Ray Wilkins was appointed as Chelsea’s new assistant first-team coach on Thursday following Steve Clarke’s recent move to London rivals West Ham.
Former England midfielder Wilkins began his career at Stamford Bridge and, while still a teenager, captained Chelsea before moving to Manchester United.
This will be the 52-year-old’s second coaching spell with the club, having previously worked under former manager Gianluca Vialli.
Now he will assist Luiz Felipe Scolari after Clarke decided to join up with Gianfranco Zola, another former Chelsea player, at West Ham.
“He brings with him a wealth of expertise and experience from his time in British and European football,” Chelsea said in a statement on their Web site.
This will be Wilkins’s first coaching role since he lost his position with the England Under-21 side last year when boss Peter Taylor departed and was replaced by Stuart Pearce.
Wilkins made his Chelsea debut aged just 17 back in 1973 and a year later became the club’s youngest-ever captain.
Following Chelsea’s relegation from the old First Division in 1979, he was sold to Manchester United.
In all, Wilkins made 198 appearances for Chelsea, scoring 34 goals. At United he won the FA Cup while, at international level, he was capped 84 times by England between 1976-1986.
He also played for Italian side AC Milan, Paris St Germain, Scottish giants Rangers and Chelsea’s west London rivals Queens Park Rangers (QPR) as well as making 84 appearances for England.
He later had brief spells as a manager at QPR and another west London club, Fulham.
Wilkins, while working with Vialli, was a member of the Chelsea backroom staff when the club won the FA Cup and Charity Shield in 2000.
He also worked with Vialli at Watford during the 2001-2002 season.
Wilkins was Dennis Wise’s assistant at Millwall when the London side reached the FA Cup final in 2004.
He is due to start work immediately and arrives at Stamford Bridge with Chelsea top of the Premier League table and in sparkling form following a 4-0 thrashing of Bordeaux in the Champions League.
Wilkins’s first match back sees Chelsea up against Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, where a win for the Blues would leave them nine points clear of the reigning champions.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
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