RIP John Hollins

Great Chelsea servant has died aged 76

Hollins made almost 600 appearances as a player for the club, scoring 64 times during his two spells at Stamford Bridge between 1963 and 1984.

Two-time player of the year winner Hollins, a product of Chelsea's youth system, made his first-team debut at the age of 17.

He lifted the FA Cup, Cup Winners' Cup and League Cup during his first period at the club, leaving in 1975 and returning eight years later to help them earn promotion from the second tier.

Hollins' 592 games place him fifth on Chelsea's all-time appearances list behind John Terry, Frank Lampard, Ron Harris and Peter Bonetti.

 

Not sure about this but I think I saw him go over the top on Gerry Gow. Came away thinking what a dirty bu**er.
Whoever it was it happened in front of the Dolman.

 

Was that in the second division, 2-2 draw ? Either way it sounds more like Chopper Harris, Mickey Droy or Eddie McReadie to me.

 

Angelic, not sure it was Gow but I am sure it was Hollins. It just struck me at the time as he seemed a fair minded player but when I saw that tackle......... I though you dirty bu**er.

 

And now Gordon McQueen has died

 

Sad isn’t it, just 70, had suffered from Alzheimer’s apparently

 

Yes very sad
And he's one of the younger ones from that era of heavier footballs, although he wasn't as old as the Chartons, Nobby Styles, Jeff Astle and co

 

Terribly sad news.
Obviously I'm no doctor but could it be the number of headers he made rather than the weight of the ball.
I can vouch that the ball was heavier in Jeff Astle's era and even heavier in the 40's and 50' when Dad played.

 

Ahh… Ron “Chopper” Harris! I got my footballing nickname from him and/or Marco Tardelli! Shows my skill level!!

 

I actually met the bloke at Eastville stadium back in the 80s
Mates and I used to go to the greyhound racing and he had a part share in a dog that was running one particular Friday evening
Despite his on pitch persona as a hard tackling and often dirty player, he was actually very quiet and polite person to speak to.

 

I took my young lady (now my wife) to see Chelsea play Stoke City at Stamford Bridge and an elderly player (Sir Stanley) was up against a young gun called Chopper Harris. Things did not go well for the young one as he was tormented left, right and centre by the vastly superior 50+ year old and eventually did his usual dirty tackle to prove he was the better man. The young Chopper was booed by the entire crowd for his stupidity throughout the rest of the match and when the humiliation was over Sir Stanley went over and shook his hand, being the sportsman he was. In my mind he was one of the worst bad tacklers in the game and in today's era he would have been sent off for most of his crippling indiscretions. Pat Terry at Millwall was another thug of great proportions who I witnessed at the Den split open a Northampton player's nose with a large ring he wore on his hand and was not sent off for the foul after the referee consulted with the linesman right in front of me. Incidentally whilst the ref took his time to come over for the chat the poor official was shaking in his boots due to the threats of violence against him making him say that he did not see a thing. Went off topic there but all respect to the families of the 2 great players that have passed.

 

Then there was the Revie Leeds team of the 70’s
They weren’t known as dirty Leeds for nothing and for me they always will be
They were also con artists and professional complainers when any decision went against them

 

Giles in particular but not our Norm

 

Giles, Clarke, Jones, Charlton, Reaney and more were all serial complainers
I’m omitting Norman and Terry Cooper from the list as they’re also ours and were bloody marvellous

 

You’re right they were, it’s a shame really because most of them were also exceptional players, in particular Giles.

 

Indeed they were and the likes of Paul Madeley was a very good footballer, as were Peter Lorimer and Eddie Gray, and following the mistake prone Gary Sprake, I always thought David Harvey was a good keeper too

 

..... gave the rest of the league a chance.