Legends – ten of the best men to have worn the Chelsea shirt

The word legendis used too easily, but when it comes to these men – it is a perfect description. The ten who have made the list, have given everything to onecause, that cause being Chelsea football club … words by Scott Balaam

ClaudeMakélelé

TheFrenchman joined from Real Madrid for £16.8 in the summer of 2003, heautomatically became the first name on the team sheet.

Whilst he struggled in front of goal, he was the man who made Chelsea and excellent siderather than just a good one.

He used to sit in front of the defenceand not let anything get passed him, he played in 144 games for the Blues,always giving 100% and not once letting the team down.

Ron Harris

‘Chopper’Harris was a hard-hitting centre-back who strikers feared, he was part ofChelsea’s winning FA Youth Cup side in 1961 and made his senior club debut inFebruary 1962. Within a year he was a first-team regular, he stayed at the clubfor 18 years and made 655 league appearances.

He was part of the team that won theLeague Cup in 1965, the FA Cup in 1970 and the UEFA Cup Winner’s Cup in 1971

Frank Lampard

Having signed from West Ham in 2001 for £11 million, ‘Lamps’ has become Mr Reliable –in the last eight seasons he has scored over ten goals each season.

He set a record of making 164 consecutive Premier League appearances and wasinstrumental in leading Chelsea to win back-to-back league titles in 2004-05and 2005-06.

Lamps has been named Blues’ player ofthe season three times and despite being a midfield player he is currently thethird all-time goal scorer with 124 goals in 353 starts.

Bobby Tambling

The Blues all-time leading goal scorer, he played on the wing and as an outright striker, at 17-years-old he made his debut in 1957 when he scored the winner againstWest Ham.

In the 1960/61 season, Tambling moved from the left wing into the middle, which sawhis score 20 goals in 34. There was no stopping him after that, he needed 34times in the following season.

He left Stamford Bridge for Crystal Palace in 1970; he left behind his legacy of 202 goals in 370 games.

John Terry

Since coming through the youth ranks John Terry has made 357 league appearances forthe club, and he was the captain when the club won back-to-back Premiershiptitles.

He is the man Chelsea fans look to lead by example, in October 2006 when Petr Cech andCarlo Cudicini were both injured against Reading JT even went in goal.

He has won three Premier League titles, and four FA Cups plus two League Cups – he is a true Chelsea legend.

JimmyGreaves

Greaves is another player who scored a brace on his debut, in 1959 and 1961 he finishedtop scorer in the Football League and in the latter he netted 41 times.

After just three years in the team he managed to score 100 league goals, which was arecord for someone at his age.

Unfortunately during his four years at the club the Blues did not win anything and he leftfor a short stint in Italy with AC Milan before joining Spurs.

Peter Osgood

Known to‘old school’ fans as Ossie, he was a Chelsea man through and through. He madehis debut at 17-years-old in the League Cup game against Workinton AFC, on the16th of December, 1964 when he scored a brace.

He was in Alf Ramsey’s initial 40-man 1966 world cup squad but failed to make the final 22.

He played a major part in the 1970 F.A.Cup final replay against Leeds United at Old Trafford when he scored a headerfrom a Charlie Cooke assist, which meant he had scored in every single round ofthe cup that year.

Dennis Wise

He playedfor the Blues for 11 years, from 1990 until 2001, he made 445 appearances andscored 76 goals, and was even the club’s top scorer in 1991/92 when he endedthe season with 14 goals.

He captained the team that won the FA Cup in 1997 and 2000, as well as the LeagueCup in 1998 and the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in 1998.

Gianfranco Zola

Zola joined from Parma in 1996 for £4.5 million, he was given the 25 shirt – afterreturning to Italy the club even retired his shirt.

He isremembered for scoring quality goals, his flick against Norwich in 2002 heregarded as Chelsea’s best ever goal by many.

Having come on as a substitute against Stuggart in Stockholm he scored the winning goal after only being on the pitch for 30 seconds.

He finished his Blues’ career with 59goals in 185 starts and will be remembered as a true legend.

Charlie Cooke

The Scotsman joined in April 1966 for £72,000, his first outing was in the 2–0Inter-Cities Fairs Cup win against Barcelona. Then on his league debut hebreezed past Bobby Moore to score the winner against West Ham.

In the early 1970s, Cooke was the star player and he was part of the 1970 FA Cupwinning side. He left the club briefly when he joined Crystal Palace but returned to Chelsea a year later.

He made 373 appearances and scored 30 goals and made numerous assists.

By Scott Balaam

Twitter @astambridge2far