Gordon DURIE

John Hollins' signing of the burly, surly Scotsman Gordon Durie from Hibernian for £380, 000 in April 1986 posed the first real threat to Chelsea's much-vaunted strike partnership of Kerry Dixon and David Speedie. Having seen off the challenge of Gordon Davies a year earlier, they were now faced with an altogether different prospect; a young player of immense potential, powerfully built with impressive pace, a ferocious shot, good aerial ability and bundles of energy and enthusiasm. 'Jukebox' made his Chelsea debut in an injury-ravaged team which was beaten 5-1 by Watford in the final match of the 1985/86 season. He featured alongside Dixon and Speedie at the start of the following campaign but the experiment of playing all three front men failed and Durie returned for a spell in the reserves. Restored to the starting line-up for the visit of Newcastle in late-November, Gordon gave the supporters a taste of things to come when he stooped low to head his first goal for the club. As Chelsea's shambolic season wore on, Durie became an increasingly important member of the team.

He scored a tremendous solo goal as Aston Villa were beaten in the FA Cup and found the net four more times in the league as The Blues improved after Christmas to avoid relegation. With his confidence growing he took on the role of dead-ball specialist and on the last day of the season curled a stupendous free-kick over the Liverpool wall to give The Blues an early goal in a match which ended 3-3. With David Speedie now departed, Durie began the following campaign alongside Dixon and the two men were on target as Chelsea secured a 2-1 opening-day victory over Sheffield Wednesday. He scored a hat-trick as Chelsea, looking to overturn a 3-1 deficit from the first leg, raced into a 3-0 lead against Reading in the League Cup only to then concede two goals which consigned them to defeat in the tie. It was the story of The Blues' season, Durie performing well only to be let down at the other end of the pitch, and when he was consigned to three months on the sidelines as a result of a knee injury, it sparked an alarming slump which eventually saw Chelsea relegated via the play-offs. (Kelvin Barker)

 After a disappointing start to the Division Two campaign, in which Chelsea failed to register a win in their first six games, Durie scored with a scorching shot at Leeds to seal the first victory of the campaign. Playing against teams who did not have the personnel to cope with them, Dixon and Durie ran amok without ever really forming a top-class partnership. Jukebox scored twice in a 5-0 victory over Plymouth and recorded another brace in a 4-1 victory at Birmingham a week before Christmas. His season's highlight, however, came in a 7-0 win at Walsall in February when he became the first Chelsea player in over 20 years to score five goals in a game. Injury was a recurring theme throughout his career and he was restricted to 32 league appearances that season, scoring 17 goals, as The Blues raced away with the title. Durie's return to the big-time proved to be something of a damp squib as a groin problem restricted him to just 19 appearances in total, one of them being at Wembley as Chelsea edged past Middlesbrough to lift the Full Members Cup. He managed to find the net five times, including the winning goal as The Blues came back from two goals down to win 3-2 at Southampton.

Injuries again restricted his appearances in 1990/91 but when fit that year he was awesome. Durie scored 12 times in 24 league matches including both goals in a 2-0 victory over QPR, the winning goal at home to Tottenham, another brace in the incredible 6-4 win at Derby and a spectacular effort in a 3-2 defeat of Manchester United at Stamford Bridge. He also scored the two second-half goals which dug Chelsea out of a hole at Oxford in the League Cup when they appeared to be heading for defeat. All seemed well as he scored again when the curtain came down on the home season with a 4-2 victory over Liverpool. However, as the season ended, Durie announced that he would be leaving the club as his wife wanted to be closer to her family in Scotland. It was therefore something of a shock when it was announced that he would be moving no further north than Tottenham, joining Chelsea's London rivals for £2.2 million. (Kelvin Barker)