A special moment awaits Gudjohnsen

For most Chelsea players winning at Bolton Wanderers on Saturday to clinch the English title for the first time in 50 years would be memorab...

For most Chelsea players winning at Bolton Wanderers on Saturday to clinch the English title for the first time in 50 years would be memorable enough.

For one, however, the emotions will run even deeper. Chelsea’s Iceland international Eidur Gudjohnsen spent two years at Bolton from 1998 to 2000 where he rebuilt his career after a serious ankle injury. Now he has nothing but praise for the Lancashire club which in many ways represents the backbone of English football. “It is a wonderful club with superb fans and a really great manager. Sam Allardyce has transformed the club and he deserves so much credit,” the 26-year-old Gudjohnsen said.

Gudjohnsen, who joined Bolton in 1998 on a free transfer from Iceland’s KR Reykjavik after leaving PSV Eindhoven with a career-threatening injury, is now one of the key players in Jose Mourinho’s team and as either an attacking midfielder or lone front man has been an integral part of Chelsea’s success this season.

Now he is looking forward to Saturday’s match which could prove historic for the London side, seeking their first title for 50 years, and for Bolton too. Victory would take them another step nearer qualifying for European competition for the first time in their history.

“Of course I’m a Chelsea player now and I want to win on Saturday and clinch the title,” he said. “But I would be delighted too if Bolton made it into Europe in either the Champions League or the UEFA Cup.

“The fans always give me a great reception when I come back and that’s the way it should be. But I also think the team is a very strong one and they will do it, and by saying that I admit, it won’t be easy for us on Saturday. We have a very, very tough match ahead of us.”

Bolton already has a special place in Chelsea’s history for all the wrong reasons as it was after a match there in 1996 that director Matthew Harding died when his helicopter crashed soon after takeoff on a flight back to London.

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Winning the title there for Gudjohnsen and his teammates would give them far better memories of the Lancashire town. (Reuters)