Ex-Chelsea star reveals he played through a European final with half of his face paralysed

The 1998 Cup Winners’ Cup final remains one of the most storied nights in Chelsea's history, but for Duberry, the 1-0 victory over Stuttgart was a personal battle against a frightening physical impairment. The defender has revealed that he spent the buildup to the match, and the full 90 minutes in Sweden, dealing with a diagnosis of Bell’s Palsy.

The condition, which causes sudden weakness or paralysis in the facial muscles, surfaced just two weeks before the showpiece event. While the Blues were preparing for their biggest game of the season, Duberry was forced to come to terms with a diagnosis that threatened to sideline him during the peak of his early career.

Speaking on the SACKED! podcast, Duberry said: "The one that sticks out, for me because it is a foundation of my whole resilience and who I was, [is the Cup Winners’ Cup]. I suffered, not many people know this, I don’t tell the story."

“It wasn’t like it is now where everything is news but the biggest game of my life at the time, you mentioned the Cup Winners’ Cup. I was 20, 21, and two weeks before I suffered from Bell’s Palsy. People might be going: ‘What is Bell’s Palsy?' In essence, it’s a mini stroke, down the side of your face. It just collapses. Someone says: ‘Look at your face.’ And I go: ‘Yeah, look at your face.’ Having a bit of banter. And they say: ‘No, seriously Dubes, go and look at your face.’ I go to the toilet and I look at my face and I can’t move my face. I look like Sloth in the Goonies if you picture a Black version of that."

"I’m going ‘Oh my God.’ I phone up my physio to see our club doctor at Chelsea, get in the car, and all the lads are having a bit of banter on the way out. Going, driving down on the journey, and I’m looking in the mirror at my face, I can’t move my face. I see the doctor and he says I’ve got Bell’s Palsy. What is Bell’s Palsy? I don’t know what Bell’s Palsy is? Well, how long do you have it for, because I’m thinking we’ve got a cup final. We just beat Middlesbrough in the League Cup. It can be two weeks, two months, two years."

Despite the uncertainty, Duberry convinced manager Gianluca Vialli he was fit to start, determined not to let his team-mates down. He focused on maintaining his concentration, fearing that any lapse in performance would be attributed to his condition rather than the intensity of the game.

"In my head I’m thinking: ‘Don’t let this disturb you.’ I was always the young one thinking: ‘I mustn’t be the weak link.’ I’ve got internationals around me and I think ‘This can’t affect me.’ Luckily, the magic man Gianfranco Zola scored the winning goal and we won. I always remember doing the celebrations, I always use that picture when I do some of my talks," he added.

“And I say to people: ‘What do you see in that picture?’ And they say: ‘Celebrations, glory.’ And I say: ‘Resilience.’ Because in pictures, if you see my face there, anyone who has had it can straight away, and it just says ‘resilience’ because I had the Bell’s Palsy. That’s one of my biggest accomplishments, hurdles, things I’ve ever overcome in my life. Having Bell’s Palsy and playing a major cup final and winning is the biggest thing for me."

Duberry eventually left Chelsea in 1999. He went on to play for Leeds United, Stoke City, Reading, Wycombe, St. Johnstone, and Oxford United before finally retiring in 2013. During his time with the Blues, he made 115 appearances, scoring three goals and providing three assists.