Gavin PEACOCK

When news broke that Gavin Peacock was keen to return south after a spectacular season in which his goals had helped propel Newcastle into the top flight, Chelsea's new manager, Glenn Hoddle, moved quickly to capture the signature of the Eltham-born 25-year-old for £1, 250, 000. Any doubts about his ability to perform at the highest level were quickly dispelled when he headed a spectacular goal on his debut to give the Blues the lead in a match they eventually lost 2-1 to Blackburn. Playing at the front of a midfield diamond, Peacock's form gave the supporters something to cheer throughout a difficult winter for the club. After scoring in a 2-0 win over his former-club QPR, followed by goals in consecutive games against Manchester United and Coventry, a 1-0 win and 1-1 draw respectively, he became Captain Peacock for a match against Norwich when Hoddle chose to briefly strip Dennis Wise of the captaincy after a sending-off at West Ham.

Peacock also found the net against Norwich but the game was lost and he was injured, subsequently missing the next three matches, all of which resulted in defeats. He was one of the few players to perform consistently throughout a disappointing League campaign, eventually scoring eight times in 37 appearances, including another against United as Chelsea clinched a pair of 1-0 wins against the eventual champions. However, it was in the FA Cup that Gavin truly excelled. He played in all eight of the club's matches on their way to the Final, scoring against Barnet in a 4-0 replay victory, one in each game as the Blues beat Sheffield Wednesday at the second attempt, the goal which saw off Wolves in the quarter-final and a brace at Wembley as Chelsea beat Luton 2-0 in the semi-final (the photo above shows a delighted Gavin after opening the scoring). Confidence was high for the Final against Manchester United and if Peacock's first-half left-foot volley had dipped under the bar rather than crashing against it, it might just have had a happy ending. Unfortunately, a four-goal salvo by United after the break brought Gavin's excellent first season at Stamford Bridge to a bitter conclusion. (Kelvin Barker)

 Gavin was Chelsea's top appearance maker during the 1994/95 season, playing in all but one of the club's 52 matches in all competitions and also captaining the side from autumn onwards. He was less prolific in front of goal than he had been the previous season but he continued to haunt his former clubs, finding the net during a 4-2 defeat at Newcastle and in a 1-1 draw when the teams met in the corresponding fixture at Stamford Bridge, and also scoring the only goal of a League Cup tie at Bournemouth which secured Chelsea's route to the 4th round and a clash with West Ham where he suffered an injury, courtesy of an appalling Alvin Martin challenge, which left him on the sidelines for a month. His other two goals of the League campaign came prior to his injury, in comfortable home victories over Manchester City and Leicester, 3-0 and 4-0 respectively. In January, Gavin risked facing the wrath of his family when he scored with a scorching shot as the Blues won an FA Cup tie 3-0 against a Charlton side who were coached by none other than Gavin's father, Keith. Perhaps the club's most notable achievement from a season in which they again flirted with relegation was to reach the semi-finals of the European Cup Winners Cup. Surprisingly, Peacock failed to find the net in Europe but captained the side with aplomb throughout the run.

The arrival of Ruud Gullit and the return to fitness of Nigel Spackman left midfield places at a premium for the following season and after being substituted in four of Chelsea's first five matches, Gavin found himself being used regularly from the substitute's bench. Of his 28 League appearances that year, 11 were as a sub. He found the net five times, scoring the only goal of the game at Manchester City in December and also hitting the target in a 2-1 defeat by West Ham in February. However, his season's highlight came a fortnight before the game against the Hammers when he fired a hat-trick in a 5-0 win over Middlesbrough. His other goals of the campaign came in FA Cup victories over QPR and Grimsby as the Blues reached the last four of another competition before bowing out to Manchester United. Ruud Gullit's elevation to manager, and his acquisition of some truly world-class stars, brought the curtain down on the Chelsea careers of a number of players and, sadly, Gavin was one of them. The legendary Dutchman inexplicably chose to overlook him entirely and in December, having not been selected at all throughout the fist half of the season, Gavin Peacock returned to his first club, QPR, for a fee of £800, 000. (Kelvin Barker)