Peter Osgood

Peter Osgood made his debut on 16 December 1964, aged 17, and scored twice against Workington in the League Cup. Tall, elegant and cheeky on the ball, he quickly became the face of the King’s Road Chelsea.

On 5 October 1966 he broke his leg and was out for almost a season. He came back and became even more important. In all he scored 150 goals in 380 games, the same tally as Roy Bentley.

In 1970 he did something rare: he scored in every round of the FA Cup, including the final replay against Leeds at Old Trafford, with the famous diving header for 1–1. Chelsea won 2–1 in extra time and lifted their first FA Cup.

A year later in Athens he scored in both the final and the replay against Real Madrid, and Chelsea won the Cup Winners’ Cup, their first European trophy. He also scored in the 1972 League Cup final defeat. He left in March 1974 after a falling-out with Dave Sexton, and returned briefly in 1978–79.

Osgood died on 1 March 2006, aged 59, and his ashes lie beneath the penalty spot at the Shed End. In 2010 the club put up his statue outside the ground. To supporters he is simply ‘The King of Stamford Bridge’.

Sources

• UEFA — 1970/71: replay joy for Chelsea (the two Cup Winners’ Cup finals in Athens)
• Chelsea FC — All-time record goalscorers (150 goals)
• Wikipedia — List of Chelsea F.C. players (380 apps / 150 goals)
• Wikipedia — Peter Osgood (1964 debut, 1966 broken leg, 1970 FA Cup, 1974 exit, return, statue, death)
• Wikimedia Commons — Peter Osgood statue outside Stamford Bridge.jpg (photo: Ungry Young Man from Vienna, Austria, CC BY 2.0)