Bobby Tambling is the second highest scorer in Chelsea’s history, bagging 202 goals in all competitions. His record was obtained in just 370 appearances.
Tambling’s record stood for over 43 years until Frank Lampard surpassed 202 in May 2013. The new record holder took 606 appearances to overtake the milestone.
Bobby Tambling is the second highest scorer in Chelsea’s history, bagging 202 goals in all competitions. His record was obtained in just 370 appearances.
Tambling’s record stood for over 43 years until Frank Lampard surpassed 202 in May 2013. The new record holder took 606 appearances to overtake the milestone.
Between 1961 and 1967 Tambling topped the 20-goal mark in five of six campaigns, grabbing a remarkable 37 goals during a phenomenal 1962-63 season.
He won the League Cup in 1964-65, scoring in the first leg of a 3-2 success against Leicester City.
On September 17 1966 Tambling scored five goals in a remarkable 6-2 win away to Aston Villa. To this day it remains a club record for the most goals scored by a Chelsea player in any one game.
Playing in an era when his country was blessed with several world-class front men, it’s a travesty that Tambling only earned three England caps, scoring his only international goal against France in 1963.
Tambling’s goalscoring feats are all the more remarkable when you consider that he played as a winger. He was hardly ever utilized as a striker.
His favourite Chelsea goal was a strike he scored on his debut at home to West Ham United in 1959. “I was only 17 and it broke the ice. A shot from outside the box at the Shed End. The week before I'd played in front of about 15 people at Hendon in the juniors and a week later I was back in the juniors. That didn't matter, I'd done my job,” he later reminisced.
