There aren’t many footballers whose professional experience is limited to just two football clubs, but that is exactly what Frank Blunstone experienced during his career. Whilst his name might make him sound like a private detective in some sort of novel, he was actually a talented outside-left player who began life playing for his hometown team of Crewe Alexandra before making the move to Chelsea in 1953. He stayed with the Blues for 11 years, racking up more than 300 league performances before deciding to retire as a player. He wasn’t done there, though, and tried his hand at management in both England and Greece.
Frank Blunstone’ Honours as a Chelsea Player
| Season | League Titles | Domestic Cups | European/International Cups |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1954-1955 | First Division | – | – |
Who is Frank Blunstone?
Would you be surprised if you read a Raymond Chandler novel called Frank Blunstone Investigates? Probably not, which is what gives the former Chelsea captain a real sense of mystique that didn’t really fit with his true personality. Born on the 17th of October 1934 in the Northern railway town of Crewe, Frank Blunstone was offered terms by Wolverhampton Wanderers as a young player. Wolves were a well-respected club at the time, so it was seen as something of a surprise when he chose to turn them down in order to sign with his home town club of Crewe Alexandra as a talented youth player.
Signing for Chelsea
Blunstone signed professional terms with Crewe in the early part of 1952, putting in some impressive performances that earned him admiration from the wider Football League. The fact that he was achieving these performances in Division Three North is an admirable point that very much goes in his favour. One of eight brothers and five sisters, the £10 signing-on fee offered by Chelsea to acquire his services made a big difference to his life. Not that the wages at the time were considered opulent, of course; the £7,500 he was paid by Chelsea were the same wages he was on at Crewe Alexandra.
What the move to Chelsea gave him, though, was a chance to enjoy some success that he almost certainly wouldn’t have been able to achieve with his hometown club. He endeared himself to Chelsea fans immediately on account of the fact that he managed to score the winner in a 3-2 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in front of the White Hart Lane supporters. That was in the February of 1953, with Blunstone having to balance his appearances with the club with the national service that he was carrying out at the time. He played just 11 times in the first few months of his time with the Blues, scoring twice.
Settling in to Life at Stamford Bridge
By the time that Blunstone’s second season at Chelsea came around, he had begun to be something of a fixture for the side. He made 32 league appearances during the 1953-1954 campaign, scoring three times. Better things were to come, however. The 1954-1955 season proved to be one of the most momentous in Chelsea’s history, with the Blues winning the First Division title for the first time. Appearing alongside the likes of Terry Venables, Jimmy Greaves and Bobby Tambling, Blunstone played 23 times in the league and three in the FA Cup as Chelsea lost just ten times on their way to becoming English champions.
They finished the season on 52 points, four points clear of Wolverhampton Wanderers in second place. Even as there Blues ended up winning the title, Blunstone was still having to carry out his national service, which seems remarkable in the modern era. He was finally released from duties in the late autumn of 1954, with an unbeaten run following. Ted Drake, the manager at the time, promoted a hard-working ethos from his team, with the players needing to demonstrate a high level of fitness in order to be chosen. The title was secured thanks to a 3-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday, who were themselves relegated at the end of the season.
His Chelsea career was interrupted when he broke his leg, but when he returned to the side he continued to be a key player in setting up goals for the club’s forwards. Jimmy Greaves loved playing with him, once saying that he had a heart ‘the size of a cabbage‘. Unfortunately for Chelsea, the good times didn’t last. The year after winning the title the club finished 16th, which was something of a sign of things to come. A 13th place finished followed, then 11th, 14th, 18th, 12th and finally relegation when the Blues ended the 1961-1962 campaign in 22nd place. Blunstone, meanwhile, had been made captain in 1959.
Leaving Chelsea for Management
Having spent his career balancing both national service and playing for England, earning five caps for the Three Lions that included a debut against Wales when he set up two goals, Blunstone’s time as Chelsea captain wasn’t quite the success-filled era he might have hoped for. Regardless, he was an important part of the team that came second in the Second Division at the end of the 1962-1963 season, cementing his place as a key member of the Chelsea side of the era. He played 34 league games during the campaign, following that up with another 41 appearances the season after to suggest he could still have plenty to offer.
Unfortunately, though, fate had other ideas. A second leg break in 1964 meant that Blunstone had to make the difficult to decision to retire as a player, having notched up 347 appearances in all competitions for the Blues, scoring 54 goals. He was immediately offered a position on the Chelsea staff, giving him the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of what it takes to be a football coach. He worked with the youth team at Stamford Bridge for seven years, which made him an attractive proposition for Brentford. The Fourth Division club offered him the manager’s role, which he decided to take a risk and accept.
Blunstone the Manager
Life was not easy for Blunstone at Brentford. The club had just 16 professionals and a part-time trainer, who also ran a newsagent’s in Ealing. In spite of the fact that they played in the Fourth Division, they regularly got gates that averaged in the region of 12,000. The big problem was that the club lacked any sort of ambition. Blunstone approached the Chairman to ask if there were any plans to start a reserve team or a youth team, but he was turned down. Blunstone told him he’d been offered a role with his former manager Tommy Docherty at Manchester United, which was a position that he promptly took.
He was offered the Chelsea managerial role, but the club was in something of a pickle at the time and Docherty offered him the same money to stay on the coaching staff of Manchester United, so he did. When Docherty moved to Derby County, Blunstone went with him. For a time he worked with Jack Charlton at Sheffield Wednesday before the opportunity presented itself for him to work with the Greek side Ethnikos Piraeus. After a year there he moved to Aris Thessaloniki, then in 1984 he returned to Brentford in order to work with Fred Callaghan. When he was sacked for Frank McLintock, Blunstone decided to call it a day.