Sam Hutchinson made his Chelsea debut during this afternoon's 6-1 victory over Queens Park Rangers.
In August 2010 and at the age of 21, the defender was forced to retire because of a degenerative condition in his right knee.
However, following a trial period it was decided in December 2011 that Hutchinson had made enough of a recovery to sign an 18-month deal with Chelsea.
He completed his return by replacing Jose Bosingwa with ten minutes remaining at Stamford Bridge earlier today.