(Part 1) 1989-91.
It is a sad fact that Dave Beasant's playing career is destined to be
remembered for a number of high profile errors and, in the case of his
time at Chelsea, for one particular poor performance which was followed
by a very public humiliation at the hands of his manager. However, the
reality is somewhat different. The former Wimbledon stopper returned to
London in January 1989, just eight months after lifting the FA Cup and
becoming the first goalkeeper to save a penalty in an FA Cup Final as
the Dons produced a huge shock to overcome Liverpool. A seven-month
spell at Newcastle followed but his time on Tyneside was ruined by
internal rifts, and he jumped at the chance to join a Chelsea side who
were challenging hard for promotion back to Division One at the first
attempt following their humiliating relegation a season earlier.
The fee
paid by manager Bobby Campbell - £725,000 - was a club record but
proved money well spent as Beasant replaced nervous youngster Roger
Freestone and immediately instilled some hitherto-lacking confidence
into a wavering defence. He saved a penalty as Chelsea travelled to
Walsall and left with all three points courtesy of a 7-0 scoreline, and
turned in match-winning performances in single goal victories at both
Brighton and Ipswich as the Blues embarked on a run of just one defeat
in 22 games. The ever-present keeper eventually capped an outstanding
calendar year with another honour, this time a Division Two championship
medal, Chelsea pipping runners-up Manchester City to the title by the
small matter of 17 points.
The Blues' return to the top-flight gave Bez
an opening day opportunity to go back to his spiritual home, Plough
Lane, as Chelsea overcame a stubborn Dons side by a single Kevin Wilson
goal. The 1989/90 season was surprisingly successful for the Stamford
Bridge side with a fifth-placed finish in the League. Bez made a
trademark penalty save when he thwarted David Rocastle from the spot as
the Blues played out a 0-0 draw with Arsenal in September but saved his
most impressive personal performance for a live televised 1-1 draw at
Sheffield Wednesday a year to the day since his debut. The highlight of
the campaign, however, came with a 1-0 victory over Middlesbrough in
front of more than 75, 000 spectators as Chelsea lifted the ZDS Cup at
Wembley.
Another ever-present season had continued an incredible spell
of consecutive first-team appearances stretching back nine years but
this finally came to an end in November 1990 when a cracked bone in a
finger led to three weeks on the sidelines. The season had begun with a
last-minute penalty save to deny Derby's Dean Saunders to secure a 2-1
win for Chelsea, and it ended with Bez as the club's top appearance
maker again, even captaining the side on six occasions. It was, however,
to be the last season in which his place in the team was secure.
(Kelvin Barker). |
Dave Beasant is pictured above playing for Chelsea on 9th. March 1993.
Photo Stuart Franklin. © G.H.
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(Part 2) 1991-93
Ian Porterfield replaced Bobby
Campbell as Chelsea manager in the summer of 1991 and selected Dave
Beasant for his first game in charge, a 2-2 draw at home to Wimbledon,
but after a 3-0 beating at Oldham in midweek Porterfield dropped Bez in
favour of Kevin Hitchcock. For the remainder of the season the two
goalkeepers found themselves in and out of the side, Dave returning in
the autumn but being dropped again after a 3-0 thrashing by Norwich at
Stamford Bridge. He was back in the side for the Christmas period but a
New Years Day match against Manchester City, where a weak referee
allowed Niall Quinn to get away with a string of bad challenges on the
keeper, left him battered, bruised and back on the sidelines as his
wounds took time to heal.
Hitchcock made the goalkeeper's spot his own
with a string of fine performances over the next two months but when he
made an error which allowed Sunderland a late equaliser in an FA Cup
quarter-final tie he was immediately dropped, and so the farcical
goalkeeping carousel continued until, as the season ended, both men had
made 21 appearances apiece. With his confidence beginning to ebb away,
the 1992/93 season started dismally for Dave when his weak clearance
allowed Oldham to steal a draw at the Bridge on the opening day, but
that was just a forerunner to events a month later when a 2-0 half-time
lead against Norwich was overturned in the second-half as the Canaries
scored three times, two of the goals coming as a result of goalkeeping
howlers. However, the supporters' well-voiced anger turned to sympathy
when it was later announced on national TV that Porterfiled had told the
press - though not Beasant himself - that the big goalkeeper would
never play for Chelsea again.
Loan spells with Grimsby and Wolves
followed before a plunge into the lower reaches of the Premier League
table saw Porterfield sacked and Dave recalled for caretaker boss David
Webb's second game in charge, at home to Arsenal. Bez read the script
perfectly and with the crowd fully behind him gave a stirring,
man-of-the-match performance as Chelsea ran out 1-0 winners. He remained
Webb's first choice for much of the remainder of the campaign but,
tellingly, was replaced by Dmitri Kharine for the final two matches of
the season. His last match of 1992/93 was a 3-0 defeat at Manchester
United.
It was his last appearance for the Londoners. A pre-season
argument with a bottle of salad cream left Bez with a badly cut foot
which rendered him unfit to stake a claim for the goalkeeper's spot at
the start of 1993/94. New manager Glenn Hoddle opted for Kharine as his
first choice keeper with Hitchcock in reserve and it was clear that
there would be no way back this time for the genial, Willesden-born
player. In November 1993, aged 34, Dave joined Southampton for £300,000
and subsequently embarked on another full decade between the sticks
before eventually moving into coaching. (Kelvin Barker).
1989–1993 Chelsea 133 (0)
1992 Grimsby Town (loan) 6 (0)
1992 Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan) 4 (0)
1993–1997 Southampton 88 (0)
1997–2001 Nottingham Forest 139 (0)
2001–2002 Portsmouth 27 (0)
2001 Tottenham Hotspur (loan) 0 (0)
2002 Bradford City 0 (0)
2002 Wigan Athletic 0 (0)
2003 Brighton & Hove Albion 16 (0)
2003–2004 Fulham 0 (0)
2013 North Greenford United 1 (0)
2014–2015 Stevenage 0 (0)
Total 775 Games
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