The list of England managers isn’t a long one, so the list of former Chelsea captains who went on to manage the Three Lions is even shorter. Terry Venables is very much on that list, though, and led the England national side during Euro ’96’, which is considered by many to be one of the most exciting tournaments that the Three Lions played in. Although his time at Chelsea ended on something of a sour note, not least because of the fact that he left the Blues to join Tottenham Hotspur, he is still considered to be a Chelsea legend by many. Not only a scorer of big goals but also a player who knew how to lead others.
Terry Venables’ Honours as a Chelsea Player
| Season | League Titles | Domestic Cups | European/International Cups |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1964-1965 | – | League Cup | – |
Who Was Terry Venables?
Born Terence Frederick Venables on the sixth of January 1943, the man who would go on to become known as ‘Terry’ grew up on Valence Avenue in Dagenham. He was the only child of his parents, Fred and Myrtle, with his father being a member of the Navy. Myrtle, meanwhile, was Welsh, having coming to Essex from Clydach Vale. His father had to wait several months to be granted leave to see him after his birth. When Terry was 13-years-old, his parents moved to Romford in Essex in order to run a pub. This resulted in the youngster being sent to live with his grandparents, Milly and Ossie, who were the ones that got him interested in football in the first place.
After playing football in the streets with his friends, his nan would congratulate him and say he was the best, which obviously filled him with confidence. His grandad, meanwhile, would chastise her and tell her not to get his hopes up. The good-cop, bad-cop routine worked, with Venables and soon he was representing the county at football. This saw him earning caps for the England Schoolboys team, which saw clubs like Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United and Manchester United looking to gain his signature. Yet it was Chelsea that he decided to sign for, becoming an apprentice with the club in the summer of 1958.
Joining Chelsea
Venables signed for Chelsea at the age of 15, making the choice to join the Blues over other teams because he believed that that presented him with a better chance of breaking into the first-team. Not only that, but Chelsea coaxed him to join by offering his father a role as a scout on a part-time basis. He was offered a professional contract in 1960, but delayed signing it because he wanted to try to join the Great Britain Summer Olympics team. When he discovered that he wasn’t going to be picked for the squad, he signed is professional papers and helped Chelsea to win the FA Youth Cup in successive seasons.
The first win came thanks to a victory over Preston North End, with the second, in 1961, seeing the Blues defeat Everton. His Chelsea debut came before that, appearing in a 4-2 loss to West Ham on the sixth of February 1960. When Tommy Docherty joined the Blues as a player-coach in the September of 1961, replacing Ted Drake as the manager a month later, Venables was one of several youth players that were promoted by the new manager. They became known as ‘Docherty’s Diamonds’, with the manager having an important influence over Venables’ career, in spite of the fact that the player thought he was tactically limited.
At the end of the 1961-1962 season, Chelsea were relegated out of the First Division. A second place finish in the following campaign saw them bounce straight back into the top-flight, but it was the start of a tumultuous time for the club. The 1963-1964 season resulted in a third place finish in the First Division, whilst Venables decided to take his FA coaching badges when he was just 24, passing with a 95% mark and a distinction. It was part of the reason why Docherty decided to make him the club captain after Frank Blunstone, with his tactical intelligence and leadership being important qualities that he admired.
Being Chelsea Captain
Chelsea progressed to the final of the League Cup in the 1964-1965 season, with Venables as captain. He took the responsibility onto his shoulders when the Blues were awarded a penalty in the first leg of the two-legged final against Leicester City. It put the Blues 2-1 up, with an equaliser coming from James Goodfellow before Edward McCreadie scored the winner. The second-leg finished 0-0, meaning that Chelsea won the competition 3-2 on aggregate and Venables was able to lift his first silverware with the captain’s armband on. The Blues also made it to the semi-final of the FA Cup, but lost to Liverpool.
With three games left of the season, Chelsea had an outside chance of winning the title. In order to do so they would have to leapfrog Manchester United and Leeds United, but when the Blues lost the first of their three games against Liverpool at Anfield, it looked as though their chances were gone. Docherty had given players permission to go out after the match, but when the 2-0 defeat was confirmed he reversed that decision. Venables, however, decided to still go out, breaking curfew with George Graham, Barry Bridges, John Hollins, Marvin Hinton, Eddie McCreadie, Joe Fascione and Bert Murray. It was the beginning of the end of his time at Chelsea.
Leaving the Blues
Upon their return to the hotel, Docherty informed all eight players that they were suspended for the last two games of the campaign. When Chelsea lost 6-2 to Burnley in their penultimate game, he decided to bring the players back in. It made no difference, with the Blues also losing on the final day to Blackpool. For Venables, though, the damage was done and he never forgave Docherty. He said that the punishment was ‘crass, stupid and self-defeating’. Towards the end of the 1965-1966 season, Docherty put Venables on the transfer list and he left to join Tottenham Hotspur, playing his first game for them on the ninth of May 1966.
In a spot of fate, Spurs made it to the FA Cup final in 1967, with their opponents being Venables’ former team. Tottenham won the game 2-1, which Venables might not have been too pleased about. Earlier in the season, Venables had placed a £25 bet on Chelsea to win the cup with odds of 25/1, meaning he stood to win £500 if Spurs had lost. That was the same fee that Venables was paid as a bonus for the cup win, but tax deductions meant that he’d have been financially better off if they had lost. For his own part, Venables didn’t enjoy his relationship with the Tottenham manager, Bill Nicholson, and felt that he was unloved.
Life After Chelsea & Spurs
Tottenham’s form dropped year-on-year that Venables was there, so on the 20th of June 1969 the manager decided to accept an offer of £70,000 from Queens Park Rangers for his signature. QPR were in the Second Division at the time, but when Gordon Jago was appointed as manager he allowed Venables to oversee training. The club gained promotion at the end of the 1972-1973 campaign, but Venables’ time as a player was drawing to a close. He signed for Third Division Crystal Palace in 1974, making 14 appearance in the 1974-1975 season before retiring on the New Year’s Eve on account of his arthritis.
He went into management with Crystal Palace, gaining promotion to the Second Division and then the top-flight. He left in the October of 1980 to join QPR, with whom he once again gained promotion. His reputation saw him wanted by Barcelona and he won the Spanish league title in 1985 and the Copa de la Liga the following year. In 1987 he took over as Tottenham Manager, then in 1994 he was given the England manager’s job. He helped the Three Lions to each the semi-final of Euro ’96, losing to Germany on penalties. The latter days of his career saw him manage Crystal Palace again, Middlesbrough and Leeds United.