True Blues — Chelsea FC
ΕΛ

Season: 1973–74

Football League First Division

League

Chelsea finished 17th of 22 with 37 points — 12 wins, 13 draws and 17 defeats (56–60) — Dave Sexton’s sixth season, the Bridge sliding toward the relegation fights that would follow.

Division
Football League First Division (Tier 1)
Manager
Dave Sexton
Top scorer (league)
Tommy Baldwin (9)
Top scorer (all comps)
Tommy Baldwin (9)
Avg. league attendance
25,983

Cups & Europe

FA Cup
Third round
League Cup
Second round
Europe
—

Notes

Chelsea finished 17th of 22 with 37 points — 12 wins, 13 draws and 17 defeats (56–60) — Dave Sexton’s sixth season, the Bridge sliding toward the relegation fights that would follow. Home they were 9–4–8 (36–29); away 3–9–9 (20–31). Early autumn still offered flashes — a 4–2 win at Birmingham, a 4–0 home thrashing of Southampton — but winter and the break-up of the cup-winning core set a harder tone. Tommy Baldwin led the scoring with 9 in the league and 9 in all competitions. Peter Osgood managed 8 league goals in 21 appearances before he was sold to Southampton on 13 March 1974 for £275,000 — his last Chelsea league outing had been the 0–1 home defeat to Liverpool on 29 December. Alan Hudson left for Stoke City on 12 January for £240,000; Charlie Cooke returned from Crystal Palace five days later for £17,000. Bill Garner and Steve Kember each scored 7; John Hollins 6; Chris Garland and Ian Hutchinson 3 apiece; Ian Britton, Ron Harris, Peter Houseman and Hudson 2; Cooke, Micky Droy, Kenny Swain and David Webb 1; one own goal. Ray Wilkins made his debut as a substitute against Norwich on 26 October. The FA Cup ended in the third round: Queens Park Rangers 0–0 at the Bridge on 5 January, then a 0–1 replay defeat at Loftus Road on 15 January. The League Cup stopped at the second round — a 0–1 defeat at Stoke City on 8 October. Biggest league win was the 4–0 against Southampton on 24 November; heaviest reverses the 0–3 away at West Ham on 2 March and at Leicester on 20 April. Home league gates averaged 25,983 (high 40,768 vs Leeds on 15 December; low 8,171 vs Burnley on 13 March, mid three-day week). The all-blue home look continued in the site’s 1972–1975 kit era; Historical Kits notes white shorts and black socks at some away venues that season for clash reasons.

Kits

Home
Away
Third

Red shirts with green socks returned as away, plus a white third kit with a red and green vertical panel, echoing Hungary's 1950s side.

Illustration from hex colours (not official kit photography).

On this day (related years)

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History

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Sources

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