Kelvin Barker

Kelvin was just 5-years-old when, in December 1970, his father took him to Stamford Bridge for the first time. Chelsea beat Newcastle 1-0 courtesy of a Keith Weller strike and Kelvin was hooked.

There really is no accounting for taste and having seen the maverick Kings Road playboys of the Seventies and the cosmopolitan trophy winners of the Gullit and Vialli eras, Kelvin unashamedly admits that his favourite Chelsea team is John Neal's vastly underrated mid-Eighties side which included the likes of Kerry Dixon, Pat Nevin and Mickey Thomas.

His memories of Chelsea's trials and tribulations throughout that decade form the basis of his book, Celery! - Chelsea in the 1980s. The book features exclusive interviews with a number of Chelsea's most significant players of that period and will hopefully be published some time in 2004.

Having suffered his very own 30 years of hurt (well 27 to be precise), Kelvin said that he had achieved his ultimate ambition when he saw Chelsea lift the FA Cup in 1997 but, buoyed by Roman Abramovich's billions, he has now revised his targets and says he will not rest until Chelsea have won the Premiership. His other ambition is to see a Jesper Gronkjaer cross reach its intended target, but he feels a Premiership title for the Blues is a far more realistic prospect.

Married with three children, Kelvin has swapped his old Shed end days for a seat in the Stamford Bridge Family Section with his eldest son, Daniel. His other children, Poppy and Sam, have precious little chance of avoiding the same fate!

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