Peter Osgood

[OFFSIDE! 0]

Hi,

I''ve recently been doing a bit of research on well-known sporting figures from down the years. I''ve been looking to gather as much information as possible on players from an older generation and have encountered two problems. The first of which is that there isn''t a great deal of information knocking about, and secondly, and this is my biggest stumbling block, I''m not looking for all the glitz and glamour side of things. I''m after the side that you don''t often hear about, which brings me to Peter Osgood''s loan spell at Norwich. I''ve asked the same question on Chelsea message boards, and now I''m wondering if anybody on here could please tell me about his brief stint with the Canaries. Anything you can remember, if he looked good, if he looked past it, if you saw him out on the lash around the city, anything!

Any information you could give me would be very much appreciated, and would be of great value to me.

Thanks very much in advance

Steve

[AndyJR 0]

For general infromation relating to Ex Canaries, you could do worse than take a look here....

http://www.ex-canaries.co.uk/

[OFFSIDE! 0]

Thanks very much, on first (and brief) viewing there doesn''t seem to be much on there for Osgood. It could well prove a valuable website for me, however. Thank you

In the mean-time, if anybody else can remember anything about his time at the club, or indeed at Chelsea or in America, I''d be very grateful.

 

[AndyJR 0]

And of course there''s always the font of all knowledge (true or not).........

Peter Osgood

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Peter Osgood
Personal information
Full name	Peter Leslie Osgood
Date of birth	20 February 1947(1947-02-20)
Place of birth	Windsor, England
Date of death	1 March 2006 (aged 59)
Place of death	Slough, England
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Playing position	Striker
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1964-1974 1974-1977 1976-1977 1978 1978-1979	Chelsea Southampton Norwich City (loan) Philadelphia Fury Chelsea	279 (103) 126 0(28) 003 00(0) 022 00(1) 010 00(2)
National team
1970-1973	England	004 00(0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

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 in the early 1970s.

Contents [hide] 1 Playing career 1.1 Chelsea 1.2 Southampton, Norwich and return to Chelsea 1.3 England 2 Retirement 3 Career Statistics 4 Honours 4.1 As a player 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Playing career

[edit] Chelsea

Born in Windsor, Osgood was signed by Chelsea as a junior and made his debut as a 17 year-old in the League Cup, scoring both goals in a 2-0 win against Workington AFC

on 16 December 1964. The buzz surrounding the tall, skilful teenager''s

goalscoring for the club''s reserves - 30 goals in 20 games going into

that month - was already immense and it was only a matter of time

before he became a regular first-teamer.

Following an end-of-season tour of Australia

during which Osgood scored 12 times in eight games, the

centre-forward''s next senior match was the 22 September 1965 4-1

victory over AS Roma in the Inter-City Fairs Cup

(a violent encounter dubbed "the Battle of the Bridge"). A run in the

league followed, bringing seven goals, including one involving a

60-yard run past a trail of Burnley players.

The teenager was soon hailed as a possible late call-up for Alf Ramsey''s 1966 World Cup

squad, having been included in the original 40-man squad announced in

April 1966, but he was not included in the final 22. He was taken to

the hearts of the Chelsea faithful, who nicknamed him "the Wizard of

Os".

A broken leg suffered in a challenge by Blackpool''s Emlyn Hughes in the League Cup on 6 October 1966 seriously curtailed his progress, and he missed Chelsea''s first-ever Wembley FA Cup final on 20 May 1967. Without him the Blues lost to Tottenham Hotspur 1-2.

It was a major disappointment for this big-stage player yet ''Ossie''

returned from the injury an equally graceful - if tougher - player. His

vision and physical presence were recognised by new manager Dave Sexton

playing him often as a midfielder, but it is as a goalscoring

centre-forward that he is best remembered.

In total, Osgood made 380 appearances for The Blues, scoring 150 goals. He was one of only nine players to score in every round of the FA Cup (and, to date, the last to do so), helping Chelsea to victory in a replayed final against Leeds United in 1970. He scored Chelsea''s equaliser in the second game at Old Trafford with a diving header from Charlie Cooke''s chipped pass twelve minutes from full time; his side eventually won 2-1.

In 1971, Osgood was part of the Chelsea team which lifted the European Cup Winners'' Cup, defeating Real Madrid 2-1 in Athens,

where he scored Chelsea''s second, decisive, goal. In 1972, he scored

for Chelsea in a major cup final for the third consecutive year - this

time the League Cup - though they lost 1-2 to Stoke City. Chelsea declined as a major force thereafter, but Osgood continued to score regularly; his volley from outside the area against Arsenal in the FA Cup quarter-final was voted goal of the season in 1972-73.

[edit] Southampton, Norwich and return to Chelsea

Following a series of disagreements with manager Dave Sexton over his lifestyle (during which supporters picketed Stamford Bridge to demand he stay) Osgood, along with several of his team-mates, was dropped from the squad and placed on the transfer list. He was sold to Southampton in March 1974 for a club-record £275,000. During his time on the south coast, he won the FA Cup again in 1976 after a famous 1-0 victory over Manchester United.

He left Southampton in November 1977, shortly before the club were

promoted. He scored 36 goals in 157 games for the Saints. Towards the

end of his career, he also had a brief loan spell at Norwich City.

Osgood returned to Chelsea in December 1978 following a disappointing stint in the United States with the Philadelphia Fury, where he scored only 1 goal in 23 matches for a team which also included Alan Ball and Johnny Giles. On his return to Stamford Bridge, the club were in deep decline and facing a relegation battle. He again scored on his debut to put his team ahead, though Chelsea still lost 7-2 to Middlesbrough. He stayed with the club for the rest of the season before retiring in December 1979.

[edit] England

In spite of his talent and goalscoring prowess, Osgood''s England career was surprisingly limited, with England manager Alf Ramsey apparently disapproving of his playboy lifestyle. As a result, he only won four international caps, without scoring. Osgood made his England debut in February 1970 in a 3-1 win over Belgium. He was a member of the 1970 World Cup squad, making two appearances against Czechoslovakia and Romania as a substitute.

[edit] Retirement

After football Osgood''s life never lacked incident. For a time in the early 1980s he ran a pub in Windsor, the Union Inn, with his old strike partner Ian Hutchinson

but it was an ill-starred venture. As one of its favourite sons he was

dismayed to be banned from Stamford Bridge, along with many of his

1970s colleagues, by chairman Ken Bates for perceived criticism of the club in the 1990s. In 2003 he was grateful to the Abramovich regime for his rehabilitation, and returned to his role as a hospitality host on matchdays.

Osgood was commonly called "Ossie" and also earned the nickname "The King of Stamford Bridge"

due to his exceptional skills as a player as well as his personality

and status. Osgood was known as a charming and confident man, and on

the pitch he had the slight touch of arrogance found in great football

players. Few things summarise his status as well as a T-shirt worn by Raquel Welch,

one of the greatest movie stars of the era. The T-shirt simply said "I

scored with Osgood". To this day, Peter Osgood''s status in the London

club is unrivalled.

His autobiography ''Ossie - King of Stamford Bridge'' written with Martin Knight and Martin King was released in 2003 and in 2004 Osgood appeared in a cameo role in the British film The Football Factory.

Prior to his death on 1 March 2006 following a heart attack at a family funeral,

he was involved in football related media work and was well known on

the after dinner speaker circuit. Three weeks before his death he had

enjoyed a standing ovation when presented to the Stamford Bridge crowd

at half-time of a match.

At Chelsea''s first home game after Osgood''s death, against local rivals Tottenham,

there were many tributes as well as a minute''s applause. Many of his

former team-mates were in attendance and the matchday programme ran a

tribute to him. The atmosphere was one of joyous remembrance, and in

keeping with this theme Chelsea ran out 2-1 winners after a closely

contested match, thanks to an excellent last minute goal by William Gallas.

In a memorial service on Sunday, 1 October 2006, Peter Osgood''s

ashes were laid to rest under the penalty spot at the Shed End of

Stamford Bridge. Over 2500 fans attended the memorial service and they

were joined by former managers, chairmen, players, colleagues and

current Chelsea players^[1]. In December 2007 in a 4-4 draw against Aston Villa, Andriy Shevchenko scored the first penalty kick at the Shed End since Osgood''s ashes were buried there.

[AndyJR 0]

He also has his own website....

http://www.peterosgood.co.uk/

[OFFSIDE! 0]

Now this is my stumbling block, and why I''ve come to fans who will have seen. His own website will hardly say he was crap in the latter part of his career, but I need to know if he was. Wikipedia is good for alluding to things, but I need to explore what they hint at from there, and that''s why I''m here, amongst other places.

[OFFSIDE! 0]

That website is very good for some other information though, thanks a lot :)

[As my login causes problems [ :o) ] 0]

Speaking from a fading memory, he was definitely still class when he played for us.

We had a run of getting in a number of very good players in the latter stages of their careers and that was why he was bought in.  He was however overweight with a noticeable belly that us fans put down to beer but I can''t factually prove it.

He played a Sheringham type role of flicking on and did set up some good moves.

However the weight and a feeling that he really didn''t want to run much probably led to his stay being quite  short.

 

There must be others who remember him as well.

[SNAP 0]

My lasting memory of him was playing for Chelsea against us in a cup game. It was the debut (I think) of a lad called Steve Govier at the back for us. Two minutes into the game across came Osgood''s arm and the elbow went straight into young Steve''s face. "Welcome to the big boys game", was the message. Although I seem to remember that it didn''t put the lad off his game too much.

[......and Smith must score. 1,588]

For what it''s worth, SNAP, I do remember his very short loan spell - he played only three games I think - quite well.

Osgood came from the '' hard '' school of 1960''s/70''s players of which Chelsea had their fair share. When he arrived at Norwich it was obvious that he was in the twilight of his career and he made little impact in the few weeks he was at Carrow Road.

As a Chelsea player he had clashed with Dave Stringer in a League Cup game leaving Stringer with - I think - a nasty leg injury. Because of that he was roundly booed when he made his home debut against West Ham on 10th November 1976. Norwich fans had never forgiven him for crocking their favourite which is why I can''t recall any debut player in a Norwich shirt receiving such a hostile reception at Carrow Road. He had some nice touches and there was still some class there but because of his fitness and the Stringer incident he was never going to win over the fans and he left a few weeks later.

Rumour had it that he had a long running battle with the bottle so running a pub in Windsor was not perhaps the smartest move he ever made. I believe he also ran into financial trouble over failed business ventures, but this was after he retired, and his last job before his death was as a corporate match day host at Stamford Bridge.

[nutty nigel 7,902]

[quote user="......and Smith must score."]

For what it''s worth, SNAP, I do remember his very short loan spell - he played only three games I think - quite well.

Osgood came from the '' hard '' school of 1960''s/70''s players of which Chelsea had their fair share. When he arrived at Norwich it was obvious that he was in the twilight of his career and he made little impact in the few weeks he was at Carrow Road.

As a Chelsea player he had clashed with Dave Stringer in a League Cup game leaving Stringer with - I think - a nasty leg injury. Because of that he was roundly booed when he made his home debut against West Ham on 10th November 1976. Norwich fans had never forgiven him for crocking their favourite which is why I can''t recall any debut player in a Norwich shirt receiving such a hostile reception at Carrow Road. He had some nice touches and there was still some class there but because of his fitness and the Stringer incident he was never going to win over the fans and he left a few weeks later.

Rumour had it that he had a long running battle with the bottle so running a pub in Windsor was not perhaps the smartest move he ever made. I believe he also ran into financial trouble over failed business ventures, but this was after he retired, and his last job before his death was as a corporate match day host at Stamford Bridge.

[/quote]

That''s how I remember it. He was a player we always booed whenever he was in town. For those who don''t remember he was held in similar regard to Kevin Muscatt in more recent times. I guess Bondy thought there may be something left in his locker but he was a crock by the time he came here and I don''t remember any noteable contribution. In fact all I do remember is he got booked!

 

[patrickhiggins 0]

Played in a home win over West Ham 10/11/76, a midweek 3-1 defeat at Bristol City 20/11/76 and a 1-1 home draw against Villa on the 27th. My book says we did not play again till 18/12 which is why he only had 3 games. It credits him with setting up Boyer''s goal in the Villa match. We had just signed Viv Busby and he had made a great start and Ossie was to fill in for his injury...our only other striker to partner Phil Boyer was the very inexperienced Roger Gibbins, a free transfer from Spurs. My memory is of a slightly overweight player with classy touch but immobile.

[dylanisabaddog 6,131]

[quote user="......and Smith must score."]

For what it''s worth, SNAP, I do remember his very short loan spell - he played only three games I think - quite well.

Osgood came from the '' hard '' school of 1960''s/70''s players of which Chelsea had their fair share. When he arrived at Norwich it was obvious that he was in the twilight of his career and he made little impact in the few weeks he was at Carrow Road.

As a Chelsea player he had clashed with Dave Stringer in a League Cup game leaving Stringer with - I think - a nasty leg injury. Because of that he was roundly booed when he made his home debut against West Ham on 10th November 1976. Norwich fans had never forgiven him for crocking their favourite which is why I can''t recall any debut player in a Norwich shirt receiving such a hostile reception at Carrow Road. He had some nice touches and there was still some class there but because of his fitness and the Stringer incident he was never going to win over the fans and he left a few weeks later.

Rumour had it that he had a long running battle with the bottle so running a pub in Windsor was not perhaps the smartest move he ever made. I believe he also ran into financial trouble over failed business ventures, but this was after he retired, and his last job before his death was as a corporate match day host at Stamford Bridge.

[/quote]

 

The incident with Stringer happened in a League Cup tie at Carrow Road in 1971/72 (I think) which we lost 1-0.  It was one of the worst fouls I have ever seen.

The chant on the night was "Osgood, no good"

The injury to Stringer was so bad that Ron Saunders persuaded the EDP to publish a photo of Stringer''s thigh, which had a perfect imprint of Osgood''s studs.

I was one of many people who booed Osgood every time he touched the ball in a Norwich shirt.  Thankfully, he didn''t stay here long.

[OFFSIDE! 0]

Who regarded him similarly to Muscatt? Norwich fans or the country?

A very big thank you to everybody who has already contributed, this information is exactly what I''m after.

 

[nutty nigel 7,902]

[quote user="OFFSIDE"]

Who regarded him similarly to Muscatt? Norwich fans or the country?

A very big thank you to everybody who has already contributed, this information is exactly what I''m after.

 

[/quote]

I doubt it was the country. Like Muscatt''s tackle on Bellamy, Osgood''s tackle on Stringer made the Canary fans angry. In fact the rest of the country probably were less aware of it than in Muscatts''s case.

 

[They need to EARN the right to play us 0]

[quote user="nutty nigel"][quote user="OFFSIDE"]

Who regarded him similarly to Muscatt? Norwich fans or the country?

A very big thank you to everybody who has already contributed, this information is exactly what I''m after.

 

[/quote]

I doubt it was the country. Like Muscatt''s tackle on Bellamy, Osgood''s tackle on Stringer made the Canary fans angry. In fact the rest of the country probably were less aware of it than in Muscatts''s case.

 

[/quote]I should think it was all right thinking people everywhere. He was a nasty dirty individual who got away with it because he played for a "big" club.

[Theres only one Ken Foggo 0]

I read in Ossie''s autobiography that his last game of his loan spell should have been away to Everton in December 1976 but the match was postponed because of an icy pitch after City had already travelled to Goodison Park. Apparently Ossie was left stranded at Goodison Park after John Bond told the coach driver to leave for home without him!