Product Description

In a 16-year career spent with Chelsea and Southampton, goal-scoring legend Peter Osgood made 560 appearances, scoring 220 goals and winning two FA Cup-winner's medals. He was part of the victorious Chelsea side that defeated the mighty Real Madrid in the 1971 European Cup-Winners' Cup final and is the last player to have scored in every round of the FA Cup, including the final. "Ossie" tells the story of the career and the extraordinary roller-coaster personal life of the man who spearheaded a team that made as many headlines off the field as on. The truth about the hard-drinking and hard-living antics of these Kings Road dandies - Hudson, Cooke, Baldwin and company - has never before been told. Osgood tells of his strained relationship with manager Dave Sexton, which resulted in his and other stars' departures, triggering a decline in Chelsea FC's fortunes that took some 20 years to reverse. He recounts his experiences in the Mexico World Cup of 1970 and is brutally honest about the challenges and problems faced by ex-footballers as they attempt to adjust to life in mainstream society. Notwithstanding the popularity of contemporary players such as Zola and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Osgood is still feted, loved and sung about by the fans. Although many of them have never seen him play, he still represents a golden era for many Chelsea supporters, while for others he personifies the club itself.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #319768 in Books
• Published on: 2003-10-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

Customer Reviews

good fun
Written in the breezy style which epitomises the subject and laced with many excellent anecdotes, this is a entertaining and sometimes compellingly honest football biography which nicely brings back to life a well remembered period
There are few deep thoughts about the game or life in general but ossie nicely comes across as someone who does not and has not taken himself or life too seriously.
Thankfully, unlike many of these bios, match descpritions are kept to a minimum and my only complaint about this excellent rea isthat it should and could have been longer.

The funniest football book of the year
As a player Peter Osgood had style, humour and flamboyant talent - qualities he has managed to transfer to the printed page. I am not a Chelsea fan but I loved this book because it transported me back to the 1970s, for me, an innocent but exciting time. His rise and fall and subsequent stabilistion is recalled candidly and with great humour. Barely a page is turned without raising a laugh. Typical of the throwaway lines is the following on his appearance in front of the elderly bigwigs at the FA on disciplinary charges: "the smell of Werthers Originals was overwhelming".
However parts of the book are excruciatingly sad. Talking about visiting his old team-mate Ian Hutchinson in hospital as his life ebbed away: "I wanted to throw the big fella over my shoulder and take him home with me. I want my Hutch back".