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Recruited from Wrexham in June 1983 for a fee of £55,000 by his former
manager John Neal, Eddie Niedzwiecki proved to be a very shrewd signing
by the canny Geordie. With over 100 appearances for Wrexham, Niedzwiecki
possessed the experience and self-confidence which his predecessor
Steve Francis had appeared to lack during the club's battle against
relegation in 1982/83 and he quickly made the no.1 spot his own. Eddie
was given an early opportunity to demonstrate his considerable
shot-stopping ability when Chelsea met Leicester City in a Milk Cup
match in October.
The tie finished in a 2-2 aggregate draw and was
decided on penalties. He was the toast of Stamford Bridge that night
with two crucial saves in the shoot-out to take The Blues into the next
round. He was a permanent fixture in the Chelsea side throughout the
1983/84 season, conceding an average of less than a goal a game as The
Blues raced to the Second Division title. Given the opportunity to
exhibit his skills in the top-flight, Niedzwiecki was superb as Chelsea
made an impressive return to Division One.
He made 52 appearances that
year and brought an air of calm authority to the inexperienced defenders
in front of him. In a season of outstanding performances he saved his
best moment until the last weekend of the campaign when he dived to keep
out a point-blank header from Stoke's Keith Bertschin to earn applause
from both sets of supporters. Eddie was simply magnificent during
1985/86. His wondrous performance during a Milk Cup clash at Fulham was
one of the greatest individual displays of any Chelsea player during his
era. The home side carved Chelsea open repeatedly throughout the match
only to find a goalkeeper in such inspired form that when Fulham were
awarded a penalty in the closing stages it barely raised an eyebrow.
'Eddie will save it' was the phrase on the lips of 10,000 Chelsea fans.
He did, and Chelsea won 1-0. His performance at Everton in March 1986
came close to matching the Craven Cottage display but disaster struck
just three days later when he injured his knee in an innocuous clash
with QPR's Steve Wicks. Niedzwiecki briefly returned to the side eight
months later but was soon injured again. He made another comeback at the
beginning of the following season but his knee collapsed again in a
match against Oxford at the end of October. This time there was no
comeback and at the age of 28 the affable Welshman was forced to retire
from the game to the dismay of his huge army of admirers amongst the
Chelsea support. (Kelvin Barker)
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