Peter
Bonetti - Chelsea and England
My
Career at Chelsea
by Peter Bonetti
from 'George Best's Soccer Annual No. 4'
Pelham Books, London 1971.
Earlier
this year, I had my testimonial cheque from Chelsea.
Actually, it could have been a year earlier, because I
signed for the club way back in April, 1959, but whether
it came after ten or eleven years, fact is that it
underlines just how happy I've been with the West London
club.
One
reads of players who are constantly on the move -
changing from club to club and, as we know, picking up
hefty fees from the transfer pickings. Well, in that
sense, sticking with Chelsea through the whole of my
playing career may have 'cost me money'.
All
I can say, as I look back on an incident-studded life at
Stamford Bridge, is that I would much rather be happy in
myself and my job than pick up a lot ofmoney for swopping
loyalties and clubs.
Let's
say here and now that I believe that this Chelsea side
which finally won the FA Cup and laid low that old
'unpredictable' tag is the best-ever in the history of
the club. Very largely it is because we have finally
really built team-work and understanding and. . . yes,
total fighting spirit.
Until
our manager, Dave Sexton, really put all that right, I
suppose we did lack that absolutely ruthless killer
spirit that all the great teams have to have.
It
was my mother who introduced me to the atmos- phere of
professional football. She wrote to Ted Drake. the
manager who banished the old Pensioners' nickname from
Chelsea, and suggested that I deserved a trial, having
played for Worthing and Brighton Schools.
I
had my trial, signed professional in April, 1959, played
my first League game against Manchester City at the
Bridge (we won 3-0) and my first cup-tie against Crewe
Alexandra. Let's forget that cup deDut - Chelsea lost by
the odd goal in three to the Fourth Division club! But
then things often were unpredictable when Chelsea took
the field. . .
Ted
Drake had been a fine bustling centre-forward in his
playing days and he brought, via his Drake's Ducklings,
an emphasis on youth at the Bridge. Actually I did not
have too much to do with him. I was young, he was the
boss - and I regarded him as something of a father
figure.
Next
came the era of Tommy Docherty, who had been coach, then
team manager. Once again, things changed at the Bridge.
There is no point going into it all again, but there was
only one time when I was not totally happy at Chelsea and
that was in April of World Cup year, 1966. Just put it
down to not really seeing eye to eye with the manager,
but I must admit that I did do a bit of talking about
wanting a transfer .
Peter
Bonetti: 'the Cat'
What
had happened was that the club bought Alex Stepney from
Millwall and he was such a good 'keeper that it obviously
did not look too good for me. It was even said that the
plan was for me to play one week, then Ale,x the next,
and so on alternately. Now I honestly did not see how
that could possibly work out - and I doubt if any other
goalkeeper would, either.
Anyway,
it was all resolved. . . and Alex moved on to Manchester
United and I have won trophies - the Cup-winners' medal
the Football League Cup tankard, some more international
caps and so on. I have travelled allover the world with
some of the nicest blokes in football.
And
I'll say again that what matters much more than picking
up lots of money is being happy in what you are doing. If
that sounds a bit corny, well . . . at least it sums up
exactly what I mean.
Mind
you, the footballer of today is well advised to think
about the future. There is much more money in the game
than in the days of the maximum wage restrictions and I
have put a lot of thought into what happens when I
finally have to finish playing.
Already,
I have a business involved in goalkeepers' jerseys and
gloves and so on. I could not afford, obviously, to let
that business interfere in any way with my football, but
I am lucky to have two associates, George Seymour and
Bernie Podd, who take a lot of the business worries off
my shoulders.
We
have a baby son, Nicholas, along with two daughters. Ifhe
was good enough, and wanted to make the game a career,
than I would certainly have no objections. Sometimes the
sort of trimmings of fame can be a nuisance. You go out
for a quiet afternoon's shopping with the wife and people
recognize you and, naturally e,nough, want to talk about
football. To other people, football is just a relaxation
and a hobby.
Some
of them, I admit, think it is really a very easy life.
Well, it has been said that all goalkeepers are mad to
start off with, otherwise they would never take on the
job. I do not think the goalkeepers' union would go along
with that, but it is strange how many people do not
understand the pressures of the life of a professional
footballer .
For
a start, I would hate to put anybody off who would like
to try a career in the game, but it's a real eye-opener
to see how many thousands of promising youngsters turn up
at Chelsea for trials. . . and how few of them have the
sort of promise that suggests they could make a go of it
professionally.
The
merest handful get into that category. If it is that hard
even getting a chance with a professional club, think how
hard it must be to retain that promise and skill in what
is the most tough and competitive competition in world
sport. I feel sorry for the kids who so desperately want
to get on in the game but just don't have the skills to
match their enthusiasm.
And
the people who think we are workers just for ninety
minutes on a Saturday afternoon are obviously a bit short
on the imagination needed to see the other fellow's point
of view. There is the training. which certainly does not
get any easier as the years go by, and there is the
mental build-up to reach peak efficiency come that
Saturday afternoon.
Peter
Bonetti with Mick Jones of Leeds United
One
doesn't think about the actual physical danger of the
game, certainly not during the actual playing time, but
the pressures are there. People ask me about the best
save I ever made. Well, there are a lot that gave me
satisfaction - at the time of writing, I have played
pretty well 500 League and Cup games for Chelsea.
But
I don't think I could ever start to separate them. As far
as any goalkeeper is concerned, anything that stops a
ball going into the net is perfectly okay and memorable!
I can think about the 140-odd gClmes where our opponents
did not score at all against us, but I also know that the
'keeper is just one link, albeit the last link, in a
defensive system.
Mind
you, I shall remember one dreadful visit to Leeds back in
the 1967-68 season when I had to pick the baIlout seven
times. It has only happened once, but that was once too
often. It was double compensation when I collected my
Cup-winners' medal, for Leeds, of course, were our
opponents that evening of the replayed final at Old
Trafford.
So
I can look back on my testimonial year with almost
unblemished happiness. When you are bound up with the
affairs of one club for such a long time, you are so
involved that you think of the club as an extension of
yourself.
Fighting
spirit to match that of the great clubs of recent history
- we've got that, now, at Stamford Bridge. Three
semi-finals in a row, with one final against Tottenham
Hotspur (which we lost), before the win over Leeds . . .
that shows our fighting spirit and underlines the
brilliant future for this Chelsea organization.
I
would not have changed my life at the Bridge at all. The
constant challenge of top-class football is something
that gets into the blood-stream and stays there.
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