Tommy Boyd arrived at Stamford Bridge in the summer of 1991 with quite a reputation
from his time with Motherwell. It was one which he further enhanced after leaving London
to return north of the border to play for Celtic and eventually being rewarded with an MBE
for his services to Scottish football. However, the bit in the middle - the six months he
spent as a Chelsea player - gave few, if any, clues as to how he earned that reputation.
The Scottish international defender was targeted by the Blues' manager Bobby Campbell
during the 1990/91 season but his transfer was delayed due to Motherwell's Scottish Cup
run which saw them eventually lift the trophy with Boyd as captain. The transfer was pushed
through for a fee of £800, 000 but by the time the new season began Campbell had been
replaced in the hot-seat by Ian Porterfield and he appeared to not have quite as much
confidence in the abilities of his compatriot. Despite playing at left-back Boyd was, in fact,
far more comfortable with the ball on his right-foot and it was soon apparent that he was
not going to be the ideal replacement for his flowing, naturally-skilled predecessor Tony Dorigo.
He made his debut on the opening day of the 1991/92 season in a 2-2 draw at home to
Wimbledon and was part of a side which made a solid if unspectacular start to the campaign.
However, when Chelsea began to find wins hard to come by in the autumn Boyd became
Porterfield's regular choice of player to be substituted. He managed fleeting glimpses of
the form that had earned him his reputation in previous seasons, and a strong run and
accurate cross to set up a goal for Dennis Wise in a 2-2 draw against Everton showed what
he was capable of, but they were few and far between. A sending-off at Luton in December,
when he was red-carded for hauling back an opponent who had outstripped him for pace,
was his last noteworthy act in a Chelsea shirt, although he was a member of the side that
clinched the Blues' first League win at Liverpool in 60 years.
However, that appearance at Anfield was his last as a Chelsea player. An injury to Kerry Dixon
left Porterfield short of attacking options and it was with this in mind that he agreed a
straight exchange deal which took Boyd back to Scotland with Celtic's woefully out-of-touch
striker, Tony Cascarino, moving back home to London in return. (Kelvin Barker)