first rifling a low shot after dribbling past four Watford players, then side-footing the ball home after a neat one-two with Ian Hutchinson. Chelsea faced Leeds United in the final, and it was Houseman who scored Chelsea's first equaliser just before half time, his low shot from 25 yards benefiting from the poor pitch to elude Leeds goalkeeper Gary Sprake, though he spent much of the game trying to cover the team's over-stretched defence. The match ended 2–2 and Chelsea won the replay 2–1 at Old Trafford to take the cup for the first time in the club's history. Chelsea won the Cup Winners' Cup a year later, with Houseman an ever-present, helping the side overturn a 0–2 quarter-final deficit to beat Bruges 4–2 on aggregate with the first goal and then playing in both finals against Real Madrid in Athens, with Chelsea winning 2–1 in the replay. Chelsea reached the League Cup final in 1972, though Houseman was denied a hat-trick of cup-winners medals as they unexpectedly lost to Stoke City at Wembley. The club declined as a force thereafter, but having won over the critics to become a key member of one of Chelsea's most glamorous and successful sides, he remained with the Blues until their relegation in 1975. Teammate John Hollins said of him, "Anybody you asked in that team who they wanted as a team-mate, it would be Peter Houseman without a shadow of a doubt". Oxford United He left the club in May 1975, to join Oxford United after playing almost 350 games for the Londoners, and scoring 39 goals. His time with Oxford was less successful, with the club being relegated from the Second Division in 1975–76. He made 72 appearances for the club and scored twice. Death Houseman was killed along with his wife and two friends in a car crash on the A40 near Oxford in March 1977 whilst driving home from a fund-raising charity event. The accident occurred when a speeding driver, 22-year-old Bartholomew Smith, the son of Tory MP John Smith, veered into Houseman's vehicle, travelling in the opposite direction. Smith was subsequently tried and sentenced to a £4,000 fine plus having his driving licence revoked for ten years. An expert witness at the trial claimed that Smith had been driving at “maniacal” speed and was “considerably intoxicated”, allegedly after a Bullingdon Club dinner. A testimonial match between the 1970