Gary Chivers played for his boyhood heroes Chelsea before a successful five-year spell in the blue and white of the Albion. Gary has been working for the club in recent years in the hospitality lounges on matchdays and takes a keen interest in both of his former clubs, who meet at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday.
What are your earliest memories supporting Chelsea, Gary?
I lived in Stockwell as a kid, so my uncle took my brother and me to Stamford Bridge. I was six at the time, my brother eight, and we’d go and watch the game while my uncle took a detour to the pub! We used to meet him afterwards and he’d ask us for all the match details so when he returned home, a little worse for wear, he got away with it as he told my aunt the full details of the game! He told us both that if we didn’t tell her what had gone on, he’d keep taking us to matches! This was during the 1967/68 season when Chelsea had the likes of Ron Harris, Bobby Tambling and Tony Hateley playing for them.
How did you get to play for the club?
In 1970, when I was ten, we moved to Mitcham and it was just around the corner from the Chelsea training ground. My brother was spotted playing locally, then I followed him, and I went through the youth ranks to the first team. It was great for me because we had senior pros around like Johnny Hollins, Ron Harris and Peter Osgood who were brilliant with the young lads. It also helped that we had a reserve league [Football Combination] which was a mix of young players and experienced pros. I’d play alongside John Dempsey and Micky Droy and it was the perfect grounding to making that next step to the first team.
What do you remember about your Chelsea debut?
It came against Middlesbrough towards the end of the 1978/79 season. Danny Blanchflower was manager and I’d been pushing to play for some time. There was a report in the Evening Standard saying I was in line for my debut but Danny never picked the team until the day of the game, so I just lived in hope. I made sure my family were all there anyway and then, when we turned up on the Saturday, Danny turned to me 90 minutes before kick-off and said, ‘What are you doing at 3pm?’ I said I didn’t know as I didn’t know the team and he added, ‘Well make sure you’ve got the number six shirt on’ and that was it. We were having a bad season and had not won for ages but fortunately we won the game 2-1. I must have done okay at the back alongside Micky Droy as I kept my place for the final games of the season and we faced Aston Villa, who would go on to win the league a couple of years later, Ipswich, who had a great team, and Arsenal and Manchester United, in the days preceding their FA Cup Final appearance. It was some introduction!
Unfortunately for you Chelsea were relegated that season. Was it hard then to lift yourself for trips to Oldham and Wrexham, when you’d faced Arsenal and United?
It wasn’t hard to deal with at all, as we were still going to places like Sunderland, Birmingham and Leicester, and playing in front of 30,000 fans. It was all about keeping my focus, gaining in experience and we nearly went straight back up, finishing fourth on 53 points, just two points behind champions Leicester. I went on to play out the rest of my Chelsea career in the Second Division until the end of the 1982/83 season but didn’t see eye to eye with the manager John Neal towards the end. The contract offered to me was not what I wanted, and so it was time to move on.
How did your move to Brighton come about?
I was at Watford with Dave Bassett, but he was sacked in my one season there so I felt it was right to move on. I came down to talk to Barry Lloyd, but I’d never played in the Third Division before and that was in my mind. Barry told me about his dreams for the club and how he was trying to push it forward, but then I didn’t hear anything from them for three weeks. The next thing, I’ve received a call saying the two clubs had agreed a fee and then Barry and secretary Ron Pavey arrived at my house with just hours to go on deadline day, to sort personal terms. I signed a blank contract but with ten games of the 1987/88 season to go and the side sixth in the table, I said I wanted a promotion bonus if we went up. Barry looked shocked, but I’d looked at the remaining fixtures and I was confident we’d do it. In fact, I was more confident that Barry was and, of course, we did go up as runners-up to Sunderland with seven wins and three draws. I did receive my bonus in case you’re wondering!
You’d obviously come through at Chelsea, so how did the surrounds at the Albion compare?
The club had been through a financial crisis following their relegation from the First Division and Barry had never shown me the training ground. So when I turned up on my first day at our training ground in Angmering, it happened to be a caravan site, which was quite an eye-opener! Our kit man, Jock Riddell, who is sadly no longer with us, came in with a black sack, emptied it in the middle of the room and that was our kit! It was a culture shock to say the least but it was all made worthwhile when I ran out at the Goldstone for the first time. I had an instant connection with the place and loved playing there. It was the same with the fans, I just connected with them and they were brilliant towards me. I knew straight away that I’d made the right choice. It was a real family club and it still is with Tony Bloom in charge.
You made over 250 appearances for the club in five years, so what was the highlight?
The 1990/91 season. We played some fantastic football, with Johnny Byrne and Mike Small leading the attack. Training would start at 10.30 but we’d be in from 9am because we really enjoyed each other’s company. We would also stay behind afterwards, so good was the rapport between us. That was reflected on the pitch and against the odds we went all the way to the Play-Off Final, just 90 minutes away from the top-flight. Against Notts County it just didn’t happen for us on the day; they say the buck stops with the manager and I thought we chose a funny line-up and a system that didn’t suit the personnel. We brought the Romanian Stefan Iovan in as a sweeper which was a big ask given he’d only just come into the team and the country. He may have been a European Cup winner, but I’d been used to playing alongside Colin Pates at the back – we knew each other’s game inside out.