Alan Hudson

Born and brought up near the King's Road, Hudson was initially rejected by the club he supported as a boy, Fulham, before signing schoolboy terms with Chelsea. Injury denied him the chance to become Chelsea's youngest-ever player, aged 16, and he eventually made his senior debut nine months later on 1 February 1969 in a 5–0 loss against Southampton. Hudson found himself in a Chelsea side noted for its flair and skill, complete with equally flamboyant footballers such as Peter Osgood and Charlie Cooke. It was during the 1969–70 season that he established himself as the team's creative playmaker, in the midfield of a 4–2–4 formation alongside the more defensive John Hollins, creating goal opportunities for Osgood and Ian Hutchinson, and enabling Chelsea to finish 3rd in the First Division.

Hudson played in every match in Chelsea's run to the FA Cup final in 1970, but then missed the final itself due to another injury when they beat Leeds United 2–1 in a replay at Old Trafford, having drawn 2–2 at Wembley. He did, however, play a major role in Chelsea's replayed European Cup Winners' Cup final win against Real Madrid in Athens a year later. Chelsea lost 2–1 to Stoke City in the 1972 League Cup final at Wembley, before which he sang with the rest of the squad on the club's 1972 record Blue Is the Colour, which peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart. The club's debt burden caused by the building of a new East Stand at Chelsea resulted in the failure to replace key players, and a spiral of decline began. At the same time a falling-out with manager Dave Sexton resulted in both Hudson and Osgood being placed on the transfer list in January 1974. Within a month, Hudson had joined Stoke City for a then club record of £240,000.[2]

Stoke manager Tony Waddington saw Hudson as the final piece of the jigsaw that would turn Stoke City into genuine championship challengers in 1975.[2] Hudson's debut for Stoke against Liverpool on 19 January 1974 was described by former Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Stan Cullis, commentating on radio, as the finest debut performance he had ever seen. Allowed a free rein by Waddington, Hudson combined brilliantly with Jimmy Greenhoff and their form sparked a run of only two defeats in 19 games at the end of the 1973–74 season. Manager Waddington described Stoke's style of play at the time as 'the working man's ballet', a title which Hudson used for his autobiography in 1997.[2] Off the pitch Hudson was a regular drinker, often staying at nightclubs until the early hours of the morning and even opening his own club in Newcastle-under-Lyme. He was enjoying the form of his career at Stoke and in his first two years at the Victoria Ground he missed only one game out of 162, and helped Stoke set a club record 23 home games undefeated from December 1973 to December 1974.[2] Stoke almost won their first league title in 1974–75 finishing four points off Derby County in top spot. Hudson then played 40 times in 1975–76. In January 1976 a strong storm caused considerable damage to Stoke's Victoria Ground, and to pay for the expensive repair costs they had to sell off their playing staff and, in December 1976, Hudson was sold to Arsenal for £200,000.[2]

He helped Arsenal reach the 1978 FA Cup Final, playing at Wembley Stadium in the final which they lost 1–0 to Ipswich Town; but fitness issues and personal differences with the Arsenal manager Terry Neill meant that made only 36 appearances over his two seasons at Arsenal before he was sold to Seattle Sounders of the NASL for £100,000. He was 27 years of age. He had previously been linked to Spanish side Alicante in November 1977,[3] with a reported £200,000 deal on the table.

In the autumn of 1978, Hudson signed with the Cleveland Force of the Major Indoor Soccer League.[2] He returned briefly to Chelsea on a non-contract basis[2] when John Neal signed him in August 1983. Hudson played for the Chelsea Reserves (in the Football Combination League) but partly due to illness and injury he never played in the first-team.[4]

He re-joined Stoke City for £22,500 in January 1984 after Bill Asprey had consulted Waddington on how to help Stoke avoid relegation in 1983–84.[2] Stoke picked up 33 points in 17 games and clinched survival with a 4–0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on the final day of the season but in[2] 1984–85 were relegated with a record low points tally.[2] Hudson was named captain by Mick Mills for the 1985–86 season but a knee injury forced him to retire in September 1985.[2]

Source:[9]

• PFA Team of the Year (First Division): 1974–75, 1975–76[13]