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Andy Townsend's three-year spell at Chelsea can be broken down
season-by-season thus: excellent, fair, 'Andy who?' In many ways he was a
complete midfielder; an energetic, hard working player when the
opposition had the ball, he was also a powerful attacking threat who
possessed a sweet left foot. Andy was signed from Norwich City for £1.2
million in the summer of 1990, shortly after enjoying a fine World Cup
for the Republic of Ireland, and made a quiet debut in a 2-1 opening day
victory over Derby County. Gradually he became the dominant presence in
the Chelsea team and when Peter Nicholas was dropped in the autumn of
1990, Townsend was the obvious choice to take on the captaincy. He
scored his first league goal for The Blues in a 3-2 victory at
Manchester United in November, and a month later demonstrated his
shooting power with an awesome strike in a 2-1 win over Coventry.
In
January, he gave a dominant display at White Hart Lane, inspiring The
Blues to a 3-0 win over Tottenham in a Rumbelows Cup quarter-final
replay, scoring one goal, creating another and still finding time to
totally nullify an in-form Paul Gascoigne. The Blues lost in the
semi-final and finished in a disappointing mid-table position but
Townsend was quickly back in the groove as the new season began, giving
another inspirational performance at White Hart Lane as Chelsea again
enjoyed a big victory in N17, Andy scoring the third in a 3-1 victory.
He was joined in midfield that season by Vinnie Jones, and the two men
formed a tenacious midfield alongside Dennis Wise and Graeme Le Saux.
Townsend's influence was in evidence at QPR when Chelsea fell two goals
behind midway through the second-half. He scored another stunner to set
up a grandstand finish in which Wise over-head kicked a last-minute
equaliser. He underwent a hernia operation which kept him out of the
side for five weeks during the autumn of 1991 and his form after he
returned was patchy. The Blues finished a disappointing 14th in the
league but did reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup where they were
beaten by Sunderland in a replay, Townsend being at fault for the late
winning goal.
Chelsea's 1992/93 season was one of frustration for all
concerned and Andy was patently unable to exert any influence on a
regular basis. He did pop up with the late winner against Leeds, always a
team high on the 'must-beat' list of any Chelsea supporter, but he
stood accused, with some justification, of only performing in the big
games. He scored an outstanding goal in a Coca-Cola Cup quarter-final
match at Crystal Palace but The Blues lost 3-1. For the third time in
three seasons, the club had failed to capitalise on a great opportunity
to reach a major cup final and Andy decided that he would have more
success if he moved elsewhere. That summer he joined Aston Villa for £2,125,000 and he would later play for Middlesbrough and West Bromwich
Albion. (Kelvin Barker)
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