7th May 1988. Chelsea 1 (1) (Durie (pen) 16) Charlton Atletic 1 (0) (Miller 65) Stamford Bridge Att:34,174
Chelsea: Hitchcock, Clarke, Dorigo, Wicks, McLaughlin, Pates, Nevin, Bumstead, Dixon, Durie, C Wilson (West 68). Unused sub: K Wilson.
Charlton: Bolder Humphrey, Reid, Mackenzie, Shirtliff, Miller, Stuart (Mortimer 64), Leaburn, Bennett (Jones 46), Lee, Crooks.
Referee: D Reeves (Uxbridge).
Penalty awarded against Humphrey for a foul on Durie, which was later proved to be outside the area.
Leaburn was knocked unconscious during the second half and had to be restrained by colleagues when he came round.
Play Offs: A vital match for both clubs. Charlton had to avoid defeat to miss the dreaded play-off for a second successive season, and Chelsea needed to win. As a result, Chelsea dropped out of the first division when they were beaten by Middlesbrough in the play-off final.
Referee Reeves said after the game "In 13 years as a match official and eight years on the line, I have never been involved in a more tension filled match".
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Comments
We seemed to be about three miles away on the away terrace when Max Miller had the deflected shot that looped in just under the bar!!!
I remember Bolder making an unreal save from a Durie free kick and late on they should have had a penalty when Shirtliff clattered into Colin West but the ref waved play on.
It was Steve Wicks that knocked Leaburn out with a punch from behind and apparently Carlo wanted to square it up afterwards and brave boy Wicks shit himself on the spot and would not come out of the Chelsea changing rooms.
Incredible stuff even just listening.
Two chelsea in the upper tier give it the large one & "w" signs at us. Up pops two old bill who we could see but they couldn't , so we return the sign communication. This made the two chelsea fans go apeshit and more jestering took place followed by a tap on the shoulder for the two of them.
He was winding me up rotten after Durie's 'penalty' went in and baiting me about Charlton returning to their 'rightful place in Division 2'.
Miller equalised and the silence from him was deafening.
I gave it large to him all the way home......hehehe!
Incidentally, that Chelsea side contained 3 players who later went on to play for us - Bumstead, Pates & McLaughlin.
He got sacked by Charlton for spitting at an opponent.
As I recall the Chelsea fans did storm the Charlton end - in the first half, and after the match we were kept behind for what seemed liked ages only to be finally released into weirdly deserted streets.
I got rather drunk that evening in a pub in Little Argyll Street.
The Boro game was much, much worse they all came pouring out of the Shed and ran towards the Boro fans in the away end, it was complete mayhem.
Can we have three from yesterday's Chelsea team please?
I started the game in the seats and was moved to the away terraces for my own safety . Three of my friends remained to face some Chelsea thugs.
Yes I know there was an unpleasant side to Paul Miller , but as Garth Crooks said post match that day was made for him . Probably one of the best individual performances that I have seen by a Charlton player . He certainly knew how to mix it that day
Wicked deflection for Paul Millers goal. Dont know if he was a thug but most clubs had someone like him and more, with some dirty jobs to do and somebody had to do them.
Think it was Cascarino who he spat at in a future game, in which case probably a waste of saliva. Brave of Lennie to take a stand at dismissing him though, dont think many managers would have in a similar situation, given our resources at the time.
No it was Andy Thorn (ex palace and wimbledon centre half) who he allegedly spat at against Newcastle United (2-2 draw) in 1988/89 at Selhurst Park.Also Paul Miller was not sacked. We sold him to Watford for a fee. Not sure how much but we did receive a transfer fee.
Correct, I am pretty sure that following his sending-off in that game that Lennie announced that Miller would "never" play for Charlton again - and he was true to his word.
OK I stand corrected. Perhaps we could say he was encouraged to leave. Just took it from an earlier post that he was sacked. I do remember he went on to Watford but didnt remember if there was a fee.
He was effectively sacked from the first team by Lennie but not by the club itself (very, very hard to actually sack a player).
If there was a fee from Watford it would have been very low!
Cascarino I remember claimed it was him on a radio show a while ago, so perhaps Paul Miller did it more than once?
I remember Cascarino saying in his book that one of the Turkish players spat at him after they beat Ireland in a Euro/WC play-off game just before he retired, he does not mention Miller in his book but that does not mean it did not happen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elEnkcp6RcE
Fortunately, all my mates jumped up around me to make it look like we were contesting a decision. I spent the last 25 minutes crapping myself, expecting to be tapped on the shoulder at any point. The most stressful game I'd been to before the '98 final!
If we lost that Leeds game I don't know if Charlton would have survived