Bill Garner joined Chelsea less than 48 hours after playing against them in Southend's 0-1(Chris Garland)home defeat in the League Cup match at Roots Hall. Both West Ham & Chelsea had agreed the fee(between 80,000/100,000) with Southend, so it was down to Bill to decide. Having chosen Chelsea it seems quite ironic that his debut the following Saturday was against West Ham at Stamford Bridge. Garner was chosen as the substitute(No.12,only 1 sub in those days) and was on the pitch within 10 minutes after an early injury to Alan Hudson, however with his first touch of the ball he collided with team mate Peter Osgood and damaged his ankle and spent the rest of the game hobbling on the left wing.
Bill Garner was out injured for about three weeks but scored the first goal when returning to first team action at Highfield Road in a 3-1 win against Coventry City. Garner despite suffering quite a few injuries in his time at Chelsea scored 31 league goals in less than 100 matches as well as another 5 in the F.A.Cup.
Nevertheless, as a human-being, he is as low as they come.