True Blues — Chelsea FC
ΕΛ

Season: 1967–68

Football League First Division

League

Chelsea finished 6th of 22 with 48 points — 18 wins, 12 draws and 12 defeats (62–68), a finish that later opened the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup door when Everton were barred under the one-club-per-city rule.

Division
Football League First Division (Tier 1)
Manager
Tommy Docherty (until 6 October) Ron Suart (caretaker, until 23 October) Dave Sexton
Top scorer (league)
Peter Osgood (16)
Top scorer (all comps)
Peter Osgood (17)
Avg. league attendance
35,979

Cups & Europe

FA Cup
Sixth round
League Cup
Second round
Europe
—

Notes

Chelsea finished 6th of 22 with 48 points — 18 wins, 12 draws and 12 defeats (62–68), a finish that later opened the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup door when Everton were barred under the one-club-per-city rule. Home they were 11–7–3 (34–25); away 7–5–9 (28–43). The season began under Tommy Docherty, but a rough autumn — League Cup exit at Middlesbrough and a 0–7 thrashing at Leeds under caretaker Ron Suart — closed his six-year reign on 6 October 1967. Dave Sexton arrived from Arsenal on 23 October and steadied the side into a late climb that sealed sixth. Peter Osgood led the scoring with 16 league goals and 17 in all competitions. Tommy Baldwin added 15 in the league (16 overall); Bobby Tambling 12 league and 15 overall. Alan Birchenall, a £100,000 signing from Sheffield United at the end of November, contributed 5 league and 7 overall; David Webb arrived from Southampton in February in a swap with Joe Kirkup. In the League Cup Chelsea fell 1–2 at Middlesbrough in the second round. The FA Cup run reached the sixth round: Ipswich Town 3–0, Norwich City 1–0 before 57,987, Sheffield Wednesday 2–2 and 2–0 in the replay, then a 0–1 defeat at Birmingham City. There was no European football in 1967–68 itself — the Fairs Cup ties for this sixth-place finish began the following season. Biggest league win was the 4–1 home rout of Leicester City; heaviest reverse the 0–7 at Elland Road. Home league gates averaged 35,979 (high 54,712 vs Manchester United on 25 November; low 22,742 vs Sheffield United on 6 September). The all-blue kit — royal blue shirts and shorts with white socks — remained the settled look through the 1964–1972 stretch.

Kits

Home
Away
Third

Tommy Docherty's all-blue with white socks became the identity from 1964-65; away alternated yellow-and-blue and all-white, and a blue-black Inter-style kit was worn in the 1966 FA Cup semi-final.

Illustration from hex colours (not official kit photography).

On this day (related years)

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History

Eras, trophies, and great matches in the History section.

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Sources

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