Chelsea’s Legendary Magician – Gianfranco Zola
All Chelsea supporters know John Terry, who we hail as “Captain-Leader-Legend”, idolise “Super Frankie Lampard” and regard the indomitable Didier Drogba with the reverence of a king. These are household names today, and will remain so for years to come. However for some of the more recent fans, the name of the great Gianfranco Zola does not necessarily hold the same significance. For them and for all those who have seen him and loved him, here’s a tribute to the “Little Magician”.
It was in 1996 during the time of Ruud Gullit, the then head coach who had started the revolution of the influx of foreign talent into Stamford Bridge, and advocated his love for “complete’ football”. Gianfranco Zola was signed for a fee of 4.5mil pounds from Parma. Prior to joining Chelsea he had spent time under arguably God’s greatest gift to football, Diego Maradona at Napoli. Many doubted what the diminutive Italian could achieve in the fast pace and the grueling intensity of the Premier League. However the man was all geared up to prove his doubters wrong.
It was a period of transition at the club and a different experience for Chelsea fans with so many non-British players playing for the side, but talents like Zola, Ruud Gullit (as player manager), Gianluca Vialli and the rest shone almost immediately after coming into Gullit’s setup. It was a reinvigorated lot with beautiful interplay, with the man Zola, right in the thick of things. It was truly a wonderful time to be at the Bridge. The team had a new found spirit and Zola was a free-scoring delight for the fans. The run to the FA cup victory in the 1996-97 was orchestrated by his brilliance; scoring from headers, freekicks, volleys and in any other way possible. By the time he was done with the first seven months of his Chelsea career, he had scored 12 goals and went on to win Chelsea’s player of the year award. With the quality of football they displayed on the pitch, the club and the players seemed in a way ineffable.