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July, and the rest of the Chelsea players were in awe of their arrival. Scott Minto said: ‘It was a bit like being at school when they were introduced. We were half way through the warm-up in training when Peter Shreeves came over with them and said: “I’d like to introduce you all to Ruud Gullit and Mark Hughes.” That was all he said, really. They stood there, we looked at them and gave them a round of applause.’

CHAPTER THREE

       Gullit Mania

      Stamford Bridge was a building site. The underground car park was under construction and planks of wood were used as a walk way to cover the dirt, nails and general debris. Hardly the San Siro. But Gullit had now swapped Italian football for the Bridge. It was certainly a culture shock.

      Ruud had no concept of the impact his arrival would have. It began to dawn on him on Friday, 28 July when nearly fifty fans waited for hours to catch a glimpse of Gullit as Chelsea held a photo-call followed by a training session. They were not to be disappointed. Even a little old lady managed to overcome the ‘building site’ and waited for five hours to find herself among the throng stationed patiently outside the dressing room area. Coach Peter Shreeves took the players through their paces in glorious sunshine with Gullit teaming up with his manager Glenn Hoddle, other new boy Mark Hughes and midfielder Nigel Spackman in one training group. ‘It was nice and tough, quite hard, that’s because Mark Hughes and myself started a week later than the rest,’ said Gullit, ‘I can tell I still have some catching up to do.’ When Gullit emerged, the fans surged forward pleading for him to sign shirts, photographs, autograph albums or any piece of paper. He signed them all.

      Carrying a bright coloured rucksack over his shoulders, under his arm the Italian Gazetto dello Sport and the Dutch Telegraph, he was perfectly relaxed as he surveyed the rebirth of the Bridge. He observed: ‘Brilliant, isn’t it? The place is really buzzing. I mean, the whole of English football is exploding and blossoming. Stadiums are being expanded, the fans turn up in their thousands, all the stars want to play in the Premier League. It could not be better for English football. That is why I want to enjoy what is happening here.’

      In the club’s reception area, Gullit practised his colloquial English on the telephonist. ‘Can I make a phone call?’ he asked in perfect Cockney. He told a Dutch journalist who had made the trek from Holland on the off-chance of an interview: ‘I like the sound of the language here, I like to speak in English and I can pick it up quite quickly.’ Proud of his grasp of the. Cockney slang, he laughed out loud.

      Once the crowd had dispersed, Gullit and one of the club’s member of staff strolled down the Fulham Road and stopped for a snack at the newly opened Calzone Pizza Bar. A local, upper crust sounding, elderly gent with white handlebar moustache and shorts, held out his hand and said: ‘Nice to see you here Mr Gullit, we are ever so glad you chose Chelsea.’ Gullit smiled and politely said ‘Thank you’, and swaggered down Park Walk feeling very much at home in the Royal Borough of Chelsea.

      The attitudes and reactions of the fans helped Ruud to settle down instantly. He said at the time: ‘In Italy everyone is so obsessed about football that they try to own you and think nothing of coming up to you in a shop or in a restaurant in a group and crowding you for an autograph or a photo. In England, the people are much more dignified and they respect your space.’

      As for the heat wave hitting London, he said: ‘They told me about England … so much rain, wet pitches. So far it’s been hotter than in Italy in my first few weeks here! I just love this weather.’

      And, he was convinced that Hoddle was getting it right on the training ground. ‘Glenn Hoddle knows how Chelsea must play in the Premier League to become a hit. He has organised the club very well and is running things almost perfectly. I was surprised to see that our training sessions are almost a copy of the ones at AC Milan. We do exactly the same things. Before I came here, I did not think any English club would train like they do.’

      On Saturday, 22 July, the little non-league club Kingstonian had seen nothing like it. Director Matthew Harding turned up in a Chelsea shirt with Gullit’s name on the back! Gullit and Hughes were presented to the King’s Meadow crowd and the duo waved to the supporters. They got a great reception on their first public appearance together. Unfortunately for the 5, 000 fans the club’s new signings took their places in the stand to watch their opening pre-season game – Chelsea winning 5–0. They were not quite fit enough to play as assistant manager Peter Shreeves said: ‘They are in the squad but haven’t done enough training.’ But the fact that they were there was enough, at half-time, for a Gullit lookalike to cause a pitch invasion of autograph hunters! Before the end Gullit left to avoid any crowd problems, with reserve team manager Graham Rix as his chauffeur.

      Reminiscent of Jurgen Klinsmann’s first appearance in a friendly at Vicarage Road, Watford, exactly a year earlier, it was near hysteria at Gillingham for the welcome of Ruud Gullit, on Tuesday, 25 July. Gullit led out the team and took centre stage as he was chased by a posse of cameramen and eager autograph hunters who streamed on to the pitch. Four thousand Chelsea fans made the journey to watch Gullit and Hughes.

      The gates were locked minutes after kick-off and hundreds of broken-hearted youngsters were led away in tears by disappointed dads. The luckier ones watched from windows and garage roofs overlooking the ground. Gullit was mobbed at every opportunity. The media interest overwhelmed a club that had finished three places from the bottom of the Endsleigh Third Division the season before. He tried to warm up as he signed autographs, and followed, like some footballing Pied Piper, by the adoring kids. He said: ‘It is the first time in my entire career that I have played without being able to warm up. It seemed as if there were hundreds of fans around wherever I went.’ And, with a flash of his wicked sense of humour he said: ‘The people seemed to go mad … I suppose that’s what the papers describe as Gullit-mania!’

      The capacity 10, 425 Priestfield crowd witnessed Gullit strolling through his first 45 minutes in English football as Chelsea won 3–1. For the Kent club it was a massive pay day. Gullit might earn more in a week than a Gillingham player would earn in a year, but the club were loving the way the turnstiles never stopped clicking. The estimated £60, 000 receipts brightened the life of a club that had faced extinction. Only four weeks earlier Gillingham was saved from bankruptcy after six months in receivership. New chairman Paul Scally, the Sevenoaks businessman who rescued the club, was delighted with the evening’s takings. He said: ‘That will pay the wages for July.’

      When Gullit left the spectacular surroundings of Serie A, he probably never expected to pull on a Chelsea jersey for the first time at a ground that can boast the oldest stand in the League, built in 1899 by dockers for beer and cigarettes on their summer break. It’s still there because the club cannot afford to replace it.

      But here he was, starting his practise sessions in earnest as a sweeper. Flanked by Frank Sinclair and Erland Johnsen, Gullit was immediately in evidence, switching neatly with Nigel Spackman as he raced forward, abandoning defensive duties when he saw the opportunity to join the attack. The Dutchman conceded two early corners, and he would have been disappointed with himself with his first two shots. However, he soon got his aim, and his third shot, a cracking 30-yarder, forced a full length diving save from keeper Jimmy Glass after Gillingham had stolen the lead.

      Chelsea’s defence was embarrassed by the power of student Leo Fortune-West, a £5, 000 buy from Stevenage, with the money paid by Gillingham fans. He put Andy Myers under pressure and the Chelsea left-back knocked the ball past Dmitri Kharine. Chelsea levelled when Mark Stein converted a penalty after Dennis Wise had been brought down.

      Gullit stayed in the dressing room at half-time, needing treatment for blisters. Mark Hughes came on, to inspire a Chelsea victory with a virtuoso goal, dribbling past a bewildered

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