if tried....our support seemed to be more folk looking for trouble hence good away good v big clubs at the bridge....unlike most clubs we dont have great support locally now....most clubs have good incoming fans plus groups locally to patrol the area....ours sadly are highh value homes locally and shops.....we ll always have a few guys at the bridge able and willing and a few more away from home....but....sadly.....we arenot on the same par as...arsenal...spurs...westham...palace...fulham....i could go on......im just glad i lived thru the generally fun packed 70s

^^ Great video. He was/ is an all-time hero of mine. One of the best Chelsea players I've ever seen - a midfielder of the highest class. He was a consistent scorer for us but after he left became a deep-lying midfielder and the goals dried up. He scored some beauties, and it was great to see him score a few headers while a true veteran at QPR.
Such a sad loss.

Mine would be 67 to late 70s...so I went to home games as a kid...but bunked school to visit other London stadia non match days...then as I got older I went to home and away matches and thru the 70 will have fond memories of travel ...bus cars trains coaches hiking....all the places I've visited....all ends taken by Chelsea...as well as some we didn't....all the fantastic ladies I met...both Chelsea and elsewhere...the fun the fear the happiness and depressions....I shall tell beelzibub when I get there

I saw this on Facebook:

A bunch of us spent the pre match hours getting inebriated in the Bolton Supporters Club bar in the main stand. From there straight into the home end, no wall jumping for us. You could say it was all our fault! Great day out!

I'm sure that this was posted a while back. From 1970.

I was at the 1975 whl game. I'm pretty sure that's the Paxton Road end and they are Spuds fans having some fun with the old bill. I was stood a little to the left out of the picture, please correct me if I'm wrong. That wasn't one of our greatest away days.

· Fussball Geekz on Twitter.

40 years ago we had a better squad than today.
 
 

Don't think that this picture has been posted before.