Barrie
New Signing
- Messages
- 7
- Reaction score
- 68
Hi everyone,
just wanted to pass on the sad news that my dad Len Kell passed away yesterday after a very long battle with Alzheimer’s, he was 91 years old.
Although not playing many games for the first team before moving on, he always spoke very fondly of his 6+ years he was at the club , after being brought down from Teeside, as a 17 year old boy.
His big mate was another lad from that area called Bob Smith, who went onto great things. They lived in digs opposite the ground in Britannia Rd but both fell out with the then manager Ted Drake and got pushed out.
It was fellow Chelsea players Frank Blunstone and Ron Greenwood who encouraged dad to get his coaching badges, which he did, at the same time as Jack Charlton, Bob Paisley and a lad called Lawrie McMenemy on the same course. Although offered coaching jobs in England, took us to live in Australia instead before settling in Norfolk and Suffolk until his death.
Chelsea have been very good to dad and it meant a lot being invited back for any game, in hospitality , to a game of his choosing, at least 4 times in his later life, also getting to meet Roy Bentley, who used to travel to games with dad and look after him, and say thank you (picture)
Thanks for your help, Chelsea will always have a special place in our family.
just wanted to pass on the sad news that my dad Len Kell passed away yesterday after a very long battle with Alzheimer’s, he was 91 years old.
Although not playing many games for the first team before moving on, he always spoke very fondly of his 6+ years he was at the club , after being brought down from Teeside, as a 17 year old boy.
His big mate was another lad from that area called Bob Smith, who went onto great things. They lived in digs opposite the ground in Britannia Rd but both fell out with the then manager Ted Drake and got pushed out.
It was fellow Chelsea players Frank Blunstone and Ron Greenwood who encouraged dad to get his coaching badges, which he did, at the same time as Jack Charlton, Bob Paisley and a lad called Lawrie McMenemy on the same course. Although offered coaching jobs in England, took us to live in Australia instead before settling in Norfolk and Suffolk until his death.
Chelsea have been very good to dad and it meant a lot being invited back for any game, in hospitality , to a game of his choosing, at least 4 times in his later life, also getting to meet Roy Bentley, who used to travel to games with dad and look after him, and say thank you (picture)
Thanks for your help, Chelsea will always have a special place in our family.
