[2][3] Born and brought up near the King's Road, Hudson was initially rejected by the club he supported as a boy, Fulham, before signing schoolboy terms with Chelsea.
Injury denied him the chance to become Chelsea's youngest-ever player, aged 16, and he eventually made his senior debut nine months later on 1 February 1969 in a 5–0 loss against Southampton.
Hudson found himself in a Chelsea side noted for its flair and skill, complete with equally flamboyant footballers such as Peter Osgood and Charlie Cooke.
It was during the 1969–70 season that he established himself as the team's creative playmaker, in the midfield of a 4–2–4 formation alongside the more defensive John Hollins, creating goal opportunities for Osgood and Ian Hutchinson, and enabling Chelsea to finish 3rd in the First Division.
Chelsea lost 2–1 to Stoke City in the 1972 League Cup final at Wembley, before which he sang with the rest of the squad on the club's 1972 record Blue Is the Colour, which peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart.
The club's debt burden caused by the building of a new East Stand at Chelsea resulted in the failure to replace key players, and a spiral of decline began.
Allowed a free rein by Waddington, Hudson combined brilliantly with Jimmy Greenhoff and their form sparked a run of only two defeats in 19 games at the end of the 1973–74 season.
Manager Waddington described Stoke's style of play at the time as 'the working man's ballet', a title which Hudson used for his autobiography in 1997.
[3] Off the pitch Hudson was a regular drinker, often staying at nightclubs until the early hours of the morning and even opening his own club in Newcastle-under-Lyme.
In January 1976 a strong storm caused considerable damage to Stoke's Victoria Ground, and to pay for the expensive repair costs they had to sell off their playing staff and, in December 1976, Hudson was sold to Arsenal for £200,000.
[6] He had initially made his debut against Scotland U23 at Roker Park on 4 March 1970, but the game was abandoned due to snow after 62 minutes.