Paul Canoville

Canoville signed for John Neal's Chelsea in December 1981; he was paid £175 a week and Hillingdon Borough received a £5,000 fee.[11] Though violence and discrimination were rife in British football at the time, Chelsea in particular had a reputation for racism.[12] He made his debut against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on 12 April 1982, coming on as a late substitute for Clive Walker, who had scored the only goal of the game.[13]

"As I'm stretching and running, I hear loud individual voices through the noise: 'Sit down you black cunt!, 'You fucking wog – fuck off!' Over and over again. Lots of different people. I hardly dared look around. They were right behind me. I snatched a glimpse. They were all wearing blue shirts and scarves – Chelsea fans, my side's fans, faces screwed with pure hatred and anger, all directed at me... I felt physically sick. I was absolutely terrified."

— Canoville faced abuse from his own fans for the colour of his skin.[14]

He ended the 1981–82 season with two late substitute appearances, replacing Peter Rhoades-Brown on the right-wing on both occasions.[15] He enjoyed a run of six games at the start of the 1982–83 season before he was sidelined with a thigh injury.[16] He scored his first goal for the club with a volley in a 1–1 draw with Fulham.[17] With Chelsea facing relegation into the Third Division, Canoville was returned to the first team towards the end of the campaign and helped the club to secure enough points to avoid relegation.[18] He gradually won over the majority of supporters to the point that his name was sung by Chelsea fans, though the racist abuse continued for years.[19]

Scottish winger Pat Nevin was signed for the 1983–84 season. Though Nevin and Canoville were rivals for the same position they became good friends off the pitch, and Nevin was the only Chelsea player to publicly defend Canoville from the racist abuse he received.[20] Canoville had a good start to the season, and scored a hat-trick against Swansea City on 6 December.[21] However the next month Neal signed left-footed winger Mickey Thomas, which reduced Canoville's first team opportunities.[22] Chelsea won promotion to the First Division as champions of the Second Division, and Canoville scored seven goals in 25 appearances.[23]

He was in excellent form in the first half of the 1984–85 campaign, but picked up an injury against Stoke City in December and started just further matches upon his recovery.[24] He did though put in a memorable performance against Sheffield Wednesday in a League Cup fifth-round replay at Hillsborough on 30 January, he replaced Colin Lee at half-time with Wednesday 3–0 ahead and scored the first goal of the Chelsea comeback before putting the "Blues" 4–3 ahead, though Wednesday scored a last minute equaliser.[25] After that game he met his father – who had settled in Sheffield – for the first time in 21 years.[26] Chelsea ended the season in sixth place, and Canoville had scored four goals in 35 games.[27]

New manager John Hollins brought in Jerry Murphy from Crystal Palace to play on the left-side of midfield; the signing particularly angered Canoville as Murphy had a significantly better contract.[28] Jerry Murphy was signed on a free transfer from Crystal Palace. Murphy did not settle well in the first team, allowing Canoville a return to the starting line-up by September.[29] However, he struggled with injuries and with numerous other midfielders all vying for places at Stamford Bridge he played just 19 games in the 1985–86 season.[30] He also became unsettled at the club after fighting a teammate who had racially abused him following a night of heavy drinking.[31] At the end of the season he agreed a move to Brentford, but ended up at Reading after the latter club made a late bid for his services.[32]

Canoville was sold to Second Division Reading in August 1986 for £60,000.[33] He saw the move as a fresh start away from the racist abuse he had received at Chelsea, and he was more respected at Reading due to his experience in the First Division.[34] However, he ruptured his cruciate ligament in a clash with Sunderland's Dave Swindlehurst at Roker Park on 21 October and was ruled out for the rest of the 1986–87 season.[35] After ten months of recovery he was fit enough to be included in manager Ian Branfoot's first team plans for the 1987–88 season.[36] He scored in a 3–0 win against Oldham Athletic at Elm Park but his knee caused him to leave the game after 65 minutes.[37] He went on to feature a total of eight times that season, including in a League Cup win over former club Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, but was never able to fully regain match fitness.[38] In November 1987 his knee gave way again and Canoville announced his retirement from professional football.[39]

"I hadn't set about arranging personal insurance until the day before the injury. Far too little, far too late. I was left with nothing to show for my professional football career, the victim of my own bad planning."

— As well as the emotional pain of retiring from football at age 24, it also left Canoville in financial peril as he had eight children by 1988.[40]

He moved down to non-league football, making appearances for Enfield, Maidenhead United and Burnham.[41] He also played 12 league and cup games for Northwood in the 1992–93 season.[42] He later played for Egham Town despite suffering from drug addiction.[43]

• Only statistics in the Football League are covered.