Could Chelsea’s “bad omen” of 1972 be making a comeback?

Jose Mourinho, Chelsea immediate manager together with West Londoners' owner Roman Abramovich and the club Chief Executive Peter Kenyon. Mourinho is said to have made the dramatic exit from the club after he fell out with both Abramovich and skipper John Terry


FOR those in the know, it is the Chelsea team of 1970 that won the club’s first ever European trophy as well as the FA Cup as the England’s then glamour boys hit their stride.

At the time, Chelsea popularly known as “the Blues,” possessed some of the most talented footballers in the top flight, including the wonderful Peter Osgood and England goalkeeper Peter Bonetti.

The Stamford Bridge showmen were also runners-up to Stoke City in the 1972 League Cup as the flamboyant football flowed nearly as much as the champagne for the Euro Cup Winners Cup when they defeated the “mighty” Spain’s Real Madrid 2-1.

Under the leadership of Dave Sexton, Chelsea made history in the FA Cup after fighting their way through to the 1970 final against Leeds United, by then a feared soccer powerhouse in England.

But the glory days were so short-lived that soon after, the West London outfit started to experience players’ exodus. In set the infamous “grief” years of Chelsea, marking the end of an era as top players migrated to rival clubs.

Sensational Osgood fell out with manager Sexton and moved to Southampton in 1974, with Webb soon departing to Queens Park Rangers (QPR) and the dependable Alan Hudson going to Stoke City. Irish right-back Paddy Mulligan had on the previous year moved while long-serving central defender Eddie McCreadie stopped playing in 1973.

In 1975 Chelsea was relegated in what could be likened to a fall from “glory to grass” after a dull season in which the club won just nine league games. Two years later, the West Londoners were back to the top flight.

Come 1979 and Chelsea was again relegated after finishing the season with only 20 points adding more woes to a club that was during the time seen as among the top best.

Almost three decades later and Chelsea is faced with one of its worst crisis ever after just three years of unprecedented success in its footballing history. During the period, they won the Premiership twice and finished runners-up in the next, won Carling Cup twice and FA cup once. They also reached the semi-final of EUFA Champions League thrice in four years.

September 24, 2007 and the club is lying 6th and has not won any match since securing a 2-1 scrappy win against Fratton Park outfit, Portsmouth a month ago

The “special one”, Jose Mourinho has left. Dressing room morale is down with rumors of player exodus come January transfer window. Mourinho’s closest player, Frank Lampard arguably one of Europe’s best midfielder has refused to sign a new contract. Premiership’s top scorer last season Didier Drogba wants to follow the “special one” and so is Ricardo Calvalho, Paulo Ferreira and newly-arrived Florent Malouda.

So does this sound like the “end of an era” and the setting in of the second episode of the “grief” years for Chelsea? Or will Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich’s unending cash kitty return the Stamford Bridge boys back to the top of English Premier League? Could Chelsea be headed for a decade of turmoil as happened after the 1970/4 glory years?
Only time will tell.

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