IO CHELSEA PLAYERS WITH THE HIGHEST APPEARANCES FOR THE CLUB .PART 2;
The next player i am going to talk about is PETER PHILIP BONETTI.He is the second player with the highest appearances for Chelsea football club.
Bonetti was born in London on 27th September 1941. He was a goal keeper. He made 729 appearances for the the club. Chelsea signed him from the Reading youth team by the then manager Ted Drake. He helped the Chelsea youth side win the FA YOUTH CUP in 1960, few weeks after he had made his first team appearance. From 1960 he became the club first team keeper, a position he held for nineteen years.
In Bonettis's second season as a Chelsea player, they were relegated after which Tommy Docherty was appointed as the new manager . Bonetti established himself as a key figure in Docherty's talented young side that helped the club gained promotion back into the first Division. They challenged for honours throughout the decade, and endured several near misses. They were heading for a treble of League, FA CUP and League cup in 1965 but, a late slip in form saw them beaten by Liverpool in the FA CUP and their tittle challenge ended with a few games left. They ended the season winning only the League cup.
The following season Bonetti put in an impressive displays against the likes of AS Roma, AC Milan, and FC Barcelona in Chelsea's Fairs cup, although they were knocked out of the competition in the semi-finals. At the end of that season another keeper, ALEX STEPNEY was signed. Alex briefly threatened Bonetti's position as the club's choice keeper that he(Bonetti), considered putting in a transfer request. Alex was sold to Manchester United few months later after having made only one appearance for the club.
In 1967, they eventually reached the FA CUP final where they lost to Tottenham Hotspur in a match that Bonetti could do little to stop Spurs from winning. Dave Sexton replaced Docherty as the manager and led Chelsea to another FA CUP final in 1970, this time against the reigning champions Leeds United. Bonetti had what was perhaps the finest moment of his playing career in the two fiercely contested games where he put in a series of impressive displays especially in the second leg where he denied both Peter Lorimer and Terry Cooper from scoring after Chelsea had taken a 2-1 lead. Chelsea held on to their 2-1 lead to win the match. That same season Bonetti was voted runner-up in the FWA(football writers association) footballer of the year awards.
In 1971, the team won their first major European trophy; the UEFA CUP WINNERS CUP, after a replayed final against Realmadrid in Athens. It would be important to remember that it was Bonetti's inspired performance that helped Chelsea held on to a 2-1 win after they had took a 2-0lead in the replay. That was the last trophy he won while at the club. They failed to build on their success as a result of financial and disciplinary problems within the club, and in 1975 Bonetti left on a free transfer to join the ST. LOUIS STARS of the North American soccer league. That year he helped the American side top the central Division that summer and reach the play-off semi-finals. He played a total of 22 games for them that year. He then returned return to Chelsea where he helped new manager Eddie Mc creadie's side gain promotion in 1976-77. He played his last game for Chelsea in a 1-1 draw with Arsenal in may 1979.
After leaving Chelsea he moved to the Isle of Mull where he became a postman . Later , he briefly came out of retirement to play several games for Dundee United. Retiring from playing, Bonetti moved into coaching and had spells with Chelsea, Manchester City and the England national team.
