Former Spurs youth player Andy Rollock was a footballer who had real quality. A former England Schoolboys international, Andy was scouted and recommended to Spurs by the legendary Bill Nicholson during the 1970s. Andy grew up in Enfield and during his youth he wasn’t just a talented footballer, but also a talented all-round sportsman, doing well at basketball and swimming. However, as a footballer he was a real prospect, and having been selected to play for the England Schoolboys team, even scoring a goal for them in a game at Wembley with West Germany, speaks volumes about his talent. Joining Spurs as an apprentice in the May of 1979, in his two seasons as an apprentice with the club, the forward who often played off the left flank, would play for both the Spurs Junior side and the senior youth side in the South-East Counties League, as well as the reserves on occasions. As a forward Andy was skilful and very good technically, had great pace and was very good in 1v1 situations, with the ball. He was also a good goalscorer, and he did well for both the senior and junior South-East Counties League sides, and also for the reserves, when he was selected for them.

Although Andy joined Spurs as an apprentice, he had also trained with Fulham and QPR, prior to signing his apprenticeship with Spurs. Before that, he had played for Eversley, managed by Don Ball, who was a great influence on Andy, as he recalled to me in our Spurs interview in 2019. In the junior and youth sides at Spurs, Andy Rollock had some really memorable games, scoring some memorable hat-tricks, and during his time in the senior Spurs South-East Counties League side, he was a member of the team which won the league in 1980/81, playing alongside players such as Terry Gibson and Tony Parks. Andy was also a member of the Spurs Youth side that reached the final of the 1980/81 FA Youth Cup, that same season. Andy looks back on his time at Spurs now with great memories, and he got further at the club than most players at the time, because of how good the reserves side was at the time. After leaving Spurs at the end of the 1980/81 season (Spurs wanted Andy to stay), Andy played for a number of clubs. Starting with Arsenal, who he was with for six months as a reserve player, Wolves for a short time and also for a team in Finland for a while.

After returning to England from Finland, the former Spurs man played for a number of non-League clubs, of which included Boreham Wood, Enfield Town and Walthamstow Avenue. Andy subsequently became an FA qualified coach, coaching in local football in the Enfield area, where he coached former Spurs youth player Dean Harding, a player who I interviewed, and who thinks very highly of Andy. However, during the season just gone he was appointed as a coach for Ely City’s Under 18 side, where he was assisting manager Paul Braybrooke. Andy is a top man, and like I say with all of the former Spurs youth and reserve players, he has so much to be proud of, especially to be associated with Spurs at such a special time in the club’s history.