Chelsea on Video: 1987/88 Highlights

Chelsea FC Highlights 1987-88

So, who would want the season review video from the year in which you got relegated?

Erm, Chelsea fans apparently.

Clearly the previous year’s effort had been enough of a success to warrant interest in a second one, it’s just unfortunate timing.

Gone are the awkward links, and we have a Colin Benson on commentary. He’s not a particularly great commentator. He can just about sum up whats happening but he doesn’t enthuse like Martin Tyler, Jon Motson or Brian Moore could.

There is no messing about on this video. The intro is the CFC badge layered over footage of Chelsea’s game against Portsmouth with text appearing to tell us this is ‘Chelsea FC Highlights 1987/88’. A quick BBC Micro produced title screen telling us the first game is ‘Chelsea FC vs Sheffield Wednesday’ and we are straight into the action.

And I’m pleased to say, the production values are greatly improved on last year. It’s not great or anything, it’s still all on one camera but it’s at least watchable. You won’t burn your retina’s out. And it does have away games now. Not all the away games but some.

And it’s not just the goals that are shown, we get a lot of the chances and saves too.

The lack of links actually works against the video as throughout you wouldn’t necessarily know Chelsea were in a big relegation battle. But then, this isn’t a season review, this is a ‘highlight’s video. A highlight apparently being a 4-0 loss away to Swindon Town in the Full Members Cup.

Gordon Durie volleys just over against Nottingham Forest

It’s hard to say what exactly went wrong for Chelsea this year. Chelsea actually started the season pretty well, winning 8 of their first 14 league games. Gordon Durie and Kerry Dixon were on fire up front and Pat Nevin was showing himself to be the wizard of dribble. The away form was poor but Chelsea were doing ok in the first part of the season.

So, what went wrong? How about that after 31^st October, Chelsea only won one more league game all season. Losing goalkeeper Eddie Niedzwiecki was obviously a blow but having a gash defence even more so. Manager John Hollins was replaced by Bobby Campbell but too late to stop the rot.

A 1-1 draw with Charlton Athletic on the final day meant it would be play-offs for Chelsea. Play-offs younger readers may ask? Yeah, this was the early days of the play-offs and back then were contested by the teams finishing 4^th-6^th in the old Division Two and the team finishing 18^th in Division One (Division One was 21 teams that year). That team was Chelsea.

Durie gives the Blues some hope vs 'Boro

All the play-off action is on the video, Chelsea started the play-offs quite comfortably with a 6-1 aggregate win over Blackburn Rovers. The ‘final’ would be against Middlesbrough. Middlesbrough won the first leg 2-0 at Ayresome Park (a shot of two ‘Boro fans dancing on top of the stand brings out the Alan Partridge in me) but Chelsea could only win 1-0 at Stamford Bridge. Benson quickly mentions Middlesbrough are promoted and Chelsea are relegated and we are out of here faster than a nun at a strip club. This, need I remind you, was a ‘highlight’. No mention of the ugly hooliganism that followed.

Why was the video released? I can only imagine the commercial team had already dedicated to the project long before the end of the season and didn’t want all that work to go to waste.

If you must watch this video, only watch the first 30 minutes. It’s only 90 minutes of misery after that.

Watch here: