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An athletic, blond striker, Chris Garland signed from Bristol City for
£100, 000 in September 1971 to add depth to a Chelsea squad who four
months prior had lifted the European Cup Winners Cup. Garland made his
debut on September 4th 1971 in a 3-3 draw at Stamford Bridge against
Coventry City, but would have to wait until just after Christmas for his
first goal for the Blues, albeit in only his fourth league outing, when
he found the net in a 2-0 home win over Ipswich Town. It was in the
1971/72 League Cup semi-final against Tottenham Hotspur that Chris first
made the headlines for the Blues; entering the starting XI as a late
replacement for Steve Kember, he scored a goal in the first leg at
Stamford Bridge and then repeated the feat a fortnight later with a
20-yard rocket that clinched Chelsea's place in the final.
Garland was
rewarded with a place in the starting XI that walked out onto Wembley to
face Stoke City. He began brightly, combining well with John Hollins on
a soggy pitch, and was denied a deserved equalizer by then England
number 1, Gordon Banks, as Stoke took the trophy with a 2-1 victory.
This determined and robust performance was to be, perhaps, the highlight
of Garland's Chelsea career. Although he began the 72/73 season with a
goal in each of the first four games (the photo above is during one of those matches, a 1-1 draw at Leicester City on 16th August)
, Chris was never able to score on a regular enough basis or cement a
first team place over the next three seasons. This was partly due to
Garland's own deficiencies in front of goal; although he never lacked
effort, he simply did not possess the sort of skill to be a consistent
first division marksman. However, it was also felt that Dave Sexton
hampered Garland by playing him wide on either the left or right in
order to exploit his natural pace and work rate.
Frustrated with being
asked to play wide instead of in his favored central role, Chris saw his
goals and then his appearances in the first team dry up. Plagued by a
persistent hamstring injury, Garland managed only eleven goals in his
last two seasons at Chelsea, often unable to even train. Uncomfortable
with his role under Dave Sexton and with life in the capital, Garland
was transferred to Leicester City in February 1975 for a fee of £95,
000, after scoring 31 goals in 114 Chelsea appearances; spared the
ignominy of Chelsea's eventual relegation. (Jesse Costa)
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