Goode hopes it is curtains for Blues
AS CHELSEA’S abject title defence has lurched from crisis to calamity, on more than one occasion Roman Abramovich must have felt like retreating into the directors’ box and closing the blinds.
Chances are, those blinds will have been installed by Charlie Goode’s dad. This time last year, Charlie was earning a wage fitting blinds for his father’s company — which once completed a contract at Stamford Bridge — while playing for Hendon in England’s seventh tier.
Goode, 20, was released by Fulham in 2013 and returns to west London with League One side Scunthorpe United today, hoping it will be curtains for Chelsea in the FA Cup.
‘To get a tie like this in my first professional year in football is remarkable,’ says Goode.
‘I worked in the family business installing electric blinds. If we were training on a Tuesday, normally it is a 7pm start. So I’m up at 6am, getting home at 6.15pm and getting in the car to training. It was draining.
‘Dad used to give me time off to get to games, which helped me get where I am. If I’d had any other job, it could have pushed me back quite a bit.’
It has been some 12 months for the Watford-born centre back, who joined Hendon from AFC Hayes in November 2014. This time last year he was preparing for a game at Peacehaven.
His impressive displays earned a move to Scunthorpe in June and he counts Jamie Vardy as an inspiration. The Leicester striker worked making medical splints while playing for Stocksbridge Park Steels, and both men were written off as youngsters for being too small.
‘When I was at Fulham I was a right back and was so small, but technically I was all right,’ says Goode. ‘But those around me in the academy had their growth spurts earlier. I am now 6ft 4in, that’s how I’ve become a centre half. As soon as I got let go I felt like it might be it. I went the hard way. Non-League is physical so I got used to the physicality I am getting now in League One.’
Just like Vardy, Goode capped a fine year with an England debut against Ireland — in a 2-1 victory for the national semiprofessional side in Galway.
‘At the start of that season, I was playing for fun,’ he says. ‘To put the [England] kit on and get the first cap is a great experience. If I can repeat it at any level I’d love to do it.’
Today could bring a meeting with former England captain in John Terry. ‘I’m an Arsenal fan but growing up I don’t think any other centre half has done what he’s done,’ Goode says. ‘Even though Chelsea haven’t had the best of seasons he’s still looking good. He’d walk into the Arsenal side!’
Terry was rested when Scunthorpe were last in town and Paul Hayes became only the fifth opposition player to score at Chelsea under Jose Mourinho, firing the Iron into an early lead. Scunthorpe lost 3-1 but the ‘Class of 2005’ and fellow League One side Bradford have given Goode hope.
‘You never know what can happen in the FA Cup,’ he says. ‘Bradford last year scored four goals at Stamford Bridge. It’s hard to say we think we can go and win it but we’ll go in with that mentality.’
Goode’s dad Graham will be among family watching from the stands. ‘He might be able to spot some of the work he’s done there,’ Goode quips.
By tonight, perhaps both father and son will have left a lasting impression on Stamford Bridge.