Chelsea defender Robert Isaac was knifed by thugs before Milk Cup clash with Millwall on this day in 1984
Stamford Bridge man shot to the front page of national papers having been attacked by rival fans, saved only by his jacket
FOOTBALL’S infamous hooligans dragged the national sport through the gutter in the 1980s with a string of disgraceful incidents.
One of the most shaming came on this day 32 years ago, when the brightest young player at a top club was stabbed by fans of their bitter rivals.
Robert Isaac was one of the best young players at Chelsea in 1984.
The Blues side of the 1980s were a mixed bag, yo-yoing between the top two divisions – a far cry from today’s Roman Abramovich era or big bucks and title triumphs.
On October 9 1984, Chelsea made the short trip across London to take on Millwall at the Den during the League Cup second round, second leg.
The first leg at Stamford Bridge had been marred by violence with 48 arrests. Police feared the worst for the return match, and ordered different coloured tickets to ensure total fan segregation – blue for Millwall, red for Chelsea.
Isaac was an 18-year-old defender who had been at Stamford Bridge for five years, the club he had always supported.
We got set upon by what seemed like hundreds of them, all grown men, around 40-years-old
Robert Isaac
He and five friends decided to watch the Chelsea side’s evening kick-off at The Den, and took the train to New Cross.
The lads however realised they were walking towards the home end and tried to make their way to the Chelsea end down a dark alleyway.
A large gang of Millwall fans were waiting for them.
Isaac remembers the fateful night in the book by Kelvin Baker.
“We split up in twos so as not to get noticed, but unfortunately we did, and we got set upon by what seemed like hundreds of them, all grown men, around 40-years-old.
“I didn’t realise I’d been stabbed; another one of the friends I was with also got stabbed, on the shoulder.”
Isaac said the Millwall fans had asked if he could name the home side’s reserve goalkeeper – which he claims he knew but the words just wouldn’t come out through sheer fear – in a bid to try and catch him out.
The ex-Chelsea man then said, had he not been a professional footballer, he could have died after jumping up, still bleeding, charging through the group ‘rugby-style’ and sprinting into the distance, pursued by Millwall fans.
His ability to outrun them, desperately injured, kept him alive.
He knocked on a few doors until a Good Samaritan let him in a called an ambulance.
Doctors game him 55 stitches in the wound at Lewisham Hospital, the gash reaching all the way from his shoulder to his waist.
Hospital staff later told him that had he not by chance been wearing his friend’s leather jacket, he almost certainly would have died.
The thick, heavy nature of the extra layer saved his life, as with without it, the blade would have almost certainly slashed his lungs and potentially other vital organs.
The horrific attack was front page news in The Sun the next day.
The report said: “The Millwall gang asked him which team he supported. He said Millwall and was asked the name of their keeper. Bobby Chelsea’s youth team player of the year last season could not remember.
“Seconds later, he was slashed across his back from his armpit to the base of his spine.
“Centre half Bobby was rushed to hospital where doctors feared he might have a punctured lung. But he was later released after treatment.”
It added: “Council worker George Bennetts found blood-soaked Bobby outside his flat. Mr Bennetts, 57, said: “He staggered towards me, clothes ripped, saying ‘Can you help me?'”
Fighting continued after the final whistle, around the Old Kent Road.
The Sun report said: “The violence after the match began as Millwall fans tried to smash through a police cordon to reach their hated rivals.
“Other officers with riot shields, backed by mounted police and dogs, charged the Millwall mob.
“A hail of missiles rained down on the police. And passers-by were knocked to the ground as the hooligans ran wild along the Old Kent Road.”
The police afterwards claimed their operation had been a success.
Supt Francis Wilkinson of Lewisham Police said fans had been “generally kept well apart and well under control.”
“I think we can claim the operation was a success. Reports of riots after the match are nonsense.”
Millwall chairman Alan Thorne was furious at Fleet Street stories of ‘riots’.
“All of it is unconfirmed, sheer nonsense,” he is reported to have said, after banning reporters of The Daily Express from The Den over the paper’s coverage.
The game ended 1-1, with Chelsea progressing 4-2 on aggregate following a 3-1 win at Stamford Bridge.
Isaac was let out of hospital the following day, and was back playing within weeks.
He remembers: “I was out of action for a couple of weeks, then I had the stitches out and was playing again.
“I played in the reserves at Charlton and I had Vaseline and padding on the scar, but I remember getting the ball whacked on it and it was like when you’re a kid and you get the ball whacked on the back of your legs, only 20 times worse.”
Months later in March of 1985, Isaac was handed his first full debut for Chelsea against Watford and wonderfully received a rousing reception from both sets of fans.
He ended up making 13 appearances, including games against Arsenal and Manchester United, before he left to join Brighton on a free in February 1987. A knee injury forced him to retire in 1990.
Chelsea and Millwall fans clashed several times as football’s notorious fans fought for bragging rights.
One of the worst nights came in 1995, when the clubs met in the FA Cup.
Fans fought on the terraces and scuffles spilled out on to the pitch. Police horses were deployed on the pitch at The Den to try to keep the fans apart during their first meeting.
And the replay ended in turmoil as both sets of fans invaded the Stamford Bridge pitch after Millwall won a bad-tempered match on penalties.
Isaac is now a chauffeur and he regularly takes his kids to Stamford Bridge
- Extracts from by Kelvin Barker, Foreword by Pat Nevin, published by DPS Publishing