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Alan Hudson
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Legends

Alan Hudson

Name
Alan Hudson
Years at Chelsea
1968–1974
Position
Midfielder
Honours
  • UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup: 1970–71
  • FA Cup run 1969–70 (missed the final through injury)
  • 189 games, 14 goals

Alan Hudson grew up a few streets from the King’s Road, quite literally in the shadow of Stamford Bridge. He made his debut on 1 February 1969 and within months he was the brain of the team.

In 1969–70, still a teenager, he was the playmaker setting the tempo for Dave Sexton’s side. He played in every round of the FA Cup, but an injury kept him out of the final and the replay against Leeds. It is one of the great ‘what ifs’ of our history.

A year later he had his reward. In Athens, in the Cup Winners’ Cup final replay against Real Madrid, he played a major part in the win that brought Chelsea their first European trophy. In 1972 he was in the side beaten in the League Cup final, and sang with the rest of the squad on ‘Blue Is the Colour’.

For Chelsea he played 189 games and scored 14 goals. In February 1974, after a falling-out with Sexton, he joined Stoke for £240,000. He returned in 1983 on a non-contract basis but never played for the first team again.

Fans of the era say few English midfielders played with such imagination. Hudson was the soul of the coolest Chelsea there ever was.

Sources