Chelsea don’t have a particularly strong connection with Irish players, and not many came straight into my mind when I thought about this article. My first thought was Damien Duff, but Chelsea have had a few memorable, and important, players. I am using ‘Irish’ very loosely here – but having played for Ireland and Chelsea is enough to qualify for this list.
I’m not here to waste your time with a very long introduction, so let’s get straight into it.
5. Tony Cascarino
Tony Cascarino was born in England to an English mother and an Italian father, but qualified to play for Ireland through his Irish grandfather from Mayo. There was some controversy in 2000 about whether Cascarino was eligible to play for Ireland at all, as he revealed that his mother was adopted and he didn’t actually hold a direct link to Ireland.
Cascarino signed for Chelsea from Celtic in 1992 and played 40 games for the Blues, scoring eight goals. His time with Chelsea was a bit of a disaster, really, and he’s not remembered particularly fondly by the club. He had much more success prior to signing for Chelsea with Gillingham and Millwall. When Cascarino left Chelsea in 1994, he revived his career in France and impressed with Marseille and Nancy.
Cascarino has 88 Ireland caps, scoring 19 goals, and went to three major tournaments: Euro 88, the Italia 90 World Cup, and the World Cup in USA in 1994.
4. Paddy Mulligan
Paddy Mulligan is from Beaumont in Dublin and a slightly interesting fact about him (I thought so anyway!) is that he was born on St. Patrick’s Day. Mulligan signed for Chelsea from Shamrock Rovers in 1969.
Mulligan was a right-back and played 58 games for Chelsea, scoring two goals. He has 50 Ireland caps to his name.
Mulligan won the Uefa Cup Winners’ Cup when Chelsea beat Real Madrid in the final in Athens in 1971. This was Chelsea’s first-ever European honour. Mulligan came on as a late substitute in the first final that finished 1-1, meaning a replay was required. The replay was played just two days later, and had a much lower attendance that the first game (40,000 vs 19,000) as many fans had booked return tickets, assuming the game wouldn’t require a replay and couldn’t afford to stay on.
Mulligan started in the League Cup final in 1972, which Chelsea lost 2-1 to Stoke City. He moved on to Crystal Palace shortly after.
3. John Dempsey
Another of our Irish Chelsea players born in England, John Dempsey has a stronger Irish connection than others as his mother was from Kildare and his father from Waterford. He had some success at Chelsea after signing from London rivals Fulham in 1969.
Dempsey won the 1970 FA Cup with Chelsea, beating Leeds 2-1 at Old Trafford, which was the first time the club lifted the famous trophy. The final required a replay after a 2-2 draw at Wembley. Dempsey played every minute of the two games, both of which went to extra time. I recommend you watch the highlights of the replay below. It was an extremely rough, almost violent, game. During the game, referee Eric Jennings gave one yellow card. Michael Oliver re-refereed the game in 2020 – and said he would have given 11 red cards if he refereed the game nowadays!
Dempsey also played every minute of the two Cup Winners’ Cup final games against Real Madrid in 1971 that are mentioned above. He scored the opening goal in Chelsea’s 2-1 win in the replay.
Dempsey made over 200 appearances during his nine years with Chelsea and has 19 Ireland caps. He left Chelsea in 1978 and signed for Philadelphia Fury in the North American Soccer League. Dempsey went on to sign for Dundalk in the League of Ireland as player-manager. He also managed Maidenhead and Egham Town.
After retiring from football, the tough tackling defender worked with people with special needs at a care centre in London.
2. Andy Townsend
Andy Townsend was born in England but was eligible to play for Ireland through his grandmother, who was from Kerry.
Townsend signed for Chelsea from Norwich in 1990 and went on to make a total of 138 appearances for Chelsea, scoring 12 goals. He was Chelsea’s Player of the Year in 1991 and was named in the PFA Team of the Year in 1991 and 1992. Townsend didn’t win any trophies at Chelsea, but secures second place on this list because of his talent. He was an exceptional player. He left Chelsea in 1993, signing for Aston Villa and also went on to play for Middlesbrough and West Brom.
Townsend has 70 Ireland caps and scored 7 goals for the Boys in Green. He played all five matches at the Italia ’90 World Cup as Ireland reached the quarter-final, their strongest-ever tournament showing. Townsend captained Ireland to the 1994 World Cup.
1. Damien Duff
Damien Duff is the most successful Irish Chelsea player and is deservedly top of the list of Irish Chelsea players. Duff was one of the first players Chelsea signed during their Roman Abramovich backed spending spree when he first bought the club, signing from Blackburn Rovers for £17 million in 2003, which was a good chunk of money back then.
Playing alongside Chelsea legends such as John Terry and Frank Lampard, Duff made a big contribution in his first season at the club as Chelsea finished second in the Premier League. This was Chelsea’s highest finish for 49 years, as they finished 11 points behind Arsenal’s Invincibles. Claudio Raneiri was sacked following a trophyless season and Jose Mourinho came in at the beginning of the 2004/05 season. Duff again had a big part to play, scoring important goals such as against Barcelona in a 5-4 Chelsea aggregate win in the Champions League last 16. He also scored the winner in the League Cup semi-final against Manchester United, which Chelsea went on to win.
Duff won the Premier League with Chelsea in 2005 – their first league title since 1955 – which they retained in 2006. Duff left Chelsea in the summer of 2006. He went on to play for Fulham, in Australia, and is now impressing as Shelbourne manager in the League of Ireland.
Duff played 125 games in all competitions for Chelsea, scoring 19 goals, and has 100 Ireland caps with nine goals to his name. Duff was voted Ireland’s Player of the Tournament as he played every game for his country at the 2002 World Cup. He also went to Euro 2012, where he won his final Ireland cap in the last group game against Italy.
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And that’s that. I hope you agree with the positions I’ve chosen, but if not, that’s fine too. We’re allowed to have different opinions. This one wasn’t the hardest though, I don’t think there’s anything too controversial in there!
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