|
When 20 year-old Scottish midfielder Eamonn Bannon made a winning start
to his Chelsea career at the beginning of February 1979, he could have
been forgiven for thinking the club he had just joined for £200, 000
from Heart of Midlothian were going places. By the time he tasted the
winning feeling again, nearly three months later, he was fully aware
that the place they were heading for was Division Two. Signed by manager
Danny Blanchflower, perhaps with one eye on the imminent departure of
Ray Wilkins, Bannon was a player very much in the Wilkins mould,
comfortable when the ball was at his feet and with a quick mind and
outstanding passing ability. The Chelsea following, having seen their
young midfielders regularly overwhelmed throughout the campaign, quickly
took him to their hearts and there seemed no reason why he shouldn't
have a long career at Stamford Bridge ahead of him. Eamonn scored his
first and only competitive goal for The Blues at Bolton in just his
third game but, as with most goals that season, it came in a losing
cause.
He was one of the few players to emerge with credit from a season
in which the frailties and inadequacies of the youngsters in the team
were fully exposed and he was even forgiven by the supporters for an
embarrassing miss against Derby at Stamford Bridge when he waltzed
through the defence and past the keeper only to mis-hit the ball with
the goal at his mercy. Wilkins' departure that summer appeared to open
the way for Bannon to cement his place as the playmaker at the heart of
Chelsea's midfield and he was a regular in the team as The Blues made a
strong start to the 1979/80 campaign, but two consecutive league defeats
and an early exit from the League Cup at the hands of Plymouth Argyle
saw Blanchflower sacked. His replacement Geoff Hurst selected Bannon for
his first game in charge but Chelsea lost 3-0 at Shrewsbury and the
stylish young Scot was subsequently sacrificed to make way for the
return of the pragmatic Ron Harris in a midfield holding role
. After a
goalscoring display in a prestige friendly against Johan Cruyff's Los
Angeles Aztecs side, Eamonn was recalled for the clash with Fulham at
the end of October but, on the back of a run of five consecutive league
victories, The Blues were beaten 2-0 by the Cottagers and Hurst decided
to dispense with Bannon. Just days after the Fulham defeat he returned
to Scotland where he embarked on a long and successful career with
Dundee United, the 'Terrors' paying what would turn out to be a bargain
£165, 000 for his services. (Kelvin Barker)
|