SILVER BIRCH
Ex-Chelsea star backs Leicester
TWO WEEKS before Christmas every year, Alan Birchenall receives a Christmas hamper from Chelsea – not bad considering he left in the summer of 1970.
It is just one reason why Chelsea will always hold a special place in his heart, but not enough to stop him rooting for Leicester to beat them in the FA Cup final on Saturday.
Birchenall, 75, is ‘Mr Leicester’ after a 50-year association with the club where he has transcended from player, between 1971 and 1977, to club ambassador.
“I get a hamper every single year. That’s class isn’t it? That just shows quality, that a club as big as Chelsea still think about me,” says ‘Birch’.
“But no disrespect, I’d love to come back up the motorway with the cup.
“There’s only one love for me and that’s Leicester
City. I’ve seen us win the Premier League and, hopefully, now the FA
Cup.”
Birchenall, right, missed Chelsea’s epic FA Cup final against Leeds in 1970, which they won 2-1 after extra-time in a replay at Old Trafford, after receiving a cut on his knee against Wolves, recalling: “I’ve got horrific memories of that final. A razorsharp stud had gashed my knee open and I knew I wasn’t going to make it. “I’ve still got the scar to this day. I walked out at Wembley and it was the biggest disappointment of my life, and not just because I wasn’t playing.
“As young boy I’d grown up dreaming of playing at Wembley because the pitch was so incredible. But it was terrible. “They’d had The Horse of the Year Show on it and it was completely chewed up. I went on the open-top bus tour. There was no medal. I got a pair of gold cufflinks and the Chelsea lads kept me involved but you just don’t feel part of it.”