Thursday 23 January 2020

1984: Chelsea's Robert Isaac is stabbed

Sheffield United's Oli McBurnie recently made headlines when he was caught making obscene gestures during Swansea's visit to South Wales rivals Cardiff City. The former Swansea player was reminded of his responsibilities by both the FA and club manager Chris Wilder, and although his attendance did raise a few eyebrows, it was quite refreshing to see a football player with an obvious connection to one of the clubs he represented in the past.

Heavy security surrounding the South Wales derby meant that McBurnie and his fellow Swansea supporters would have been shipped in and out of the Welsh capital, reducing the chances of trouble between the rival sets of fans. The experience for McBurnie would have been a whole lot different in the distant past.

One ex-professional footballer who could vouch for this is Robert Isaac. The 18-year-old was living the dream. In his formative years Isaac had attended matches at Stamford Bridge and made the trip to Wembley for the 1972 League Cup final. Progressing through the youth system, the centre back was on the fringes of the Chelsea first team as the 1984/85 season progressed.

October 9, 1984 would prove a life-changing moment for Isaac; it was almost life-ending. The Chelsea-Millwall League Cup 2nd round clash always had the potential for trouble, and so it would prove. The first leg saw 37 arrests made, with police running a constant battle to keep the situation under control. Chelsea’s 3-1 win almost became a footnote.

The return leg at the Den saw Chelsea fans attacked as police tried in vain to shepherd them back to the train station after the 1-1 draw. Mounted police and riot shields were used in an attempt to quell the disorder. But it would be an incident involving Isaac prior to the kick-off that made most of the headlines the following day.

Making his way to the match with some friends, Isaac realised that they were heading towards the home end with their away tickets – to guarantee segregation, the police had issued Millwall fans with blue tickets and Chelsea with red – and the group made the decision to split into twos, in order to sneak under the radar. Unfortunately, getting to the away end involved a walk down a dark alley, an unenviable task to say the least.

It was at this point that the trouble commenced. Greeted by a group of Millwall fans, Isaac takes up the story in Kelvin Barker’s Celery! Representing Chelsea in the 1980s. “They had asked me if I could name Millwall's reserve goalkeeper, which at the time I knew,” Isaac revealed. “I knew who it was, but the words just wouldn't come out, and I've since realised that was one of their things they did to catch out opposing fans.”

Isaac’s indecision was to prove costly. Immediately set on by the group, the young footballer managed to escape the attackers – being a professional footballer obviously helped in this regard – but not before he had been seriously injured.

Slashed by a knife during the altercation, Isaac knocked on a few doors for help, his blood-soaked clothes giving an indication of the severity of the attack. Cut from his shoulder to the base of his spine, Isaac was eventually taken to Lewisham hospital and given 55 stitches to repair the damage.

It could have been even worse had it not been for the clothing that Isaac wore that night. Wearing a friend’s leather jacket possibly saved his life. “The jacket helped take some of the impact,” an ambulanceman informed the press. Without this, there was every chance that Isaac’s lung may have been punctured.

Discharged the next day, Isaac managed to play in a reserve team match against Oxford just a week later. Although still in discomfort and using padding and Vaseline whilst playing, by March 1985 the incredible story had a happy ending. Making his debut for Chelsea in a 3-1 win over Watford, Isaac’s emotional day completed his astonishing comeback.

Isaac played a few more matches for Chelsea over the next couple of seasons, but by 1987 disagreements with manager John Hollins and coach Ernie Walley led to a transfer request, and a move to Brighton. Sadly, a knee injury would end his career, with Isaac turning his hand to chauffeuring.

Did the incident at Millwall have a detrimental impact on Isaac’s football career? On the one hand, he made his debut later in that season, and he would play again for Chelsea. But goalkeeper Eddie Niedzwiecki expressed his view in Celery that Isaac was a significant turning point in the young man’s life.

“He was a young, up-and-coming apprentice at the time and luckily he managed to pull through, although he never really recovered from it. It was a nasty incident and, in my opinion, I feel it really did affect him.”

Isaac’s love for the club remains, though. Despite an unhappy atmosphere forcing him to seek a move away, the man who started supporting Chelsea as a boy still attends matches at Stamford Bridge as much as he can. He may have endured a nightmare on October 9, 1984. But just pulling on a Chelsea shirt once made his dreams come true.


No comments:

Post a Comment