Lyall. He made 22 league appearances for the West London club during the 1989–90 season under Bobby Campbell, with his debut coming in a 1–0 away win against Wimbledon on 19 August 1989, the opening day of the season. He was regularly substituted during the first half of the campaign. He scored his first league goal in a 4–2 defeat at QPR on 9 December 1989, but made just one appearance between January and the end of the season (as a late replacement for Peter Nicholas in the last game of the season away to Millwall). During his second season at Chelsea, Dickens failed to make a league start until mid-February. He did, however, keep his place in the side for the remainder of that campaign. Campbell's replacement at the end of the 1990–91 season, Ian Porterfield, signed Vinnie Jones and Dickens added just three games to his 1991–92 tally after Jones arrived early in the season. He played his last first-team game in February 1992, a 1–1 draw at Nottingham Forest, after which he appeared only for the reserve team. After periods on loan to West Bromwich Albion and Brentford during the 1992–93 season, Dickens moved to Colchester United, signing on 4 September 1993, where he made 32 league appearances and scored 3 goals. He played his final game for the U's, aged 29, on 16 April 1994. He later played non-league football with Chesham United, Hayes, Collier Row, Billericay Town and Purfleet. After retirement from football, Dickens continued to live in Barking and went on to work as a black cab driver. He took his preliminary coaching badge through the Essex FA and started coaching the under-10 team that his son played in. He was assistant manager at Barking from November 2008 until April 2012, when he was appointed manager. He left the job in October of that year. Honours West Ham United FA Youth Cup: 1980–81 References 1964 births Living people Footballers from Plaistow, Newham English footballers England under-21 international footballers Association football midfielders West Ham United F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Chesham United F.C. players Hayes F.C. players Collier Row F.C. players Billericay Town F.C. players Thurrock F.C. players Isthmian League players English football managers Barking F.C. managers English Football League players British taxi drivers