One of a number of 1980s youth team products who failed to live up to
expectations at Stamford Bridge, centre-half Micky Bodley made his debut
in place of the injured Steve Wicks for the visit of Norwich City in
September 1987. A clean sheet in a 1-0 victory was followed by another a
week later as Chelsea moved into second-place in Division One as a
result of a 3-0 triumph at Watford. Tall and strong, Bodley was a match
for most opponents when the ball was in the air but he was a little
short of pace, a facet of his game which was ruthlessly exploited by
Everton's strikers when the Blues succumbed to a 4-1 defeat at Goodison
Park in October.
However, perhaps the most significant reason that he
failed to develop as expected was that he was introduced into a team who
were about to fall into a steep decline which would result in
relegation via the play-offs at the end of the season. Talk of a title
challenge after some impressive early results quickly abated as a long,
hard winter saw Chelsea win just one of their last 26 league fixtures.
Micky played a total of eight times that season, six in the league and
once in each of the League and Full Members Cups, scoring once - a
header in a 2-2 draw at Charlton Athletic.
The final appearance of his
short first-team career with the Blues came in a 3-3 draw at Coventry
City in March 1988. Micky left to join Northampton Town in January 1989
for a fee of £50,000 before going on to forge a lengthy career in the
lower divisions, primarily as a favourite of Barry Fry who signed him on
four separate occasions. (Kelvin Barker) |
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Senior career
Years Team Games Goals
1985–1989 Chelsea 6 (1)
1989 Northampton Town 20 (0)
1989–1993 Barnet 108 (9)
1993–1996 Southend United 67 (2)
1994–1995 Gillingham (loan) 7 (0)
1995 Birmingham City 3 (0)
1996–1999 Peterborough United 86 (1)
1999 St Albans City 6 (0)
1999–2000 Dagenham & Redbridge
2000–2002 Canvey Island