There is not a lot in the archives to look back on in terms of Bournemouth-Chelsea matches.
Indeed, when Chelsea arrive at Dean Court tomorrow evening, it will be only the 10th ever meeting between the sides.
Still, that isn't to say there has been no good games between the two as this fixture in the not-too-fondly remembered Zenith Cup proves.
Bournemouth took the lead through legendary England striker Luther Blissett but Chelsea equalised when Kerry Dixon nodded the ball down for new signing Alan Dickens to sweep in.
Bournemouth retook the lead with ten minutes to go. Blissett saw his effort hit the post but Peter Shearer was able to hit in the rebound.
Almost immediately it was 2-2, Dickens heading in from Steve Clarke's cross.
The game went into extra-time and early in the first period, Dixon crossed into the box and Dickens slid in to complete his hat-trick. Chelsea held on to take their place in the next round.
Dickens didn't have many great moments in his time at Chelsea but he will surely remember the night he took home the match ball.
For this weeks classic match, its time to go way back (47 years in fact) to 1970 and a trip to White Hart Lane for an FA Cup semi-final at White Hart Lane.
The decade itself may only be a few months old but you can immediately tell we're in the 70's by the lack of grass on the pitch. Players were proper tough back then, they had to be to play on these sand-mud marsh monstrosities. Could you imagine Eden Hazard trying to play all his little tricks on those pitches?
Chelsea had made it to this stage via wins over Birmingham City, Burnley, Crystal Palace and Queens Park Rangers. Their opponents were Second Division side Watford, who were not to be taken lightly having eliminated Liverpool in the previous round.
First blood went to Chelsea, David Webb finding himself unmarked at the back post from a corner.
Watford equalised before half-time with a long range strike from Terry Garbutt (that maybe Peter Bonetti should have done better with?).
Chelsea took control in the second half. First, Peter Osgood kept up his record of a goal in every round with a header from Peter Houseman's cross to restore the Blues lead.
Houseman than makes a mockery of my statement about the state of the pitches by jinking through the Hornets defence for 3-1.
Ian Hutchison made it four with an effort on the turn and then turned provider for Houseman to make it 5-1.
A great performance from Chelsea in tough conditions. Something that wouldn't go amiss for the current players in this weekends encounter.
As Chelsea prepare to visit Crystal Palace, time for another trip down memory lane. This time, we go back 20 years to 1997.
Chelsea had made a good start to the season despite an opening day loss to Coventry City, newly promoted Crystal Palace were predictably struggling.
Palace were sharing Selhurst Park with Wimbledon at the time and Chelsea's first goal came right out of their playbook. French defender Frank Leboeuf played the long ball forward and Mark Hughes volleyed the ball on the turn for a stunning opener.
A few minutes later and Dan Petrescu was tripped inside the penalty area and Leboeuf stepped up to double Chelsea's lead.
Palace kept the Blues from scoring again until the last minute, when Graeme Le Saux (recently re-signed from Blackburn Rovers) burst through the Eagles defence and rifled an effort into the top corner. It was Le Saux's first goal of his second spell at Chelsea.
Poor Palace were relegated at the seasons end, they will be desperate to avoid a repeat.
Chelsea entered the 1990/91 season in good spirits, people were even
talking about them as potential title contenders.
The two big signings for Chelsea in the summer were two future
captains, Andy Townsend and Dennis Wise.
The season video is distributed by Telstar made with the Football
League, so all the Division One and League Cup goals are there but missing the
FA Cup and ZDS Cup. So, only three games missing in total and since 2 of those
are a 3-1 defeat to Oxford United and a penalty shoot-out loss to Luton Town, I
doubt anyone will be pining their loss. Narration is provided by Matt Lorenzo
who keeps us abreast of all the transfer news (no ‘windows’ back then), injury
updates and international call ups. The match commentary comes almost
exclusively from Martin Tyler, one year off his big money move to Sky.
The video starts with footage of Chelsea fans cheering. I believe there
was a law at this time that all season videos had to start in this manner.
Chelsea didn’t start the season well, conceding five penalties in the
first six games probably didn’t help. David Lee in particular had a shocker.
Chelsea’s big problem this season was inconsistency where a good win was
followed by mediocre performances.
Dave Beasant missed the 1-0 win over Aston Villa in November, bringing
to an end a run of consecutive appearances stretching back over 9 years and 3
different clubs.
The game at Old Trafford was broadcast live on ITV’s The Big Match.
Back then ITV used to sell programmes to newsagents on the day of the match. In
this case, it was just ‘The United Review’ inside an ITV artwork sleeve with a
foreword by Ian St John. It’s a shame Sky never carried this on as these were
cool little bits of memorabilia.
Then there is an extraordinary game against Derby County. Derby had a
horrible time of it this season eventually being relegated and their luck had
been out since day one when they played at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea were given
a goal that was nowhere near crossing the line and then when Derby thought they
had a last minute equaliser, the referee brought it back for a penalty that was
duely saved by Beasant. At the Baseball Ground, Derby and Chelsea played out
one of the most exciting games ever witnessed.
Kerry Dixon opened the scoring early on but Derby equalised within four
minutes. Chelsea retook the lead again through Dixon and Gordon Durie extended
it further shortly afterwards. Half-time and Chelsea led 1-3.
Second half, Derby County score three unanswered goals and now lead
4-3. Then Chelsea hit Derby on the counter-attack and Durie’s cross was headed
in by little Dennis Wise. Chelsea retook the lead through a superb solo goal
from the brilliant Durie. This was Durie’s last season at Chelsea before he
forever tarnished his legacy with his move to Tottenham. The scoring was
wrapped up in the last minute by Graeme Le Saux as Chelsea won a sensational
game 4-6.
When I was researching an article for a Chelsea game against Nottingham
Forest I came across this:
Now, this was 12 years before anyone had heard of the name of ‘Abramovich’,
Chelsea had won two FA Cups (plus two other Final appearances), the European
Cup Winners Cup, the League Cup, European Super Cup, had been to the
Quarter-Finals of the Champions League and had qualified a second time in those
intervening years. But let’s focus on that 1991 team.
Now they were inconsistent no doubt and a 10th place finish
was disappointing based on pre-season expectations. The League Cup semi-final
defeat to Division Two side Sheffield Wednesday was a blow and the 7-0 defeat
at Nottingham Forest undoubtedly a low-light.
BUT they were also the only team to defeat Arsenal in the league that
year; Liverpool’s title challenge was all but ended with a 4-2 defeat at
Stamford Bridge; Tottenham Hotspur (with Gazza, Lineker et al) were eliminated
from the League Cup thanks to a 0-3 win for Chelsea at White Hart Lane and the
Blues done the double over Manchester United.
So, they weren’t a bad side they just lacked consistency.
It’s a good video to watch and is well presented with nice use of
graphics which aren’t as garish as other releases tend to be. There is some use
of stock music but nowhere near as obnoxious as the previous years.
It could have done with a few more talking heads. There are a few
snippets from Wise, Dixon and manager Bobby Campbell but it would have been
nice to hear a bit more, particularly from Campbell in his last season in
charge.
It’s the best season video Chelsea have released so far.
A look at events at Chelsea FC over the month of September.
On-Pitch
Alvaro Morata celebrates against Leicester City
The month started with an International break but Chelsea returned to action away at Leicester City.
Alvaro Morata continued his good start to his Chelsea career with the opening goal and Kante doubled the lead with a fine goal against his former club. A penalty for Leicester made things a bit more nervous than they needed to be but Chelsea held on. Eden Hazard came on as a second half substitute for his first action of the season and Davide Zappacosta came on for his debut.
Chelsea's Champions League campaign began with the visit of Qarabag. The Azerbaijani champions were thoroughly outclassed. Zappacosta scored on his full debut from a mis-hit cross. Pedro, Cesar Azpilicueta, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Michy Batshuayi all scored before an own-goal wrapped up the scoring in a 6-0 win.
The visit of Arsenal was a game of few chances ending in a 0-0 draw. Unfortunately for Chelsea, a rash challenge saw David Luiz receive a red card and three match suspension. He can have no complaints.
Hat-trick man Michy Batshuayi
The League Cup saw the visit of Nottingham Forest to Stamford Bridge. Much like Qarabag a week earlier, Forest were overwhelmed by the quality of Chelsea's play. Chelsea scorers were Kenedy, Charly Musonda and a hat-trick for Batshuayi. The only disappointment was not keeping the clean sheet right at the end.
Next up was an away visit to Stoke City, always considered a tough trip for the big sides. It took just 2 minutes for Chelsea to settle when Morata put Chelsea ahead. The final score was perhaps a harsh reflection on Stoke who played well but Morata would get a hat-trick (the second Chelsea player to do so in 4 days) whilst Pedro added the other in a 0-4 win.
Batshuayi's last gasp winner vs Atletico Madrid
The games come thick and fast as next up was away at Atletico Madrid in the Champions League. The toughest game in the group on paper, Chelsea put in a superb performance. They trailed at the break due to a poorly conceded penalty by David Luiz but second half goals from former Real Madrid player Morata and a last second goal from Batshuayi gave Chelsea an important win. Atletico had never lost to English opponents on home soil and were yet to concede at their new home the Wanda Metropolitano. Former Chelsea players Felipe Luis and Fernando Torres were in their matchday squad.
The month would end on a down note however. Manchester City came to Stamford Bridge and former Chelsea player Kevin De Bruyne scored the only goal in a 0-1 defeat.
Chelsea finished the month 4th in the Premier League but top of their Champions League group and in the 4th round of the League Cup.
Off-Pitch
The big story was the conclusion of the Diego Costa debacle. It was finally agreed he would be returning to Atletico Madrid in January for an undisclosed fee.
In three seasons at Chelsea, Costa scored 59 goals in 120 appearances and was a key figure in two Premier League winning sides as well as winning the League Cup in 2015.
FIFA announced they would be launching an investigation into the signing of young players, though Chelsea's breach is not thought to be serious.
The League Cup draw saw Chelsea drawn against Everton, to be played at Stamford Bridge on 25th October.
Youth
Chelsea Under-18's have started their season in fine form and have won their first six games in the U18 Premier League to sit a comfortable 5 points clear in the table. September saw wins against Arsenal, Swansea City and Fulham. The one blemish being a 1-1 draw with Blackburn Rovers in the inaugural League Cup.
The Under-19's have been mirroring the first team in the UEFA Youth League and have had impressive wins over Qarabag and Atletico Madrid.
It's been tougher going for the Under-23's. September saw draws with Sunderland and Manchester United but defeat to Leicester City. They currently sit 7th in Premier League 2.
Ladies
The Ladies side have returned to action in the WSL with a pair of impressive 6-0 wins against Bristol City and Sunderland. They may be ones to watch this season.
October Preview
A seemingly kinder month on paper for Chelsea in the Premier League. Followinf an international break, Chelsea are away to bottom of the table Crystal Palace yet to get a point or score a goal in the League this year. This is followed by a home game against Watford and another away game to Bournemouth.
The Champions League should prove tougher with a double header against Italian side AS Roma.
There will also be the visit of Everton in the League Cup to contend with.
