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Welsh custodian Roger Freestone was a mere 18-year-old with just 13
league appearances under his belt when he was surprisingly elevated from
lowly Newport County into First Division football with Chelsea. Blues
manager John Hollins parted with the not-inconsiderable sum of £95, 000
to take the 6ft 3in stopper to London in March 1987 and with Eddie
Niedzwiecki struggling to achieve full fitness following a horrific knee
injury, gave him his debut in a 1-1 draw at QPR a month later. Roger's
early displays were certainly encouraging, and he kept his place between
the sticks for the remainder of the season, but Niedzwiecki was fit to
return at the beginning of the 1987/88 campaign, and edged his young
compatriot out of the side as Chelsea began the new season in confident
fashion.
Sadly, Eddie's knee gave way once more in a match with Oxford
at the end of October, bringing his career to an early conclusion, and
Freestone donned the gloves in his absence, but the youngster returned
to a side who were about to embark on a six-month winless league run,
and his tender years were betrayed on occasion as he struggled to
command a leaky defence. There were certainly some impressive moments
though, particularly two fine penalty saves in consecutive FA Cup
clashes at Derby and Manchester United, on both occasions diving to his
right to claw away efforts by John Gregory and Brian McClair
respectively, but his save at Old Trafford could not prevent a tame
capitulation which heaped further pressure on Hollins. The manager
eventually departed in March and was replaced by the experienced Bobby
Campbell, whose first signing was that of Mansfield's goalkeeper Kevin
Hitchcock, leaving Roger back amongst the stiffs.
Relegation at the end
of the season was followed by a persistent injury to Hitchcock which
allowed Freestone to take his place in the side for the majority of the
first half of the Blues' Division Two campaign, but many remained
unconvinced by the Welshman - he was cruelly dubbed 'Tombstone' by some
amongst the Chelsea faithful - and when Campbell broke the club's
transfer record to bring Newcastle's Dave Beasant back to his native
London in January, it was clear that Freestone's days at Stamford Bridge
were numbered. Beasant was an instant success and Roger spent the best
part of three years playing reserve team football interspersed with
spells on loan at other clubs before he eventually joined Swansea City
for a fee of £45,000 in September 1991, where he embarked on a 13-year
career during which time so impressive was his form that he earned an
international cap. (Kelvin Barker)
1986–1987 Newport County 13 (0)
1987–1991 Chelsea 42 (0)
1989 Swansea City (loan) 14 (0)
1990 Hereford United (loan) 8 (0)
1991–2004 Swansea City 549 (3)
2004 Newport County 14 (0)
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