Chelsea manager John Neal's last act before standing down due to
ill-health in the summer of 1985 was to buy Falkirk's nippy
right-winger, Kevin McAllister, for £34, 000. The Blues' reputation for
recruiting outstanding wide-men from north of the border was
particularly impressive but it was one of those who effectively blocked
McAllister's way for the first three years of his Stamford Bridge
career. The tiny Scot made his first appearance for the club as a
second-half replacement for John Bumstead in a 2-0 win over Southampton
in September 1985, and had the supporters in raptures with an
outstanding cameo performance. With David Speedie suspended and his
understudy, Gordon Davies, out of form, new manager John Hollins pushed
Nevin into the attack for the following week's visit of Arsenal and
Kevin made his full debut on the right where he was faced by England's
left-back, Kenny Sansom. Chelsea won 2-1 but McAllister had a quiet game
and was subsequently left out of the side until a month later when two
substitute appearances preceded a starting role for the visit of league
leaders Manchester United. A hugely impressive performance against a
strong United side gave another glimpse of what he was capable of but,
sadly, he rarely recaptured that kind of form again throughout the
remainder of the campaign. McAllister's first goal for The Blues, and
his only strike of the season, came in a Full Members Cup tie at West
Bromwich Albion, and in March 1986 he was a member of the Chelsea team
who won that trophy with a 5-4 victory over Manchester City at Wembley (see photo above with hat-trick hero David Speedie).
After just 13 starts throughout his first campaign, Kevin managed only 7
the following season. In what was a truly dreadful campaign for the
club, his first appearance didn't come until October, when he was a late
substitute in a defeat by Charlton which led to Hollins making
wholesale changes for the next game. That was a League Cup tie against
York City and McAllister returned to the starting line-up to good
effect, scoring the third goal in a 3-0 win. A brief run in the team
followed, including an appearance alongside Kerry Dixon in the Chelsea
attack in a defeat at Arsenal, but a sending-off at Everton in November
effectively ended his season. After serving his suspension, Kevin
returned for a 3-0 defeat at Liverpool in December and was subsequently
dropped for the remainder of the campaign. Clearly unsettled, McAllister
began the following season on a weekly contract and had a spell on loan
back at Falkirk. He failed to appear in the Chelsea first team until
the turn of the year, when he started four consecutive league matches.
Unfortunately for Kevin, the results of those games were two goalless
home draws and two 3-0 away defeats. He did, however, find the net in a
3-1 FA Cup third round victory at Derby County, and was also selected
for the fourth round trip to Manchester United where The Blues were
comfortably beaten. He also figured as a substitute in three of
Chelsea's four end-of-season relegation play-off matches, but was
largely ineffective as The Blues fell into Division Two. (Kelvin Barker)
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