A teenage local hero at Ashton Gate, blond striker Chris had won one England Under -23 cap when Chelsea laid out a six figure for him, and he appeared for The Blues in their 1972 League Cup final defeat by Stoke.
His £95.000 move to City had an inspirational effect on a struggling side, and his eight goals in ten games at the end of the 1974/75 season did much to avert the very real threat of relegation.
Sent off in the opening game of the following season (when a 9-man City twice equalised to secure an unlikely 3-3 draw against Birmingham City). Chris bounced back in a hard-working support role to Frank Worthington.
He had only just lost his first team place in Jimmy Bloomfield’s last campaign when Bristol City’s offer to take him home for £110.000 was accepted. He scored three goals at the start of the 1976–77 season and broke Jeff Blockley’s cheekbone after punching him during training for what Garland believed was Blockley’s rough treatment of the club’s apprentices. Garland submitted four transfer requests and was eventually sold back to his hometown club.
Injuries dogged his second spell there, and indeed his contract was twice cancelled (once to helpt the club from the brink of closure), but Chris refused to lie down, and was still turning out on a non-contract basis in 1982/83, to take his Bristol City appearance record over the 200 mark, and his career aggregate League and Cup scoring record to exactly 100 goals. In 1992, it was revealed that Chris was suffering from Parkinson’s deseae, and many of his former playing colleagues rallied round for a series of testimonial events hoste by Minehead FC, while Manchester United played on his behalf in May 1993.
After football, ventures in the fruit-and-veg business and then in the wine trade proved unsuccessful, while a career in insurance ended in redundancy. A gambling problem created additional stresses, leading to marriage break-up and bankruptcy. At one stage he was sleeping rough and even contemplated suicide. And all this while struggling with Parkinson’s Disease.
In 2008, his autobiography, A Life of Two Halves: The Chris Garland Story, was released.
Chris Garland died on 13 July 2023, at the age of 74.
FACTFILE:
- Full Name: Christopher Garland
- Position: Forward
- Date of Birth: 24.04.1949
- Birthplace: Bristol
- Nation: England
- Caps / Goals:
- Major League Career:
- 1966-71, Bristol City (143/31)
- 1971-74, Chelsea (92/22)
- 1974-83, Bristol City (64/11)
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