Tuesday, November 3, 2015

3 November 1987 - Chelsea Enter Their Blue Period

On 3 November 1987, Arsenal defeated Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, starting the Blues' club-record run of 21 league matches without a win.

It was a surprising turn for Chelsea, who had gotten off to a high-flying start for the season, winning 6 of their first 9 matches. By the time the Gunners arrived in week 15, the Blues had suffered a small dip in form, but were still sitting comfortably at 6th place in the Division One table. Meanwhile, the Gunners had gone on a tear, winning 9 of their last 10 to arrive at Stamford Bridge in the top spot.

Arsenal proceeded to win 1-3, triggering a Chelsea slide that saw them go another 20 matches without a win (the last match in that series was a 1-1 draw with Arsenal). The poor run of results cost manager John Hollins his job, as the club sacked the former Chelsea captain in March. The Blues finally won again against Derby County on 9 April 1988, but it was their last league win of a season that ended in relegation.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.