Eddie NEWTON

 Eddie Newton was earmarked to make his debut alongside his great pals Frank Sinclair and Andy Myers in a match at home to Luton Town in April 1991. Unfortunately for Eddie, he sustained a hand injury which forced him to miss the Luton game and it was more than a year later that he finally made his first-team bow. After three months on loan to Cardiff during the 1991/92 season, the 20-year-old finally got his chance as a substitute at left-back for Graeme Le Saux at Goodison Park on the season's final day, and scored with a neat shot past Neville Southall as Chelsea were beaten 2-1 by Everton. Eddie really made his mark at the start of the following campaign. After appearing as a substitute in the first two games, he was given a role on the right of midfield for the trip to Sheffield Wednesday, and got forward with great effect to score the goal which gave The Blues a 3-2 lead after trailing 2-0 at half-time. Wednesday scored a late leveller in that game but in the next away match, at Aston Villa, Eddie turned in a virtuoso display of wing play which had the supporters drooling, as he almost single-handedly demolished an experienced Villa defence to set up a 3-1 victory in which he once again found the net. At times he was a victim of his own versatility, and his 36 appearances during that campaign were played out in four different positions. At Tottenham in December, he was moved into attack when Le Saux replaced the misfiring Robert Fleck and, playing on his own upfront, he scored two late goals which won the game for Chelsea.

Three weeks later he was Johnny-on-the-spot again when, in the last minute of the game, he raced onto a John Spencer flick before firing past Tim Flowers to earn The Blues a 1-1 draw against Southampton. A total of 36 League appearances represented a highly satisfactory first full season for the youngster. The arrival of Glenn Hoddle in the summer of 1993 was hugely significant in the development of Newton. He was injured at the beginning of the season but, after returning to the side in late August, he was a regular starter when fit. Hoddle experimented with a 'diamond' midfield formation, with Mal Donaghy playing the holding role to steady, if unspectacular, effect. However, as the season wore on, Eddie took over from Donaghy and made the position his own with a run of confident performances which marked him out as the outstanding prospect amongst Chelsea's current crop of youngsters. The Blues reached the 1994 FA Cup Final and Newton was very much in demand with the press, many of whom were drawing comparisons with Alan Hudson, during the build-up. Unfortunately, there was to be no fairytale ending to the season. Chelsea met Manchester United at Wembley and, after a goalless first-half, Eddie conceded a penalty early in the second period which set United on the way to a 4-0 victory. (Kelvin Barker)

 Eddie Newton had benefited in the two previous seasons from Nigel Spackman's injury problems but the former Liverpool man was fully fit to start the 1994/95 campaign, and it was Eddie who was forced to make way for him. He made an impressive contribution as a late substitute for David Rocastle at Elland Road in August, creating the winning goal for John Spencer as The Blues came from 2-0 down to beat Leeds 3-2, and returned to the starting line-up in September. His only goal of the season came on Boxing Day when he headed past Gary Walsh to level the scores in a game which Manchester United eventually won 3-2. Chelsea's League form continued to disappoint but they enjoyed a run to the semi-final of the European Cup Winners Cup which Eddie featured in regularly until an injury sustained against Leeds in March brought his season to a premature end. The following campaign was almost a carbon copy of the previous year. Amongst the substitutes as the season began, Eddie initially struggled to find his best form, although he did score in Chelsea's 3-2 defeat of Bolton, but returned to his impressive best when Ruud Gullit was moved forward into midfield, allowing Newton to slip back into his preferred holding role.

Ironically, he was playing the best football of his career when a clash with his own goalkeeper, Kevin Hitchcock, during a match against West Ham left Eddie with a broken leg. The arrival of Roberto Di Matteo from Lazio in the summer of 1996 would have done little to lift Newton's spirits as he recovered from his injury but he did return briefly in October. After another two month absence, he returned at Leeds at the beginning of December and, with the exception of an injury which kept him on the sidelines for the whole of March, cemented his place in the heart of the midfield alongside Di Matteo and Dennis Wise for the remainder of the campaign. The highlight of Chelsea's season was the FA Cup run which took them back to Wembley to face Middlesbrough (see photo above photos G. Herringshaw. ©). Roberto Di Matteo set The Blues' multi-national team on their way to victory after just 42 seconds but it was Eddie, a local lad from nearby Hammersmith, who scored the clincher with just eight minutes remaining. It was his first goal for 18 months, and was a just reward after his injury problems and his disappointment on the same ground three years earlier. (Kelvin Barker)

Eddie was unfit for the start of the 1997/98 campaign and in his absence, new signing Gustavo Poyet slipped comfortably into Chelsea's midfield alongside Di Matteo, Wise and Dan Petrescu. Perhaps the most effective midfield unit in Chelsea's history, they appeared impenetrable until Poyet suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury in mid-October which opened the door for Newton to return. His first League appearance of the season came in a 1-0 win over Leicester but after just seven games, in which he helped The Blues to second place in the Premiership and through to the third round of the European Cup Winners Cup, he was struck down again by injury. Eddie returned in mid-January but his comeback coincided with a period of unrest at the club as Chelsea fell out of the title race and saw their manager, Ruud Gullit, dismissed. Gullit was replaced by Gianluca Vialli, but the legendary Italian initially overlooked Newton in order to accommodate an extra striker in his preferred 4-3-3 formation. He was recalled for the ECWC trip to Real Betis, where The Blues pulled off an impressive 2-1 win, and was made captain in the absence of Dennis Wise for the club's next League game, a 1-0 defeat by Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge. Vialli soon reverted to 4-4-2 and Eddie again became a vital cog in the heart of the team.

He played in another 2-0 Wembley triumph over Middlesbrough, as Chelsea won the Coca Cola Cup, and contributed hugely to a magnificent team performance as the Stamford Bridge side battled back heroically from a two goal deficit to defeat Vicenza and reach the ECWC Final. That game had marked the return of Poyet and although Newton was selected for Chelsea's five remaining Premiership games, he was only named amongst the substitutes for the Final in Stockholm. He did, however, replace the Uruguayan with ten minutes remaining as The Blues ran out 1-0 winners to clinch their third trophy in a year, Eddie having figured in all three Finals. Chelsea invested heavily that summer in order to make a push for the Premiership title. The arrivals of Marcel Desailly, Albert Ferrer, Brian Laudrup and Pierluigi Casiraghi, allied to the already impressive array of talent on offer to Vialli, meant there would be limited opportunities for some of the fringe players to appear. The numerous injuries had clearly taken their toll, and, in truth, Eddie was no longer the influential player he had previously been. However, it was still surprising that he made only one Premiership start that season, his other six appearances being as a substitute. Chelsea finished third and qualified for the Champions League but, sadly, Eddie Newton wouldn't be around to sample the greatest club competition in world football as in July 1999 he joined Birmingham City on a free transfer. (Kelvin Barker)