On 24/12/2018 at 14:39, Ewell CFC said:

Peter Mellor, Fulham?

In hindsight don’t think we played Fulham much if at all during Ossies time.

Edit: think it is him. Didn’t realise he played for Burnley before

We played Burnley twice at home 69/70 league and F A cup. Mellor played in goal both games. Bounderfriardale helps again! Such a good site. Press the friendlies tab on there, helps me remember pre season, mid season and testimonials from years ago!

Christmas Crackers Past: Blues go top in '98 as Spurs swept aside.

https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/2018/12/21/christmas-crackers--blues-go-top-as-spurs-swept-aside

We begin a look back at big moments from festive periods in the past by recalling a big win over a London rival which meant more than just three points.

As if any added incentive were needed for matches against Tottenham, when we met five days before Christmas in 1998 there was a chance, if results went our way, that we could end the day top of the Premier League table.

We went into the game in third position, three points behind leaders Aston Villa, who weren’t in action until the Monday night, and just one off second-placed Manchester United, having drawn 1-1 at Old Trafford just three days earlier.

While Gianfranco Zola’s second-half goal had earned us a point against the Red Devils, the overall quality of our performance merited more, but the Blues were unbeaten in the league since the opening day of the season and in a rich vein of form ahead of the visit of the north Londoners, who were searching for their first win at the Bridge since 1990.

Fortunately for Gianluca Vialli’s side, that never seemed likely, although there was a scare during the first half when Frank Leboeuf, skipper in the absence of Dennis Wise, was forced to head off the line, the Frenchman’s efforts rewarded with a kiss on the head from Dan Petrescu.

Vialli had made a number of changes to the side which drew at United, one of which was restoring Gustavo Poyet to the starting line-up, and it was the midfielder who broke the deadlock 10 minutes from time when he fired home his 10th goal of the season after being teed up by the player-manager.

An important three points were then secured right at the death as Tore Andre Flo, on as a second-half substitute, arrived in the box to meet a Petrescu cross and send a superb diving header beyond Ian Walker in the Tottenham goal.

‘We showed strength and power,’ said a delighted Vialli. ‘We had a few players missing through injury and suspension but the team now has its own identity. It pleases me very much to see that whoever plays, there’s no effect on the way the team performs.’

With Man United falling to a surprise 3-2 defeat at home to Middlesbrough on the same day, our result sent us to the top of the Premier League table, if only for a short time

12 hours ago, Richard P said:

Agreed it’s the best thread on here. Also there are no arguments/disagreements. Back then the keyboard warriors would have gone after loads of players!! 

Couldn't agree more with these sentiments.

A game v Burnley at The Bridge in Jan 1970. 

A 2-2 draw with Peter Mellor in goal for them.

On December 26 1963.

A Boxing Day feast of goals !

Blackpool 1-5 Chelsea,

Burnley 6-1 Man Utd,

Fulham 10-1 Ipswich,

Leicester 2-0 Everton,

Liverpool 6-1 Stoke,

Nottingham Forest 3-3 Sheff Utd

WBA 4-4 Tottenham,

Sheff Wed 3-0 Bolton,

Wolves 3-3 Aston Villa,

West Ham 2-8 Blackburn.

13 hours ago, Richard P said:

We played Burnley twice at home 69/70 league and F A cup. Mellor played in goal both games. Bounderfriardale helps again! Such a good site. Press the friendlies tab on there, helps me remember pre season, mid season and testimonials from years ago!

Cheers Richard. I only recognised Mellor because we used to get farmed off to Fulham in the mid 70s as kids because it was seen as safer than Chelsea by me old man. Used to drive me Brothers and me nuts.

My dad went through a stage when he was obsessed with so called Chelsea hioliganosm. We had a neighbour across the road who was a ST in the newly built East Stand that used to stoke him up with tales of violence at the Bridge, normally just before we were due an outing there.

Me old man “ I’ve had a word with George over the road, he reckons it was worse than ever last week v Forest. So instead I thought we’d watch Fulham with your Uncle Ronnie’........

 

 

 

The last Christmas Day match - How 51 years ago a long-standing footballing tradition came to an end

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/12/25/last-christmas-day-match-51-years-ago-long-standing-footballing/

 

Christmas Day matches would still draw crowds Credit: REX FEATURES

• Jim White

25 December 2016 •

 

Fifty-one years ago this weekend a long-standing footballing tradition came to an end: the last ever English league match played on Christmas Day was staged that year. After Blackpool beat Blackburn Rovers 4-2 at Bloomfield Road on Dec 25 1965, only in Scotland did the Yuletide fixture list remain intact. Not that, at the time, the historical significance registered with those involved.

“To be honest, I can’t remember too much about it; it was just another match for us,” says Glyn James, who played in the Blackpool defence that day, speaking over the phone. “I’ll just go and see if the wife can recall anything.”

He returns a couple of moments later after a muffled conversation with his other half, Jenny.

“No, she says she didn’t go to watch. She says she was too busy at home making my bloody Christmas dinner.”

The Christmas Day match was a custom that lingered longer on the Lancashire coast than anywhere else in England. In 1957, the final year of a full schedule, 38 matches were played on Dec 25. By 1959, as public transport workers were given the day off and buses and trains no longer ran, there were just two games left. But in Blackpool, they kept at it, ploughing a lone furrow for a further six years.

Football fans attend Bournemouth & Boscombe v Portsmouth on Christmas Day during WW1 Credit: POPPERFOTO

“We always used to play on Christmas Day because we’d get a bumper crowd of holidaymakers, they’d shut the gates at 2pm,” recalls winger Graham Oates. “Loads of people would go to Blackpool for a Christmas break, so the idea was to give them something to entertain them. And for the club to make some money, obviously.”

The match was generally a Lancashire derby with Blackburn, with the reverse fixture played on Boxing Day at Ewood Park. Derek Jones is a lifelong Blackburn fan, who recalls making the 26-mile trip to the coast to be one of the 21,851 who gathered as unwitting witnesses to the end of an era.

“Funnily enough I saw my first ever football match on Christmas Day. It was 1951. We played Hull City. We won 1-0,” says Jones, who is now the official historian at Ewood Park. “In those days it was football first and foremost, so there was no doubt I’d go, whatever was going on at home. There was no public transport, so I remember getting a lift to Blackpool with a couple of mates. We just paid on the gate. There was no segregation; we’d have been in with the Blackpool fans.”

James recalls a tide of humanity making its way, slowly, to Bloomfield Road. “I remember arriving at the ground and seeing everyone walking there. There were no buses, no trams,” he says. “Not many of us would have gone there by car, either, I reckon I was unusual. I imagine several of the lads probably walked.”

Given that the match was specifically scheduled to take advantage of bumper holiday crowds, there was little in the way of additional entertainment on offer. The extent of the Christmas feel was the sprig of holly printed on the cover of the match programme.

“The only festive touch I can remember was a brass band on the pitch beforehand playing carols,” recalls Jones. “I’m not sure we joined in.”

Blackpool programme from Christmas Day, 1965

And while there may have been some cigars in evidence, and the odd hip flask passed around on the terrace, the most visible Christmas element came in the welcome the players received when they ran out on to the pitch. As was tradition, fans came along with their pockets stuffed with peel from the tangerine that was then a staple stocking filler, which they threw in the vague direction of the players. Most just hit the back of the person in front.

“Looking back, those times seemed a bit austere,” recalls Oates. “Not like now, when we’re celebrating Christmas from the middle of October to the end of January. In those days there was much less hoopla, ordinary working people only got two days off at Christmas. And us footballers didn’t get any time off at all. For us it was just another working day.”

There was certainly no change in routine. “My Christmas lunch that day was poached egg on toast,” says James. “I’m not sure I was ahead of my time nutrition-wise.”

Nor, beyond the peel cascade, can James recall any sense of festive spirit. “Did the ref wish us Merry Christmas? He might have done,” he recalls. “But we definitely wouldn’t have wished Blackburn anything. Hospitality only went so far. We had two points to win.”

The truth was, against Blackburn in those days, there was every chance of a maximum return. It was a miserable season for the club, one which would eventually end in relegation to the second tier. The misery was compounded after a polio outbreak in the town had meant several home fixtures were postponed until the all-clear was given. And they had nothing to match a Blackpool side who boasted two players who would, the following year, be part of England’s World Cup winning squad. Although one of them was absent that day.

 

 

 

“He must have been injured,” suggests Oates of the stalwart full-back Jimmy Armfield. “Which was very, very rare for Jimmy. He was such an athlete. I remember him playing in what seemed like every game. This was a guy who had more integrity than anyone I know. But Alan Ball was definitely playing. And he was the best I played with, Bally.”

In his last full season for the Seasiders before he moved to Everton, Ball (one of four Blackpool players that day no longer around) dominated the game, creating a couple of goals in a 4-2 win. Not that the players were able to celebrate their victory.

“You couldn’t afford to over-indulge,” says Oates. “Christmas Day or not, none of us would have had a beer in the dressing room. You couldn’t go home and have a few either. Not when you had a game next day.“

Though, as it happens, the reverse fixture on Boxing Day was postponed as the pitch at Ewood Park was frozen. It was eventually played in May, by which time Blackpool’s 3-1 win was irrelevant: Rovers were already down. So the Blackpool players returned to the seaside and went out in a group with their wives that Boxing Day night without having played.

“We always went out altogether after the Boxing Day game,” recalls James. “That was our Christmas do, if you like. Though you had to be careful. It all kicked off again over New Year.” 

Edited December 26, 20187 yr by erskblue

I'm sure that picture shown above, is The Bridge ?

Our goal scorers that Boxing Day 5-1 win at Blackpool back in Dec 1963.

Murray 20th , Bridges 22nd, Houseman 41st, Bridges 44th and Venables 66th minutes respectively.

Two days later on Sat 28th December we beat Blackpool 1-0 at The Bridge in front of 34,380.

Barry Bridges got our only goal that day in the 5th minute.

6 hours ago, Ewell CFC said:

Cheers Richard. I only recognised Mellor because we used to get farmed off to Fulham in the mid 70s as kids because it was seen as safer than Chelsea by me old man. Used to drive me Brothers and me nuts.

My dad went through a stage when he was obsessed with so called Chelsea hioliganosm. We had a neighbour across the road who was a ST in the newly built East Stand that used to stoke him up with tales of violence at the Bridge, normally just before we were due an outing there.

Me old man “ I’ve had a word with George over the road, he reckons it was worse than ever last week v Forest. So instead I thought we’d watch Fulham with your Uncle Ronnie’........

 

 

 

If he was talking about the Forest game early in the 75 season, he was dead right. 

14 minutes ago, Peckham Blue said:

If he was talking about the Forest game early in the 75 season, he was dead right. 

The away match at Forest in 76/77 was a bit tasty as well.

   Jimmy Greaves hammered four goals for Chelsea against Portsmouth on 25th December 1957.

Photograph: Allsport Hulton Deutsch/ALLSPORT

Chelsea 7-4 Portsmouth on 25th December  1957

5-1 at HT !

Our scorers that Christmas Day were: Jimmy Greaves (4) he scored in the 15th, 25th 35th and 48th minutes. Ron Tindall in the 17th ,a Rutter (O.G) in the 23rd minute and a Peter Sillett goal in the 60th minute were our other goal scorers.

27,036 saw it.

The next day we travelled down to Portsmouth and lost 3-0  in front of 32,236.

Then two days later, we went up to Birmingham and drew 3-3 with Birmingham City !

Edited December 26, 20187 yr by erskblue

On ‎31‎/‎07‎/‎2017 at 07:24, Devil Dog said:

What a great picture !

On ‎03‎/‎09‎/‎2017 at 13:31, Boyne said:

Not sure if posted before.

I liked this picture posted by Boyne,

£3 to see Chelsea   so 1984 ish ?...

A couple of expensive cars and a couple of Ford Fiestas.

Nothing against Ford Fiestas  I hasten to add as I've owned a couple of Fiestas in my time.

1 hour ago, erskblue said:

I liked this picture posted by Boyne,

£3 to see Chelsea   so 1984 ish ?...

A couple of expensive cars and a couple of Ford Fiestas.

Nothing against Ford Fiestas  I hasten to add as I've owned a couple of Fiestas in my time.

The nearer of the expensive cars looks like a Mercedes while the other looks like a Rolls Royce. Not sure about which models though. Many years ago I went to the training ground at Cobham. One of my friends is a timber supplier and provided some of the wood used when the training complex was being built and he managed to wangle a visit to have a look around. The players were at Cobham and there were some flash cars in the car park.

18 hours ago, Osgood is Good said:

The away match at Forest in 76/77 was a bit tasty as well.

Even through to the 90s Forest had a rep.

Recently read a book called Animal QC, about a Forest fan who used to be in their mob whose now a top lawyer. He mentions Scarrott who was there top boy and well known in the England scene.

They were playing at the Baseball Ground- it kicked off and Scarrott got ejected. He paid to come back in, and emerged in the seats above Derby- he was on his own waving his arms around and winding them up- decided to jump down and have it with them on his own!

Made me laugh anyway....

7 hours ago, erskblue said:

I liked this picture posted by Boyne,

£3 to see Chelsea   so 1984 ish ?...

A couple of expensive cars and a couple of Ford Fiestas.

Nothing against Ford Fiestas  I hasten to add as I've owned a couple of Fiestas in my time.

I used to work for a company that had the patent on those barriers that are stacked on the right of the picture, spent many hours putting those out, then picking them up straight after, at different events up and down the land, it was the same firm that repaired and replaced all the barriers on the stairs going up to the Shed and the steel mesh panels at the top, as well as some steelwork repair on the barriers all over the ground. This would have been winter 78, a particularly grim time, even by our old standards. But for me it was 3 or so months working at the place I loved more than any other, the head of security at the time was Andy Dunlop, a big, scary looking ex Sergeant Major looking type, a Scotsman and Hearts fan to boot. Lovely man though, and once he knew that me and one of my workmates were ardent blues he gave us a guided tour of the ground followed by a wee one back at his office. 

On 26/12/2018 at 08:55, Ewell CFC said:

Cheers Richard. I only recognised Mellor because we used to get farmed off to Fulham in the mid 70s as kids because it was seen as safer than Chelsea by me old man. Used to drive me Brothers and me nuts.

My dad went through a stage when he was obsessed with so called Chelsea hioliganosm. We had a neighbour across the road who was a ST in the newly built East Stand that used to stoke him up with tales of violence at the Bridge, normally just before we were due an outing there.

Me old man “ I’ve had a word with George over the road, he reckons it was worse than ever last week v Forest. So instead I thought we’d watch Fulham with your Uncle Ronnie’........

 

 

 

A group of us from the same school used to go to Fulham when Chelsea were away as too young to travel in early to mid 70s. We all lived between both grounds, and it seemed to be Fulham we’re home when Chelsea were away.

Made the Fulham vs Chelsea games fun as we had no issues getting in to the Fulham end. 

7 hours ago, Boyne said:

The nearer of the expensive cars looks like a Mercedes while the other looks like a Rolls Royce. Not sure about which models though. Many years ago I went to the training ground at Cobham. One of my friends is a timber supplier and provided some of the wood used when the training complex was being built and he managed to wangle a visit to have a look around. The players were at Cobham and there were some flash cars in the car park.

Funny how things have changed. Remember seeing Kerry’s Ford (Sierra, I think) in the front car park at Stamford Bridge when he joined. Massive sticker on both sides something like “Kerry Dixon drives a Ford”

Just showed how much times have changed

5 hours ago, Shug said:

Funny how things have changed. Remember seeing Kerry’s Ford (Sierra, I think) in the front car park at Stamford Bridge when he joined. Massive sticker on both sides something like “Kerry Dixon drives a Ford”

Just showed how much times have changed

David Speedie, used to be sponsored by Speedy Skips according to the old programmes. Not exactly Adidas is it!

8 hours ago, Shug said:

A group of us from the same school used to go to Fulham when Chelsea were away as too young to travel in early to mid 70s. We all lived between both grounds, and it seemed to be Fulham we’re home when Chelsea were away.

Made the Fulham vs Chelsea games fun as we had no issues getting in to the Fulham end. 

What schools did you go to? 

 

David Webb in goal for us in this game.

http://www.bounder.friardale.co.uk/Results/1971.htm#2577

I am indebted to the great bounder.friardale historic Chelsea site for the info and pics for this game.

Monday, 27th December 1971

Chelsea 2-0 Ipswich Town

Our scorers were Steve Kember in the 65th and Chris Garland in the 75th minutes respectively.

Watched by 43,896 who probably all reacted in disbelief as David Webb 's name was read out as our goalkeeper over the tannoy before the match.

It is an amazing story.

 

Chelsea's greatest goals as voted for by the fans covering the years from the early 1960's up until 1997.

A belated seasons greetings to all on this ,the best thread on line....thanks Erskblue especially for keeping the posts coming ,top stuff