Alan Hudson

Chelsea

Born and brought up near the King's Road, Hudson was initially rejected by the club he supported as a boy, Fulham, before signing schoolboy terms with Chelsea. Injury denied him the chance to become Chelsea's youngest-ever player, aged 16, and he eventually made his senior debut nine months later on 1 February 1969 in a 5–0 loss against Southampton. Hudson found himself in a Chelsea side noted for its flair and skill, complete with equally flamboyant footballers such as Peter Osgood and Charlie Cooke. It was during the 1969–70 season that he established himself as the team's creative playmaker, in the midfield of a 4–2–4 formation alongside the more defensive John Hollins, creating goal opportunities for Osgood and Ian Hutchinson, and enabling Chelsea to finish 3rd in the First Division. Hudson played in every match in Chelsea's run to the FA Cup final in 1970, but then missed the final itself due to another injury when they beat Leeds United 2–1 in a replay at Old Trafford, having drawn 2–2 at Wembley. He did, however, play a major role in Chelsea's replayed European Cup Winners' Cup final win against Real Madrid in Athens a year later. Chelsea lost 2–1 to Stoke City in the 1972 League Cup final at Wembley, before which he sang with the rest of the squad on the club's 1972 record Blue Is the Colour, which peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart. The club's debt burden caused by the building of a new East Stand at Chelsea resulted in the failure to…

Hudson won nine caps for the England U23 team. He had initially made his debut against Scotland U23 at Roker Park on 4 March 1970, but the game was abandoned due to snow after 62 minutes. He therefore went on to make his first full debut for the under-23 team on 2 December 1970, in a 0–0 draw with Wales U23 at the Racecourse Ground. Owing to a ban from international football after refusing to tour with the England under-23 side, Hudson did not make his England debut until 1975, when sparkling performances earned him two call-ups by then England manager Don Revie. He starred in the team that beat 1974 FIFA World Cup champions West Germany 2–0 at Wembley, and then in the 5–0 destruction of Cyprus. However, injuries and clashes with Revie meant that those two caps were the only ones he earned. He was called up as a late replacement by Ron Greenwood in 1978 for a match against Brazil. Hudson refused to join up as he was not in the original squad.

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His son, Anthony, is also a former professional footballer and manager. Since his retirement, Hudson has suffered a series of personal setbacks. He had problems with alcoholism and was also declared bankrupt. In December 1997, Hudson suffered multiple injuries when run over by a car while walking along a London street. He spent two months in a coma and the doctors treating him were concerned as to whether he would walk again. He has since undergone more than 70 surgical operations. He remains disabled, using crutches to walk and says "Every day now is a chore". He separated from his wife and moved back to live with his mother, but was eventually requested by the council to leave her council property when she died in 2003. He subsequently resided briefly in a hostel for the homeless. He unsuccessfully invested £150,000 of his injury compensation in a property in Cyprus, and lived with his son until 2012 and the following year he moved back into a hostel. Following the collision, he took up writing professionally. His autobiography The Working Man's Ballet was a critical success and led to work as a columnist on the Stoke Evening Sentinel and The Sporting Life. A further book The Tinker and The Talisman was self-published in 2003. In 2004 Hudson appeared as himself in a cameo appearance in the British film The Football Factory. In June 2006, he joined Radio Napa in Cyprus, where he commentated on the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. In 2008 he released his third book, titled…