CHELSEA V RANGERS

Chopper’s No Coppers. A Glamour Testimonial

Ron Harris Testimonial Match

Tuesday 23rd November 1971

EXTRACTS FROM BACKGROUND TO THE MATCH

·  RANGERS SNAP UP CHOPPER’S INVITE. ORGANISING THE MATCH

Rangers snapped up the opportunity to supply the opposition in this Testimonial, Chelsea had something desperately wanted. The Londoners were current holders of the European Cup Winners’ Cup but surprisingly had already been eliminated in the Second Round. Rangers were still in the competition and wanted to pick up as much extra knowledge and practice as possible. It would also be an interesting experience for Rangers fans, Chelsea were an excellent and exciting team. They had come to be known as the glamour club of London cheered on by an assortment of ‘showbiz’ fans. The team, a metaphor for the 24 hour partying, decadence and sophistication of the adjacent Kings Road.

Willie Waddell had been actively seeking top opposition as practice for the Cup Winners’ Cup campaign when Chelsea called out of the blue (no pun intended) to invite them to be the opposition for Ron Harris’ Testimonial game.

“The invitation came out of the blue (he’s at it too!) and Rangers were only too delighted to accept. This is an honour for our club. The game should be a good test for us and it comes at a time when we have no other commitments.” (Willie Waddell in the Rangers News)

Waddell could not have hand picked better opposition for a ‘dry run’. Chelsea had shown 6 months earlier what was needed to win the trophy. Their style of football had a continental flavour and their Manager David (Dave) Sexton was regarded as one of the best tacticians in the British football.

·  EXTRACTS FROM THE TESTIMONIAL MAN. THE LIFE AND TIMES OF RON ‘CHOPPER’ HARRIS Some Thoughts From Chopper and ‘Friends’

Favourite Opponent? : “The one I have to mark.”

(Evening Standard Supplement 1970)

“Every time I played against Chopper, I took a right hammering. But I gave as good as I got. He whacked me really hard one time so I jumped up and down on his chest. He was coughing up blood according to the papers.”

(Charlie George of Arsenal. Football’s Hard Men by Phil Thomson)

The Man Nearly Banned From His Own Testimonial !

Having amassed 3 cautions in 12 months, Ron had recently appeared in front of an FA Disciplinary Panel. (Only 3 Cautions? However in the early 1970’s, Referees had a phobia about getting the book out except for maimings or decapitations!) Ron was fined £150 and given a 5 week ban, fortunately for him suspended.

“I thought the hearing was fair at the time and felt I’d been quite lucky. If the ban had not been suspended I might have missed my own Testimonial!” (Goal Magazine, March 98)

· EXTRACTS FROM CHELSEA FC THE STORY OF THE BLUES

The Mears brothers assumed Fulham would want to take up residence in the stadium. (modern parlance ‘the anchor tenant’.) But they didn’t, mainly at the behest of the controversial Henry Norris (See Arsenal History!). Gus Mears was crestfallen and soon after, the Great Western Railway made him a very generous offer for the land. Mr Parker was devastated and frantically tried to persuade him not to sell. He wasn’t making much headway until….

Scotch Terrier

Both men went for a walk together when Gus’ dog bit him. Gus strangely remarked “Scotch terrier, always bites before he speaks.” Mr Parker, ever the gentleman laughed out loud and despite bleeding found it highly amusing. Mears was so impressed with Parker’s reaction that it convinced him that his friend’s judgement should be trusted. Football it was! The pair went on a brainstorming trip to Glasgow to check out the local stadiums including Ibrox. Thinking big they opted for a 60-70,000 capacity stadium including 5,000 seats. To be designed by Ibrox architect (and Rangers fan!), Archibald Leitch.

And The Rangers and Scotland Captain

Next they set about building a team. The Ibrox influence was extended with the recruitment of Rangers and Scotland International half back and Captain, Jackie (a.k.a James Tait) Robertson as player manager when they joined the Football League in 1905. Chelsea’s blue strip was chosen as it was the racing colours of the club’s president, Earl Cadogan but I reckon that Jackie exerted some influence on this choice!

·  EXTRACTS FROM CHELSEA TRIVIA

Chelsea used to have one of the best badges in football. (And as I write have re-adapted it to replace the building society logo adopted in 1986). The Lion rampant was adapted from the Arms of the Club President, Lord Cadogan. The crozier was that of the Abbot of Westminster. The winged bull between the initials CC (Chelsea Club.) the emblem of Saint Luke, the Patron Saint of Chelsea.

The Chelsea Pensioners : A familiar site throughout Chelsea’s history at Stamford Bridge has been the grey and scarlet uniformed army veterans. They live in the Royal Hospital Chelsea for old and disabled soldiers. To become a Pensioner, one has to have an army pension for time served or a disability and be aged over 65 (or 55 in the case of disabled.) Chelsea have always given free tickets to the Pensioners and were nicknamed the Pensioners until the early 1950’s.

·  EXTRACTS FROM SOME OF THE BACKROOM STAFF

A Life Sentence At Crewe  

Chelsea’s Assistant Coach was none other than Dario Gradi. The man who has since clocked up over 20 years as Crewe’s Manager, unearthed some exceptional talent and is hugely respected in football. Then aged 29, he joined Chelsea in January 1971 after 3 years with the FA’s London Regional Coaching Staff. Before that he had been a PE teacher and England Amateur half back.

·  EXTRACTS FROM CHELSEA PLAYERS AND STYLE 1971                         The Defence

Between the sticks Chelsea boasted the ‘Cat’, Peter Bonnetti. So called for his acrobatic catching and lightning reflexes. His understudy was more of a traditional ‘Keeper. John Philip’s father and grand father had both kept goal for Shrewsbury Town. He followed in their footsteps before joining Chelsea via Aston Villa. Solidly built and competent.

In front of him was a tough but talented defence. Joining the ubiquitous right back Chopper was left back Eddie McReadie and centre half Dave Webb. This pair were not just strong defenders but accomplished all round footballers, capable of playing in any position. Amazingly for a club of Chelsea’s fame, McReadie was their most capped player of all time. Having amassed 23 caps for Scotland, between 1965 and 1969.

During his Chelsea career Dave Webb enjoyed a fantastic rapport with the Chelsea crowd, who enjoyed his enthusiasm and extrovert personality. He had deputised as a midfielder, a goalscoring forward and goalkeeper (where he once kept goal for 90 minutes and kept a clean sheet, following an injury crisis and a late arriving goalkeeper!).

The final defender was permed from any one of the following. The young 6’4, 15 stone left footed giant Micky Droy. Not a dirty player, he didn’t need to be be! Former England Youth International Gary Locke, an efficient hard working full back and consistent performer. John Dempsey a Londoner from the affluent suburb of Hampstead who played international football for Ireland (his parents were Irish). The Londoner had joined in 1969 from neighbours Fulham for a fee of £70,000 and was a big strong no nonsense centre half. Reserve right back Paddy Mulligan was also an Irish International, who actually came from Dublin. He was acquired from Shamrock Rovers for a fee of £17,500 in 1969.

The Midfield

John Hollins was very unfortunate not to have a stack of England caps. The fact that he pulled out of an England Under 23 Tour after he got married in 1968 (many at the time blamed his wife for putting pressure on him), was felt to be the reason why he was not considered for international selection. The technical explanation was that Alf Ramsey had a preference for ‘defensive destroyers’.

Arch rival Billy Bremner of Leeds paid this tribute to him in Shoot magazine. “He has everything the England Boss demands, speed, fierce tackling and the skill to burst through from deep positions to get in scoring positions” His game had been improved working under Sexton. “Dave has taught me to think more deeply about my game and to conserve my energy. The result has been that I’m as strong at the finish as when I start.” (Football Monthly, November 1972).

Alan Hudson was the midfield creator for Chelsea. A player of great vision and superb passing. Despite his ‘hectic’ lifestyle he had great stamina and was very self confident. He had come close to international recognition for England featuring in the England Under 23 team and was named in the original 40 for the 1970 World Cup.

Steve Kember was signed to provide extra bite in midfield and Chelsea’s record signing when they forked out £170,000 to buy the Crystal Palace Skipper in 1971. Kember had already contributed to Chopper’s Testimonial fund with a couple of teeth when he played against Chelsea in an FA Cup tie, courtesy of Chopper’s elbow! (The Official Chelsea Magazine, October 2002)

Marvin Hinton was a fine all round midfielder who had originally played at centre half, Chelsea fans enjoyed the way he played his football with a smile. Like Hinton, John Boyle also came through the early 1960’s youth team. Motherwell born Boyle was energetic and a very good ball winner. His role was to break up opposition attacks and get the ball to the more creative midfielders. He occasionally filled in as a full back on either flank.

The Attack

Before his broken leg in 1967, Peter Osgood was the complete centre forward. Perhaps destined to better the career of that other Chelsea prodigy Jimmy Greaves. A quote that often appears from older fans, ex players and football writers was that he was the best 19 year old player they have ever seen. He had everything in the forward’s armoury ; heading, pace, strength, prodigious finishing and powerful shooting. However since returning from a 1 year lay off, he had lost his blistering pace and though every good forward should be able to defend himself, there was sometimes the impression that ‘Ossie’ could now be too easily distracted into vendettas with defenders. Somehow he just was not quite the same player as before. Nevertheless, still one of the best forwards playing in England, a handful for any defence and the spearhead of the Chelsea attack.

Aerially he was usually assisted by the tall, strong, Ian Hutchinson. A brave player ruled out of this particular game with a serious long term injury to his right knee cartilage. Also very useful on the ground and known for his ability to ‘give and take’ stick. Chelsea’s Assistant Manager went to Cambridge United in 1968 to check out a goalkeeper but told Dave Sexton instead to snap up this 20 year old forward, who Chelsea bought for a total outlay of £5000. Given Hutchinson’s injuries, Chelsea had recently invested £100,000 on Chris Garland. A similarly built front runner and player who was also more of a creator than scorer.

Playing wide was the enigmatic Charlie Cooke. An abundantly gifted dribbler able carve out opportunities. When he first joined Chelsea he lacked ‘end product’, (taking on 1 player too many and too inconsistent.) Dave Sexton made him more productive but had to drop him first. When Cooke was dropped, Chelsea picked up more points but their fans demanded his inclusion. The articulate Cooke still believed that entertaining the fans was very important. He was frequently brought up as an example when the question was posed ‘Is there still room for an entertainer in a team that’s striving for the honours?.’

Accurate crossing and passing from the left hand side was supplied by Peter Houseman. Usually located on the wing, he could also drop back and was even capable of filling in for the left back. Tony Potrac aged 18 had not yet made his League debut but had been selected for this game. In a struggling reserve team, he was the leading scorer and had appeared in 18 of the 20 reserve fixtures.

Chelsea’s pool of forwards contained the ‘Sponge’, Tommy Baldwin. Media pundits thought it was for his non stop running actually it was his ability to absorb alcohol! Baldwin had joined Chelsea from Arsenal in a swap for Scotland International George Graham in 1966. The Sponge was a tireless worker and very good all round forward, though had more recently been injury prone and some commentators noted that his enthusiasm had sagged. Chelsea had recently sold their pacy forward Keith Weller, perhaps indicating Sexton’s preference for power rather than pace.

EXTRACTS FROM MATCHDAY

A HITCHHIKERS GUIDE!

Rangers travelled early by plane and were met at Heathrow by a delegation from Chelsea including Dave Sexton. Many of Rangers 5,000 plus travelling contingent had also arrived mid morning.

Is There A Doc On Board?

I wonder what the reaction of the players was when they spotted Thomas Docherty ‘hitching’ a lift to London. The Scotland Manager had in fact been given a very special honour. He was to take charge of a European Select Side that were playing at Upton Park that night in Geoff Hurst’s Testimonial game. He had quite a team to manage! Including Eusebio, Uwe Seller (Germany), Jimmy Johnstone, Tommy Gemmell, Jimmy Greaves, Rodney Marsh (no doubt the Rangers team wished to pass on their best wishes!), Israel Skipper Mordechai Spiegler (a rumoured transfer target for Arsenal and West Ham) and Ted MacDougall.

Why were 2 Great Testimonials Played On The Same Day?

The following night Spurs were hosting Arsenal in the League. I suspect that the Metropolitan Police resources would have been too stretched to also contain Tommy Docherty, Rodney Marsh and another set of fans.

EXTRACTS FROM TALKING POINTS                           

KINKY BOOTS AND FOOTBALL BOOTS, THE GLAMOUR CLUB                          Chelsea really became the glamour club in the 1960’s, probably around 1964. It was a combination of a successful team of ‘good looking’ young men watched by a large locally based celebrity crowd. The players mixed freely with the celebrities and became their friends. Going to parties and restaurants and appearing in photographs with them, often taken by the trendy local photographers. The players shared their 'fans' love of fashion and hence the whole image of a glamorous club took off.

In addition to the proximity of Kings Road, Chelsea had film producer Dickie Attenborough on the Board who brought ‘the beautiful people’ as his guests. On a given Saturday from the mid 1960’s onwards the following could be seen in the Chelsea Director’s Box : Jane Seymour, Raquel Welch, Honor Blackman, Michael Caine (actually he’s a Millwall fan – if you’ve seen Get Carter you’d have worked that out for yourself!), Michael Crawford, Ronnie Corbett, Richard O’Sullivan, Steve McQueen, Vidal Sassoon, Peter O’Toole, Terry O’Neill (photographer), Terence Stamp, plus a bevvy of ‘bunny girls’, Kings Road restaurauteurs etc.. There had been glamorous players before but never a whole club!

Even though some of the early leaders of the ‘pack’ such as Terry Venables and ‘Gorgeous’ George Graham had been moved on by Docherty, their places were in turn filled by other glamorous young players. None more so than the likes of Peter Osgood, Tommy Baldwin, Ian Hutchinson and Alan Hudson who would often be joined by Charlie Cooke, Eddie McCreadie, Dave Webb, John Boyle and others. During the early 1970’s, Chelsea devoted a whole page of their programme to a profile on a celebrity fan! The glamour, style and success of Chelsea FC in turn made them the Team to support for youngsters from across the south, west and even parts of the northern suburbs of London extending deep into the new satellite towns beyond. Many fans of other clubs further afield made them their ‘second’ team.

·  EXTRACTS FROM THE BUSINESS OF CHELSEA

The Rangers pools had a staggering regular clientele of 600,000 players and 8,000 agents and generated a turnover of over £1 million. Chelsea were keen to maximise their own pools and headhunted Mrs Pat Abel who had transformed the lottery at Coventry City. Chelsea aimed for 50,000 players, using a sophisticated computerised system to speed things up and backed up by full time representatives on the road driving smart royal blue Chelsea vans.

Goal magazine showed great vision when they wrote, “Women like Mrs Pat Abel could soon be playing an even bigger part behind the soccer scenes. Already there’s been the first woman secretary of a football League club. And, dare we say it, we might soon see the first female Director or manager!.” – Try telling that to a Spurs director in 1970! (Goal Magazine 31st January 1970 No 78)      

·  WHERE DID CHELSEA FANS COME FROM IN 1971?                                    Most League clubs were situated in densely populated, working class parts of towns and cities. Chelsea was located in the most affluent ‘constituency’ in England. That is not to say that there are not working class areas of Kensington and Chelsea which were natural bedrocks of support but given the size of their gates they clearly attracted supporters from further afield.

In order to identify where their fan base was located to help with the marketing of the new lottery, some market research was commissioned. Not only did it uncover the obvious places such as the suburbs of south and west London  - but also points along the South Coast seaside resorts.

Furthermore I would suggest that satellite towns in Berkshire and Surrey were a mainstay of Chelsea support. (eg Croydon, Guildford, Tunbridge Wells and Reading). Smaller pockets of Chelsea support also extended to parts of North West London (eg Kilburn, Swiss Cottage and King’s Cross.) 

The Welsh Connection?                                                    Bizarrely in a book entitled ‘We Hate Humans’ from 1980, the author David Robins claimed that there was a large contingent of South Welsh descent. “The children of South London people who migrated to Wales during the steel boom of the early sixties have also returned - the Port Talbot Shed.”

Special Forces

Finally due to the large Barracks on Kings Road and of course the ‘Pensioners’ link, Chelsea has always seemed to attract a large support in the armed forces.                                                                                                                                                          

·  EXTRACTS FROM JOCK WALLACE, COMMANDO, GOALKEEPER, GIANT KILLER, COACH, SPY, WELFARE WORKER AND RANGERS FAN                                        Upon joining Rangers his annual pre-season trips to Gullane Sands near Edinburgh became famous. Though infamous would be a more suitable adjective for those who participated in them. Players had to repeatedly sprint up and down 75 degree angled sand dunes. He never tried to court the media and sections of the press criticised his work. However within a few years many clubs introduced similar sand based preparation. His reputation as a hard taskmaster and motivator was correct but not the whole picture.

                                                                                A serious student of fitness, he had earnt a reputation as an expert in the field. The sophisticated West German Coaching School in Nuremberg invited him to address their Coaches (Football Monthly August 1972). Jock imposed a series of stringent medical checks so that he knew exactly how each player responded to his training. One only has to look at the longevity of the careers of those players under his charge to respect his methodology. He also introduced a wide variety of less energy sapping routines, not so widely reported. Moreover he was an astute judge of footballers and tactics…. 

EXTRACT FROM POSTSCRIPT

·  ONE EVENING IN MAY 72                           

Rangers went from strength to strength in Europe after this match. Perhaps in a small way it was the lessons and tips picked up at Stamford Bridge. No, it was a team of fine determined players with a superb Skipper working under an astute Manager and Coach. Torino were dispatched in the quarter final's to clinch a Semi final meeting with old rivals Bayern Munich and revenge was sweet for Rangers. Moscow Dynamo were the final obstacle. In the final at Barcelona's Nou Camp Stadium in front of 25,000 euphoric traveling fans, the European trophy was won. Almost 100 years to the day since a collection of brothers and young men had first taken to a football pitch under the name of Rangers.