After changing my place of work for the very first time, not the last however, I found myself working in a tall skyscraper right outside London Bridge station during the summer of 1980. I’d previously worked around the Holborn/Chancery Lane area of Central London so the change of scenery meant a different view from all of that. What I didn’t expect was to stand there one late afternoon watching smoke and flames billowing out in the distance, somewhere over in North London. Squinting and trying to get my bearings, I soon realised it was Alexander Palace that had gone up in flames. From my position high up in that skyscraper in South East London, I watched ‘Ally Pally’ burn and smoulder. ‘London’s Burning’ as The Clash had said.
Films released that year were, it has to be said, quite varied in their genre although there were already a couple whose titles certainly stood out from the rest, especially for those of us who worshipped at The Bridge. The Blue Lagoon was joined by The Blues Brothers although, let’s be honest, Stir Crazy and Any Which You Can could quite easily have been applied to us too!
Thoughts turned to our upcoming start to the season, our 67th in one of two leagues since we were formed in that room above The Rising Sun pub on the Fulham Road back in March 1905. What had the Footballing God’s served up for us this time? What mouth-watering delicacy would we be dining on that Saturday in August, the 16th?
Wrexham at home, that’s what.
The omens were good:
Debbie Harry said ‘Call Me’ but I never did ‘cos I was concentrating too much on the season ahead. The Nolans were ‘In the Mood for Dancing’, Peter Gabriel said we’d be playing ‘Games Without Frontiers’, Paul McCartney said we’re ‘Coming Up’ and Hot Chocolate said there’s ‘No Doubt About It’. ABBA reminded everyone that the ‘Winner Takes It All’. That’d be us then, right?
A crowd of 20,001 (20,000 if I hadn’t gone) saw Peter Rhoades-Brown score our opener in the 18th minute, cancelling out the Welshmen’s opener just a minute before. Leading 1-2 at half-time, the men from across the border couldn’t hold on and eventually succumbed to an equaliser from Mike Fillery with just 11minutes to go. It would, I feared, be a long, difficult season.
We had to wait until the following month before we saw our first win, that coming in a 0-1 win away at Cambridge United thanks to Colin Lee’s winner just 6 minutes from the end. Phew.
Defeats to Derby County, Cardiff City in the League Cup, West ‘Am, and with draws against Shrewsbury Town, QPR, Preston North End, Blackburn Rovers, saw us grab a sprinkling of victories too, namely against Watford, Bolton Wanderers, Bristol Rovers, Grimsby Town and Orient. With this spluttering form under our belts, we hosted the Geordies from Newcastle United as we approached the end of October.
As the players entered the tunnel at half-time, they must have wondered who in the crowd would have guessed that we’d be 3-0 up? Colin Lee, Mike Fillery and Clive ‘Flasher’ Walker (don’t ask) had grabbed our first half goals as most in the 22, 912 wondered if we could improve on that in the second half?
Of course we could, we’re Chelsea.
Goals from Colin Lee again, Gary Chivers and finally Colin Lee’s 3rd saw Chelsea romp to a healthy and most pleasing 6-0 victory. At least the opening of the brand new ‘Tyne & Wear Metro’ would help many Geordies with their journey home, it having only opened up in August of that year.
The season carried on in much the same vein, a win here, a draw there and invariably a defeat both here and there.
After a nondescript 0-0 draw at home to Swansea City on Saturday 6th December, Mr and Mrs Terry of Barking, Essex celebrated the birth of their newborn son. They decided to call him ‘John George Terry’ and he would, of course, become one of the most famous, legendary figures ever to pull the blue shirt of Chelsea on. However, I’m sure no one in the crowd of 20,067 that previous day could possibly imagine the news we would be waking up to in just a couple of days. As I turned the radio on at Mum and Dad’s house in our North London home, I wondered why Radio 1 kept playing John Lennon songs at such an early hour, I mean it was still dark outside and I was getting ready to travel up to Luton for a company training day.
“If you’re just joining us, the news from the USA is that John Lennon, a founding member of The Beatles, has been shot outside an apartment block in Manhattan. He died of his injuries.”
‘I’m So Bored of the USA’ as The Clash had said.
Saturday 28th February 1981 was to be remembered for all the wrong reasons, nothing to do with the team or even anything to do with football, as such. On this day, thousands of us travelled up to the North West of the country for what appeared to be a routine, North v South mid-season encounter at Deepdale, home to Preston North End. Unfortunately, one of our number didn’t come home that night, a reminder to us all that events can happen in a split second. Gary Lee, Breda’s young son, was chased after arriving into Preston and tragically fell as he tried to jump across a roof. He did not recover and died of his injuries. Our journey home later that evening was unlike any I’d experienced in my years following Chelsea. One thing became clear; a young lad had lost his life and he was one of us. No one should have to go through that, no family or friends or relatives or anyone. I sat in quiet disbelief and shock until our train pulled in to Euston later that evening. Gary, may you be at peace knowing that you were, are and always will be part of that family we call Chelsea. Rest in Peace, brother.
As the season eventually petered out to its finale, we looked around us at nothing but unrest, disorder and outrage. A Yorkshire lorry driver named Peter Sutcliffe was found guilty of the murders of 13 women and became known as known as ‘The Yorkshire Ripper’. Thirteen people died in a tragic house-fire in New Cross, London. Bobby Sands and other IRA Hunger Strikers died after going on hunger strike. More than 300 people, mostly police officers, were injured during riots in Brixton as an MP called Enoch Powell warned of a racial, civil war in Britain and added that ‘Britain has seen nothing yet’.
So, as we finally finished 12th in the Second Division and we’d gone out at the very first hurdle in both the League Cup and the FA Cup, it wasn’t only Chelsea that were trying to keep a bit of order. Attendances at home had been slipping and were at a lowly 11,569 for the visit of Cardiff City at the beginning of April. We’d won 14 of our games but lost 16 and drew 12. Newcastle, who remember we’d beaten 6-0 earlier in the season, even managed to finish above us. Wey aye, man.
Next season would be a whole lot better though, right?
‘Imagine’.
