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Chelsea Fc in the Swinging '60s: Football's First Rock 'N' Roll Club
Author(s): Greg Tesser (Author)
- Publisher: The History Press
- Publication Date: 1 Aug. 2013
- Edition: Illustrated
- Language: English
- Print length: 240 pages
- ISBN-10: 0752486268
- ISBN-13: 9780752486260
Book Description
Kings Road was the place to be in the 1960s, and their residents Chelsea Fc were the original fashionable football club. More than forty years after Chelsea conquered Real Madrid in a dramatic European final, Greg Tesser relives the days when he was Britain’s youngest football agent. He tells of his first meeting with club vice-chairman Richard Attenborough and how Peter Osgood became a Tv star, thanks to one of the creators of Coronation Street. It was an era of glamour when soccer and showbiz came together for the first time. When the likes of Michael Crawford and Raquel Welch sat in the antiquated Stamford Bridge stands to marvel at the élan and flair of Charlie Cooke and The King of Stamford Bridge himself, the legendary Peter Osgood – even Steve McQueen got in on the act by visiting the changing-rooms before kick-off. Football, fashion and rock and roll – here’s what it was really like at Stamford Bridge in those heady times.
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About the Author
Born in Highgate, North London in 1946, he joined music public relations company Press Presentations in 1964. Based in Denmark Street – ‘Tin Pan Alley’ – he acted as PR for the likes of The Yardbirds, Georgie Fame, Zoot Money and Screaming Lord Sutch, eventually going solo the same year, and taking Georgie Fame, The Yardbirds (Eric Clapton was an integral member of the band at the time) and Zoot Money with him. In 1965 published ‘Penalty’, a one-off football magazine. Later that same year, produced the first edition of ‘The Amateur Footballer’, a magazine devoted to the world of the amateur game. This was an era in which over 70,000 would attend an FA Amateur Cup Final at Wembley. The magazine prospered, and during its five years of existence, rose to prominence, thanks to its exposure of ‘Shamateurism’ – illegal cash payments to amateurs – which led to an ITV mini-documentary in 1969 and the eventual abandonment by the FA of the distinction between amateurs and professionals. Following a meeting with Peter Osgood in the late 1960s to finalise a ‘rock style’ poster of the Chelsea star, he became the iconic striker’s agent and business partner. He also represented Charlie Cooke and QPR legend Rodney Marsh. He has written for a diverse range of magazines and newspapers, including, ‘The Daily Telegraph’, ‘The Guardian’, ‘Vogue’, ‘Soccer Star’ and ‘World Soccer’. During the late 1990s, he began a series of celebrity interviews for ‘Esquire’ and ‘GQ’ with Prince Philip, Tony Blair, the-then Archbishop of Canterbury George (now Lord) Carey and former Home Secretary Jack Straw. All were on the subject of their individual passion for sport. These days, he writes on all matters sporting and country-based for ‘Country Life’ and ‘The Field’. Has written for ‘The Rugby Paper’, having also been a regular contributor to ‘Rugby Times’. Greg also writes for ‘New Europe’, the Continent’s leading English-language weekly business and political newspaper. In 1995, he worked on BBC Television’s definitive history of football, ‘Kicking and Screaming’. Having co-hosted both football and rugby programmes on ‘BBC Somerset’ since 1994, he continues to be a regular on that station. Also co-hosted FA Cup shows on ‘BBC London’ during the 1990s with Garth Crooks.
