Pat NEVIN

 There is a moment in Chelsea's history which is known amongst supporters of a certain age quite simply as 'that run'. In November 1983, during the first-half of a clash against a Newcastle team featuring Keegan, Beardsley, McDermott and Waddle, Pat Nevin received the ball on the edge of his own penalty area. He embarked on a run which took him fully the length of the pitch, twisting and turning, beating one opponent after the other before pulling a cross back from the bye line. The supporters roared their approval. 'Wee Pat' had already made a fine start to his Chelsea career in the preceding weeks but suddenly there was the realisation that the waif-like figure on the right-wing, who had been signed from Clyde for £95, 000 six months earlier, was something very special indeed. Nevin was a winger in the oldest tradition, quick but not express-pace, he did his best work when he had the ball at his feet, toying with defenders before leaving them stranded as he sent in accurate crosses for Dixon and Speedie to thrive on.

During Chelsea's 1983-84 Division Two championship-winning campaign, Nevin was inspirational. He created goals for others with frightening regularity but still found time to chip in with 14 of his own, including crucial winners against Sheffield Wednesday and Crystal Palace. At the end of his first season he was crowned Player of the Year. The goals dried up a little for Pat as Chelsea moved up to the First Division, although an overhead kick which drew The Blues level against Wigan in the FA Cup was simply majestic. However, the quality of his performances remained high and he was a major influence in the trilogy of Milk Cup matches against Sheffield Wednesday, creating two goals in a 4-4 draw at Hillsborough before outfoxing the Wednesday defence with an incredible piece of skill to set up Chelsea's equaliser for Speedie in the third game, which The Blues eventually won 2-1. (Kelvin Barker)

The arrival of Kevin McAllister in the summer of 1985 gave Chelsea's new manager John Hollins another option on the right flank and when David Speedie was suspended early in the season, Hollins took the opportunity to experiment with Nevin as a striker. It proved to be a masterstroke when Pat headed home Kerry Dixon's cross to equalise against Arsenal before teasing David O'Leary into conceding a penalty from which Chelsea won the game. He scored seven league goals that season including a last minute equaliser against Liverpool at Anfield and a late winner in a 2-1 victory at Upton Park, another header from a Dixon cross when he was replacing the suspended Speedie, which effectively ended West Ham's title challenge. Now firmly established as a top-six side, The Blues suddenly, and spectacularly, fell from grace. For the next two years, as Chelsea fought successive relegation battles, Pat's star diminished a little.

There were still moments of magic, he scored winning goals in 1-0 victories over West Ham and Nottingham Forest and earned a second Player of the Year award at the end of the 1986-87 season, but his licence to thrill was beginning to be compromised in favour of a more pragmatic approach. After a bright start the following year Chelsea's form dipped alarmingly and Nevin found himself relegated to the substitute's bench at a time when The Blues were in desperate need of inspiration. Chelsea embarked on a run of just one win in their last 26 games and were eventually relegated via the play-offs. Pat's final gift to the Chelsea supporters was a stunning volley in a 2-0 victory at Blackburn in the play-off semi-final but his final game was less joyous, a 1-0 victory over Middlesbrough at Stamford Bridge which was not enough to save The Blues from relegation. The following summer Pat Nevin, one of the most adored Chelsea players of the modern era and the man responsible for 'that run', was allowed to join Everton for a fee of £925,000. (Kelvin Barker)