Ian Hutchinson (4 August 1948 – 19 September 2002) was an English
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...
who spent most of his career with
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
.
Hutchinson was born in
Derby
Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...
and started his career with non-league
Burton Albion
Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home groun ...
before signing for
Cambridge United
Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on N ...
in February 1968. In July 1968 he joined Chelsea for
£5000. Chelsea coach
Ron Suart Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald.
Ron or RON may also refer to:
Arts and media
* Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character
* Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character
*Ron Douglas, the protagonist in ''Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe A ...
had journeyed to Cambridge to watch a goalkeeper, but instead recommended Hutchinson to manager
Dave Sexton
David James Sexton (6 April 1930 – 25 November 2012) was an English football manager and player. He was notable for managing Chelsea to their first ever major European trophy.
Playing career
Son of former professional boxer Archie Sex ...
.
Hutchinson was a
striker noted for his impressive heading ability and for taking long
throw-in
A throw-in is a method of restarting play in a game of association football when the ball has exited the side of the field of play. It is governed by Law 15 of The Laws of the Game.
Award
When the ball goes out of play past the touch-line ...
s. On his debut against
Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system.
The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...
, he sent in a series of long throws which reached the opposite side of the penalty area, confusing both the opposing defenders and the crowd and one of which an Ipswich defender inadvertently put into his own net. At Chelsea he proved to be the perfect foil for the more technically gifted
Peter Osgood
Peter Leslie Osgood (20 February 1947 – 1 March 2006) was an English footballer who was active during the 1960s and 1970s. He is best remembered for representing Chelsea and Southampton at club level, and was also capped four times by England ...
after a sparkling debut partnership in which both players scored in a 3–1 win against
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...
. During the
1969-70 season they scored 53 goals between them. That season turned out to be Hutchinson's most successful, as he scored an impressive 16 goals in 26 league appearances.
Hutchinson is most notable for his part in Chelsea winning the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
that same season. In the
final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
against
Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...
, he was often in the thick of the action. In the first match at
Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
his headed flick-on teed up
Peter Houseman
Peter Houseman (24 December 1945–20 March 1977) was an English footballer who played as a winger. He was best known for his part in Chelsea's F.A. Cup-winning side of 1970. He later signed for Oxford United. He was killed along with his w ...
for Chelsea's first equaliser and he was later floored by a challenge from Leeds'
Norman Hunter. Leeds took the lead with six minutes to go, but two minutes later Hutchinson, still limping from Hunter's challenge, headed in
John Hollins
John William Hollins (born 16 July 1946) is an English retired footballer and manager. He was initially a midfielder who, later in his career, became an effective full-back. Hollins, throughout his footballing career, featured for clubs such a ...
' cross to take the game to a replay. Two weeks later at
Old Trafford
Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...
, with the game tied at 1-1 going into
extra time
Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...
, Hutchinson launched one of his trademark long throw-ins into the Leeds
penalty area
The penalty area or 18-yard box (also known less formally as the penalty box or simply box) is an area of an association football pitch. It is rectangular and extends 16.5m (18 yd) to each side of the goal and 16.5m (18 yd) in front of it.
Wit ...
and it was headed in by
David Webb to win the cup for Chelsea.
Despite more impressive performances in the following years at Chelsea, the remainder of his career was blighted by injuries, including two broken legs, a broken arm, a broken toe and persistent knee trouble, which kept him out of the side's successful
Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...
run the following year and limited him to just 4 appearances in the
1972-73 season. He retired in July 1976 aged 27, having been unable to conquer his injury woes. He made 144 appearances for Chelsea and scored 58 goals.
All that remained of his playing days was a brief stint with non-League
Dartford FC
Dartford Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Dartford, Kent, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the club participates in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football.
The club was formed i ...
,
www.independent.co.uk
/ref> during which he often took to the field in immense pain. There followed a spell as Chelsea's commercial manager in the late 1970s and in more recent years Hutchinson worked in corporate hospitality for several clubs.
Following his professional retirement, Hutchinson joined Slinfold FC where he played under the village hero Ian Haines. Unfortunately, his injuries remained an issue and he changed position to centre back where he still managed to score 25 goals in 45 games.
He died in September 2002 after a long illness.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hutchinson, Ian
1948 births
2002 deaths
Place of death missing
Burton Albion F.C. players
Cambridge United F.C. players
Chelsea F.C. players
English footballers
England under-23 international footballers
League of Ireland players
Association football forwards
Footballers from Derby
English expatriate footballers
Expatriate association footballers in the Republic of Ireland
English expatriate sportspeople in Ireland
FA Cup Final players