Bobby Blue

Archive article from March 2010 - Bobby Tambling (18/9/1941-3/6/2026)

 

Frank Lampard recently claimed his 146th Chelsea goal and will soon pass both Peter Osgood and Roy Bentley to become the club's third highest goalscorer of all-time, but he still has a long way to go to achieve his ambition of beating the record set by former Waterford striker Bobby Tambling who netted 202 times for the Londoners. While the story of the other Bobby (Charlton)'s sojourn in Waterford is well-known, younger fans may not be aware of the season that one of Chelsea's greatest players spent with the Blues in 1977/78.

Sussex-born Tambling amassed his record tally in just 370 games for 'the other Blues' between 1958 and 1970. He was an instant hit with the fans at Stamford Bridge having scored the winner in a derby against West Ham when making his debut as a 17 year old, but it was in 1961 that he truly established himself replacing the Milan-bound Jimmy Greaves as the team's main attacking threat. Two years later, aged 21, he became the youngest captain in English league history to gain promotion to the top flight - scoring an incredible 35 goals in the process. His career continued on an upward path as he scored in both the 1965 League Cup final (a 3-2 aggregate win over Leicester) and the 1967 FA Cup final (losing 2-1 to Spurs).

Bobby was capped just three times by England (scoring against France in a European Championships qualifier) , but was a member of the preliminary squad for the 1966 World Cup and many at the time felt he was very unlucky not to make the final cut. The disappointment didn't interfere with his goalscoring exploits as he scored five goals in a match against Aston Villa that September - equalling a First Division record. He was transferred to Crystal Palace for £40,000 in 1970 and is considered one of the greats of Selhurst Park too. The highlight of his stay was his two goals in the San Siro as Palace humbled Inter Milan 2-1 in the 1971 Anglo Italian Cup.

 

 

In a move which shocked many in English football, the 31 year old quit the Eagles in 1973 to move to Ireland. Bobby was a committed Jehovah's Witness and left for evangelical duty in Cork. This didn't keep him from football though and on the advice of his former Chelsea team-mate Paddy Mulligan, he signed for Cork Celtic. Playing alongside Blues legend Alfie Hale at Turner's Cross, he was part of Celtic's only league-winning side and had his first experience of the European Cup.

Waterford manager John McSeveney signed Tambling in 1977 and he lined up with the likes of Peter Thomas, Johnny Matthews and Sid Wallace in what could be described as a transitional Blues team. He represented Waterford in a League of Ireland selection which lost 2-1 to the national side (including Giles, Brady, Heighway and Givens) in Dalymount Park that September and again when the League side travelled to face Argentina in April 1978 just two months before the hosts won the World Cup. Having scored 8 goals for the Blues, he left at the end of the season for Shamrock Rovers and, later, Cork Alberts before retiring in 1979.

Aside from Lampard's pursuit of his goalscoring record, Bobby has also been in the news lately due to the demise of Cork City. He was City's first manager when they were founded in 1984 although he only lasted a disastrous 13 games before he was sacked. He still lives in Crosshaven and managed the local Munster Senior League side in recent years. In 2004, Chelsea opened the Bobby Tambling suite in Stamford Bridge and he has been selected by the fans in their all-time greatest eleven.

So listen out in weeks to come when Lampard passes the 150 mark of Osgood and Bentley and thoughts turn to Bobby Tambling's 202 goals. Remember that the hero of the Chelsea Blues also got the chance to play his part with 'the real Blues'.