CITY 6 CHELSEA 2
League Division 1
26th November 1977
Attendance 34,345
Scorers
City G Wilkins(9 og), Tueart(13, 31 & 69) Channon(44), Barnes(51)
Chelsea R Wilkins(24), Britton(27 pen)
Ref Kevin McNally
City Corrigan, Clements, Donachie, Doyle, Watson, Power, Barnes, Channon, Kidd, Hartford, Tueart – sub Keegan(unused)
Chelsea Bonetti, G Wilkins, Sparrow, Britton, Droy, Wicks, Ayllott, R Wilkins, Langley, Swain, Cooke – sub Lewington(70)
DENNIS TUEART SCORES THE FIRST GOAL OF HIS HAT-TRICK
CITY went into this game in patchy form to say the least. Five defeats in the previous eight games had left the Blues slightly adrift of the pace, having led the table going into October with five wins and two draws from the opening seven games.
It was a time of transition, with Joe
Royle loaned to Bristol City and making his debut the same day, Dennis Tueart, unhappy at being in and out of the side, was on the transfer list and Colin Bell still absent with injury.
Having beaten Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal at Maine Road already, newly-promoted Chelsea represented the perfect opportunity to get the season back on track. Oddly, the crowd was well below the 45,000 average with just over 34,000 souls turning up for what was destined to be a cracking afternoon’s entertainment, though the Chelsea contingent, tucked away in the top right-hand corner of the Kippax, would soon be wishing they’d stayed home and kept warm.
It would be a day the Pensioners’ fullback Graham Wilkins would remember for a long time, too, and he began his hour of misery by putting through his own net to give City the lead on nine minutes. Four minutes later and Tueart made it 2-0, with the Blues hardly even breaking into a sweat.
Tony Book urged his side to put Chelsea to the sword, but, in a surprising twist, Graham Wilkins pulled one back for the visitors and on 27 minutes, Kenny Clements gave a penalty away that allowed Ian Britton to level the scores. City were far from finished, however, but with Chelsea’s tail wagging, an air of apprehension settled over Maine Road
– but it only lasted four minutes as Tueart scored his second of the afternoon on 31 minutes.
City began to pummel Chelsea with Asa Hartford and Peter Barnes outstanding. Paul Power’s low drive struck John Sparrow and span towards the opposite corner to Peter ‘The Cat’ Bonetti and the former England ‘keeper could only watch helplessly as the ball rolled over the line to make it 4-2 on half-time. Barnes continued to terrorise the hapless Wilkins after the break and on 51 minutes the Kippax idol made it 5-2 with a classy finish that secured the points for the Blues.
PETER BARNES SCORES CITY’S FIFTH
In fact, Wilkins, thoroughly fed up with his lot and chasing shadows all afternoon, fouled Barnes repeatedly, eventually giving referee McNally no option but to send him for an early bath. Tueart then completed his hat-trick (his second of the season) on 69 minutes to make it 6-2. With more than 20 minutes remaining, the City fans wondered just how big the final winning margin might be, but the Blues eased their foot off the gas and there were no more goals… FROM ‘CLASSIC MATCH IN THE CITY MAGAZINE MARCH 2008
FROM ROY OF THE ROVERS
Ray Wilkins scored for Chelsea, not Graham.
Chelsea fans were banned and dotted around the ground undercover.
Yes as per the stats above It was Graham who scored an own goal and Ray who scored for Chelsea
I phoned Man City the week before explaining I was a Chelsea fan but not a hooligan and really wanted to be at the match despite our away ban . I was surprised when they agreed to send me a ticket if I sent them a cheque. I was even more surprised when my ticket arrived in the post even before my cheque would have reached them. Anyway traveled up to the match on the overnight coach from London and spent the day looking around town to pass the time until kickoff. When I got to my seat was it was behind one of the goals
With the kippax to my right. Of course we got hammered and I had to suffer along with the handful of other Chelsea fans in the ground. After the match I went back into town and to the cinema to watch A bridge to far which was showing that evening to pass the time before my overnight coach back to London. Always had great respect for that act of kindness by your club to a young teenage lad who just wanted to watch his team. A great memory from my youth despite the result.
Thanks Paul for sharing a great memory of the match