What does the term ‘cult hero’ mean to you? Perhaps it invokes memories of an honest tryer with wayward shooting but a loveable face. Or that surly bloke from the continent who only stayed for a season but scored the winner against your local rivals that one time. Or even that ridiculously talented bit-part player whose omission from the side you always resented the manager for.
The characteristics that qualify a player as a cult hero are plentiful, diverse and often intangible; and, in recognition of these life-affirming souls, Sport.co.uk picks three Chelsea FC players who once graced Stamford Bridge yet live on in the hearts of the Blues fans, wherever they may be…
Petar Borota – The Serbian goalkeeper was well known for nearly bringing Chelsea FC fans out in panic attacks with his frequent forays up the field to try and dribble past opposing outfield players, not to mention his predilection for throwing the ball against the crossbar when he was about to take a goalkick! Brought in by Danny Blanchflower as a replacement for Peter Bonetti, he was named as Chelsea FC’s player of the season in 1981 but his risky yet crowd-pleasing antics as proved too much for Bonetti’s successor John Neal. Despite his eccentricities, he kept an impressive 36 clean sheets in 114 appearances for the Blues. Borota passed away last month aged just 56.
Erland Johnsen – Chelsea FC bought the Norwegian centre-half from Bayern Munich suspiciously soon after he scored from the half-way line against Scotland for his country – surely they weren’t expecting him to repeat the trick? – but he turned out to be solid performer and was named the club’s player of the season in 1995. As the Ruud Gullit/Gianluca Vialli revolution got going in earnest, Johnsen found himself out of the frame but he excelled during the side’s run to the European Cup Winner’s Cup semi-finals in the 1994-1995 season and remains a popular figure at Stamford Bridge.
Paul Canoville – The left-winger was the first black player to play for Chelsea and did so at a time (the early-to-mid 80s) when racism was still too prominent a feature of football. As such, he was subjected to abuse by elements of Chelsea’s support and, according to the man himself in his autobiography ‘Black and Blue’, even one or two high profile teammates. His book deals with how he overcame these obstacles, as well as cancer (twice), crack addiction and the death of his baby son.
The characteristics that qualify a player as a cult hero are plentiful, diverse and often intangible; and, in recognition of these life-affirming souls, Sport.co.uk picks three Chelsea FC players who once graced Stamford Bridge yet live on in the hearts of the Blues fans, wherever they may be…
Petar Borota – The Serbian goalkeeper was well known for nearly bringing Chelsea FC fans out in panic attacks with his frequent forays up the field to try and dribble past opposing outfield players, not to mention his predilection for throwing the ball against the crossbar when he was about to take a goalkick! Brought in by Danny Blanchflower as a replacement for Peter Bonetti, he was named as Chelsea FC’s player of the season in 1981 but his risky yet crowd-pleasing antics as proved too much for Bonetti’s successor John Neal. Despite his eccentricities, he kept an impressive 36 clean sheets in 114 appearances for the Blues. Borota passed away last month aged just 56.
Erland Johnsen – Chelsea FC bought the Norwegian centre-half from Bayern Munich suspiciously soon after he scored from the half-way line against Scotland for his country – surely they weren’t expecting him to repeat the trick? – but he turned out to be solid performer and was named the club’s player of the season in 1995. As the Ruud Gullit/Gianluca Vialli revolution got going in earnest, Johnsen found himself out of the frame but he excelled during the side’s run to the European Cup Winner’s Cup semi-finals in the 1994-1995 season and remains a popular figure at Stamford Bridge.
Paul Canoville – The left-winger was the first black player to play for Chelsea and did so at a time (the early-to-mid 80s) when racism was still too prominent a feature of football. As such, he was subjected to abuse by elements of Chelsea’s support and, according to the man himself in his autobiography ‘Black and Blue’, even one or two high profile teammates. His book deals with how he overcame these obstacles, as well as cancer (twice), crack addiction and the death of his baby son.
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