Chelsea to celebrate life of Ray Wilkins ahead of Premier League game with West Ham on Sunday
Wilkins captained Blues as a teenager and went on to make 179 appearances in six years at club
CHELSEA will celebrate the life and career of Ray Wilkins with a series of tributes before their game with West Ham at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Wilkins, 61, passed away on Wednesday in hospital after suffering a heart attack.
Since learning of Wilkins’ death, Chelsea have been working on the best way to pay tribute to the man who captained the club as a teenager and had two spells at Stamford Bridge as a coach.
The club will hold a minute’s applause before kick-off, while players will wear black armbands.
Wilkins was a regular co-host on the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast show and talkSPORT will broadcast his “My Sporting Life” show on Saturday at 9pm.
The official programme will pay homage to the 84-cap England midfielder and a montage of his six-year stint in West London will be shown on big screens.
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Flags are already being flown at half-mast at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground.
Chelsea Under-18’s, coached by Jody Morris, wore black armbands during their 3-0 win at Birmingham in the FA Youth Cup semi-final on Tuesday night.
MARTIN LIPTON Ray Wilkins: Chelsea legend was a gentleman and a far, far better player and man than he was ever given credit for
Blues legend John Terry returned to Stamford Bridge on Thursday and paid his own tribute to Wilkins - who was assistant manager to Carlo Ancelotti when they won the Double in 2010.
He said on social media: "At Stamford Bridge today paying my respects to the great man Ray Wilkins @chelseafc.
“I placed my captains armband on one of Rays pictures as a mark of respect.
"Ray was our youngest ever permanent captain at 18 ©️LEGEND"