David Shacklock was a tough and talented central defender, who also had a very good leap, meaning that he was good in the air during his playing days. From Hertfordshire, David played for Spurs at Junior, Youth and A team level during the early 1960s, before leaving the club in 1964. He would later play for Cheshunt for a short time, before playing for Hendon, which was probably the highlight of his amateur playing career, as David got to play at Wembley in the 1966 FA Amateur Cup final. I recently had the great pleasure and privilege of speaking with David about his time at Spurs during the 1960s.

What are your earliest footballing memories and how did you come about joining Spurs?

David: Someone called Roy Bailey saw me playing and invited me to go along for a trial with Spurs, and that was at Cheshunt, the old Spurs training ground. Sid Tickridge was in charge at the Spurs trial at Cheshunt, and he was in charge of the junior side.

What are your earliest memories of your time at Spurs? 

David: So it would be the time when I was invited by Bill Nicholson to go for a trial at Cheshunt. I can remember training in the gym under the old terraced stand and also where we did the sprints as well. There were lots of characters at Spurs in my team, such as Ricky George and Joe Kinnear and Keith Weller, they were all real characters who you used to have a real laugh with, and I have to say it was good fun at Spurs. I think that I only left the club because I was a bit ambitious, and one day I asked Sid Tickridge what the chances of me going forward at the club were, and so he had a word with Bill Nicholson. So I was put up to the A team, and we played Crystal Palace at Cheshunt and it must have been one of the worst games that I’ve played, and so it was a goodbye after that. 

Did you have any footballing heroes/inspirations and if so who were they?

David: I didn’t really have any footballing heroes, but my dad did used to take me to Tottenham and we used to stand at the Paxton Road end. And so we used to get passed down the crowd, all the way to the front. So we used to go to Tottenham every other Saturday, with my brother and my dad. So it was very good, and you had great players like George Robb on the wing.

Who were your greatest influences at Spurs?

David: Well obviously there was Jimmy Greaves, but he was a forward and I was a defender. But from after I left Spurs Mike England stands out to me, as he dominated in defence, unlike the defenders of today.

Could you describe to me what type of player you were? And what positions you played in during your time at Spurs?

David: I played in central defence, and for my size I could leap very high. Jimmy Lye used to comment on it every time I played in the gym, and he couldn’t believe how high I could get to the ball. Even after leaving Spurs I used to out-jump 6ft plus players easily, even though I’m 5ft, 8 inches. So I’m quite proud of that.

Were there any players at Spurs who you would watch closely to try and improve your game or look to learn from?

David: I used to watch the positioning of Maurice Norman at the back continuously, as he was the one to watch. 

What was your time at the Lilywhites like on the whole?

David: It was really, really enjoyable. It was great fun and I didn’t have any falling outs with anyone, and it was just meant to be.

What was the greatest moment of your footballing career?

David: It would be playing in the FA Amateur Cup final, by a country mile. Walking out of the tunnel to the centre of the park at Wembley, in front of 45,000 people was absolutely fabulous. There’s many a player who never got to do that, but I can say that I did it.

Who was the greatest player that you have had the pleasure of sharing a pitch with? 

David: It would have to be from the Spurs A team, when I played with Jimmy Lye. This man ran on his toes, and he got tremendous speed. I remember seeing him play for the A team one day and my word could he hit that football!

Could you talk me through some of your favourite memories or ones which stand out from your time in the Spurs Youth side?

David: I think it would be when I played for the Spurs Youth team in the South-East Counties League. I was in there quite regularly, and so the matches that I played for the Spurs Youth team in that league were very enjoyable.

Some players that you played with for the Spurs Youth team went on to have very good careers. What was it like to play for that side?

David: Generally the Spurs Youth team had great characters in it. What a man Joe Kinnear was! Me, Joe Kinnear and Steve Pegram used to have some laughs, and like Joe Kinnear, Ricky George was also very, very funny. I can also remember Keith Weller well, as well.

Who was the toughest player that you ever came up against?

David: Colin Buster Brown. He was a very strong player for the Spurs A team.

Were there any players at Spurs who you were particularly close to?

David: Obviously it would be a lot of the local lads to me, like Steve Pegram and Joe Kinnear, and also Keith Weller. I was very, very close to them, and I was very pleased to see Joe and Keith get on so well at Spurs, because they deserved it.

 Could you talk me through your career after you left the Lilywhites?

David: After I left Spurs I went to Cheshunt, where I played with my former Spurs teammate Larry Springthorpe. For Cheshunt I played against Hendon in the  London Senior Cup, and we beat them 3-2 at Hendon, which was a big shock for Hendon. The manager there was Ron Burgess, and so I got an invitation to go to training with them, and I was playing at right-back then. So after that I was invited to join them, and I ended up playing one year for their brilliant reserve team, and that was when they won the FA Amateur Cup in 1965. Then in 1966 I managed to get into the team, and we managed to get into the final again. I don’t regret any of my football days, because everything was really, really enjoyable. Unfortunately I had to retire from playing in 1972, because of a knee injury. 

What would your advice be to the young Spurs players of today as they look to break into the first team?

David: My grandson has just signed a three year contract with a professional club, for the first time. He asks me for advice sometimes and I tell him to do the best that he can. I’ve gone to watch him play, and the progress that he has made is ridiculous.

After all these years how do you look back on your time at the Lilywhites and is Spurs a club that you still hold close to your heart?

David: I loved it. I don’t regret anything that I did or anything that happened at Tottenham, or anywhere else for that matter. I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed every minute.