Garland was sold to Dave Sexton's Chelsea for £100,000 in September 1971. He was signed as a squad player and found first team opportunities limited, especially after spending a month out injured following a bad tackle from Nottingham Forest's Barry Lyon. He scored his first goal for the club in his fifth appearance, in a League Cup semi-final win over Tottenham Hotspur; he also scored in the second leg. He went on to sing with the rest of the team in "Blue Is the Colour", a song to coincide with the final, which went on to reach number five in the charts. He played in the final at Wembley Stadium, in which Chelsea lost 2–1 to Stoke City. The "Pensioners" finished the 1971–72 campaign seventh in the First Division.