Ron ‘Chopper’ Harris is early. ‘I was only ever late for tackles,’ he says, standing behind the Shed End at Stamford Bridge, where his unmistakable portrait decorates a stone wall, the numbers and medals of his legend running alongside.
Chelsea’s record appearance holder — 795 games between 1961 and 1980 — will be back here on Monday for the visit of Manchester United. How the current vintage could do with his sort on the pitch right now, not that he believes he would last long.
‘I don’t think I was dirty — a few of my opponents might disagree — but everyone knew what I was about, and that was hard, committed. I knew how far to push it,’ says Harris, a statement supported by his one red card. ‘But the game’s changed. Today, with VAR? I’d be lucky to see out the warm-up!’
Ron ‘Chopper’ Harris stands in front of his portrait behind the Shed End at Stamford Bridge
Harris, at 74, is happy living with his memories, and Monday's fixture evokes more than most.
‘The one player I couldn’t get near, the best I played against,’ he says, without making mention of the name, not that he needs to. ‘I was told to go everywhere with George Best. One day he’d given me a right chasing. I felt dizzy at half-time.
‘Tommy Docherty said, “I thought I told you to mark him closely?” I’d tried, but by the time I got near, his team-mates were already shaking his hand. I asked, “What do you want me to do? Break his leg and get sent off?” Doc said, “Yes! They would miss him a lot more than we’d miss you!”’
So did he? ‘No chance, you had to catch him first.’
Best joked that of all his action pictures, Harris was in the majority. There is one piece of footage the former Chelsea captain has seen far too often.
Chelsea’s record appearance holder will be back on Monday for the visit of Manchester United
‘It was a cup game. He was running through on goal but he’s slightly overrun the ball. I thought, “F****** hell, here’s your chance, finally”. So I’ve slid in and kicked him, waist high. But he’s somehow ridden it, danced around Peter Bonetti and put it in. It was the opening clip on Grandstand for years — watching that, I was sure I’d catch him one day!’
Harris ared better against Spurs marksman Jimmy Greaves, including a man-to-man job in the 1967 FA Cup Final.
‘Nineteen games against me… one goal. I rarely kicked the ball in those matches, but if he didn’t score it was job done. Saying that, we got beat 2-1 in the final, so it was little consolation. I was 22, the youngest captain in Cup final history, and I remember looking at Dave Mackay lifting the Cup and thinking, “B*****ks, that could have been me”.’
Greaves later wrote that his minder was ‘an evil git’ — albeit in the foreword to Harris’s book — and he once emerged from a hospital visit to reveal he’d had surgery to replace his ‘Ron Harris Memorial Knee’. It was a recurring theme.
The 74-year-old now works for the London club in matchday hospitality lounges
Leeds United winger Eddie Gray was shaken and then shackled by Harris in the 1970 FA Cup final replay. ‘Eddie had given Dave
