Eddie McCreadie – GAME OF THE PEOPLE

IN APRIL 1975, Chelsea were relegated from the first division. It had been a long-time coming, given two lack-lustre campaigns that saw the break-up of a richly-talented team that had reached three cup finals in as many years and had scarcely been out of the top six since the club returned to the top flight in 1963. The 1973-74 season had ended in complete disarray as two of the club’s prized players, Peter Osgood and Alan Hudson had departed for Southampton and Stoke City respectively. This yielded Chelsea more than half a million pounds, but the giant shadow hanging over the club were the mounting debts from the construction of a new, three-tier grandstand that was supposedly the most modern in football. In other words, very little of that cash was used to build a new Chelsea team. And what money was made available was ill-spent.

In the summer of 1974, Dave Sexton bought David Hay, a versatile player from Celtic who had impressed in Scotland’s World Cup campaign. Hay was more than just decent, but Chelsea were in dire need of charismatic players to fill the gap left by Osgood and Hudson. A cut-price signing in the form of John Sissons, the former West Ham winger, was also added to the squad.

Inevitable

Chelsea struggled from the start of 1974-75 and there was a sense of inevitability that relegation would come at the end of the season. Players like Chris Garland, Bill Garner, Ian Hutchinson, Steve Kember, John Hollins, Ron Harris, Peter Houseman, Charlie Cooke and Peter Bonetti were reminders of the glory days, but without the icing on the cake, Chelsea looked second rate.

Dave Sexton was sacked and the club looked to former winger Frank Blunstone to take over as manager. He was working at Manchester United with ex-Chelsea manager Tommy Docherty but declined the £15,000 a year job at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea clumsily managed the role in-house until the end of the season, with Ron Suart and then Eddie McCreadie taking over.

When McCreadie was installed, the ship was almost sunk. There were three games remaining and Chelsea were one place above the drop zone. Their destiny could still be of their own making, given they had two of their three games at home, but morale was low and no amount of self-assured sound-bites – a great McCreadie trait – could save the club.

		P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
19	Chelsea	39	9	13	17	40	68	31
20	Tottenham	39	11	8	20	46	60	30
21	Luton Town	40	10	10	20	42	63	30
22	Carlisle United	40	11	4	25	42	59	26

The key game, arguably of the next decade, would be Chelsea’s visit to Tottenham on the penultimate Saturday of the season. McCreadie had gambled in his first week in charge, installing 18 year-old Ray “Butch” Wilkins as captain. He also brought in a young, cocky forward named Teddy Maybank. Out went old McCreadie acolytes Hollins and Kember. It was bold and hinted that McCreadie was looking beyond the current season and perhaps a second division promotion bid.

Dispensing with old heads like Hollins may also have been an indication that McCreadie didn’t want to be handling players he used to line up alongside. Chelsea lost 0-2 at Tottenham in the great relegation play-off. In fact, they failed to win the two homes games, drawing 1-1 with both Sheffield United and Everton. It was a depressing tube journey from Fulham Broadway back to central London, but McCreadie, appearing on TV on the following Monday, assured Chelsea fans that promotion would be “ no sweat”.

In August 1975, Stamford Bridge was a tired place, despite its gleaming grandstand, which looked as though a set from a Gerry Anderson show like Thunderbirds or Stingray had been transposed into the middle of an olde worlde village. Nobody really knew what Chelsea’s team would look like in 1975-76, but one thing was clear – the balance of power in London football had shifted. As well as Chelsea’s decline, Tottenham and Arsenal were also going through some soul-searching. Spurs had just stayed up and Arsenal’s Bertie Mee was coming under extreme pressure at Highbury. Queens Park Rangers, now under Dave Sexton, were developing an exciting brand of football that the former Chelsea boss would have loved to have developed at the Bridge. And West Ham had won the FA Cup and were in Europe.

Kids

McCreadie was always going to be given the benefit of the doubt by the Chelsea faithful. With his “Cossack”-sprayed hair, dark glasses and cheroot, he resembled a character from “Starsky & Hutch”. He claimed that Chelsea had the “best batch of kids in the country” when he referred to the young players at his disposal. In hindsight, this was more wishful thinking than reality. Nobody could deny, however, that Ray Wilkins was a flourishing talent, but the hopes of the club were being placed upon an 18 year-old. When Chelsea lined-up at the start of their first second division campaign since 1963 at Sunderland, this was the team:

Player	Pos	Age	Source	Apps. Pre- 75-76	Debut
Steve Sherwood	Goal	21	Juniors	4	January 1972
Graham Wilkins	FB	20	Juniors	6	December 1972
John Sparrow	FB	18	Juniors	20	March 1974
Garry Stanley	M	21	Juniors	0	–
Micky Droy	CB	24	Slough Town	76	February 1971
John Dempsey	CB	29	Fulham	144	February 1969
Ian Britton	M	21	Juniors	46	December 1972
Ray Wilkins	M	18	Juniors	24	October 1973
Teddy Maybank	A	18	Juniors	3	April 1975
Bill Garner	A	27	Southend United	61	September 1972
Charlie Cooke	M	32	Crystal Palace	278	May 1966
Kenny Swain	Sub	23	Wycombe Wands.	7	March 1974

The average age was under 25. Chelsea lost their opening game, but two wins at Stamford Bridge by 3-1, against Oxford United and Carlisle United were promising. But it was soon clear that Chelsea didn’t have the experience or the balance to mount a promotion campaign. While Ray Wilkins had the vision and, to quote that Italian footballing “rainmaker”, Gigi Peronace, “fantasy” in his play, you could see his occasional frustration as his team-mates failed to move in sync with him.

Chelsea’s evaporating promotion hopes were reflected in the home form and the attendances that went with it. Chelsea won five of their 11 league fixtures at Stamford Bridge leading up the new year and the average gate was barely 20,000. If the alarm bells were not ringing on the terraces, they certainly were in the boardroom, because it was well known the club needed 30,000 to break even.

Every week seemed to bring a new low, or at least confirmation of the club’s new surroundings. York, Nottingham Forest, Bristol City, Bolton, Plymouth and Charlton all came away from London SW6 with points, while on the road, Chelsea’s form was also in need of improvement. Oldham Athletic, Fulham, Luton and Southampton all inflicted defeat upon McCreadie’s side, and with each loss, cries of “Osgood, Osgood….” and even “Sexton, Sexton”, could be heard.

McCreadie still had utmost belief in his “Kids” and claimed that when they returned to the first division, they would “terrorrise” football. But the only thing about Chelsea that was “terrorising” was the unsavoury element among the fans on some away trips. To some extent, it was the 1975-76 season that built a reputation.

At one point, people did start to question whether the talk about Chelsea’s great youth policy and a generation of players that could dominate football was just that. McCreadie was certainly more Docherty than Sexton but the bookies clearly believed it too – Chelsea were 4-1 favourites from the start, although by December, it was becoming clear that it was not going to happen.

Taking shape

Not many of the class of 1975 became top players and some had been kicking around the club for a few seasons. Sherwood was soon dropped to make way for Peter Bonetti, who returned from the US to help steady things. Graham Wilkins and John Sparrow were never more than average defenders, indeed the former suffered greatly from being “bro of Butch”. Ian Britton was a busy and loyal Chelsea man but disappeared from view when he left the club. Maybank was soon dispensed with, making way for another player who had been sitting in the shadows for a few years, Steve Finnieston. After an excellent season in 1976-77, Chelsea let “Super Jock” go in 1978 and his career went nowhere, largely due to injury. Gary Locke was another player like Britton who enjoyed a long Chelsea career. The real successes of the Chelsea side were Ray Wilkins, Kenny Swain and Steve Wicks, all of whom were sold to help bolster the bank account. Garry Stanley, who had to wait so long for recognition at the club, was also sold for a sizeable fee, but he had lost his way at Chelsea by that time.

Chelsea finished a very tepid mid-table in the second division in 1975-76 but their form in the last few weeks suggested better times. In the summer of 1976, though, there was a huge bombshell as Brian Mears, the club’s increasingly forlorn-looking chairman, revealed the extent of the club’s financial position. Chelsea were almost finished – promotion would have to be won in 1976-77.

McCreadie did get it right, but there was some recognition that the old hands like Ron Harris, Bonetti, Cooke and David Hay could play a part. It wasn’t quite “you win nowt with kids”, but the secret to success in football has always been that old cliché, “a blend of youth and experience”.

1977 was only temporary respite for Chelsea. McCreadie left after winning promotion in an argument over a contract and a car. Chelsea seemed to let him go without a fight. They went down again in 1979 and thus began an “era of nothing”. Between 1975 and 1984, Chelsea spent seven years in the old second division. Hard to believe today, isn’t it?

Photo: PA

AT THE mid-point of the 1977-78 season, FA Cup success and avoiding relegation was all Chelsea could hope for – a far cry from the early 1970s when the Blues, under Dave Sexton, won two trophies and reached three consecutive cup finals.

An over-ambitious rebuilding project contributed to Sexton’s downfall and in 1974, the departure of Peter Osgood and Alan Hudson ripped the heart from the team. Despite receiving half a million pounds from their sale, Chelsea never replaced them. Sexton left just seven months after chairman Brian Mears had backed his manager in the Osgood-Hudson affair, and the club limped-on in 1974-75, eventually appointing Eddie McCreadie. In some ways, making a change with three games to go hinted the board had accepted relegation.

McCreadie, with his shades, slimline cigar and well-groomed appearance, looked very much of his time. He provided motivational soundbites and emphasised his faith in players he had worked with in the reserves by making 18 year-old Ray ‘Butch’ Wilkins his captain.

In 1975-76, Chelsea struggled with consistency in the second division and then came more bad news in the summer of 1976. The club’s relegation and falling gates meant Chelsea’s financial position had become precarious. This made the 1976-77 season vital for their survival, although Steve Finnieston, a member of the squad whose career straddled the Osgood-Hudson era and the crisis, was sceptical about talk of the club going under. “I have always felt there was no way Chelsea would have been allowed to fold.”

The players took a pay cut and promotion was won, thanks to some bright, inventive football. But for the second successive summer, the club made the wrong type of headlines: McCreadie, the architect of promotion, resigned over his personal terms of employment.

Tommy Langley, like most of the squad, was on holiday when the news broke: “We never even got to say goodbye to Eddie. It was a big blow, but we should have been able to handle it because Ken Shellito was his successor, someone we knew so well.”

Chelsea returned to the first division, but found the transition difficult. Finnieston was injured early on and goals were hard to come by. Shellito raided the club’s young talent pool, a decision that brought some temporary relief, notably when the 19-year-old Clive Walker started for the first time.

This was a player whose reputation had been growing. He had scored prolifically in the reserves in 1976-77 and the handful of people who watched Football Combination games had been muttering about “a young lad who scores spectacular goals and runs like an Olympic sprinter”.

Walker inspired a mid-season flourish for Chelsea in 1977-78 just in time for the FA Cup. There was a snag, though, as the third-round draw had paired the Blues with Liverpool, the Football League and European champions, who were formidable in every sense of the word. “We were never in awe of them,” said Finnieston. “We respected them, but we truly believed that on our day we could beat anyone.”

But Chelsea would have to go into the game without their prized asset, England international Wilkins. Ironically, his absence had coincided with Chelsea’s best spell of the season. He was unfit, so Shellito brought in the veteran Charlie Cooke.

Ray Lewington remembers Shellito made a significant tactical change. “We adjusted our game plan. We normally played a diamond formation, but we went slightly more defensive with a 4-4-2 line-up. But we had Clive [Walker] and he proved to be the match winner on the day.”

Liverpool kicked off and looked very assured. Chelsea lacked nothing in energy and were clearly “up for the Cup”. In the 16th minute, Walker threw the ball to Bill Garner, who controlled it and returned it. Walker went past Jones and forced Phil Thompson to flinch and get out of his way. He then unleashed a left-foot drive that completely caught Ray Clemence out. “I am sure Ray misjudged it,” recalls Walker. “The shot had a slight swerve – it was something I did, I almost always hit my shots across the ball and this time, the timing and power were absolutely right.”

Chelsea were still a goal ahead at the interval, but the crowd anticipated a second half onslaught. Five minutes into the restart, though, Chelsea extended their lead, Walker deftly chipping a free-kick into the area, Phil Neal only partially clearing and the substitute Finnieston, who had replaced Cooke, shooting low past Clemence. “Jock was brilliant at finishing in the box and that loose ball was made for him – he hit it so well.”

Within two minutes of that second goal, the game became even more surreal with Chelsea’s third. Ian Britton, scurrying down the flank, slipped past Emlyn Hughes but Neal robbed him with a back pass that lacked power, and the eager Langley nipped in and clipped the ball into the net, over the goalkeeper’s sprawling body. “Phil played it back blind and was made to pay for it. But we knew it wasn’t all over,” said Langley. He believes Liverpool “woke up” after that third goal. David Johnson walked the ball into the net after 60 minutes to make it 3-1, but then Walker added a fourth five minutes later.

Britton sent over a cross that fell onto the chest of Bill Garner. He unselfishly slipped the ball to his left, finding Walker who shot home from close range with his left boot. “I knew that was it, then. There were 25 minutes to go and we were 4-1 ahead. They were not coming back,” said Walker. Liverpool did score again, though, an 81st minute header from Kenny Dalglish. Nobody had foreseen a 4-2 win for Chelsea.

In the next round of the FA Cup in 1978, Chelsea disposed of Burnley 6-2. The fifth-round draw was relatively kind, an away tie at Orient, but after a 0-0 draw, they slipped up at home, losing 2-1. Staying up was the priority and a few weeks later Chelsea beat Liverpool again, this time 3-1 at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea finished 17^th at the end of the season, but a year later went down after an appalling campaign.

On the evening of January 7, 1978, however, Fulham Road was buzzing. On the short walk back to the tube station, shuffling through the papier-mâché of discarded newspapers and police horse dung, Liverpool’s fans were visibly shocked. “No disrespect pal, but shipping four goals to a team like Chelsea is an absolute disgrace.” There was disrespect in his tone and, if only he realised it, theirs really was no disgrace.

@GameofthePeople

Photos: PA