Gary Chivers 1986

Gary Chivers was born 15th May, 1960 in Stockwell. A stylish defender or midfielder. He was originally a Chelsea fan, who joined them as a schoolboy, he signed as an apprentice in July 1976 and made his debut on Saturday, 21st April 1979 in a 2-1 win at home to Middlesbrough (Aged: 18).

During the 1979-80 season took his chance and played in 31 first-team matches.

The 1980-81 season, he had an excellent follow-up year, he appeared in 43 games and scored 2 goals. Was hailed by many as Chelsea's most consistent outfield player. He capped a fine year by being voted runner-up in the Player of the Year Awards and third in the Match of the Day (BBC) goal of the season competition for his effort at home to Newcastle United.

Over the next two seasons, Gary's form slumped, as Chelsea plumbed the depths of mediocrity, and he was not always sure of a place in the starting line-up. In the summer of 1983, new Chelsea Manager John Neal, decided that there was no room for Gary in his revamped team and he was allowed to join Swansea City.

He was only with Swansea for the 1983-84 season, appearing in 10 games, before moving on to Queens Park Rangers for the 1984-85 season, where he would go onto make 60 appearances. It was during this spell, in 1986, that he was a member of the QPR squad to play under the name of the Rowdies in the "Coca-Cola Classic International Soccer Series" in Tampa.

In the 1987-88 season, Gary would start the season with Watford, playing in 14 games, before a move to Brighton and Hove Albion, and enjoyed a six year spell with the club. After leaving Brighton in 1993, he spent the summer playing in Norway, with lyn Oslo, before joining Bournemouth in the November, ironically making his home debut in the Cherries' 4-2 FA Cup win over Albion.

The following season he was on the point of taking over as player-coach at Scarborough but the dismissal of manager Steve Wicks scuppered those plans and instead he returned to Bournemouth.

In January 1995, Gary returned to Sussex to join ambitious County League side Stamco (now known as St Leonards) and he spent 18 months there. Later he had a brief spell at Worthing "until the money dried up".

Since bringing the curtain down on his career, Gary has been a chauffeur for a while and also obtained his black cab licence. But can be seen at football grounds working for the Press Association covering football games, and doing a lot for Sky and Cable TV.

He also, finds time to manage and play for the Chelsea Old Boys team.