Legends
Kerry Dixon
- Name
- Kerry Dixon
- Years at Chelsea
- 1983–1992
- Position
- Striker
- Honours
- Second Division champions: 1983–84, 1988–89
- Full Members’ Cup: 1989–90
- First Division joint top scorer: 1984–85
- 193 goals in 420 games
Kerry Dixon arrived from Reading in August 1983 for £150,000, joining a Chelsea side that had only just avoided relegation to the Third Division. On his debut, against Derby, he scored twice. By the end of the season he had 34.
That 1983–84 season ended with the Second Division title and a Dixon hat-trick in a 5–0 win over Leeds. Alongside David Speedie, and fed by Pat Nevin’s crosses, he scored 70 goals in his first 101 games. In 1984–85, back in the First Division, he was the league’s joint top scorer with Gary Lineker, on 24.
Chelsea went down again in 1988 and Dixon brought them back: in 1988–89 he won a second Second Division title with 25 league goals. In 1990 he also won the Full Members’ Cup at Wembley.
He finished with 193 goals in 420 games, third on the club’s all-time list behind Lampard and Tambling. In 1992 he moved to Southampton for £575,000.
For fans who lived through the eighties, Dixon was hope in hard times: blond, quick and unstoppable in front of goal.
Sources
- Chelsea FC — All-time record goalscorers (193 goals, third all-time)
- Wikipedia — List of Chelsea F.C. players (420 apps / 193 goals)
- Wikipedia — Kerry Dixon (move from Reading, Second Division titles, 1984–85, Southampton)