Houseman, Peter (1962-1975)

[loz]

Peter Houseman (1962-1975)

Written by Geezer in May 2007

In the Chelsea golden era that was the early 70’s when crowd favourites were the likes of Charlie Cooke, Alan Hudson and Peter Osgood, who even had a Christmas carol reworded in his honour, it is somewhat ironic that an unsung hero who was born on Christmas Eve 1945 should make some of the most telling contributions during Chelsea’s historic FA cup run in 1970.

Peter Houseman, or ‘Nobby’ as he was known to his teammates, was born in Battersea 24th December 1945. Home and school were also in Battersea where he attended Spencer Park School before joining Chelsea as a junior in 1962. He signed professional terms in 1963 and made his debut in a 3-2 win over Sheffield United in the 1963-1964 season just three days before his 18th birthday. It’s fair to say he struggled to cement a regular place in the first team under Tommy Docherty and it wasn’t until some five years later under Dave Sexton as manager that Nobby began to get a regular game.

Sadly Nobby was the victim of some severe heckling from sections of the Chelsea fans who did not warm to his style however he did not let this detract from turning in consistent performances culminating in being an ever-present in the glorious season of 1969-1970.

It was during the successful cup run of 1969-1970 that Nobby cemented his status as a true Chelsea legend scoring 6 goals during that triumphant cup run. It was he who turned the FA cup replay away at Burnley on its head. With Chelsea losing 1-0 and only 18 minutes remaining on the clock. Nobby, having picked the ball up in his own half, ran at the heart of the Burnley defence and from 20 yards unleashed a bullet of a drive into the top corner of the Burnley net for the equaliser. In extra time he made two more telling contributions. The first a pin point cross from near the corner flag on to the head of Tommy Baldwin to put Chelsea 2-1 up and then he sealed the tie by latching on to Charlie Cooke’s pass and driving the third goal home with style.

A goal in the 4-1 win against Crystal Palace followed before making another major contribution in the semi final versus Watford on a mud bath of a pitch at White Hart Lane. Watford were hanging on at 1-1 when Nobby produced a cross from which Peter Osgood scored to give Chelsea the lead. Nobby went on to score two goals himself as Chelsea ran out comprehensive 5-1 winners.

Houseman about to hit the shot that squeezed under Sprake to equalise the Wembley final and takeus to the replay at Old Trafford - the picture is ripped off a DVD of the final hence why it is a little blurred

And so it was that Chelsea, clear underdogs against a strong Leeds side played out the final on another mud bath of a pitch at Wembley which had been used just a few days prior to host the Horse of the Year show. Whereas Chelsea folklore will remember the replay where the cup was won it will never be forgotten that it was Peter Houseman who scored the first equaliser at Wembley from some 20 yards just before half time giving the team the lift they needed.

A year later saw Nobby play a significant role during the triumphant European Cup Winners Cup run which included scoring one of the four goals against FC Bruges as Chelsea overturned a 0-2 deficit.

A third cup triumph was denied when Chelsea unexpectedly lost to Stoke in the League cup final after which the club started to go into decline and in 1975, having played 342 games and scored 39 goals, Nobby was transferred to Oxford United where he played a further 72 games and scored twice.

It was late in the evening of 20th March 1977, whilst returning from a fund-raising event, that Peter Houseman tragically lost his life in a car accident, which also claimed the lives of his wife Sally, and family friends Allan and Janice Gillham. Six children were orphaned in an instant.

On 17th April 2006 during half time at the Everton game the sons of Peter and Sally Houseman were paraded before the Chelsea faithful.

As Nathan, Daniel and Matt did their lap of honour the Chelsea faithful rose as one banishing forever the barracking which Peter had experienced during his career. It was a fitting tribute to a great man.

Peter Houseman had set up and coached a youth football team in the village of Oakley, Hampshire. The youth league was named after him as one of many tributes in his memory. It speaks volumes of the true popularity of Nobby that the league is still named after him some 30 years later.

Whereas Peter Houseman may have been an unsung hero his immense contribution to the success of Chelsea Football Club in bringing silverware to Stamford Bridge ensures he will always be a true Chelsea legend.