Having produced a weekly podcast with my Chelsea hero, Kerry Dixon, for a couple of years now, Kerry has become part of the FanCast family. It has, for a long time, amazed me that while we have banners in the stadium (all supporter funded and produced) for Peter Osgood, John Terry, Frank Lampard, Bobby Tambling and Didier Drogba, we have never had one for Kerry.
This is a guy, remember, who was the best player in the side for 9 years; in a period when we were as likely to get relegated as we were to challenge for the top 5 (as it was then). More than that Kerry for years was Chelsea’s second highest all time goal scorer with 193 goals, behind Bobby Tambling with 202. Kerry was relegated to number three in the all time list by a certain Frank Lampard a couple of years ago, but his achievements for the club and the loyalty he showed us should not be forgotten. More than that he is a bona fide Chelsea legend.
Why no banner then?
Well I can’t answer that, but thanks to the contributions of the Chelsea FanCast Patreon members who contribute payments to support the shows every month, we have been able to fund a banner for Kerry Dixon, which as you can see from the picture displays Kerry’s famous goal celebration from his favourite Chelsea goal scored against Arsenal at Highbury in 1984 on Chelsea’s return to Division One. It also bears the legend 193 to mark the number of goals Kerry scored for Chelsea. Why have we written this as One 93? Well the chant we universally used for Kerry back in the day was “One Kerry Dixon, there’s only one Kerry Dixon”, so it seemed appropriate to write it this way to portray the double meaning of it.
Finally, to make it ours, we have included the Chelsea FanCast logo (the pint of Guinness with Celery in it also known as a Chelsea cocktail.
The banner was designed and produced with the help of our friends from Chelsea Chicago who have long helped the We Are The Shed boys produce their superb displays in the Shed End. Given that we have so many Chelsea friends and listeners in America, it is very appropriate that we’ve worked together on this.
The guys will be bringing the banner with them for the Chelsea v Bate Borisov match and we plan to hang it permanently on the wrap around between the lower and upper tier of the Matthew Harding stand. It will be positioned in the left hand corner (looking toward the goal).
I hope you look out for it on match days, camera angles permitting, and every time you see it remember that it was your support of the Chelsea FanCast that made it possible.
I have already shown the picture of the banner to Kerry and he was truly humbled that we still support him to the extent that we do. He asked me to pass on his thanks to you all.
I would also like to thank you all for your continued support of the Chelsea FanCast both through listening to our shows and to contributing to Patreon. It is and has always been very much appreciated.
Best and Up The Chels
Stamford Chidge
