Peter Osgood - Retirement

Retirement

After football Osgood's life never lacked incident. For a time in the early 1980s he ran a pub in Windsor, the Union Inn, with his old strike partner Ian Hutchinson but it was an ill-starred venture. As one of its favourite sons he was dismayed to be banned from Stamford Bridge, along with many of his 1970s colleagues, by chairman Ken Bates for perceived criticism of the club in the 1990s. In 2003 he was grateful to the Abramovich regime for his rehabilitation, and returned to his role as a hospitality host on matchdays.

Osgood was commonly called "Ossie" and also earned the nickname "The King of Stamford Bridge" due to his exceptional skills as a player as well as his personality and status. Osgood was known as a charming and confident man, and on the pitch he had the slight touch of arrogance found in great football players. Few things summarise his status as well as a T-shirt worn by Raquel Welch, one of the greatest movie stars of the era. The T-shirt simply said "I scored with Osgood". To this day, Peter Osgood's status in the London club is unrivalled.

His autobiography 'Ossie – King of Stamford Bridge' written with Martin Knight and Martin King was released in 2003 and in 2004 Osgood appeared in a cameo role in the British film The Football Factory.

Prior to his death on 1 March 2006 following a heart attack at a family funeral, he was involved in football related media work and was well known on the after dinner speaker circuit. Three weeks before his death he had enjoyed a standing ovation when presented to the Stamford Bridge crowd at half-time of a match.

At Chelsea's first home game after Osgood's death, against local rivals Tottenham, there were many tributes as well as a minute's applause. Many of his former team-mates were in attendance and the matchday programme ran a tribute to him. The atmosphere was one of joyous remembrance, and in keeping with this theme Chelsea ran out 2–1 winners after a closely contested match, thanks to a last minute goal by William Gallas.

In a memorial service on Sunday, 1 October 2006, Peter Osgood's ashes were buried under the penalty spot at the Shed End of Stamford Bridge. Over 2500 fans attended the memorial service and they were joined by former managers, chairmen, players, colleagues and current Chelsea players. In December 2007 in a 4–4 draw against Aston Villa, Andriy Shevchenko scored the first penalty kick at the Shed End since Osgood's ashes were buried there.

On 24 September 2010, Chelsea revealed that the Peter Osgood statue had been completed and it was to be situated outside the West Stand. A week later there was a private unveiling of the statue, attended by Osgood's friends and family, and a day later the statue was available for public viewing.