The ever-dependable Mal Donaghy had been a stalwart of the Luton Town
defence for more than a decade before Alex Ferguson signed him for
Manchester United. Four seasons and 89 appearances later, just a matter
of weeks before his 35th birthday, Chelsea manager Ian Porterfield paid
£100, 000 to take the Northern Ireland international to Stamford Bridge.
A veteran of two World Cup campaigns - he was famously red-carded
against host nation Spain in 1982 on a curious night when the referee
allowed the Spanish team carte blanche to try every trick in the book to
retrieve a losing situation - the versatile defender slipped in
alongside Paul Elliott at the centre of Chelsea's defence for the
opening game of the 1992/93 season, a 1-1 draw with Oldham.
The pair,
team-mates during their time at Luton, quickly formed a solid
partnership which was sadly ended after just seven matches when Elliott
suffered his career-ending injury. Donaghy continued to impress
alongside a variety of partners throughout the campaign and his 40
league appearances proved total vindication of Porterfield's decision to
sign the veteran defender. Having failed to find the net for fully five
years - not counting the own goal he slid in at the Stretford End to
earn Chelsea a draw at Old Trafford just a few months before he joined
the Blues - Mal began to fancy himself as a centre-forward when he
followed up his late headed equaliser at Leeds with an important goal in
the very next game, opening the floodgates in the second-half as
Middlesbrough capitulated to a 4-0 defeat at the Bridge.
New manager
Glenn Hoddle began 1993/94 with his favoured 'diamond' midfield system
and asked Donaghy to play the midfield holding role. Despite many a
raised eyebrow, and to the Irishman's great credit, the move was a
success. However, Chelsea's league form was poor and Hoddle was forced
to make changes. Mal captained the side on two occasions in the autumn
but was rarely seen after Christmas as Eddie Newton made the holding
role his own with a string of outstanding performances. Donaghy returned
at left-back in February for a clash with Tottenham and scored his last
professional goal in what was a 4-3 win for the Blues.
Chelsea reached
the FA Cup final that year but Mal was just a spectator on a wet and
desperate day at Wembley as Manchester United lifted the trophy with a
4-0 victory. Indeed, his final few appearances in league football came
when Hoddle was resting players with one eye on the big cup games and
his last appearance before hanging up his boots on an exemplary career
at the end of that season came as a late substitute for Craig Burley in a
2-1 defeat by Coventry which was witnessed by less than 9,000
spectators. He probably deserved better. (Kelvin Barker) |