1984: Pat Nevin and that penalty

We all had our footballing heroes during our childhood. Maybe Jorginho was a big Pat Nevin fan, and he would spend hours reading about the diminutive Scottish winger and his time at Stamford Bridge. Certainly the tribute act performed by the Brazilian against West Ham last weekend would suggest this.

Jorginho's weak effort saved by Lukasz Fabianski immediately got many of us older football lovers rewinding our memory banks back to Nevin's tame attempt at the same ground on November 21, 1984. Fortunately for both Jorginho and Nevin, their awful misses did not matter ultimately. But it doesn't stop smart-arse bloggers like me writing a few words on the subject.

The 1983/84 season was a joy for Chelsea followers who had seen the club go perilously close to dropping down to the third tier the year before. Under John Neal, Chelsea would win the Second Division title and return to the top flight for the first time in five years. There were a few spots of bother along the way, though.

For some reason, scoring penalties became an issue for the team. Despite Kerry Dixon netting 34 goals in his first season at the club, Chelsea started to get the blues whenever an opportunity presented itself from 12-yards out. The fun and games began on December 27, 1983, against Portsmouth.

Twice Dixon stepped forward against Alan Knight. The Pompey keeper saved his first effort in the 29th minute, with Dixon then striking the crossbar in the second half. To top it all, Dixon had also conceded an 11th minute penalty from which Portsmouth scored in the 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge.

Dixon's pain did not stop there. Four days later he would see Joe Corrigan save his penalty at the same ground, and even though Chelsea won 1-0, Dixon was understandably concerned. "I was sickened because I never believed I would miss three penalties in a row," he admitted. 

Tony McAndrew took over penalty responsibilities after Dixon's 1983 Christmas troubles, and he would score twice from the spot, with Nigel Spackman also successful in a 3-3 draw at Cardiff. Spackman would then miss against Shrewsbury, and although Nevin did put one past Knight in the return match against Portsmouth, his miss against Grimsby on the final day of the season was the next instalment in Chelsea's penalty struggles.

Back in the big time, Colin Lee would then try and find creative ways of fluffing his lines for Chelsea. West Ham's Tom McAlister saved a penalty in Chelsea's 3-0 win at Stamford Bridge with Lee putting in the rebound, but the kick was retaken due to the keeper moving off his line. The pair then went through the same routine again, only the goal stood on this occasion.

Although he had missed twice in the same match, Lee found himself stepping up away at Newcastle in November 1984. This time he put his kick wide, meaning Chelsea were now searching for another willing volunteer. And this is how we arrive at Nevin and that penalty against Manchester City.

Chelsea were lucky in one regard; most of these missed penalties were in matches that were either won or drawn, the exception being Lee's episode at St James' Park. It would be a small crumb of consolation for Nevin, as he failed miserably in the Milk Cup fourth round tie at Stamford Bridge, that his team were 4-0 up at the time.

The penalty awarded was soft, with City's keeper Alex Williams penalised for bringing down Paul Canoville. But if the decision was weak, then this had nothing on Nevin's attempt. Fortunately it did allow us to hear a great example of the brilliance of commentator Barry Davies.

"They haven't had a good record, last season and this, with taking penalties," Davies said, as if he knew what was coming. Nevin, taking the shortest run-up imaginable - if you can call it a run-up - took his right foot back before almost apologetically rolling the ball through the mud towards Williams' left.

 

 

It barely reached the goal. Indeed, when Fulham's Ademola Lookman unsuccessfully tried a Panenka for Fulham in the last minute of their match at West Ham in November 2020, Nevin jokingly tweeted that at least Lookman's penalty reached the keeper. As the groans filled the west London sky back in 1984, Davies was in his element.

"Nevin....Oh, dear oh dear, I don't believe it," Davies sighed, the tone of his voice leaving us in no doubt that he was appalled at what he had just seen. "I hope I'm not being too unkind to Pat Nevin, a player of undoubted quality. But that has to be the worst penalty I've ever seen at this level of football."

He was not alone in his criticism. The Times' Stuart Jones described Nevin's attempt "as casual and feeble as can be imagined" and it was hard to disagree. Chelsea did win 4-1, with Dixon scoring a hat-trick, but Chelsea's penalty angst continued for the rest of the 1984/85 campaign.

Dixon managed to score two penalties in the same match against QPR, before missing against Manchester United and Sheffield Wednesday. David Speedie scored at Leicester before failing in a crushing home defeat against Third Division Millwall in the FA Cup. Mickey Thomas netted at Sunderland but - you're probably getting the pattern here - he then struck the bar at West Brom.

In total, Chelsea would have a dirty dozen of missed penalties in the 1983-85 period, an unclean baker's dozen if you count Lee's two kicks at Newcastle. But it would be Nevin's aberration that would stick in the memory. 

Obviously the fact that it was on Sportsnight and is now readily available to watch regularly on YouTube has done him few favours. Yet the rest of us should be grateful that this clip has become one of the many memories of football in the 1980s. And as Nevin has proved himself, even he sees the funny side in possibly the worst penalty ever taken at Stamford Bridge before Jorginho entered that unappealing competition.