Posts Tagged ‘Chelsea FC’

Eva Carneiro The Female Chelsea Physio

Eva has certainly got some Chelsea fans hot under the collar

One of the most common questions I have been asked in recent weeks almost continuously is who is the female Chelsea physio?

Whilst I would like to pretend these questions are professional there is no denying that Chelsea physio  Eva Carneiro has attracted more attention from her beauty rather than her skills.

Despite her obvious beauty the woman has credentials beyond the wolf whistles and letcherous keyboard strokes having worked with the British Olympic Institute and the women’s England national team the lady has credentials

So whilst we may all giggle the next time she has to deal with a John Terry groin strain (as the MOTD panel did), she is most certainly qualified to be sitting on the Chelsea bench, which is more than can be said of some who have sat on the Chelsea bench in recent years.

Why The Media Hate Chelsea Football Club

I have read many articles over the last few years that have sought to downplay, disparage or ridicule Chelsea Football Club. Whilst some of these articles have been well researched and cover valid subject areas, there are a substantial volume of articles by writers who classify themselves as ‘neutral’ that are steeped in bias, are inaccurate or contain only a fragmented representation of the issue.

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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.

A Brief History of Chelsea FC – FA Cup Final 2009

Chelsea play Ipswich in the FA Cup on Sunday and in order to build up to my favourite cup competition, therefore to add a more positive spin, every day until Sunday I will be posting a video of a memorable FA Cup memory.

This particular memory is the 2009 FA Cup victory over Everton which was the culmination of a fantastic few months under Guus Huddink who replaced Felipe Scolari after he was deemed incapable of taking Chelsea forward.

The game itself however started in the worst possible fashion with Everton taking the lead through Louis Saha straight from the kick off with the French striker taking Robert Di Matteo’s record of scoring the fastest goal in FA Cup history taking a mere 25 seconds to put the Toffees in front.

That was certainly the worse start to a match I can remember particularly given the importance of the situation. Yet the sun was shining and under Guus Hiddink the team had a confidence that was almost unshakeable. This meant that the  Chelsea faithful were full of confidence despite the early set back.

To show just how quick the Saha goal came see the footage below.

However it took just 21 minutes for Didier Drogba to equalise with a bullet header from a delightful Ashley Cole cross that meant that the sides went into half time level.

After 25 minutes of second half deadlock Frank Lampard scored a screaming 25 yard drive that found the left hand corner leaving Tim Howard helpless and Everton were unable to recover and the FA Cup returned to Stamford Bridge for the fifth time in the our history.

Due to youtube rules I could only find a whole cup run compilation due to the FA Cup video rights, but the Lampard strike is a bit grainy and shown at the 5:00 minute mark.

eChelseaFC’s Favourite Chelsea Shirt’s of All Time

Chelsea have had over a hundred different shirt designs in our history, but which one is your favourite? 

Could it be the iconic 97 away shirt ala, Zola and Vialli, the Commodore vintages of Wise, Peacock or even the Championship winning shirts of 1955, 2005 or 2006 or 2010?

The eChelseaFC favourite shirts both come from the same year 1997, with the club winning the FA Cup for the first time in 27 years they did it looking stylish in two of the most iconic Chelsea shirts in my time at the club.

Below is the 1997 home shirt, but which of the club’s shirts was your favourite?