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When West Ham's Alan Dickens waltzed through Chelsea's defence to
apparently score an astonishing solo goal at Upton Park in April 1985 he
left an indelible impact on the Chelsea hordes present that day. The
fact that the goal was subsequently disallowed for a hugely generous
offside against one of Dickens' team-mates was largely irrelevant, for
the man who had slipped so impressively into the boots of the
now-retired Trevor Brooking in the Hammers' line-up looked very much a
star of the future. It was West Ham's relegation to Division Two at the
end of the 1988/89 season - coinciding as it did with the Blues' return
to the top-flight - that persuaded all concerned that it would be in
their best interests if Dickens moved across London for a tribunal-set
figure of £635,000. It looked a match made in heaven, a stylish player
moving to a team who have been renowned through the years for their
open, attractive style of play but, in truth, Alan had signed to play
under one of the club's more pragmatic managers, Bobby Campbell, and by
the time he left Stamford Bridge less than four years later his career
was effectively in tatters.
He made his debut on the opening day of the
1989/90 season in a 1-0 win at Wimbledon but he found himself regularly
substituted throughout the first half of the campaign. An excellent
hat-trick in a 3-2 win at Bournemouth in the ZDS Cup in November was
followed a fortnight later by his first league goal, a neat finish from
the edge of the box in a 4-2 defeat at QPR, but by Christmas he was out
of the side and from January until the season's end he featured just
once in the league, as a late replacement for the man the supporters
were howling for him to replace permanently, Peter Nicholas, in the last
match of the season at Millwall.
That frustrating first season
unfortunately set a precedent for the remainder of his Chelsea career.
Peter Nicholas' dismal form eventually brought the curtain down on his
Blues career but the emergence of young Damian Matthew as the Welshman's
replacement added to Dickens' frustration. He failed to make a league
start until mid-February and it was his misfortune to make his comeback
in a truly dire 0-0 draw with Wimbledon which left mental scars on all
who witnessed it. A brief renaissance followed, however, and Alan kept
his place in the side for the remainder of the campaign as Chelsea
limped to a mid-table finish and subsequently parted company with
manager Campbell.
Sadly for the midfielder, Campbell's replacement, Ian
Porterfield, was no less inclined to opt for poise over passion and his
purchase of Vinnie Jones gave a clear indication of what he was looking
for in a midfielder. Three of Alan's six starts in 1991/92 came prior to
Vinnie's late-August arrival - including an outstanding performance in a
superb 3-1 win at Tottenham - but he was destined to make just three
more starts in the blue shirt. His last appearance for the club came in a
1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest in February 1992 after which he embarked
on a year of reserve team football - broken only by a brief loan spell
at West Bromwich Albion - before signing for Brentford on a
free-transfer in February 1993. (Kelvin Barker)
1989–1993 Chelsea 48 (1)
1992 West Bromwich Albion (loan) 3 (1)
1993 Brentford (loan) 15 (1)
1993–1994 Colchester United 32 (3)
1994–1995 Chesham United
1995 Hayes 4 (0)
1995–1996 Collier Row
1996–1997 Billericay Town
1997–1998 Purfleet
After retirement from football, Dickens went on to live in Barking
and worked as a black cab (hackney carriage) driver.
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