Obituary - Ian Hutchinson
Paul C
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,60-421044,00.html
Ian Hutchinson
Flamboyant Chelsea striker renowned for his extraordinary throw-ins,
whose career was plagued by injury
The Chelsea striker Ian Hutchinson was renowned for his long sideburns
and even longer throw-ins — the latter reputed to be the longest in
English football at the time. It was one of his famed two-handed
“windmills” that helped Chelsea win the FA Cup final replay of 1970.
In extra time, with the score at 1-1, he launched from the touchline
one of his characteristic aerial missiles. Admittedly, it was rather
flat for his standards — and it took a deflection — but it still
confounded the Leeds United defence and allowed David Webb to thunder
in Chelsea’s winner from the far post.
A strong, galloping striker renowned for his stoicism on the field and
flamboyance off it, Hutchinson enjoyed a ripe striking partnership
with Peter Osgood, and almost matched Ossie’s average strike rate. In
his Chelsea career Hutchinson hit the net 58 times in 144 appearances,
averaging almost one goal every two games. Despite such success, he
was haunted by injury and was forced to retire in 1976 at the age of
27.
Hutchinson’s role in helping the Pensioners to overcome Leeds United
at Old Trafford in 1970 will always be remembered. But he had also
played a crucial role in helping the West London side get through the
testing first game at Wembley. With six minutes to go, Leeds had gone
2-1 up in a typically brutal encounter between the two clubs, and
looked as though they would romp home. With four minutes left on the
clock, Hutchinson headed home a cross from Ron “Chopper” Harris to
force a replay.
Again, in Manchester, Leeds went ahead, Mick Jones on this occasion
giving them a 1-0 lead. Through most of the game they dominated
Chelsea, testing their goalkeeper Peter Bonetti on numerous occasions.
With 12 minutes left, however, Osgood made it level with a flying
header, taking the game into extra time. With one minute of the first
period of extra time to go, Hutchinson’s throw-in connected with
Webb’s head at the right-hand post (though some insist the ball
bounced off his shoulder). Dispirited, Leeds could make no recovery.
A native of Derbyshire, Ian Hutchinson did not display great
footballing potential as a youngster. At school in Littleover he was
unable to progress beyond the second team and Nottingham Forest
released him after an 18-month trial. He had better luck with Burton
Albion, who eventually sold him to Cambridge United of the Southern
League, from whom in turn he was signed by Chelsea for £5,000 in 1968.
His league debut against Ipswich Town proved what a signing he had
been. One of his extraordinary long throws dumbfounded Ipswich’s
centre-half Billy Baxter, who managed to head it into his own goal,
helping Chelsea on to a 3-1 victory. When this was broadcast on Match
of the Day, it aroused considerable interest in his special powers.
“After that first throw on television, everyone went potty about it,”
Hutchinson remembered. “They asked me to go to Watford and take part
in some competition, but I didn’t fancy that. Then a professor came to
the ground and asked if he could borrow me for the day.
“He wanted to take X-rays of me, completely naked, while I threw the
ball, in pitch blackness, in a hangar. When I arrived, there were six
women assistants. ‘Hold up,’ I told him. I was just 21 and a bit shy.
He eventually got rid of them.”
At the end of the day’s experiments, for which he was paid £500, the
scientists found that Hutchinson had an extension of the spine and was
double-jointed in both shoulders. It was on account of this that he
could perform his celebrated “windmill action” — his arms revolving
rather than popping out.
Not that having the record as the longest thrower in the English
league always served him well. Many slow-motion replays showed that
some of his spectaculars had been foul throws (both feet have to be on
the ground when the ball is released). This led some Chelsea fans to
accuse Jimmy Hill of using Match of the Day to discredit their hero.
As his prolific goal record demonstrates, Hutchinson was no one-trick
pony. He shirked few tackles and combined power with grace; his
leaping header against Aris Salonika in the 1970 European Cup Winners’
Cup and his 18-yard shot into the top of Watford’s net in the FA Cup
semi-final of the same year demonstrating both these attributes.
Such tenacity came at a cost, and following the famous Leeds
encounter, he spent two years out of the game after breaking an arm
and a leg and undergoing surgery for his knee. He had masked the
effects of injuries by taking painkillers before games. Towards the
end of his career he was taking eight tablets a day for his knee. For
the Leeds games of 1970 alone, before the Wembley game he had had a
cortisone injection in his hip and at Old Trafford another injection
in his calf. “It’s every player’s dream to play in the Cup final. But
I was on so many drugs that there was no way I would have passed a
dope test,” he said. In later life he would suffer severe stomach
problems associated with his reliance on painkillers.
Meanwhile, the Chelsea manager Dave Sexton was so concerned at the
detrimental effect Hutchinson’s absence was having on Osgood’s
attitude that Ossie found himself on the transfer list. However, the
partnership was resumed, and when Hutchinson made his return in 1973
he scored twice in a 3-1 win over Norwich City. But he continued to be
plagued by injury and operations and he announced his retirement in
1976.
He later worked as Chelsea’s commercial officer and then at Brentford
as a catering adviser. He went on to qualify as a cordon bleu chef,
but at one point found himself living on social security. For a time
he ran a pub-restaurant with Osgood, with whom he remained close. They
had absconded to Spain in February 1974, for which they were fined by
the club. “He was my best friend,” remembers Osgood. “We both had
three marriages and we were best man for each other.” He enjoyed
playing golf and watching Brentford, managed for some time by his old
team-mate David Webb.
He lived in Muswell Hill, North London. He is survived by his partner
Elaine and a son by his second marriage.
Ian Hutchinson, footballer, was born on August 4, 1948. He died after
a long illness on September 19, 2002, aged 54.
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Paul
www.footballpyramid.co.uk