The
countdown to Chelsea’s Christmas has properly begun as in addition to advent
calendars being opened, our traditional start to the festive season, the Annual
Lunch, has taken place at Stamford Bridge.
A host of former players from seven decades mixed with fans in the Great Hall in the West Stand on Friday afternoon to dine, to raise thousands of pounds for the Chelsea Foundation and the Past Players’ Trust through auction, raffle and donations, and to enjoy some great entertainment.
In addition to music and comedy, the star turn was three of the players behind so much success for the club in recent times who took to stage to tell stories and answer questions – Frank Lampard, Joe Cole and Michael Ballack.
Cole took everyone back to when he first signed for Chelsea in the summer of 2003, shortly after Roman Abramovich had become owner.
‘It was the time to leave West Ham, your agent is talking to clubs and then Chelsea came in at the last minute,’ he recounted. ‘Roman had changed the game and they were signing big stars like Veron, Damien Duff, and big money was being spent and it all happened in a day. I just remember sitting on the King’s Road praying the deal got done, and it was a dream come true.’
‘I was gutted when Coley came,’ revealed Lampard with a big smile on his face, ‘because in the midfield we were buying another player and then another one, and Coley had been the bright kid at West Ham when I was coming through. Everyone had been talking about him for years and I got away to Chelsea, and then he followed me here! I thought where is my place in the team but luckily it readjusted and all went well.
‘You got used to standards being set high and when someone at the club asked me about midfield players around the world and what I thought, and this is the god’s honest truth, I said Michael Ballack is top quality. When we had played against him I could sense his presence and ability. That was the way at Chelsea, we signed great players and our standards went through the roof.’
Ballack recalled the close of his Chelsea career and the weeks in 2010 when the Premier League and FA Cup double was captured.
‘Winning a trophy outside your country is special and the feeling and celebration is different.
‘It is sometimes a tricky balance between enjoying football and what you do as a professional, because we all love football, but in the meantime it turns into a huge pressure which is not easy to handle, to deliver and actually enjoy. Also when you win one trophy there comes another competition and you cannot really celebrate the title because you have to focus on the next one, but finally it was special and I remember it was a fantastic time and I really miss it.’
Saxophone quarter Alter Ego provided music
There was certainly no lack of Chelsea goals at the Lunch with Lampard joined at the event by the likes of Bobby Tambling and Kerry Dixon, and another of our all-time great goalscorers, Jimmy Greaves who was not well enough to attend, was celebrated by a tribute video 60 years after he made his debut.
Another anniversary, 20 years since the two-trophy winning season of 1997/98, was also commemorated with two of the players, Frank Sinclair and Michael Duberry, taking to the stage.
Sinclair recalled the famous snowbound tie in Norway against Tromso on the way to winning the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup that season.
‘It was crazy. We went there the night before to have a look and normally you would train but we couldn’t because of the snow, and you could not make out it was even a stadium so we thought there was no way the game was going to be on. That mindset may have got us into trouble when the game was called on because we had to come from behind in the game and Luca [Vialli] had to pull out a bit of magic to bring us back into the tie.’
With a nod to their former captain Dennis Wise's ongoing stay 'in the jungle', Michael Duberry and Frank Sinclair were presented with a 'bushtucker trial'.
Chelsea also had to come from two goals behind on aggregate in the semi-final against Vicenza, with Mark Hughes striking a trademark winner.
‘If that chance was in training he would have swiped it, air shot and missed it,’ reckoned Duberry, ‘because Sparky was the worse trainer ever. But in a game he was spot on.’
Before Chelsea played the final in that competition against Stuttgart, the League Cup was captured at Wembley versus Middlesbrough with Sinclair among the scorers.
‘The biggest thing for me about that goal was that Eddie Newton had scored in the FA Cup final the season before and we grew up playing football from the age of 11 together all the way through the ranks at Chelsea, so when he scored that goal it absolutely killed me! I contemplated would it have been better had we got beat! So for me to go back the year afterwards and score, he was just as gutted, let me tell you.’
Duberry recalled the Cup Winners’ Cup final that followed.
‘Everyone was on a high, we had just won a cup, everyone was raring to go. I was looking around thinking we had all these superstars, I didn’t know any of the other team’s players so I thought we were bound to win. I was surprised Gianfranco Zola was on the bench but him coming on and scoring was brilliant. He has that amazing winning goal.’
Former player Pat Nevin who drew the raffle winners mingles among the tables
Two players from a previous generation, Kerry Dixon and Gareth Hall, gave their thoughts on this year’s Annual Lunch to the official Chelsea website, and just as importantly, looked ahead to the next Chelsea game this Saturday lunchtime.
‘I was on a good table,’ said Dixon. ‘You never know who you are going to be sitting with but it was a mixture of fans and there were even some fans from other clubs. It intrigues me why they come to a Chelsea event but they all seemed to enjoy it. I have enjoyed myself, met up with Frank Lampard again who has always been fantastic to me. I enjoyed the show and the stories, I like Michael Ballack and Joe Cole is great at well. It was good.
‘Playing Newcastle was always a big game in my day, with them having Keegan, Waddle, Beardsley, Gascoigne, and although I think there is still room for improvement with Chelsea this season, I think we will win, all being well by at least two goals.’
‘I think Chelsea will win comfortably,’ agreed Hall. ‘It will be another good performance, the team is on a roll at the moment and Newcastle are probably not looking forward to coming to Stamford Bridge.
‘I have been to a few of the Annual Lunches and it is good to catch up with people. The club do a fantastic job laying things on like this. For those of us with a bit of history with the club, we are privileged to be here.’
No comments:
Post a Comment