Chris Garland, 1949-2023

Chris made his debut as a 17-year-old striker for Bristol City in December 1966 and went on to make over 150 appearances for the Robins and won one England Under-23s cap.

In August 1971, Chelsea manager Dave Sexton signed Chris for £100,000. He played in Chelsea’s 1972 League Cup Final defeat by Stoke City and was the London club’s joint top scorer in 1972/73 with Peter Osgood. He scored 31 goals in 114 league and cup games for Chelsea.

In March 1975, Jimmy Bloomfield signed him for Leicester City for a fee of £110,000.  

Despite the presence of the likes of Mark Wallington, Steve Whitworth, Dennis Rofe, Jon Sammels, Alan Birchenall, Keith Weller, Frank Worthington and Lenny Glover, the Foxes were 20th in the First Division when he arrived at Filbert Street. 

However, along with the arrival of Leicester-born England centre-back Jeff Blockley from Arsenal, Chris’ signing had a galvanising effect on the side. His eight goals in 10 of the remaining 11 games of the season did much to prevent a struggling side from being relegated. 

The first three of these eight goals were in his third game for Leicester City, when he scored a hat-trick in a 3-2 win at Filbert Street against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

He was sent off in the opening game of the 1975/76 campaign, but he was a regular in the side which finished seventh in the top flight that season, providing an effective strike partnership with Frank Worthington and Bob Lee.   

He was also a regular first choice in Bloomfield’s side the following season, until November 1976, when Bristol City's offer to take him back to Ashton Gate for £110,000 was accepted. During his time at Filbert Street, Chris made 63 league and cup appearances, scoring 19 goals.

In his absence, Bristol City had become a top-flight side. In his second season back at Ashton Gate (1977/78), Chris tore his cruciate ligaments and spent much of the next three seasons struggling with injuries.

In 1981, to regain fitness, he went on loan to Västerås SK in the Swedish Second Division. 

His contract at Bristol City was twice cancelled, once with his agreement when, with seven other players – ‘The Ashton Gate Eight’ – he took voluntary redundancy to help prevent the club going bankrupt and going out of existence. He then spent six months playing in Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, Bristol City suffered three successive relegations from the First to the Fourth Division in 1980, 1981 and 1982. After relegation to the Fourth Division, Chris played for the Robins under Terry Cooper as a non-contract player. That season, he took his career tally of league and cup goals to 103 before retiring in February 1983.

He is one of only five players to have scored for the same club in all four divisions.

Post-football, Chris was involved in various projects. He coached at Yeovil. He also embarked on several business ventures as well as managing Minehead in the Western League.

The next few years were tough ones for Chris. Life was full of ups and downs. 

Things became tougher when, in 1989, at the age of 39, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. This was revealed in 1992, and many of his former playing colleagues rallied round for a series of testimonial events hosted by Minehead FC.

Bristol City also played Manchester United at Ashton Gate on his behalf in May 1993. In 2006, with help from the PFA, he had an operation which improved his condition significantly. 

Two years later, he published the autobiography A Life of Two Halves. Latterly Chris had been suffering from dementia and was living in a care home in Newport.

The thoughts of Leicester City Football Club are with Chris’ family and friends at this sad time.