Today marks the anniversary of the most difficult decision many Blues fans will have made during their time following the club, as an unexpected replay left many of them facing the dilemma of a final that would conclude the day after they were scheduled to return home. On Thursday 20 May 1971, that left thousands of supporters scrabbling around at Greek airports trying to change flights, searching for Athens hotel rooms, or simply calling home to beg for more time off work.

After all, this wasn’t just any final. Silverware had been thin on the ground for Chelsea before the start of the 1970s, with just a solitary league title and one League Cup in the trophy cabinet, until Dave Sexton’s legendary team, featuring the likes of Peter Osgood, Charlie Cooke, John Hollins and Ron Harris, changed all that.

Following a series of near misses, the Blues lifted the FA Cup in 1970 and followed up that feat by reaching our first continental final the following year, heading to Athens for a Cup Winners’ Cup tie against the mighty Real Madrid, who had already been crowned European champions six times in the previous 15 years.

For Chelsea supporters like Stephen Benjamin, who had been in the stands as a child alongside his father to watch us win the First Division in 1955, it was a momentous occasion merely to see the club competing on the European stage, let alone reach the final, and he was determined to make the most of it.

‘It was huge,’ remembers Stephen, who was 24 years old in 1971. ‘The Cup Winners’ Cup was a big competition at the time, it was almost as big as the European Cup, so Chelsea getting to the final was huge.

‘I watched every game leading up to it, I was with them all the way through when they played the Greek team Aris, CSKA Sofia from Bulgaria, Manchester City in the semi-finals, but the best game was the quarter-final against Club Brugge. We were 2-0 down after the first leg, got it back to 2-2 at home and, when it went to extra-time, we won the second game 4-0 by the end.’

However, all that success was leaving supporters with difficult decisions to make as they tried to follow us across to continent, with even the final being scheduled for midweek, on Wednesday 19 May, in an age before international travel became commonplace.

‘When we got to the final and it was against Real Madrid, who were just the most successful team in Europe at the time, I decided to go. I was in my last year studying for my finals for a BA in art and design, and it fell right at the beginning of my exams. The exams were on the Friday and I flew out on Wednesday.

‘I had no money, but my sister worked for the airline, so I went on a ticket in the name of someone else who worked for the airline. The ticket said my name was Ian Cook! My sister was worried that someone would look at my ticket and passport at the same time, but I just said I’ll worry about that when the time comes!’

Stephen had to travel straight from the airport to the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in the Greek capital to make kick-off, but things were about to get a lot more complicated for him and the thousands of other Blues who had made the trip.

Chelsea were leading for much of the second half through Osgood’s goal, but in the last minute of the 90, Real Madrid’s Ignacio Zoco found an equaliser for the Spaniards, and after 30 minutes of extra-time the scores were still level at 1-1.

With no penalty shoot-out to decide the outcome in those days, that meant the final would be replayed at the same stadium two days later on Friday 21 May, causing chaos and heartbreaking decisions to be made. Thousands of fans who were left calculating the fallout if they returned to work or their studies two days late, not counting those who had travelled on charter flights scheduled to return on the Thursday, who were left with no choice but to leave halfway through the final.

Luckily for Stephen, he was not one of those: ‘After the game, we went back to our hotel on the beach, which was £1-a-night, called the Blue Sea Hotel.

‘On Thursday we all went up to the Parthenon, had breakfast in Plaka and then everyone had to go home because they were on charter flights, so there was no way any of them were staying on. I remember dropping off my cousin and her husband at the airport, and there were thousands of fans outside singing “We aren’t going home until we’ve won the cup!"

‘I just thought I had to go. I couldn’t miss something like that, because the other thing to think about was: when were we going to do it again? It wasn’t something that happened every year. The next European final wasn’t until 1998, and I went to that one in Stockholm too, with my wife.’

For those like Stephen who had found a way to stay for the 1971 replay, there was a great sense of camaraderie and confidence that their sacrifice would be worth it by the end.

‘We met loads of Chelsea fans at the Parthenon on the Acropolis on the Thursday, went to the beach, all had dinner together on Thursday night. Those of us that stayed were all quite young and a bit crazy! It was "carefree" and we knew that we were going to win the replay. There was no way we were going to stuff it again. Our team was much better than theirs.’

Those Blues supporters in attendance for the second game in Athens also found their numbers being bolstered by the passionate locals in a mixed crowd.

‘The majority had to go home, but it left a few thousand fans who stayed. The first game had a full crowd of 45,000, at the second there was about 25,000 of us.

‘They didn’t completely segregate the fans in the replay, so there were some Spanish fans around, but there wasn’t any trouble, it was all good-humoured, and all the Greeks supported Chelsea. A week later Panathinaikos were in the European Cup final at Wembley so they thought if they supported Chelsea we’d support them at Wembley.’

More importantly, those inside the stadium supporting Chelsea - English or Greek - had plenty to cheer about. John Dempsey was the unlikely source of the opener as he smashed in a volley, before Osgood added a second before half-time.

Another late Real Madrid goal made for a tense finish, but this time there was no equaliser and the Blues emerged victorious, lifting European silverware for the first time in the club’s history and sparking wild celebrations on the pitch, in the stands and throughout Athens, which lasted well into the weekend.

‘This time you bought the tickets on the gate when you got there and we stood behind the goal. We were at the other end, but we were high up enough that we could see Dempsey’s volley and Osgood’s goal well. Pandemonium broke out when Osgood scored.

‘Chelsea were well in command of that game. The team were tremendous and the only scare we had was when we let in the late goal and it was a nervous few minutes at the end. In the first game they had actually brought the trophy out with blue ribbons on it we were so close to winning, and then took the cup back in again after the equaliser, but luckily that didn’t happen again.

‘After the game, all the Chelsea fans went to Plaka, Omonia Square. There was a big fountain there, people were jumping in, I drank a lot of Ouzo!’

The privilege of being present to enjoy those celebrations and witness such a momentous occasion in Chelsea history didn’t come without a cost for Stephen, though, when he finally returned home after missing his final exams.

‘I was supposed to be back by Friday, but that was the day of the game, so I didn’t go home. I didn’t get my degree because of it. I did four yours studying, but never took the exams and came out with nothing. I stayed in Athens until Sunday night and walked into college on Monday with a sun tan, so I couldn’t say I’d been ill!’

So, 50 years on from that decision, does Stephen have any regrets?

‘None at all. It was one hell of a trip, enormous, a huge moment.’