Peter Osgood dies aged 59

Chelsea legend Peter Osgood has died aged 59

Chelsea legend Peter Osgood has died aged 59. The club confirmed Osgood had passed away suddenly while attending a family funeral yesterday morning.

A statement on the club website read: "Chelsea Football Club's affection and esteem for the man the fans titled the King of Stamford Bridge could not be higher. Today is a very sad day."

Osgood, who also played for Southampton, scored 150 goals in 380 appearances for Chelsea and helped them win the FA Cup in 1970 and the European Cup Winners' Cup a year later after beating Real Madrid in the final. He was also a member of the Southampton team which upset Manchester United in the 1976 final despite being a second division club at the time.

Osgood collapsed at Slough Crematorium where he was attending a funeral. He was rushed to Wexham Park Hospital.

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Despite winning only four England caps, he was a member of the 1970 World Cup squad at the end of a season in which he was the first division's top scorer with 31 goals as well as scoring in every round of the FA Cup. Chelsea beat Leeds in the final after a bad-tempered replay at Old Trafford.

Born in Windsor, Osgood joined Chelsea as a junior. As well as winning the FA Cup and Cup Winners' Cup, he also helped the Blues reach the 1972 League Cup final, which they lost 2-1 to Stoke.

He joined Southampton in 1974 and scored 28 goals in 126 appearances for the south coast club, while he also played three games on loan for Norwich in 1976.

After a spell playing for Philadelphia in the United States, Osgood returned to Chelsea and scored two goals in 10 appearances in 1978-'79. In recent years he was involved in football-related media work and on the after-dinner speaker circuit.

Tommy Docherty, the manager who gave Osgood his Chelsea debut in 1964, praised the player's bravery. "He was a great lad and brought a breath of fresh air every time he came into the dressingroom," he told BBC News.