Features

Can Michael Essien Return To His Best?

Yesterday we had the fantastic news that Michael Essien returned to competitive action for the reserves.

However when he is fully fit he returns to a very competitive Chelsea midfield with Lampard, Meireles, Ramires, Romeu and Mikel all hoping to keep him out of the team.

Whether they succeed will depend on what condition physically and mentally Essien is in when he takes to the field again.

He has been out with a rupture to anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus, which 20 years ago would have meant the end of career, saved by modern science we hae to hope he still has his speed and strength to compete at his best.

Mentally this will always be tough for him to recover from, when challenging for the ball it can be difficult for players to be as committed and fierce as they were before the injury.

Many players return but never comeback, subconsciously protecting the injured limb, this would rob Essien of his greatest attributes.

Coming back will be tough but if anyone can it will be ‘the Bison’ we will all be behind him 100%!

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Chelsea FA Final Cup Songs

Although the practise now seems to have ended, teams that reached major cup finals (mostly the FA Cup) used to release a song to mark the occasion. These songs were mostly cheesy pop songs which often featured the vocals of the first team squad and a video of them recording it.

Chelsea may have only reached four major finals between 1960 and 2000 but we had a fine record with our songs.

Two of our most famous songs ‘Blue is the Colour and ‘Blue Day’ were recorded and released in the run up to major finals and feature vocals from the teams of the era, today we are going to look at our Final songs.

Blue is The Colour (1972)

‘Blue is the colour’ was our song for the League Cup Final in 1972 and reached number 5 in the UK charts and became a club anthem.

Blue Day (1997)

Whilst ‘Blue Day’ sung by Chelsea fan Suggs and the players for the FA Cup Final in 1997 signified an era of hope amongst fans but could only reach number 22 in the charts.

No One Can Stop Us Now (1994)

These songs are popular still today, however you are unlikely to hear the 1994 song ‘No One Can Stop Us Now’ as it was naff and didn’t really catch on with the fans despite reaching number 23 in the UK charts.

I am proud of our songs (even our 1994 effort) and think its sad the tradition has died out, who knows maybe we can revive it this year?

Didier Drogba Joins 150 Club But What Is His Place In Chelsea Folklore?

Didier Drogba scored his 150^th goal for Chelsea in our defeat against Aston Villa and moved himself up the Chelsea record books to share a stage with legends such as Peter Osgood.

I often forget that through the good and the bad Drogba has now been at Chelsea nearly 8 years and been a key component in the most successful period of our history.

So this leaves me in a quandary, given his Jeckyll and hide nature is Didier Drogba a Chelsea legend?

On his game he is one of the most feared strikers in the world, he is strong, technically brilliant with a keen eye from goal that makes him a threat from four to forty yards out.

I remember his goals and matchwinning performances that have won him and the club accolades and trophies.

For these feats he is in many ways a Chelsea legend; however there have always been incidents that have dented his reputation with Chelsea fans.

Sometimes he can appear not to be bothered with what is going on in the game and totally uninterested and this has happened at various stages of his Chelsea career.

These are also punctuated with some less than impressive media displays from him and his agent in which he has stated that he has wanted to leave on more than one occasion, only to reverse himself or sign a new contract.

I think that in time and his medals and records will speak for themselves and he will be regarded as one of the greatest strikers in our history and a legend.

For now thou there are still marks on the copybook of an amazingly talented player, however I will let you make up your own mind.

Chelsea FC A Brief History – 1994 FA Cup Run

In 1994 Chelsea reached the FA Cup final for the first time in twenty four years as Glen Hoddle led Chelsea all the way to Wembley.

This was a cup run of old acquaintances as Glen Hoddle faced his brother Carl on the field in 1993 and Chelsea were forced to see off Blue’s legend Kerry Dixon as he spearheaded the Luton line in the Semi-Finals.

This long overdue cup run developed as Chelsea overcame Barnet, Sheffield Wednesday, Oxford United, Wolves and Luton to reach the final of the competition for the first time since 1970.

Third Round

In the third round Chelsea were drawn away to lower league Barnet, however under police advice and the behest of the Underhill club the tie was switched to Stamford Bridge. When the first match ended 0-0 the replay was also played at Stamford Bridge in which Chelsea ran out easy winners.

Barnet  0 Chelsea 0  – Attendance 23,200 (Stamford Bridge)

Chelsea 4 Barnet 0 – Attendance 16,209

Scorers – Burley, Peacock, Stein, Shipperley

Fourth Round

Chelsea drew Sheffield Wednesday in the next round and after a 1-1 home draw Chelsea then went to Hillsborough and secured an excellent 3-1 victory secured with goals from Craig Burley, Gavin Peacock and John Spencer.

Chelsea 1 Sheffield Wednesday 1 – Attendance 26,094

Scorer – Peacock

Sheffield Wednesday 1 Chelsea 3 – 26,144

Scorers – Burley, Peacock, Spencer

Fifth Round

Chelsea again faced lower league opposition as they were drawn away at Oxford United, the home side took the lead with a goal from Joey Beauchamp however Chelsea rallied with the heroes of the fourth round John Spencer and Gavin Peacock clinching victory again.

Oxford United 1 Chelsea 2 – Attendance 10,787

Scorers – Burley, Spencer

Sixth Round

Chelsea faced another team from a lower division in the quarter finals as Chelsea took on Wolves at Stamford Bridge in the first televised game of Chelsea’s cup run.

It took a solitary Gavin Peacock goal to secure a trip to Wembley against Luton

Chelsea v Wolves – Attendance 29,340

Semi Finals

The semi finals were held at Wembley in a move that was as controversial then as it has been in recent years.

This was the author’s first trip to Wembley to watch Chelsea with around 30,000 Chelsea fans watching Chelsea try and secure their first FA Cup final in a generation.

The game itself was relatively comfortable with Gavin Peacock providing the goals to secure a two goal victory and end the dreams of surprise package Luton Town from the equivalent of today’s Championship.

The most poignant memory of this would be Kerry Dixon and the reaction of the Chelsea fans to him facing the club which regards him as a legend.

The Chelsea fans chanted his name when the teams were announced, again when he came onto the pitch and then finally he got a standing ovation as he was substituted.

Chelsea 2 Luton 0 – Attendance 59,589

Scorer – Peacock x 2

FA CUP FINAL

Chelsea were in the FA Cup Final for the first time that many fans could remember, fans queued for hours to secure one of 18,000 tickets that were made available to Chelsea fans in the time before allocations to fans were split equally between sets of supporters.

Aged just 8 at the time of the game, I can still vividly remember the single “No One Can Stop Us Now” that Chelsea released which reached number 22 in the music charts.

I remember as we drove into the car park at Wembley in our car decked out in Chelsea flags stopped with my Dad excited beyond belief, walking in front of us on his way to the television studio was none other than his childhood hero Peter Osgood. The windows were frantically rolled down as he bellowed at his hero, who despite the rain obliged and came over and shook our hands.

This however was the bright point of the day, on the walk up Wembley way, I was knocked off my feet by a drunken man rushing towards the stadium without a second look, my Dad swears to this day that the culprit was Manchester United legend George Best, however I cannot say for certain.

The weather for the final reflected the end result of the match, grey, miserable and full of rain, despite having a share of the play Chelsea were beaten 4-0 in a game that did not reflect the final score.

In the first half Gavin Peacock hit the bar and in the second half it was the referee that assisted Manchester United with two more than generous penalty decisions that gifted Eric Cantona a brace. Even the emergence of Glen Hoddle from the bench at 2-0 failed to inspire Chelsea to an unlikely comeback and Chelsea’s day ended in despair.

This however did not deter the Chelsea fans who were deafening throughout the match and even once it became clear that the match could not be won.

It still sends shivers down my spine when the final whistle went and the whole Chelsea end was chanting “Chelsea are Back, Chelsea are Back” in one of the most demoralising and electrifying memories of watching Chelsea. This was at the same time interspersed with chants reminding David Elleray the referee how disliked he was for his poor refereeing.

Chelsea 0 Manchester United 4 – Attendance – 79,000

Chelsea may not have won the trophy that day, but although the Chelsea fans chanting may not have believed how far the club would go from this platform, Chelsea were indeed back.

CFC History – Stamford Bridge 1877 -1994

Today we have a guest post from the Here 4 The Chelsea about the history of Stamford Bridge

In the Beginning

Chelsea’s home stadium is called Stamford Bridge and has a history as varied and unique as the team itself.

Stamford Bridge officially opened on 28 April 1877.

For the first 28 years of its existence it was used almost exclusively by the London Athletic Club as an arena for athletics meetings and not for football at all.

In 1904 the ownership of the ground changed hands when Mr H A (Gus) Mears and his brother, Mr J T Mears, obtained the deeds, having previously acquired additional land (formerly a large market garden) with the aim of establishing a football team there on the now 12.5 acre site.

Stamford Bridge was designed by Archibald Leitch and initially included a 120 yard long stand on the East side which could hold 5000 spectators.

The other sides were all open in a vast bowl with thousands of tons of material excavated from the building of the underground railway provided high terracing on the West side.

The capacity was originally planned to be 100,000 and was the second largest in country behind Crystal Palace – the FA Cup final venue.

Initially the stadium was offered to Fulham FC to play there, they turned down the chance and so instead a new side, Chelsea Football Club, was born in 1905 and moved into the new Stamford Bridge stadium.

Why Is It Called Stamford Bridge

The name and place of Stamford Bridge is one with great significance in English history having been the site in Yorkshire of one of the most famous battles of King Harold’s reign in 1066 against the Vikings.

However it is believed that this is not connected to the naming of Chelsea’s football stadium which came about less because of historical significance and more to do with local landmarks and a fair degree of chance.

The 18th century maps show the Fulham Road and Kings Road area including the current day site of the stadium. It shows a stream called ‘Stanford Creek’ which runs along the route of the present day railway line behind the East Stand and flows down into the Thames.

Where the stream crosses the Fulham Road it is marked ‘Little Chelsea Bridge’ which was originally called Sanford Bridge (from sand ford). While a bridge over the stream on the Kings Road was called Stanbridge (from stone bridge).

It seems that these two bridge names and that of the stream, ‘Stanford Creek’, together evolved into the name Stanford Bridge, which again later evolved into Stamford Bridge as the adopted name of the stadium.

1930

From its creation the stadium remained largely unchanged until 1930 when the “Shed End” terraced area was erected.

A vast bank of terracing behind the southern goal it was to become the mecca for Chelsea’ most diehard supporters and would forever be associated with Stamford Bridge.

As the stadium developed the Shed End really came into its own in the 60′s, 70′s and 80′s and was the focal point of the hardcore Chelsea fans and the originators of most of the singing and atmosphere.

Adorned with a rather unique ‘roofed’ area (which barely covered 1/5th of the whole terrace) there is debate over how and when it developed the name ‘Shed’ as it wasn’t given a name when it was built.

The Shed was demolished in 1994 following new laws compelling grounds to be all seater and was replaced with the new Shed End seated stand in 1997.

The final match with the old Shed was Sheffield United at home on 7th May 1994 although sadly no one knew at the time it would be the last game so the Shed was never given the send off it deserved.

1939

In 1939 the North Stand was built. A curious stand in the north east corner it was an extension to the East stand and stuck out for being a completely different design to the rest of the stadium but it did provide extra seating.

It survived until 1975 when it was demolished and the north end was then open terracing until 1993 when it too was demolished at the start of the modern redevelopment of the entire stadium.

1964/65

In 1964/65, during one of Chelsea’s best periods on the pitch, saw the vast western terrace replaced by a seated stand. The stand was 3/4 seating and 1/4 concrete slabs affectionately known as the ‘Benches’.

The West stand existed for 25 years until it was the last of the old stadium to be demolished in 1998 and despite by that stage being a rickety, crumbling stand it too was a sad day for many when the old West Stand with it’s wooden seats went, and like the Shed, is a source of nostalgia.

Yet its replacement is quite simply one of the finest stadium stands in the country costing an estimated £30 million to build, and housing 13,500 people in luxury surroundings with superb views.

1973/74

In 1973 the East Stand was built, a marvel of engineering of the time and still one of the most striking stands in the country there’s little doubt it was ahead of its time.

The only part of the current stadium that survived the mass rebuilding of the 1990′s it has though undergone extensive refurbishment and refitting.

The East Stand, for all its magnificence also has a controversial past. When Chelsea were at their peak in the late 60′s and early 70′s the then owners decided the all star team on the pitch deserved to be playing in the best stadium in the country.

Their plan was hugely ambitious to completely redevelop Stamford Bridge into a 50,000 all seater circular stadium.

It proved too ambitious and many feel brought the club to it’s knees, forced the selling of the star players, relegation and nearly forced the club into complete ruin by the start of the 1980′s.

It took another 20 years to rebuild not only the stadium and team but the entire club, yet for all that the East Stand itself remains as impressive today as it always did.

Save The Bridge Campaign

With the club virtually bankrupt in the late 70′s the then owners made the drastic decision to sell the Stamford Bridge site to property developers to pay off some of the debts.

It was a decision that very nearly saw Chelsea lose its ground, be forced to share with Fulham or QPR and the famous stadium converted into houses or a supermarket.

With Chelsea no longer owning their own ground they were unable to do any more rebuilding and lagged behind other clubs in that respect.

A bitter, expensive and close run 10 year fight by chairman Ken Bates to fight the property developers and win back ownership of Stamford Bridge was finally successful in 1992.

With an ironic twist is was the property developers who were forced into bankruptcy and Chelsea FC got its ground back.

It was a close run thing at times but Stamford Bridge survived its biggest ever challenge and in 1994 the process of the most extensive redevelopment of any stadium in the country began.

Turning a dilapidated and crumbling ground with views miles from the pitch into one of the most impressive in the country.