Much loved former Chelsea player and manager John Hollins has died today at the age of 76.
After coming through the youth academy, the box to box midfielder made an amazing 592 appearances for the club over more than ten years, scoring 64 goals in the process. That makes him the 5th top appearance maker ever for the club.
He was also the club’s youngest ever captain when he led them out against Notts County in a League Cup game in 1964 aged just 17 – an even more astonishing feat in those times.
Hollins then returned as a player coach in the 1980s, and was a regular at Stamford Bridge ever since, where there is a hospitality suite named for him.
While his role in the team was often overshadowed by more glamorous names like Peter Osgood and Charlie Cooke, the appearances speak for themselves, and Hollins was a key cog in Chelsea’s famous teams of the late 60s and early 70s. Rest in peace, John Hollins.
