Some of the names on this site are ones that will be well-known to Chelsea supporters up and down the land. Others, meanwhile, will only really be known to those who are familiar with the ins and outs of the club’s history over a long period of time, and it is that bracket that Gordon Bolland fits into. He will be much more familiar with the likes of Norwich City and Millwall fans, given the fact that he made more than 100 league appearances for the former and nearly 250 for the latter. Even so, he is certainly a part of Chelsea’s fabric, having arrived at the club as a teenager.
Part of Chelsea’s Youth Team
Gordon Bolland was born in the Lincolnshire market town of Boston on the 12th of August 1943. As a decent striker, he joined the youth ranks of his local club in Boston United, doing well enough to earn himself a move to Chelsea when he was a teenager. He was part of a talented group of Chelsea youngsters who progressed in the FA Youth Cup, playing alongside names such as Terry Venables, Ron Harris, Peter Bonetti and Bobby Tambling as the side made it to the final of the competition in 1960. There they defeated Preston North End by a score of 5-2 to win it.
A year on and the youngsters were at it again, once more facing a much-loved team from the north of England in the final in the form of Everton. Once again, the Blues scored five goals in the final, this time conceding three instead of two. That was enough to secure their second successive FA Youth Cup, with Bolland having been the man to score the goals through their journey to yet more silverware. He would have been forgiven for thinking that he would be a shoo-in to be part of the Chelsea first-team, as was the case for many of the players that he appeared alongside.
Failing to Make the Grade at Stamford Bridge
In spite of Bolland’s obvious goalscoring exploits, he was never really considered to be good enough to make it into the Chelsea first-team. It was proof that scoring in the likes of the Reserve League and the FA Youth Cup wasn’t the same as making it at the top end of the game. Ultimately, his time at Stamford Bridge came to an end having made just two appearances for Chelsea in the league. He was released in the March of 1962, signing for Leyton Orient as a result. He played with the Orient in the club’s only season in the top-flight and scored 19 goals in 64 games for the club.
In 1964, Norwich City chose to pay Leyton Orient £31,500 in order to secure Bolland’s signature. It proved to be a wise move, becoming a regular player for the club and scoring 29 goals in 105 league appearances. From there, Bolland returned to London with Charlton Athletic, but that proved to be a short stay and he was bought by Millwall for £10,000 in 1969.
Gordon Bolland, Millwall#MFC #Millwall #Lions pic.twitter.com/lqIbIXREL4
— Football Memories (@footballmemorys) January 27, 2022
It was with the Lions that he’d found his home, being a fast and skilful striker who could drop into the midfield if needed. On the 16th of October 1971, he scored a goal that won Match of the Day’s ‘Goal of the Month’ competition.
Retiring From Football
During his time at the Den, Bolland scored 62 goals across 244 league games, including that ‘Goal of the Month’ screamer against Bristol City. During the 1972-1973 season, he netted nine goals across seven consecutive league games. In total, he spent seven years with Millwall, eventually being inducted into the club’s Hall of Fame. In 1975, however, he left the club in order to sign with the first team that he’d ever played for, Boston United. It allowed him to return to the market town of his birth, where he became the club’s player-manager after a year with the Pilgrims.
That only lasted for a season, however. Bolland retired as a player and manager in 1977, walking away from the club and football in general when his time there reached its natural conclusion. It is a shame that Bolland never made it with Chelsea, given the fact that he had performed so well with the youth team. He had scored 108 goals in 127 games between the 1958-1959 season and the 1961-1962 campaign, including a youth match hat-trick against London rivals Tottenham Hotspur. In the end, though, he will be better remembered as a player for other teams rather than Chelsea.