The 1983/84 season was a joy for Chelsea fans who had witnessed the club come perilously close to relegation the previous year. Chelsea would win the Second Division title and return to the top flight for the first time in five years under John Neal. However, there were a few hiccups along the way.
For some reason, the team’s ability to score penalties became a problem. Despite Kerry Dixon’s 34 goals in his first season at the club, Chelsea began to get the blues whenever a 12-yard opportunity presented itself. The penalty dilemma began against Portsmouth on December 27, 1983. Pat Nevin’s penalty miss in 1984 however is without a doubt one that will live on in the memory.

Dixon stepped up twice for penalty attempts against Alan Knight. Dixon would hit the crossbar in the second half after the Pompey keeper saved his first effort from 12 yards in the 29th minute. To top it all off, Dixon gave up a penalty in the 11th minute that Portsmouth converted in the 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea’s Penalty Woes

Dixon’s agony did not end there. Four days later, he witnessed Joe Corrigan save his penalty at the same venue, and despite Chelsea’s 1-0 victory, Dixon was understandably concerned.

I was sickened because I never believed I would miss three penalties in a row,

After Dixon’s Christmas troubles in 1983, Tony McAndrew took over as penalty taker, and he scored twice from the spot, while Nigel Spackman also scored in a 3-3 draw at Cardiff. Spackman then missed against Shrewsbury, and while Nevin did put one past Knight in the rematch against Portsmouth, his miss against Grimsby on the final day of the season was the latest in Chelsea’s penalty woes.

Misses Become Routine

Back in the big leagues, Colin Lee would try to think of new ways to fluff his lines for Chelsea. West Ham’s Tom McAlister saved a penalty in Chelsea’s 3-0 victory at Stamford Bridge, and Lee converted the rebound, but the kick was retaken because the keeper moved off his line. The pair then went through the same routine again, only the goal stood on this occasion.

Despite missing twice in the same game, Lee found himself stepping up at Newcastle in November 1984. He put his kick wide this time. Meaning that once again, Chelsea was looking for another willing volunteer from 12 yards. And this brings us to Nevin and that penalty against Manchester City.

Chelsea were fortunate in one respect: the majority of these missed penalties occurred in games that were either won or drawn, with the exception of Lee’s incident at St James’ Park. It would be a small consolation for Nevin, who failed miserably in the Milk Cup fourth-round tie at Stamford Bridge when his team was 4-0 up.

Pat Nevin’s Penalty Miss

City keeper Alex Williams was penalized for bringing down Paul Canoville, which was in retrospect a soft penalty. But if the decision was bad, Nevin’s attempt was even worse. Fortunately, it did allow us to hear a fantastic example of commentator Barry Davies’ brilliance. As if he knew what was coming he famously said….

They haven’t had a good record, last season and this, with taking penalties

Nevin took the shortest run-up imaginable – if you can call it that – before almost apologizingly rolling the ball through the mud towards Williams’ left. The ball barely reached the goal as Williams casually dived to make a routine save. . Davies was in his element as the groans filled the west London sky in 1984.

Nevin….Oh, dear oh dear, I don’t believe it, I hope I’m not being too unkind to Pat Nevin, a player of undoubted quality. But that has to be the worst penalty I’ve ever seen at this level of football.

Chelsea won 4-1, with Dixon scoring a hat-trick, but Chelsea’s penalty woes persisted for the remainder of the 1984/85 season.

Dixon converted two penalties against QPR before missing against Manchester United and Sheffield Wednesday. David Speedie scored at Leicester before failing to score in the FA Cup defeat at home to Third Division Millwall. Mickey Thomas scored against Sunderland. However, he then hit the crossbar against West Brom.

None of these penalty misses compare however to Pat Nevin’s penalty miss. Truly one of the worst penalties of all-time