View from our legends | Chelsea at Stamford Bridge – David Howells special

As our fans hardly need reminding, it was a feat we didn’t repeat again until 1 April, 2018.

Who saw that run coming? Chelsea had been relegated in the 1987/88 season, won the Second Division title in 1988/89 and promotion back to what was then the First Division for 1989/90. We finished third that season and, spearheaded by Gazza and Gary Lineker, won the FA Cup in 1991, under the leadership of Terry Venables.

Chelsea finished fifth in 1989/90 and then, as this run started to build, 11th, 14th, 11th, 14th, 11th and 11th again before regularly hitting the top six regularly in the mid to late 1990s.

Even after leaving us in 1998 and retiring in 2006, Howellsy was constantly reminded of our Bridge of sighs. “Various journalists would phone me and say, ‘oh, did you know you scored the last time Spurs won at Stamford Bridge?’ and I’d say, ‘yes, of course I know – you phoned me last year mate’!”

With that in mind, we spoke to Howellsy about it anyway…

First up, when we won at Chelsea in 1990, this wasn’t a ‘thing’, was it?

David: “No, of course not. I can't remember how we'd got on the season before (we’d only lost once at the Bridge in the previous 10 years). I think they were newly promoted, actually, so we hadn't really played Chelsea that often.”

Can you paint our fans a picture of the Chelsea you remember from when you broke through in the mid-1980s?

David: “It was always a big game, no doubt about it. Chelsea were newly promoted (they were in Division Two from 1979/80 until returning to the First Division in 1984/85) and they’d been a bit up and down. So, first up, we weren’t that used to playing them. Stamford Bridge… I remember going there as a schoolboy in 1982, the year we also beat them in the FA Cup quarter-final. It was a lot different, nothing like the stadium or the club it is today. They used to have cars parked around the edge of the pitch! You’d take a run up to take a corner and you're bumping into a car! At that time, we were miles ahead – we’d won trophies in the early 1980s, they’d struggled – it was massively different in those days.”

What do you remember about the game in 1990?

David: “It's such a long time ago, but I think it was a game where we were disappointed for them to get level because we should have gone on from 1-0 and won comfortably. From what I can remember, it was against the run of play that they got the equaliser. It felt like justice that we'd got the win late on, even though it was very late on, because I felt like we were quite a bit better than them.”

It must have been frustrating to see this run at the Bridge build, initially as part of the team up until 1998, then it being constantly highlighted that you scored when we won there in 1990…

David: “Absolutely! I was delighted when we won there in 2018. You can’t put your finger on it. I remember going to Stamford Bridge and losing 4-3, a real ding-dong. I remember the one where Gomes looked to have stopped a shot going over the line (Frank Lampard) but the goal was given after we’d gone 1-0 up, then we end up losing 2-1 late. We’d been close, drawn a few times, things have gone against us – there’s just no rhyme or reason to it.”

Last question – how do you see it playing out this time? What’s key for us?

David: “I think we're going to be competitive, for sure. I think off the back of the away performance at Man United and getting the win under our belts against Coventry on Monday night, I feel like we should go there with plenty of confidence. It feels like we're in a good place - Deki coming back, Madders getting his goal in his first start, there's some really good news and positive vibes around the place. Chelsea have found a bit of form, but I like us at the moment. I think away from home against a team that's going to come at us, that might suit us as well. I expect quite an open game, hopefully we can defend well and take our chances… I'm pretty sure we can score there and come away with something.”