OBITUARIES: Ian Hutchinson
Powerful striker who broke Chelsea's cup final jinx
Friday 20 September 2002 00.12 BST
The footballer Ian Hutchinson, who has died aged 54 after a long illness, arguably did as much, or more, than anyone to see that Chelsea finally defied the jinx and the joke on their participation in the FA Cup and, in 1970, won it.
They had lost their first cup final, known for the preponderance of soldiers present as the Khaki Final, at Old Trafford against Sheffield United, 3-0, as long ago as 1915. Not until 1967 would they figure in another final, and then their London rivals Tottenham Hotspur beat them 2-1, this time at Wembley. In 1970, their third final, they seemed doomed to lose to the favourites, Leeds. A 1930s song, by the comedian Norman Long, was even exhumed: "On the day that Chelsea won the final, the universe went off the wheel." But Hutchinson had other ideas.
He was hardly one of those footballers discovered and groomed by a great club in adolescence. Born in Derby, standing half an inch over 6ft and weighing a couple of pounds short of 13st, he was playing non-league football for Cambridge United when the Chelsea manager Dave Sexton bought him for a modest £5,000.
Yet he adapted with remarkable speed to the demands of the First Division, in which Chelsea then figured, in his first season, making 26 appearances and scoring no fewer than 16 goals. He was a physically challenging and courageous player, formidable in the air and, perhaps, more formidable still with his huge throw-ins, reminscent of the prewar Chelsea left-half Sam Weaver, a renowned specialist.
Early in November 1968, soon after he had joined the club, Hutchinson looked no more than modest when coming on at Stamford Bridge as a substitute in a dire match against Coventry City. But within a fortnight, he was a powerfully effective striker, praised in one report for his "muscular opportunism." He was the perfect foil for that other noted striker Peter Osgood, a player technically more talented, but ideally complemented by an attacker as bold and unselfish as Hutchinson.
Chelsea captain Ron Harris paid warm tribute to him. "If you got a ball down the line, he was so brave. He used to go where other players feared to go. He was a 110% player."
Never more so, surely, than in that 1970 Wembley final, played on an atrocious, heavily sanded pitch, suffering the depradations of the horses which had so recently capered on it. Though a notable finisher, Hutchinson was well capable of figuring in the leading-up play, and it was after a neat exchange of passes with the Chelsea mid-fielder Johnny Hollins that, on 38 minutes, Hollins crossed, Osgood shot, and Jackie Charlton desperately cleared from the Leeds goalmouth.
Soon after that, Chelsea scored a much more fortuitous goal, in which Hutchinson was again involved. He headed on Eddie McCreadie's high cross, Peter Houseman shot - and the erratic Welsh keeper Gary Sprake let the ball squeeze away from him and into the goal.
Leeds were, however, 2-1 ahead when, on 86 minutes, Hollins, receiving a free kick from Harris, curled in a cross from the left - and Hutchinson, typically brave, plunged to head the ball wide of Sprake and into the near corner for 2-2. He had outshone Osgood himself.
So to the first replay ever engendered by a Wembley final. It took place at Old Trafford, and it was one of Hutchinson's mighty throws from the left that gave Chelsea the Cup at last, in extra time. David Webb rose to the ball, and it glanced in, seemingly off his shoulder, to make the score 2-1.
Wembley seemed to suit Hutchinson. In the FA Charity Shield there the following August, when Everton were the opponents, he had a memorable first half in which he was described as "a kind of one-man Panzer division". Inevitably perhaps, he faded in the second half, yet came to life again to score Chelsea's spectacular goal in a 1-1 draw. Keith Weller crossed high from the right; it looked certain that Everton's goalkeeper Gordon West would clutch the ball, but, with a stupendous jump, Hutchinson beat him to it and back-headed the ball into the net.
Altogether, he made 144 appearances for Chelsea, scoring 58 goals. His last season with them, before injury forced his retirement, was in the Second Division, to which they had descended in 1975, when he scored just three goals in 18 league games.
He is survived by his partner Elaine.
· Ian Hutchinson, footballer, born August 4 1948; died September 19 2002
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