Eddie McCreadie

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Eddie McCreadie
0Full Name	Edward Graham McCreadie
0Date of Birth	15 April 1940
0Place of Birth	Glasgow, Scotland
Player
0Position	Left back
0Chelsea career	1962-1974
0Debut	18 August 1962
0Games (goals)	410 (5)
0Other clubs	East Stirlingshire Memphis Rogues
Manager
0Chelsea career	1975-1977
0Win percentage	37%
0Honours	None as manager
0Other clubs	Memphis Rogues Cleveland Force

Edward Graham "Eddie" McCreadie (born 15 April 1940 in Glasgow) is a former Scottish international who played as a left-back for Chelsea from 1962 until 1974. Following retirement from playing McCreadie joined the Chelsea coaching staff before managing the club for two season in the mid 1970s.

Contents 1 Before Chelsea 2 Chelsea playing career 3 Chelsea manager 4 After Chelsea 5 International 6 Statistics 6.1 Player 6.2 Manager 7 Goals 8 Chelsea honours

Before Chelsea

McCreadie started his footballing career with amateur Scottish side Drumchapel before moving to Clydebank Juniors and then East Stirling, where he made 29 league appearances, before catching the eye of English clubs.

Chelsea playing career

After turning down a move to Fulham, the Scot was signed for Chelsea in 1962 by then-manager Tommy Docherty for £5000 to help the club's push for promotion from the Second Division at the first attempt. The club were promoted that year and McCreadie became a fixture in the Chelsea defence for the next decade.

A talented and pacy attacking full-back with impressive timing, McCreadie featured strongly in the flamboyant Chelsea sides of the 1960s and 1970s alongside the likes of Ron Harris, Bobby Tambling, Peter Osgood and Charlie Cooke. While he only scored five goals for the club throughout his career, McCreadie scored a memorable winner in the League Cup final of 1965 in which he dribbled 80 yards up the pitch before slotting the ball past Leicester City goalkeeper Gordon Banks to give his side a 3-2 first leg lead. The goal proved decisive as the second leg at Filbert Street ended in a 0-0 draw, with Chelsea becoming the first London club to win the competition.

After a string of high-league placings and near misses in the cups (including defeat in the 1967 FA Cup Final) but no more silverware, McCreadie won the FA Cup with Chelsea in 1970, where a move involving him won the throw-in which created David Webb's winner in the replayed final against Leeds United at Old Trafford. The side won the Cup Winners' Cup the following season, but McCreadie missed the final in Athens through injury.

Chelsea manager

Upon his retirement from playing in 1973, McCreadie joined the coaching staff at Chelsea having made 410 appearances for the club. In April 1975 he was appointed manager but by this stage the team was in decline with the club heavily in debt and he couldn't prevent relegation to the Second Division. Nevertheless, McCreadie re-built the side - taking the captaincy from Harris and giving it to 18-year old Ray Wilkins in the process - and with no money to spend put together a team of youth players and veterans from the club's heyday. Chelsea were promoted back to the First Division in 1977. It was then that he lost his job in somewhat bizarre circumstances. Having won promotion, his request for a company car was rejected by chairman Brian Mears, so he resigned. Mears then relented and offered him the car but with his sense of Scottish pride he did not come back to the club as he had already made his mind up.

After Chelsea

McCreadie left for the North American Soccer League in the late 1970s and was appointed manager of the Memphis Rogues, with whom he played one game in 1979, and later the indoor Cleveland Force before finally retiring from football in 1985. He continues to live in the United States.

International

McCreadie was also a Scotland international, winning 23 caps between 1965 and 1969 after making his debut against England. He played in Scotland's famous 3-2 win over world champions England at Wembley in 1967, after which the Scots declared themselves the new unofficial world champions.

Statistics

Player

Season	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1962-63	32	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	34	0
1963-64	35	1	3	0	1	0	0	0	39	1
1964-65	34	1	2	0	5	1	0	0	41	2
1965-66	30	0	5	0	0	0	9	0	44	0
1966-67	38	1	7	0	2	0	0	0	47	1
1967-68	36	0	5	0	1	0	0	0	42	0
1968-69	38	0	5	0	3	0	4	0	50	0
1969-70	30	0	8	0	2	0	0	0	40	0
1970-71	14	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	16	0
1971-72	7	0	1	0	2	0	1	0	11	0
1972-73	31	1	3	0	6	0	0	0	40	1
1973-74	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0
Total	331	4	41	0	22	1	16	0	410	5

Manager

	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
League	89	33	31	25	128	115	+13	37%
FA Cup	6	2	2	2	7	8	-1	33%
Lg Cup	4	2	0	2	6	4	+2	50%
Total	99	37	33	29	141	127	+14	37%

Goals

#	Season	Date	Year	Competition	Opponent	Score	Result	Venue
1	1963-64	21 March	1964	First Division	West Brom	3-1	3-1	Stamford Bridge
2	1964-65	2 January	1965	First Division	Leicester City	3-1	4-1	Stamford Bridge
3	1964-65	15 March	1965	League Cup	Leicester City	3-2	3-2	Stamford Bridge
4	1966-67	6 May	1967	First Division	Leeds United	2-2	2-2	Stamford Bridge
5	1972-73	28 October	1972	First Division	Newcastle United	1-0	1-1	Stamford Bridge

Chelsea honours

• League Cup: 1965
• FA Cup: 1970

Managers

Robertson (1905–06) • Lewis (1906–07) • Calderhead (1907–33) • Knighton (1933–39) • Birrell (1939–52) Drake (1952–61) • Docherty (1961–67) • Sexton (1967–74) • Suart (1974–75) • McCreadie (1975–77) • Shellito (1977–78) Blanchflower (1978–79) • Hurst (1979–81) • Neal (1981–85) • Hollins (1985–88) • Campbell (1988–91) Porterfield (1991–93) • Webb (1993) • Hoddle (1993–96) • Gullit (1996–98) • Vialli (1998–00) • Ranieri (2000–04) Mourinho (2004–07) • Grant (2007–08) • Scolari (2008–09) • Hiddink (2009) • Ancelotti (2009–11) Villas-Boas (2011–12) • Di Matteo (2012) • Benítez (2012–13) • Mourinho (2013–15) • Hiddink (2015–16) Conte (2016–)