In 1965 he was a member of the team which won the 1965 Football League Cup Final. Played over two legs, Tambling scored the first goal in the first leg, a 3–2 defeat of Leicester City. Tambling was also a member of the Chelsea side which lost the 1967 FA Cup Final. Although he scored for Chelsea his 85th-minute goal was little more than a consolation as Tottenham Hotspur, with former Chelsea players Greaves and Venables, won 2–1. Tambling holds the record for the highest number of goals scored for Chelsea in a league game. He scored five goals in a 6–2 away win at Aston Villa on 17 September 1966 before being substituted by Allan Harris. His record 202 for Chelsea goals came in only 370 games. By the end of the decade Tambling had lost his place in the starting line-up to younger strikers like Peter Osgood and Ian Hutchinson. He played only seven games for Chelsea in the 1969–70 season and was not selected for the 1970 FA Cup Final between Chelsea and Leeds United. At the end of the season he transferred to Crystal Palace.