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| Damien Duff |
Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal,
Chelsea, Tottenham, Manchester City, Everton,
Aston Villa, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest,
Leeds United, Leicester City.
Chelsea All-Time Team for Foreign Players
Chelsea All-Time Team for English Players
This is my selection of a 25 member all-time team for the club. The number 25 was chosen because it is the official squad size for the Champions' League.
Chelsea had their first major success in 1955, when they won the league championship. They then won various cup competitions between 1965 and 1996. The club's greatest period of success has come during the last two decades; winning 17 major trophies, and 21 in total, since 1997. Chelsea have won five national league titles, seven FA Cups, five League Cups and four FA Community Shields, one UEFA Champions League, two UEFA Cup Winners' Cups, one UEFA Europa League and one UEFA Super Cup. Chelsea are the only London club to win the UEFA Champions League,[6] and one of four clubs, and the only British club, to have won all three main UEFA club competitions.
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| Eddie McCreadie |
Team
GK: Eddie Niedzwiecki (Wales)
Eddie Niedzwiecki started his playing career with Wrexham at the age of 14. He won the Third Division title of 1978 with the side. In 1983, he signed for Chelsea by former Wrexham manager, John Neal, helping them to win the promotion in his first season. He stayed with them until 1988. He retired at the age of 28. He is of Polish descent, but born in Wales. From 1985 to 1997, he was capped twice by Wales.
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| Eddie Niedzwiecki |
Born in 1928, Robertson played for Chelsea from 1946 to 1960. He was a goalkeeper, playing in 26 matches in the 1954–55 season, when Chelsea won the First Division championship. Charlie Thomson played a part of the season. He left for Leyton Orient in 1960 before the emerge of Peter Bonetti. From 1960 to 1963, he played for Leyton Orient.
Phillips started out with Shrewsbury Town, before transferring to Aston Villa at the age of 18. He joined Chelsea in 1970. He spent the majority of his career with Chelsea as the long-term understudy to Peter Bonetti. Later, he had brief spells with Crewe Alexandra, Brighton & Hove Albion, Charlton Athletic, Crystal Palace and Sea Bee in Hong Kong. He also won 4 caps for Wales.
RB: Steve Clarke (Scotland)
Clarke started his career with St Mirren. He was transferred to Chelsea in 1987. He stayed at Chelsea until 1998, making 421 appearances. He was a part of the Chelsea sides which won the 1997 FA Cup Final, 1998 Football League Cup Final and 1998 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final. In 2005 he was voted into Chelsea's centenary XI, occupying the right-back berth. Capped 6 times.
FB: George Smith (Scotland)
Born in Parkhead, Glasgow, George Smith started out with his local side Parkhead F.C., before enjoying a long career with Chelsea from 1921 to 1932. He made his Chelsea's debut against Blackburn Rovers in 1921 at the age of 21. He played around 370 games for them. In 1932, he joined East Fife in Scotland.
CB: John Harris (Scotland)
Harris was the son of former Scottish international Neil Harris. In the beginning of his career. He played for Swindon Town, Swansea Town, Tottenham Hotspur, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Southampton during the war years. In 1945, he signed permanently for Chelsea. He was a member of Chelsea's 1954–55 First Division-winning side. He earned two wartime cap for Scotland.
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| John Harris |
Started with Fulham, he moved to Chelsea in 1969. He won the FA Cup in 1970 and won the Cup Winners' Cup a year later in which. he scored the opening goal. He moved to the Philadelphia Fury of the NASL, playing alongside fellow ex-Chelsea star Peter Osgood. In 1979, he was voted the NASL's defender of the year, beating out Franz Beckenbauer who finished second.
CB: Joe McLaughlin (Scotland)
McLaughlin started his playing career with Greenock Morton in 1977. In 1983, he joined Chelsea, winning the Second Division championship in his first season. He would go on to play for Chelsea until 1989 winning another Second Division championship as well as the Full Members Cup. He was then transferred to Charlton Athletic for £650,000 which at that time made him Charlton's record transfer. He also played with Watford and Falkirkl, Hibernian, Clydebank and then St Mirren.
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| Joe McLaughlin |
McCreadie joined Chelsea in 1962. He scored a memorable winner in the League Cup final of 1965 in which he dribbled 80 yards up the pitch before slotting the ball past Leicester City goalkeeper Gordon Banks. He also won the FA Cup with Chelsea in 1970. The side won the Cup Winners' Cup the following season, but McCreadie missed the final in Athens through injury. Earned 23 caps between 1965 and 1969.
LB: Joey Jones (Wales)
Jones played with Wrexham in 1971. He joined Bob Paisley's Liverpool in July 1975. He became the first Welshman to receive a European Cup winners medal when Liverpool won their first European Cup in 1977. He returned to Wrexham before joining Chelsea in 1982. He was a part of the side that won the Second Division champions in 1983–84. From 1975 to 1982, he played 72 times for Wales.
LB: Tommy Law (Scotland)
Law signed for David Calderhead's Chelsea as a junior from local club Bridgeton Waverley and made his debut for the club in 1926. He was one of the less glamorous, members of a star-studded side which included his Scottish teammates, Hughie Gallacher, Alex Jackson, Willie Ferguson and Andy Wilson. Law won two caps for Scotland, both against England. He made his debut during Scotland's famous "Wembley Wizards" 5-1 win over England at Wembley in 1928.
DM: Peter Nicholas (Wales)
Nicholas played for many clubs. He spent five seasons with Crystal Palace, picking up the Second Division title in 1978-79. With Arsenal, he was remembered for going in goal after Pat Jennings was injured. He also played for Watford, Chelsea and Aberdeen. From 1979 to 1992, he was capped 73 times for Wales.
CM: Ian Britton (Scotland)
Britton started his career with Scottish amateur side Hillside Rangers. He joined Chelsea in the summer of 1971. He was a key part of manager Eddie McCreadie's young side, alongside the likes of Ray Wilkins, Steve Finnieston and Tommy Langley, which won promotion back to the top flight in 1976–77. He also had a long career with Blackpool and Burnley.
AM: Craig Burley (Scotland)
Burley played in the Premier League for Chelsea and Derby County and in the Scottish Premier League for Celtic. He also played for Dundee and finished his career in the Football League with Preston North End and Walsall. He earned 46 caps for Scotland, scoring 3 goals. He went to Euro 1996 and the World Cup Finals in 1998.
CM: Andy Townsend (Ireland)
Townsend played 70 times for Ireland. He went to both World Cup Finals in 1990 and 1994. He was a key player for both Finals, and was the captain of the team in 1994. He played for many clubs in England, but most notably with Norwich, Chelsea and Aston Villa. He won won the 1994 and 1996 League Cup with Aston Villa. He captained the 1996 side. On 22 March 2015, Townsend was inducted into the FAI Hall of Fame.
RW/LW: Charlie Cooke (Scotland)
Cooke began his professional career with Aberdeen in 1960 and moved to Dundee in December 1964, where he was voted player of the year. He signed for Chelsea in 1966 for a then club record of £72,000 as part of manager Tommy Docherty's restructuring of the Chelsea side. He also won the FA Cup with Chelsea in 1970. The side won the Cup Winners' Cup the following season. He earned 16 caps.
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| Charlie Cooke |
A winger, Campbell's playing career consisted of spells with Falkirk, Chelsea and Reading. He also played for Queens Park Rangers as a "guest" during the Second World War. He won five caps for the Scotland national team, between 1947 and 1950. He scored his only Scotland goal against Switzerland in April 1950.
LW: Pat Nevin (Scotland)
In a 20-year career, Pat Nevin played for Clyde, Chelsea, Everton, Tranmere Rovers, Kilmarnock and Motherwell as a winger. He played with Kerry Dixon in the 1980's with Chelsea. He was the Chelsea Player of the Year: 1983–84, 1986–87. He joined Everton in 1989, but never recaptured the form at Chelsea. Capped 28 times for Scotland between 1986 and 1996, but only managed to attend Euro 1992.
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| Pat Nevin |
Duff won two Premiership titles with Chelsea with Chelsea in 2004–05 and 2005–06. After four seasons at Stamford Bridge, he left for Newcastle United where he won the 2006 UEFA Intertoto Cup, and then moved on to Fulham, with whom he played in the 2010 UEFA Europa League Final. For Ireland, he was capped 100 times. He was remembered for his performance at World Cup 2002 and captained Ireland at Euro 2012.
FW: George Graham (Scotland)
For his club career, Graham played for Aston Villa, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United, Portsmouth and Crystal Palace. He was part of the side that won the Football League Championship and FA Cup "double" in 1971. That year, he earned his first cap for Scotland. In total, he had 12 caps.
Bambrick began his career with Glentoran, before moving to Belfast rivals Linfield in 1927. He scored a total of 286 league goals in just 183 games. FGrom 1935 to 1938, he played for Chelsea. Bambrick scored 12 goals in 11 games for Ireland (IFA), including six in one game against Wales. His goal tally ensures that he still ranks as the joint-fourth highest goalscorer for the Northern Ireland national side.
ST: Hughie Gallacher (Scotland)
Hughie Gallacher is one of the Scotland 's most prolific goalscorers with 24 goals from his 20 internationals, a remarkable strike rate of more than a goal a game. Gallacher was one of the Wembley Wizards who beat England 5–1 at Wembley Stadium in 1928. He played for many clubs, but he was probably remembered for playing for Newcastle United, Chelsea and Derby. He scored over 450 goals while playing in the English league during the 1920's and 1930's.
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| Hughie Gallacher |
Speedie played for several clubs in England during the 1980s and 1990s, most notably Chelsea, Coventry City, Liverpool and Blackburn Rovers. In 1986, he became the first senior player since Geoff Hurst in the 1966 World Cup final to score a hat-trick at Wembley, as Chelsea defeated Manchester City 5–4 in the Full Members Cup final,
ST: Andrew Wilson (Scotland)
Wilson's early career was interrupted by the First World War during which his left hand and forearm were shattered by enemy fire. From 1923 to 1931, he played for Chelsea. He also played for Middlesbrough, Heart of Midlothian, Dunfermline Athletic, Queens Park Rangers and Sporting Club Nîmois. Wilson was capped 12 times by Scotland between 1920 and 1923; he averaged more than a goal per game with 13 goals. He scored another four in two unofficial wartime international.
ST: Mark Hughes (Wales)
Mark Hughes was best remembered for his spells with Manchester United. He won two Premier League title medals, four FA Cups, three League Cups and two European Cup Winners' Cups. He was the first player to win the PFA Players' Player of the Year award twice, in 1989 and 1991. Hughes also played for Barcelona, Chelsea, Southampton, Everton and Blackburn Rovers. He had 72 caps for Wales.
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| Mark Hughes |
John Spencer (Scotland), Jock Cameron (Scotland), Peter Buchanan (Scotland), Dick Whitaker (Ireland), Joe Bambrick (Northern Ireland), Alec Jackson (Scotland), Alec Cheyne (Scotland), Gordon Durie (Scotland), Steve Finnieston (Scotland)
Willie Ferguson (Scotland), Tommy Walker (Scotland), Johnny McNichol (Scotland).
Squad Explanation
-- Only five players are on my All-Time Chelsea team. They are Pat Nevin, Charlie Cooke, Jack Dempsey, Steve Clarke and Eddie McCreadie. Apart from Eddie Niedzwiecki, Mark Hughes, John Harris, Hughie Gallacher, Tommy Law and Damien Duff, I am very uncertain about the other newcomers.
-- Only a handful of players are from the Preimership era.
-- The team is unbalanced. I only took 3 centerbacks and three leftbacks. I cannot find any other eligible centerbacks of note who could fill the requirement. Vinnie Jones only spent a season with Chelsea. He has the most famous name of all centerbacks eligible for this team due to his acting career.
-- Almost all of Chelsea's keepers in the Premiership's era are foreigners. Eddie Niedzwiecki was probably one of Chelsea's best keepers before the Premiership. Bill Robertson started many games in the 1954–55 season, when Chelsea won the First Division championship. John Phillips was mainly a backup keeper. John Jackson was a great keeper of his time, but he played behind Vic Woodley.
-- I knew nothing much about Jock Cameron, but I have enough fullbacks. So I only put him on honorable mention.
-- Tommy Cascarino (Ireland) and Terry Phelan only spent a short time here.
Between the two wars, Chelsea had a period with a lot of players from Scotland. Hughie Gallacher, Andrew Wilson and Tommy Law made this all-time team.
-- Tommy Law was a member of the "Wembley Wizards". In 1930, David Calderhead, Hughie Gallacher, Alex Jackson and Alec Cheyne moved to Chelsea. However, only Hughie Gallacher played well for them. Andrew Wilson and Willie Ferguson were a part of the team that helped Chelsea to grain promotion.
-- John Dempsey scored the winning goal at the Cup Winners' Cup in 1971. His place in Chelsea's history was sealed. Eddie McCreadie and Charlie Cooke also played on that team.
-- Peter Nicholas helped the club to grain promotion. He was the captain of the team.
-- Because of the lack of midfielders, I selected Craig Burley while bypassing many forwards and wingers. Burley is a big question mark on this team, I admitted.-- Pat Nevin and Damien Duff kept Willie Ferguson off the team. They were left wingers.
-- Joe Bambrick was the last player selected. He played for Irish Football Association, which was considered to be Northern Ireland.
-- Bobby Campbell contributed to Chelsea's first league title in the 1954-1955 season. He played mainly as a right winger.
-- David Speedie was known for playing with Kerry Dixon and winger Pat Nevin
-- Mark Hughes played a big role helping Chelsea to win the FA Cup and the Cup Winners' Cup in the 1990's.
Formation
