Pre-Season Briefing – part two: Milestones, regulations and more

On 22 October it will be 60 years since Bonetti’s predecessor Reg Matthews made the last of his record nine penalty saves, against Burnley (22 October 1960).

13 November 2020 will be the 75th anniversary of the epic friendly visit of Moscow Dynamo to the Bridge (13 November 1945).

November also brings the 60th anniversary of the Blues’ all-time record victory in the League Cup: 7–0 away to Doncaster Rovers in round three (16 November 1960).

Forty years ago, between December 1980 and May 1981, Chelsea failed to score in 19 of 22 matches at the end of the Division Two campaign, slipping from second in the table to 12th.

In January 2021 it will be 10 years since striker Fernando Torres joined Chelsea from Liverpool for a club record fee (31 January 2011).

February brings the 30th anniversary of Chelsea winning 2-1 to inflict Arsenal’s only league defeat of the season (2 February 1991).

In February 2021 it will be 30 years since heartache for the Blues again in the club’s fifth ever League Cup semi-final (24 and 27 February 1991).

25 March will be the 110th anniversary of Chelsea competing in the semi-finals of the FA Cup for the first time, and at only the sixth attempt (25 March 1911).

On 5 May it will be a seventy years since a 4-0 home victory over Bolton produced Chelsea’s ‘great escape’ with a goal average just 0.044 better than relegated Sheffield Wednesday (5 May 1951).

May will mark the 50th anniversary of the 1970/71 Cup Winners’ Cup final and replay against Real Madrid (19 and 21 May 1971), the Blues’ first European triumph.

Sixty years ago, in 1960/61, Jimmy Greaves recorded the most league goals in a season for Chelsea (41).

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