Londoner Colin Reid joined Spurs in 1994 as a youth/academy coach with some of the pre-YTS/scholarship youth/academy players, and he would stay with Spurs for four years, until 1998. Coaching players such as future Spurs first team players Ledley King and Peter Crouch at Spurs, Colin Reid has some great memories of his time at Spurs as a coach, learning from the likes of Pat Holland and Bobby Arber, at the club. Colin, who is an incredibly experienced coach, is now the assistant manager to Mark Stimson (a former Spurs player), at Isthmian League Premier Division side Margate. However, I recently spoke with Colin about some of his Spurs memories.

Could you talk me through some of your footballing background prior to joining Spurs? And also, how did you come about joining Spurs as a coach?

Colin: I played the game at youth level, although I never went on to make it in the game as a player. I got introduced to people like Pat Holland, who was my coach when I was a youngster at West Ham, but after I had gone out of the game, he asked me what I was doing, and he would then take me to Leyton Orient with him, at 19/20. I was fortunate to be under his wing there, and be around great people at the club like Frank Clark and also John Sitton. But Pat Holland was my greatest influence as a coach, and I idolised him as he was very detailed, and I was just lucky enough to spend seven years at Leyton Orient. Pat had later gone off to Spurs, so after being at Spurs for those years I coached at Charlton Ahtletic for a year, under the guidance of one of the best coaches that I’ve worked with, in John Cartwright. He was an absolute legend and also the technical director at Charlton, and so I spent the year there at Charlton. Purely by chance my parents went out for a drink at Pat Holland’s wine bar, and obviously Pat knew my parents and so he asked them how I was getting on. The next thing I knew, I was getting a call to go to Spurs, and it was an offer to go to my club. I’m a Leyton Orient/Hackney lad originally, but Spurs was my big team.

So I went to Spurs because of Pat, and I believe that the first age group that I coached there was either the 14’s/15’s team, and in that squad was Ledley King. Len Cheesewright had scouted Ledley from Leyton Orient, because of Pat Holland, and he brought over three players to Spurs,  with the other two being John Moncur Senior’s nephew, and a player called Millsy. So I’d worked with Ledley for three or four years at Leyton Orient before he’d joined Spurs, because in those days you didn’t have one team, as you had centres of excellence, where you were working with a number of age groups. So I knew of Ledley already. However, at Spurs some of the other coaches who I’d worked with included Bobby Arber, Jimmy Neighbour (god rest his soul), and Chris Hughton. We used to train at the ground in those days and then play our games at Mill Hill, but to be around Pat Holland and be under his wing with all of his experience, that was unbelievable. I’d already known Pat for 16 years prior to joining Spurs. There was also Bobby Arber, who was so great to learn the defensive side of the game from, whereas Pat was very much into the in possession/attacking side of the game. I can remember the first day that I joined Spurs, and I can remember Pat introducing me to Osvaldo Ardiles, which was unbelievable. As Ossie was one of my heroes, along with Glenn Hoddle. 

 Could you talk me through some of your earliest memories of your time at the club?

Colin: To go into such a great club and see those household names that I’d watched was brilliant. Pat Holland was very good at getting us coaches to socialise after the games in the oak room, so I always felt part of it. Mill Hill wasn’t of the standard of the Luxborough Lane or Hotspur Way training ground, but the people and coaches around the club were legends. And Pat really got the coaches together, people like Chris Hughton, who was just the nicest guy in the world and also Bobby Arber and Jimmy Neighbour. Although I didn’t know at the time, we had an impression that the some of the group of youth players at the club would go on to make it in the game, although we didn’t know at which level. So to have the names of Ledley King, Ledley King and Johnnie Jackson and Peter Crouch make it, was just really good. There was also Peter Crouch, and I’ll never forget Des Bulpin saying that there was a player coming to Spurs who didn’t look like a player, but who was a player. He’d already worked with Peter at QPR, and I can vividly remember Peter arriving with his dad Bruce at Spurs. My first impressions of Peter was that he wasn’t your average footballer, which was a compliment in a way as he was so articulate, and he was very academic.

Peter didn’t have any real strength, but his first touch and control was unbelievable, and he was so intelligent. It wasn’t just about those who went on to make it big, but also players like Dean Harding, Ronnie Henry, Lee Barnard, Dean Marney, David Lee, all players who went on to have good careers away from Spurs. There’s just so many players who went on to do good things away from Spurs. I couldn’t have had a greater introduction to coaching, than to be around such fantastic people at Spurs. Slightly off topic, but going back to my days as a youth player, I can remember playing at Spurs’ old Cheshunt training ground for Leyton Orient. I remember looking up and Glenn Hoddle was standing on the side of the pitch, and I was wondering why he was there. Anyway we lost 5-1 and I scored a goal from 25 yards, but I can remember looking up and seeing a guy for Spurs who looked a bit like him, and it was Carl Hoddle. So that was another memory that I’ll never forget. But my memories of my time at Spurs are so great, that they influence how I coach today. At Spurs, we collectively helped to produce players who went on to play for Spurs and have great careers. That was down to people like John Moncur Senior, Pat Holland (he was very instrumental) and Keith Waldon, who was a household name back in the day.

So to be around the people that I’ve named, and to try and take a bit of their knowledge from them, that was something that I’ll never forget.

During your time at Spurs you would coach many very good players. What was it like to coach such quality players?

Colin: At the time you don’t really realise, but what I say to people now is that those elite players who I coached, they always wanted to be told the truth. I look at the academy system now, and I think that it’s alright. Some clubs’ academy set-ups are a lot better than others, and things have changed. But those top players, and I mean the Peter Crouch’s and Ledley King’s and Jermain Defoe’s (I coached Jermain for a while at Charlton) of football, they always want to be told the truth. I always have a saying that average players want to be left alone, good players want to be coached, but elite and top players always want to be told the truth. More so than ever we were encouraged to tell the truth and be honest with the players, and I think that they all respected that. But looking back when people ask me to pick a player who really stood out, and I’ve coached 15/16 future international players for England, and I always say that that’s not a difficult question, as it’s Ledley King. As he was the player. If in those days we were doing one v ones in the ball-court at White Hart Lane, then no one would get past Ledley. And if you had to go past someone, then Ledley would go past anyone. His attitude was also excellent, and he was a gentleman who was honest and hardworking. Don’t get me wrong, the other players who all went on to have good careers, were also very good players. However, in terms of the greatest player for me, then it was Ledley King.

What was your time at Spurs like on the whole?

Colin: To be around such a big club, and to be around such humble coaches, people like Chris Hughton, who had achieved so much in the game, he was so humble and willing to share his knowledge of the game. And also there was Pat Holland, who I talk about in such high esteem and Bobby Arber, who were around me at the club. My time at Spurs only came to an end because there was a change to the structure, and David Pleat had returned to the club. After that I found myself surplus to requirements, and it broke my heart. But after that I went straight to West Ham, after speaking to Tony Carr. I’ve got no bad words to say about Spurs, even though it was a sad ending for me, but that’s life. I have the fondest of memories of my time at Spurs, and I wish them all the best for the future.

Were there any people at Spurs who you looked up to, during your time with the club as a coach?

Colin: As I’ve said before it has to be Pat Holland. He was my coach at West Ham and from then he sort of mentored me and took me under his wing. Also, after Gerry Francis came in and then to be around Osvaldo Ardiles and Steve Perryman, that was just incredible. I’ve also got to mention Dickie Moss and a man called Johnny Martin, who was a legend, who was always doing impressions. There was also Robbie Stepney, who I looked up to. 

Are there any memories from your time at Spurs which really stand out to you?

Colin: There’s so many. I can remember when Tottenham were playing Manchester United on New Year’s Day, and I’d bumped into Andy Sinton and introduced myself to him, but afterwards I went to the oak room to see Pat Holland and Bobby Arber. I went straight up there and I was the first person there, and then Alex Ferguson came into the bar. He came over to me and asked me if I’d watched the game and what I thought, and I said that it was a great result for us, to which he said well it weren’t for us. So afterwards I thought that I’ve just spoken to another great man just through having an involvement with Tottenham Hotspur. So to just be associated with a club like Spurs was brilliant. I remember Spurs fans asking me if we had any decent players coming through, and I can vividly remember saying that this guy is going to be a player, and that was Ledley King. Also, seeing Peter Crouch going on to where he did and then coming back to Spurs later on, that was great. But as I said before, it’s not just the players who went on to become big names, but it’s also about the likes of Glenn Poole and Ronnie Henry who went on to have good careers in the game.

From your time with Spurs as a coach, looking back which players really stood out to you for their technical ability and talent?

Colin: I’ve mentioned Ledley before, but for the way that he played, Peter Crouch’s first touch and ball control was immense. Then you had players who didn’t go on to make it at Spurs, like Dean Harding, who was a very neat and tidy player, and also Glenn Poole. Glenn had an exceptional left foot, as did Johnnie Jackson. Then you look at Dean Marney, who grew up to be big and strong. There was also Ben Bowditch, and I remember when he first joined Spurs, and I thought that he had something about him as a player. And he would go on to play for England at youth level. It was just a privilege to be around so many fantastic players at Spurs at that time.

What do you consider to be your greatest achievement/contribution in your time as a coach with Spurs?

Colin: It was an honour and a privilege to be there, and I can remember Pat Holland saying to me that I was very technically neat and tidy as a player, and that I should go into coaching. However, joining Spurs and coaching some of the young players, they were as good as me, if not better than me, and I was 28 at the time. Micky Hazard was coaching some of the younger age groups at the time and you also had Tommy Cunningham. But we as coaches helped to produce so many good players, just from the ball-court at White Hart Lane. 

What would your advice be to the Spurs Academy players of today, as they look to make it in the game?

Colin: As I always say, listen to your coaches as there are some very good coaches in there. It might be frustrating sometimes because you’ve got such good players around you, but I would advise players now, that although it’s nice to play in the Under 21’s for the club, it’s more evident now to get out on loan. When you’ve been at a club like Spurs, for someone to say to you to go out on loan to Aldershot or whoever in the lower leagues, then you might not want to as you’re a Spurs player. But my opinion is that you’re not a player until you get that second or third professional contract. You might be on a good wage, but you need to be playing in that environment where people are paying to watch you play for their team, and where it counts. So you’ve got to get on loan, and my experience from being in non-League and for example being at Bishop’s Stortford, when we got Jordan Archer in on loan, is that that helped him grow as a footballer, and he of course went on to win an international cap (for Scotland). So to summarise, I’d say that you should enjoy your time at Spurs and to listen to your coaches. But when you’re at that right age, then you need to take the advice of the coaches and go out and play the game where it matters. When you get those minutes and do well, then you start to appreciate your time out on loan at those lower league sides.

After all these years how do you look back on your time with Spurs? And are they a club that you still hold close to your heart?

Colin: It was hard when I left Spurs and it broke my heart, but you later realise that it’s not personal. It was probably the fondest four years of my life in football, even though I’ve had lots of great times at other clubs, but it’s probably the best time that I’ve had in my time as a coach, especially in learning from such great people and being around such big names. So I was privileged to work with great players like Peter Crouch, who scored the most headed goals in the Premier League era. And also Ledley King, who was one of Spurs’ best central defenders, and someone who could have played for Real Madrid or Barcelona, and not looked out of place. So the memories that I’ve got from my time at Spurs will always be something that is dear to my heart, and that I’ll never forget. I’ll also forever be thankful to Pat Holland, for giving me the opportunity to coach at Spurs, in what were the best four years of my coaching time.

Bobby Arber was at Spurs as a coach during the 1990’s, a time at the club which saw him become youth team manager and also manager of the Spurs reserves, and in total Bobby was with Spurs for almost ten years. A former Arsenal youth and reserve team player, Bobby would also play for Leyton Orient as a first team player, before later joining Southend United on loan, for a spell. Arber would later play in South Africa, for Rangers FC, before returning to England, where he played non-League football for a while. He did however, finish his playing career in America. However, I recently had the great pleasure and privilege of interviewing Bobby about his memories of his time with Spurs, as a coach.

How did you come about joining Spurs as their youth team manager/Under 18’s head-coach, before also becoming reserve team manager? And could you talk me through your memories of your time at Spurs?

Bobby: I was very much linked with Pat Holland, and we were big friends outside of the club, and so it seemed like quite a natural progression for me to go to Spurs. In those days we had the South-East Counties League Division One and Two, and so I was in charge of the younger team, which had Peter Crouch and Ledley King, and also Luke Young and Stephen Clemence, and they’re lads who I all still keep in contact with now. Pat Holland would later leave Spurs to go to Leyton Orient, and so I then took the Spurs reserve team for a year, as Chris Hughton had gone up to the first team. Pat returned to the club a year later, and at the time I was still in charge of the reserves, but the then Spurs manager George Graham asked me to watch some overseas matches at that time, but that’s how it all came about. My time at Tottenham was a very, very good time, and they were very good memories. When I first joined Spurs, Terry Venables was the manager, and he attracted loads and loads of good players. John Moncur Senior was the head of recruitment at Spurs at the time, and he helped to get a lot of good players to Spurs, such as Sol Campbell. Although they never really played together, Sol and Ledley King would have been the best. Stephen Carr was another who I coached, who was one of the best alongside Sol Campbell, Ledley King, Luke Young and Peter Crouch.

I was still coaching at Spurs when David Pleat came back to Spurs, and we probably didn’t see eye to eye at times. I met with Liam Brady after he invited me over, and so that’s how I went to Arsenal. There was no we don’t like Spurs, or we don’t like Arsenal, as it was just about focusing on developing players, and on the academy. I found that Arsenal were more intense on beating Spurs in games at that level, than Spurs ever were, when I was there. Pat Holland was all about developing players, which was what we were good at, and a lot of players came through the system at Spurs during our tenure, and who went on to play in the first team. Some had great careers, like Ledley, who should have been the best, but obviously injuries held him back. I remember when Ledley retired, and they were having a presentation for him at Park Lane, and I was asked to go up and give a speech about him, which was nice. However, they were all really good times.

You were in charge of the Spurs youth side that won the 1996 Milk Cup, in Northern Ireland. What are your memories of that successful tournament?

Bobby: The Spurs side was very young compared to some of the other sides at the tournament, and so I played three at the back so that we could have a little bit more security on the pitch. Ledley King was still a schoolboy footballer at that stage, and while I still played the older players from that group of players, I still picked Ledley, because he was just so good. I don’t think that we had the best team at that tournament, but I think that we had the best spirit. We got better as the tournament went on and we went on to beat Blackburn in the final, and they had been the favourites to win the tournament, but we played very well on that day. Now when I say that Ledley was the best player of that group, no one now can really argue otherwise. I can remember picking Ledley for the reserves when he was still a schoolboy footballer, and David Pleat was asking me why I was picking Ledley over the more experienced players, and he wasn’t too happy. But then after the game he said well done, and me and David get on better now than what we ever did at Spurs. But as I said, Ledley was the best, while Peter Crouch was a late developer and Luke Young was someone who gave his all every single time, although I never expected him to play for England. Also, Stephen Clemence was a good player, who had a very, very good career, as well as Jamie Clapham.

Whereas today a lot of youngsters want to go on their computers and play video games, then when I was a coach all they wanted to do was play football. When we used to get back to White Hart Lane, we’d ask Bill Nicholson questions, and the players would always be asking us whether we were ready to play football yet. And so it was a really good time, but from all of my coaching skills I would say that from the actual practices, that Pat Holland showed me them all, from his time at West Ham. And so all of the stuff that we did at Tottenham was West Ham stuff.

During your time at Spurs you would coach many very good players. What was it like to coach such quality players on a day to day basis?

Bobby: It was a pleasure, and every day that we went in was great. We wanted to win at Spurs at youth level, but that wasn’t just it. I remember that when I was in charge of the younger South-East Counties League team, that we were playing against teams like Wimbledon’s under 18 side, whereas our team was basically an under 16 team. So we basically used to make sure that they were organised and that they worked their socks off, but again our team spirit used to get us through. As a club we were always together, first team and academy. I can remember doing a training session, when all of a sudden I felt that someone was standing behind me, and it was Terry Venables. I asked him how long he’d been standing to which he replied long enough! So he’d always be interested and asking you questions of what was going on, and he was just terrific. He used to ask all of the coaches questions of what they were going to do in in game situations. 

What was your time at Spurs like on the whole?

Bobby: I’ve got to say that my time at Spurs was a pleasure, just like it was at Arsenal as well. At Spurs we had a great team, the same at Arsenal, and I think that it’s important not to change staff all of the time, as it doesn’t help the players. So the players knew what we wanted, and I think that they believed that we were saying the right things to them. And the proof is in the pudding, with how many players progressed at Spurs, players who I’d forgotten to mention earlier, like Ian Walker and Nicky Barmby. I remember when Ledley King first came to Spurs, and this is a great story. Anyway, John Moncur Senior had told me that his cousin was coming down to train with Spurs on a Tuesday night, and that he was bringing his mate with him. So his cousin came in, and with him was Ledley. We did some running afterwards and he was miles behind, but Ledley’s ability was so good. I can remember about a week later John asking me how his cousin did, and I told him that he didn’t do bad, but I also said that his mate was different class! And I think that it was Tommy Cunningham (former Spurs youth coach) who was the one who first recommended Ledley to Spurs, as Ledley had been at Leyton Orient before that, like Tommy Cunningham had been. 

Ledley King didn’t know how good he was, as he was like a Rolls Royce, he really was. He could run, he was both footed and he was just so good. I remember speaking to George Graham once, and I spoke to him about this young central defender. He asked me what he was like and if he could head the ball? And I said that I didn’t really know, but after the training session I asked him how he did, and George smiled and told me to never send over a central defender who couldn’t head the ball, as he was different class!

Were there any people at Spurs who you looked up to, during your time with the club as a coach?

Bobby: Pat Holland was definitely someone, because we worked so closely together. After training we used to do formations on the table and also prepare sessions for the evening, because at the time we used to have to coach the Spurs Under 16 side and the other youth sides, not like today where you didn’t have to do that, but we had to work the whole day. So Pat Holland would have been the main person who I looked up to and latched onto every word from, but there was also obviously Terry Venables, because of the authority that he had at the club. He had great charisma, and the players loved him. Spurs were a lesser team without Terry, because of the names of the players that he brought to the club, like Paul Gascoigne, Darren Anderton and Teddy Sheringham. 

Are there any memories from your time at Spurs which really stand out to you?

Bobby: I always liked it when the players that I had coached had made it for the first team. That was what we were all about, yes we wanted to win, but to actually see the players get better and then progress and reach the first team, is what it’s all about. Some make it early like Ledley King and Stephen Carr, and others like Peter Crouch do it a bit later. My son Mark was a substitute for the Spurs first team against Arsenal at Highbury, and so he was warming-up on the sidelines when Spurs were losing 1-0 and Gerry Francis asked Mark to get ready to be substituted on. But Roger Cross had to remind him that Gerry had already put all three of his subs on! So Mark was gutted that he couldn’t make his competitive debut for Spurs in that game. There were players at Spurs like Kevin Maher and Peter Gain who were just not quite at that first team level at the club, but they still had very good careers. Also, there was David Lee, who is now doing very well as a football agent. So I’ve got a lot of very good memories about Spurs and the set-up, and it was just a joy to go into work everyday.

From your time with Spurs as a coach, and particularly as Youth Team manager, looking back which players really stood out to you for their technical ability and talent?

Bobby: One of the most technical players was Peter Crouch, he really was. If I was going to do a session in the afternoon then Peter wouldn’t be taking shots at goal, instead he’d be doing step-overs and things like that. He was very good at volleying and controlling the ball, and so technically he was very good, like Ledley King, Stephen Carr and Nicky Barmby. Also, there was Danny Hill, who was very technical. Unfortunately he was going to make it big or not at all, but he was a very clever player. Sol Campbell wasn’t the best player, but he had great drive. When he came from Spurs to Arsenal, which was massive at the time, he just took it on his shoulders. I’ll tell you a story which I’ve never really broadcast before, and so anyway I once asked Arsène Wenger whether he’d be interested in signing Ledley King, when I was with Arsenal. And Arsène Wenger was up for it, and it never happened because Ledley’s loyalties and also his agents loyalties were with Tottenham. Stephen Carr was another player who was very good for Spurs, and he was someone that I coached.

What do you consider to be your greatest achievement/contribution in your time as a coach with Spurs?

Bobby: I think that as I said before, it’s not winning matches and leagues, it’s about developing players. The young players have got to have a winning mentality, but you don’t want them to feel fear when they are playing. So I think that we allowed the players to express themselves and be themselves to the best of their ability, knowing that we were on their sides. And that if something went wrong then they could talk to us off the pitch, and not be afraid to ask you questions. So I think that that is a triumph, as I think that a lot of youth players today find it a bit difficult to talk to someone of authority. I’ll keep going back to Ledley King, as he was really the outstanding player of Tottenham’s youth team along with Sol Campbell and Stephen Carr.

The Spurs Academy/youth team group of the late 1990’s had a very talented group of players. What do you remember of that group of players, and their success as a team?

Bobby: I can remember that Spurs team well, and one day we were playing Arsenal at Highbury, in the final of the Southern Junior Floodlit Cup. Pat Holland had taken the team, but I sat next to him at the game, because we could bounce off each other as we had that good communication between each other. At half-time I asked Peter Crouch whether there was any chance of him winning a header in the game, and after half-time he scored a headed goal after a cross had been whipped into the box, and he just looked at me. So that was a good memory, but Arsenal at the time had the likes of Ashley Cole in their youth side coming through to the first team. But today it doesn’t happen like that, as you only get one every couple of years who makes it at clubs.

What would your advice be to the Spurs Academy players of today, as they look to make it in the game?

Bobby: I think that you should listen to your coach and your parents, but once you cross that line you’ve got to show a great attitude and work as hard as you can, and then your own ability will come with that. If you practice diligently, and work hard and train everyday then you’ve got a chance. Oliver Skipp when he was younger wasn’t a standout in my opinion, but his excellent attitude has been very important to his career. Your attitude is so important.

After all these years how do you look back on your time with Spurs? And are they a club that you still hold close to your heart?

Bobby: I still hold very, very fond memories of my time at Tottenham. I was at Arsenal for nearly 20 years, and I’ve got just as many fond memories of my time at Arsenal as I do at Spurs. So I wish Spurs just as much success as Arsenal, as they are both clubs that I have great memories of being at.

As a midfield player Neil Douglas was a very tough tackling one, who played the game at a good intensity. From Hamilton, in Scotland, Neil was scouted by one of Spurs’ Scotland scouts and would join Spurs in 1960, playing there for a while in the youth team, and also in the old Wood Green league, on occasions. Neil was on the ground-staff at Spurs for just under a year during the early 1960’s. I recently had the great pleasure of speaking to Neil about his memories of his time at Spurs as a youth team player.

What is your earliest footballing memory?

Neil: I remember when I got picked for the primary school football team, and I remember playing in a blue jersey for that team, and I must have been about nine then. So that would be my first footballing memory.

What are your earliest memories of your time at Spurs? And how did you come about joining the club?

Neil: I had played with the school team and we got to a cup final, which we won. My mother told me that some guy was at the door of our house, and that he said that he was from Tottenham Hotspur. After that I’d played for the Hamilton district team and the Lanarkshire Schools team, but because I was travelling down to London in Easter of 1960, I missed out on being capped for Scotland’s Schoolboy team, which is what I had been told. I can remember getting the sleeper train down to London from Glasgow, where I was met by a guy called Harry Evans. I played against Crystal Palace in a South-East Counties League game at 11 o’clock on a Saturday, before we went to White Hart Lane to watch Spurs versus Manchester City, I think it was. In the Crystal Palace game I played well, but I was a small lad up against really big players. And I think that we won against Crystal Palace in that game. I later got put up at a hotel at Russell Square, by Spurs.

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

Neil: There were quite a few of the Rangers players that I was a fan of, as I supported them. I was also a fan of Dave Mackay, when he was at Hearts, as he was my type of player, and someone who like myself, liked tackling. Unfortunately when I was at Spurs, Johnny Wallis didn’t like me making slide tackles, as while I was good at it up in Scotland, the guys in England were just a bit too fast. So Johnny used to always tell me to get off the floor! I was also always a fan of John White, who played for Scotland at the time, and it was a pleasure to meet him. I went to the movies a couple of times with John, at Spurs, and he was in the army on national service, when I first went down to Spurs. He was staying at the same hotel as myself, and one night rather than going to a show, he asked me if I wanted to go to the movies, and so we went and watched a film. And we did a couple of times after that, as well. So him and I were very friendly.

Who were your greatest influences at Spurs?

Neil: You always looked up to Danny Blanchflower and people like that, and obviously Bill Nicholson as well. Whenever Bill came into a room there was complete silence. There were also people like Dave Mackay, who was first class, and also Bobby Smith, who was quite a character. So my experience at Spurs was really first class.

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

Neil: I was kind of a right-half, centre-half or left-half player, which is now what they call midfield. So I would sort of pick the ball up and take it forward, and also make tackles as well. I would never stop running as I was a fit player, and I’m still quite fit now, at 78. So I was a midfield played who did well in a 4-4-2 formation, who liked playing at wing-half. That’s where they played me on the day that we played Crystal Palace, when they played me at left-half on that day.

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

Neil: I watched Dave Mackay and Danny Blanchflower a lot, but I watched Dave Mackay because he was a very tough and tenacious player. I also used to watch Maurice Norman, the centre-half, and watch the things that he did on the pitch. So I just tried to take it all in, and it was just a good experience and time in my life.

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

Neil: It was excellent, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a great experience for me. Coming to London I got to see the buses and the underground, that I’d only ever seen before on the TV and at the pictures. But on the whole my time at Spurs was really first class. I got to meet people like Jimmy Greaves and Dennis Law, when they came down to White Hart Lane. There was a player at Spurs called Tommy Harmer, and his career at Spurs was coming to an end, and I’d never really heard of him, but it turned out that he was a legend. He used to go to places like Earl’s Court, and do kick-ups with the ball and I’d actually seen him do it at the gym at Spurs, and his ball control was absolutely first class.

What was the greatest moment of your footballing career?

Neil: I played for the school team, Hamilton district, Lanarkshire Schools and then Tottenham, and I really enjoyed it. I even won a junior cup medal at Hampden. The highlight would have probably been going to Rangers rather than going to Motherwell, after I left Spurs, but oh well. I just loved playing football, and I played until I was about 30.

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

Neil: One memory was moving in with David Sunshine (former Spurs youth team player) and his family. The reason for that was that I had been living just behind Park Lane in Tottenham, with an old lady. I don’t know whether I upset her, but anyway that’s when David Sunshine stepped in and said that his family could put me up. They were the happiest times, and we used to go to Leyton Baths with him and his brother, to go swimming. We also used to go and watch Leyton Orient, and I and the others used to have this ticket/pass which allowed us to go to all the different stadiums for free. So on the whole it really was an experience for me. I went to Germany with the youth team which was great, even though I don’t think that I actually played for Spurs in that youth tournament. But, the camaraderie of being with the team was great, and I used to help out and things like that. After that I was dropped into a league called the Wood Green league, and I deteriorated after that. I realised that the games were basically being played in public parks, like Hackney marshes. I found myself that I just didn’t have it in games. The club were bringing players in on trial a lot, and so that made it more difficult for me.

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

Neil: Again it’s hard for me to answer that, but to me it didn’t matter, as I would have tackled any player. If a player were to tackle me, then I’d make sure that I’d tackle them before the end of the 90 minutes. So nobody really sticks out in my memory, but I never pulled out a tackle, because otherwise you would injure yourself.

Were there any players at Spurs who you were particularly close to during your time at the club?

Neil: I was friendly with John White, and also Dave Mackay, who you could have a laugh with, and there were other great lads like Bert Wilkie and Jimmy Collins. Bill Brown was someone who I never really got to speak with, but I got on well with a lot of the other first team lads. From the youth side there was obviously Monty (David Sunshine), who was a first class guy. I also got on well with the goalkeeper Martin Edney and Alan Dennis, who was always immaculately dressed, and also there was Phil Beal, who was a nice lad.

Could you talk me through your career after you left the Lilywhites and what prompted you to leave the club?

Neil: I knew that I wasn’t going to get higher with Spurs at the time, and I felt a bit disillusioned, and at 15 I decided to call it a day with Spurs. I went up to Motherwell for a while, although I wasn’t on the ground-staff with them. I later played lower league/non-League equivalent football, and I even got to win a cup medal at Hampden Park! I also took up golf when I was 19, and I’m still playing it now!

What would your advice be to the young Spurs players of today as they look to rise up through the ranks at the club?

Neil: Well I think that the only thing that you can do is to listen and take advice, and also believe in yourself.

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?

Neil: I must admit that it was so long ago, and only being there for ten months, I think that I dreamt it. Sometimes people will say to me that he played for Tottenham Hotspur, and I’ll say to them that I was there to clean boots and wash the shirts! But, to say that I played with Tottenham Hotspur sounds a bit ludicrous to me. I can remember painting the stanchions at White Hart Lane with the other ground-staff lads. I can also remember players like Jimmy Collins laying cement down on the terraces and doing things like that during the holidays. The weather was always great when I was at Spurs, it really was terrific.

Pat Holland’s association with West Ham United as a player was a long and successful one, with the winger making many appearances for them. An FA Cup winner with West Ham in 1975, Pat Holland would also play in the 1976 European Cup Winners Cup final against Anderlecht. However, it was later on as a coach in North London with Spurs, that Pat made a real impression on the youth system/Academy, during two spells with the club. He would join Spurs as an Under 18 coach during the late 1980’s, before later taking charge of the Spurs Reserves side in the last year of his first spell with the club. Pat would later leave Spurs to go to Leyton Orient, to become the manager of their first team. Although he would later return to Spurs upon leaving Leyton Orient in 1997, to become their Youth Team manager at the Spurs Academy, a role that we hold until well into the 2000’s. A very good coach who I had heard a lot of good things about from a lot of former Spurs youth/academy players over the years, I recently had the great pleasure and privilege of interviewing Pat Holland about his long time with Spurs as a coach and as Youth Team manager.

How did you come about joining Spurs as a youth coach during your first spell with the club during the late 1980’s? And could you talk me through your memories of that period of time with Spurs, as Under 18’s coach, and later manager of the Spurs Reserves?

Pat: I was at Leyton Orient at the time, before going to QPR for a year. However, I found the travelling to get there quite difficult. So I ended up going back to Leyton Orient again, but I did have quite close connections with Spurs and John Moncur, and also a man called Dickie Moss, who was a goalkeeping coach and scout. And he was a very good goalkeeping coach with the young players. So anyway, he kept on saying to me that he wanted to get me to Tottenham, and so between John Moncur and Dickie Moss I managed to get into Spurs. The then Spurs youth team manager Keith Blunt had gone to Gillingham with Keith Burkinshaw, and so there were a few names in the hat, but John Moncur put in a very good word for me, and I think that Keith Waldon did as well. So from there I met Terry Venables and got the job. Going to Spurs was a great change from being at Leyton Orient, as they were a fourth division side then, and their facilities were alright. However, when I went to Tottenham it was a different world, as you were surrounded by top players.

At the time Spurs were training at Mill Hill, and you had top players like Gary Lineker, who were already at Spurs when I arrived at the club. So it’s not always easy to go to a big club like that and settle quickly, but the youth players were very good and so was Keith Waldon. They had a way of playing at Spurs which was a lot of technical play, which to me was something I knew a lot about anyway, being a former West Ham player, as that footballing culture was the same at West Ham. I was the head-coach of the second Spurs Under 18 side, and I enjoyed coaching them immensely. Being in charge of the reserves for a while in my first spell at Spurs  was always going to be more difficult. Gerry Francis had arrived at Spurs as the manager, and he’d brought in Des Bulpin as the new youth team manager, which left me in what you’d say was no man’s land. So with Des being in charge of the youth side and Chris Hughton in charge of the reserves, I could have ended up leaving Spurs quite easily at that stage. But I held on and I ended up having a spell with the reserves, which was alright, but I enjoyed coaching the youth side better.

In the same season that I was in charge of the Spurs reserves, the opportunity came along to manage Leyton Orient, and so obviously I went for that job, in what I believe was 1995/96.

You would later return to Spurs in 1997, as their Youth Team manager at the Spurs Academy, until 2006. Could you talk me through your time at the club, and your experiences during those years?

Pat: My second spell with Spurs was brilliant. I’d managed at Leyton Orient and it hadn’t quite worked out, and so I went to Millwall as my old teammate Billy Bonds was the first team coach there. That season with Millwall was difficult and very demanding, and then that Christmas the opportunity came to go back to Spurs, as Gerry Francis and Des Bulpin were both leaving the club. So I met Daniel Sugar in a hotel that was near to the Spurs training ground, which was now at Luxborough Lane, in Chigwell. And so me and Daniel shook hands, and so I was on board. Christian Gross was the manager at the time, and he was a really nice man, but he wasn’t there for long, before George Graham came in as manager. When I returned to Spurs they were changing the layout of the training ground, and so we had to train at a school. I had some good players then, even though the facilities there weren’t great, but it bonded us as a team. In my first game in charge I went in there not knowing any of the players, and so in the first half they’d been squabbling a little bit. So I told them all to have a go at me, if they were going to have a go at anybody, and if they did do that then they’d be in trouble. So the team changed their attitude for the second half.

Up front for my team in that first game was a tall and thin player, and then a defender playing at centre-half, and also a right-back who would get up and down the flank all day long, and who went on to play for England. So we’d been 2-0 down at half-time, and then in the second half we got a goal back. In the last minute of the game the tall and thin centre-forward scored an over-head kick into the top corner, and that of course was Peter Crouch. So all three of those players (Peter Crouch, Ledley King and Luke Young) all became England internationals. I think that that season we’d been undefeated, until we came up against Arsenal in a final at the end of the season. I’d picked a young team in that Under 19 league for that season, and so you had players like Alton Thelwell and Simon Cliss. So anyway, we’d lost 2-0 at home to Arsenal in the first leg of the final of this competition, and so I thought to myself that I had to change something. And so I went with a back three and two wing-backs. So we beat them 1-0, and Peter Crouch scored. If you’d won this particular trophy then you were invited to participate in the Dallas Cup, in America. Liam Brady was kind of the Academy director at Arsenal at the time, and he didn’t fancy competing in the tournament. So the Spurs Academy director at the time (Peter Suddaby) called me into the office and told me that we could compete in the Dallas Cup, which I thought would be great.

We got to the final of the Dallas Cup where we lost to Brazilian side Corinthians, who were a good side. So in two years we got to two finals. The development of the players stands in my mind as a coach. Sol Campbell went through to the first team during the first spell that I had at the club, and then there was Stephen Carr, Nicky Barmby and quite a few others who all made it to the first team. From my second spell that I had at Spurs, Ledley King obviously made it. Peter Crouch just wasn’t strong enough at the time, so he would later leave the club on loan, before leaving permanently. But he had a lot of ability, although he needed to improve in the air. However, Peter and the rest of the lads’ attitude was first class.

During your time at Spurs you would coach many very good players. What was it like to coach such quality players on a day to day basis?

Pat: It’s strange really, because when you’re working with them you don’t think about it so much. You know that they are talented players, but you can’t compare them until they’re playing on a match day. So you need to look at the strengths that the players have, and try to then improve their strengths, to add a little bit to what they’ve already got. It’s not always so easy with their weaknesses, as if they’re not so strong on their left foot then you could spend a year of them working on their left foot, while in that year you’ve wasted your right foot, and improving on that. If I had to put money on players making it at Spurs from the youth set-up then, then I would have said Stephen Carr, Ledley King and Sol Campbell. There are always surprises who make it and late developers. Luke Young was a very good player who had a great career in the game, as well as Peter Crouch. Alton Thelwell was another really good player who was a really nice guy, and also somebody who you could talk to as a man. There was also Danny Hill, who was really talented, but who just didn’t make it, as maybe he physically just missed out on making it. Johnnie Jackson was another really good player who joined Spurs as a schoolboy, and we included him in the Spurs youth squad that travelled to the Dallas Cup, and we gave him a bit of game time there.

I remember asking Johnnie Jackson who he supported one day. He told me that he supported Arsenal, and I was laughing as I told him that I’d supported Arsenal as a youngster. However, I told him that I didn’t support them as much then, as when I’d become a pro my heart went with the team that I was playing for. I also said to him that he’d hopefully find that out for himself one day. But Johnnie did really well at Spurs and in his later career as a player.

What was your time at Spurs like on the whole?

Pat: It was brilliant. To be honest with you I’ve always enjoyed coaching more than playing, and don’t get me wrong I loved playing, but I felt no pressure when I was coaching at Spurs, and I just felt comfortable coaching there. I had two spells at Spurs, and I think that all in all I was there for about 16 years. West Ham supporters will ask me what my best time in football was, and I’ll say it was when I was at Spurs! I loved coaching and I have great memories of my time at Spurs. We had the best indoor ball court at White Hart Lane in the day, and I have a great story from there. When I was doing Tuesday and Thursday training sessions I had a session on the Thursday evening and so I asked Paul Gascoigne whether he would watch the youth players training. He agreed and asked me what time he should turn up, and anyway I get there and he’s sitting in reception with his feet up, and he has his Spurs kit on. So up we go and I’d told him what we were doing for training, but he told me to have a match. Paul wanted to play in the game! In my mind I’m thinking that he’s playing for the first team on the Saturday, so I was worried that he’d get injured. Anyway, we were in the ball court for an hour, and at the end he signed every single autograph, which was just fantastic.

Were there any people at Spurs who you looked up to, during your time with the club as a coach?

Pat: Terry Venables was a force at the club, and he had great charisma. He was an excellent coach, and so he made a big impression on me, as did George Graham when he came to Spurs. I never got to see Christian Gross a lot, and then there were other managers such as Glenn Hoddle when he came to Spurs, and I knew his assistant John Gorman well. So I gelled with some managers and coaches more than others.

Are there any memories from your time at Spurs which really stand out to you?

Pat: I suppose when we won the FA Youth Cup against Middlesborough under Keith Waldon, was one. As I was a big part of that, and I went to all of the games in that cup run. Winning that was a great achievement, and Keith is a proud man. So just generally being part of the club was great and a lasting memory. Of course getting to finals was great, and in my first season with the Spurs youth side we won the South-East Counties League. We went to Millwall and won it and they had a big crowd there that day, and one of my players got involved with the crowd. I quickly went onto the pitch and told him to get off the pitch, as I could see that otherwise there was going to be a confrontation. But anyway we won the league that season which was great for me, because Spurs had been so prolific at winning the South-East Counties League, and so it was just nice to follow the history.

From your time with Spurs as a coach, and particularly as Youth Team manager, looking back which players really stood out to you for their technical ability and talent?

Pat: There was Sol Campbell, who I always thought was going to be a midfield player. He even played up front for one whole season, as we were short of a striker that season at youth level. I’d already asked him whether he’d be alright playing up front as a sub in a youth game, and he said yes. However, anyway he’d played five or so games for my Spurs youth team, before Keith Waldon promoted him to his youth side, because Ollie Morah had got injured, but I always thought that Sol was going to be a player. As was Stephen Carr, and I remember in a game against Norwich I asked him to push up the pitch, and he ended up winning us the game with two crosses. When I first went to Spurs, although it was Keith Waldon’s side, Darren Caskey, Nicky Barmby and Andy Turner all went on to play for the first team. I think that it was easier to make it back then, because now clubs are buying players who are already ready for the first team, and top international players. So now you’ve got to work so hard to get into the first team.

Were there any academy/youth players who didn’t play for the Spurs first team that you thought would have done, from your time there as a coach?

Pat: My best side was the side that had Ledley King in it, and I think that nine of that squad became players. However, going back to that team there was a lad called Ian Hillier, who was a great lad, but he didn’t have any pace. So I ended up playing him at right-back, and he was terrific. Then I had Ledley, and players like John Piercy, Alton Thelwell and David Lee, who all had good careers in the game. One player who did actually play for the first team at Spurs, but who I thought got everything too early, was Phil Ifil. I remember that David Kerslake was doing the evening training at Spurs, and he told me that he thought that he had a player. And while you’ve got to have confidence, I thought that Phil was a little bit too confident, and England had been telling him how good he was going to be. And he was similar to Ben Bowditch, who captained England right the way through at youth level. Ben had everything that you could at youth team level, but he just never made that next step. I felt disappointed for him, and the last time that I saw him was at Cambridge United versus a non-League side, and Ben was on the bench for the non-League side. Once they play at a good level you want them to do well.

I can also remember Mark Yeates once playing for us against West Ham, and Tony Carr asked me who my best player was, and I told him that it was Mark. So he put a player on him to mark him, and after half an hour of the game Mark Yeates came up to me saying how they were marking him, and asking me what he should do. So at half-time I told him to pass the ball out to the wide areas to create space for himself. Mark would go on to make the first team at Spurs. Another player who I liked was Jacques Maghoma, and I used to play him on the left as a winger. He was good at linking the play on that side of the pitch, but he had real ability to get into good areas. And he had a great career with Birmingham. 

What do you consider to be your greatest achievement/contribution in your time as a coach with Spurs?

Pat: Hopefully it was giving them some of my knowledge from being a player, and as a coach. Because it’s not all about what happens on the pitch, as it’s also about how you conduct yourself off it. I also wanted to keep my distance as well from them, as from Monday to Saturday I can look, coach and guide, but after that it is their time as players. Some made mistakes, but a lot of them didn’t. So I think that’s an important part of the social side of being a coach.

The Spurs Academy group of the early 2000’s had a very talented group of players.  What do you remember of that group of players, and their success as a team?

Pat: Things started to change a little bit in the 2000s, as the reserve team coach wanted to take players off of you to build their numbers up as a squad. But that early 2000’s side were a good side with good players. It’s all about what you produce in football, and I can remember Norwich winning the FA Youth Cup one year and not one player got into their first team. The hardest thing is when you sense that the young players aren’t going to make it, and you’ve got to learn to tell them that at some stage. Christmas time was always hard, because we were basically making our minds up as to where this player was going to go. I remember Terry Venables asking me what my thoughts were on coming out of the youth side at 19. And I told him that I thought that it was a grey area, because a lot of players develop slowly, some physically and some mentally. Some players get some more self belief in that year, and you can regret them leaving the club or being released. So I said that if we were in any doubt then we should give the player a pro contract. Winning is also very important for young players, because you need that winning mentality as in the next step-up there are only four or so spaces to get in, and if you’re not in one of them then you’ve got to drop out. So you’ve got to help the players to be as mentally strong as they can.

What would your advice be to the Spurs Academy players of today, as they look to make it in the game?

Pat: I think that the first and most important thing is that when you walk into the training ground on a Monday, that you need to work hard. You can have laughs, but once you get onto that training pitch your focus needs to be on what you are doing, as that’s really important. Obviously I was big on behaviour and discipline, because you want to remind them that they are professional footballers. These players have also got to watch the first team, because sometimes they don’t and that amazes me, as that’s where they want to be. So giving 100% in everything you do in training and in matches is so important. 

After all these years how do you look back on your time with Spurs? And are they a club that you still hold close to your heart?

Pat: I have great memories of my time at Spurs, and I met many players who went onto have great careers in the game, as well as players who didn’t, but they were good people. I have good memories of the players who made it and also good memories of the ones who didn’t make it, because some of those players’ attitude was first class. 

Alex Hamill was a player who would join Spurs during the late 1970’s as a youth team player from Scotland. From Glasgow, Alex was a fine and strong left-back who could also play in midfield, and for a time during the late 1970’s Alex was the captain of the Spurs youth team, where he was an important team player. He would also play for the Spurs reserves, before joining Hearts on a loan move during the early 1980’s, before later making the move permanent. Alex would later play for Hamilton Academical, Forfar Athletic, Cowdenbeath and East Fife, in Scotland. I recently had the great pleasure of speaking with Alex about his memories of his time at Spurs.

What are you earliest ever footballing memories?

Alex: It would probably be being at Celtic games, and being amongst massive crowds. My dad used to take me sometimes to Celtic, and sometimes I used to take my brother to Celtic games, but we weren’t allowed to buy any stuff such as flags or things like that, as my mum wouldn’t allow that. So we used to bring Celtic stuff in to the house and hide it! So they were good memories.

What are your earliest memories of your time at Spurs? And how did you come about joining the club?

Alex: After being scouted by Tottenham, I left school at 16 and I went straight down to Tottenham. I moved in to digs with a landlady called misses Oakerbee, on Wakefield Street in Edmonton. My early impressions were thinking to myself I just can’t believe I’m here, as Tottenham was just a massive club, even though they weren’t as good as they had been when I had  first arrived. But it was a dream just to be a professional footballer and start my journey at Tottenham. I had been with a couple of clubs on trial, such as Aston Villa, but Tottenham was always the one for me. Me and a friend of mine had been on trial with Spurs and had gone down there two or three times, and both of us were supposed to sign when he had decided to go to Aberdeen. And although Aberdeen were interested in me as well, I was determined to go to Spurs. I was an apprentice with Garry Brooke when I first joined Spurs and also Peter Southey, God rest him. Also, Joe Simmonds was an apprentice with Spurs at the time, so there was just a small group of us apprentices at that time. Johnny Wallis was kind of in charge of us apprentices at that time, and he made sure that you got your jobs done and had got all of your training gear ready to go to Cheshunt. And of course you had to clean the dressing rooms and things like that, and if things weren’t done well then Johnny would tell you that they weren’t, and that you had to do it again. But it was a great experience.

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

Alex: Kenny Dalglish. Being a Celtic fan I used to get lifted over the turnstiles to watch them play, and Kenny was always my hero. He was a fantastic footballer and I was devastated when he left Celtic, but even when he went to Liverpool he was a tremendous player and manager, and by the sounds of things he’s just a really good human being. So he was my top man.

Who were your greatest influences at Spurs?

Alex: Ron Henry and Robbie Stepney were two people who I looked up to. Ron was the manager of the Spurs youth team at the time and he was a cult hero in his day at Tottenham, and he was someone who I got on really well with. Up until not so long ago I was exchanging Christmas cards with him, up until I’d found out that he’d passed away, which was sad. Also, Robbie was a great guy who had a big influence on me, and I used to spend a lot of time with him, and on Sundays instead of being on my own in my digs, I’d go along and watch the younger players who used to play on a Sunday, with Robbie. So that was basically just something to do for me, but Robbie was always kind and helpful, like Ron. The secretary at the time – Peter Day, was a great guy who looked after me at Spurs, and he’s someone who I still stay in contact with to this day. So he was a big influence on me. Even the ground-staff (Roy Reyland and Colin White) were good to me, and I used to play golf with Colin White quite a lot at Crews Hill, which was where the Tottenham lads all used to play golf. So I spent a lot of time with the ground-staff. There were also two guys called Harry the gate and and Harry the shop, and one was always standing at the turnstile or the gate, and the other Harry used to run the shop I believe, which was the supporters shop at the time.

At that time in my footballing career my family couldn’t afford to come down to Tottenham, and they actually were unable to get down to watch me at Tottenham during my time there. So those people that I mentioned who were at Spurs, they kept me on my toes and made sure that I wasn’t so lonely, and they made me feel part of things.

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

Alex: I went to Spurs as a left-back, and I played predominantly at left-back. I was a strong defender and also a good organiser, which was why I was made captain of the youth team. I was quite vocal and I wasn’t afraid to tell people to get organised and tell them what they should be doing. I wasn’t blessed with the greatest speed in the world, but I could run all day. I moved in to midfield a bit later, and I played quite a few games in midfield for the reserves as a holding midfield player, which I quite enjoyed. And I started to get a good run of games in the reserves, just before I actually left to go to Hearts. It was actually very difficult at that time going from youth to reserve team football. In the last reserve team that I played with for Spurs, there was Peter Taylor and Gerry Armstrong, and also Brookesy, Gibson and Falco and Peter Southey. And there was only one sub in those days, and so on a Friday it was kind of disappointing seeing the team-sheet and seeing that your name wasn’t there. 

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

Alex: I looked to Steve Perryman for the way in which he conducted himself, and he was Mr Tottenham, and a gentleman as well. So you just looked at the way he conducted himself going around the place, and just pick up things from him. Obviously you look at people who play in your position to see how they played. And at the time there was Jimmy Holmes playing at left-back and also Chris Hughton sometimes, although he was right footed. So I used to watch them to pick up ideas and also to see the way that they played. Because the club was so close knit at that time, the apprentices were basically in with the first team, and we were also training with them on a daily basis. So there were training matches where the youth team back four were facing Crooks and Archibald, and Hoddle, Ardiles and Villa. So it was a fantastic experience playing against World Cup winners, and also players like Glenn Hoddle. It was just a fantastic time.

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

Alex: I was really delighted to sign for Tottenham. I was possibly a bit lonely at times, but I wouldn’t have changed anything for the world, for having the experiences that I had, and also meeting the people that I met. Johnny Wallis, Robbie Stepney and Ron Henry have all gone now, God rest them. I also lost some of my teammates, like Peter Southey, who tragically died. I was really, really close to him and also Colin White and Mark Kendall, who have both passed away as well. We had a lot of great times and laughs, and some of the things that we used to get up to with the other apprentices was just crazy. I’ll never forget the day that Steve Archibald signed, because it was a beautiful day. Me and Brookesy and Peter Southey were just sitting there on the park, and Steve was going to see the press. Colin White was up for a laugh and so he set-up the sprinklers as a joke and set them off to go off at the goalmouth and have the water going everywhere, and so the water came out of the ground and soaked them all! One day me, Garry Brooke and Peter Southey were wandering around the ground, when we came across this room. It was a snooker room, but it was quite dirty so we ended up cleaning it up. And so me, Micky Hazard, Garry Brooke, Peter Southey and me used to go in that snooker room quite a lot to play snooker, when nobody else knew that it was there.

Me and Garry Brooke liked a night out at Walthamstow Dogs track, and we’d go there most Saturday’s. Also, we went on trips abroad with the youth team for European competitions, and on one occasion we won in the final against Bayern Munich. I actually scored the winner in this final, which was unusual for me, and also because I scored it with my right foot, being left footed. The ball went right in to the top corner of the goal. That was a strong Bayern Munich team that we had played in the final, and they were distraught that they hadn’t won it, but we had a strong youth team as well.

What was the greatest moment of your footballing career?

Alex: Scoring that goal in the final against Bayern Munich was one of them, but even just signing for a big club like Tottenham was just fantastic. The facilities that Spurs had at that time and the training ground and stadium that they had was great. When I went to Hearts I played at a good standard in the top division and I played about 50 games for them, and then when I was at Hamilton we won the championship, and I was the captain for them then. I also later played for Forfar, where I played almost 300 games, and I was the captain there as well. I played just short of 600 games in Scotland, and so I’m proud of my career. I wonder what would have happened if I’d have stayed at Tottenham, but you can’t go back on things, and I really enjoyed my time at Tottenham, and the people there were always good to me.

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

Alex: Winning the South-East Counties League was one, as that was a very strong league. We didn’t always have full sides in the South-East Counties League, because if the reserves were playing then Mark Falco or Peter Southey might go with them, which would make them (the Spurs youth team) a little bit weaker. Some other good players that were about at that time were Ian Crook and also Mark Bowen, and they both ended up having good careers. There was also Jimmy Bolton and Terry Gibson, who were England Schoolboy internationals, and even though Terry went on to have a better career, I think that Jimmy scored more goals than Terry at youth level at Spurs. There was also Kerry Dixon, and I couldn’t believe when Spurs released Kerry. Kerry was like Gerry Reardon as he was part-time, but Kerry scored a lot of goals, but for some reason he didn’t get taken on. So winning the South-East Counties League was a good memory, and I’m sure that I was presented with the trophy one night at White Hart Lane after a game, which was nice. I was also part of the Spurs reserve side that won the Football Combination League, which was another highlight from my time at Spurs. Around that time I had been picked for Scotland training, but unfortunately I was injured at the time. Peter Southey was going to the England training at the time, and I was supposed to be going to the Scotland one. I believe that people like Ally McCoist were in that Scotland squad.

I once got picked to play for an FA Colts team, and I think that Peter Southey had been picked as well, to play against an Essex County Schools Under 18 side. I can remember that because the strips that we wore were England strips, and me being a Scotsman I couldn’t believe that I was wearing an England strip. I was also the captain of that team that day as well. So that was kind of unusual!

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

Alex: Gordon Strachan. Paul McStay was another good player that I played against,  but Gordon Strachan was just so mobile and tough, but with great ability. I also came up against Glenn Hoddle, who was just on a different level. He would wait until you’d lifted your leg to try and block the ball, before always hitting the ball under your leg, because the goalkeeper couldn’t see it then. He just had unbelievable ability. However, to answer your question I would say Gordon Strachan, when I was playing against Aberdeen for Hearts. I’d managed to get the better of him the first time that I’d ever came up against him in a game, but in the second game he had managed to get the better of me, but we shook hands after the match.

Were there any players at Spurs who you were particularly close to during your time at the club?

Alex: Peter Southey and Garry Brooke were the ones who I would say that I was most friendly with. So I was very close with them. It was such a tragedy that Peter died at such a young age, and I was really shocked when I received a letter from Robbie Stepney to tell me what had happened.

Could you talk me through your career after you left the Lilywhites and what prompted you to leave the club?

Alex: I’d started getting a run of games and doing well in the reserves for Spurs, where I was getting good reviews. And so that was when I was asked to go to Hearts on loan for six months, and I actually packed my stuff that day and left Spurs. I didn’t even get to say goodbye to my landlady or nothing, and whether that’s the right thing or the wrong thing to do, that’s just the way it was. I ended up going from youth team football and a little bit of reserve team football straight in to first team football at Hearts, in the top division of Scottish football. So that was a big step for me, but it was good for me as I was playing against the likes of Celtic and Rangers. So it was an opportunity that I couldn’t turn down, and of course I signed another year’s contract after that with Hearts, after my contract at Tottenham had finished. I actually got a nice letter from Tottenham after I had left, wishing me all the best. So I spent two years at Hearts before going to Hamilton, where we won the championship, and I played about 155 games there, with a lot of them as the captain of the side. From there I went to Forfar, where I played 319/320 games, and I was the captain there for the whole length of the time that I was there.

After I left Forfar I had a couple of short spells with Cowdenbeath, who I was with for about a year, before finishing my career with East Fife, when Steve Archibald was player-manager. We had actually got promoted that season, but I think that it was a bit of a culture shock for Steve, with some of the places that we went to, as it wasn’t like playing at Barcelona, put it that way!

What would your advice be to the young Spurs players of today as they look to rise up through the ranks at the club?

Alex: Look at the senior players that are around you and especially the ones who conduct themselves well. Train the best that you can and give it everything and don’t have any regrets, because it’s a short career. It doesn’t need to be the end of your career if you get released from a top club, as there’s always a path for you somewhere, as long as you give it 100%. So I’d say to listen to your coaches and the top pros, and look at how those pros behave off the pitch, as well as on it. 

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?

Alex: I still look out for the Tottenham results and I’m still a Tottenham fan, and I will be following them even more so now since Ange has joined. It will be exciting times for Tottenham fans, because he won’t suffer fools gladly, and he comes across as a really good speaker and organiser. The team will have an identity, and the fans will know what they’re playing. Ange will play 4-3-3, and he won’t change it, as he asks for 100% off people for about 60 minutes, before bringing on three or four subs at a time. I have good and fond memories of my time at Spurs with good people, such as Ron Henry, Robbie Stepney, Peter Day, Colin White and Roy Reyland, as they were just great people. I just wish that I could have said goodbye to my old landlady, as at the time you don’t appreciate what people do for you. However, my time at Spurs was great, and I wouldn’t have changed it for the world. I have been married now for 38 years to Carolann, and I have a son called Kieran, and a daughter called Jade, as well as seven beautiful grandchildren.

Although this wasn’t the last time that Spurs have entered the Northern Irish Milk Cup, the 1996 edition of the prestigious youth tournament, was the last time that Spurs had won it. In the following piece I will be looking back at the players who played in that year’s successful tournament, and also looking at where they went after leaving Spurs. With a big thank you to members of that Spurs Milk Cup winning team – David Lee and also Ciaran Toner (Ciaran played one game for Spurs’ Under 16 side at the 1996 edition of the tournament, as he was on international duty with Northern Ireland at youth level at the time), for their insights into some of the players of the 1996 Spurs Milk Cup winning side. They were a great help to me in writing this piece. A memorable experience for the Spurs players who were a part of the 1996 Milk Cup winning side, they certainly won’t have forgotten winning it, and what it meant at that stage of their careers to win it. Spurs had won the 1990 edition of the Milk Cup six years earlier, with players such as Jeff Minton and Nicky Barmby featuring for Spurs in that year’s tournament. However, Spurs started the 1996 Milk Cup by winning their opening group game 2-0 against Scottish side Hearts, with centre-forward Luke Bauckham and Darren Twidell scoring their goals, at Anderson Park, in Coleraine.

After this very talented group of Spurs players which included Ledley King, Peter Crouch and John Piercy had won their opening group game of the tournament, this group of Spurs players won 2-0 against Middlesbrough in their second group game (at the Showgrounds, in Coleraine), thanks to goals from prolific centre-forward Wayne Vaughan and the highly skilful John Piercy. With Spurs already through to the quarter-finals with one group game still to go, they recorded a 0-0 draw with County Tyrone in their final group game, at Roe Mill, in Limavady. However, in the quarter-finals stage of the 1996 Milk Cup, Bobby Arber’s Spurs side came up against Danish side Brøndby IF, at Cricket Park, in Ballymoney. With the game finishing in a 1-1 draw against a good Brøndby IF youth side, the outcome would be determined by penalties, after Ledley King’s own goal saw Spurs respond through Peter Crouch. Spurs’ captain David Lee scored the winning penalty to book Spurs’ place in the semi-finals with another English side, in Crewe Alexandra. In the semi-finals, the game once again was a close one. Jamie Dormer got Spurs’ goal, but it ended up finishing in a draw. However, Spurs once again showed the courage and composure to win on penalties at the Showgrounds in Limavady, to book their place in the final of the competition!

As always at the Milk Cup, there were some top, top players playing at the tournament. In the final Spurs faced Blackburn Rovers, who had some real talents of their own, at the Showgrounds, in Coleraine. The game was a competitive one, but John Piercy, who had impressed throughout the tournament for Spurs, would deservedly score the winning goal for Spurs at the tournament, to put Spurs’ name on the trophy of the 1996 edition of the Milk Cup.

Goalkeepers: 

Chris Marshall: A goalkeeper who was calm and composed inside his penalty area, as well as being good at making reflex saves, Chris Marshall was a member of the Spurs Under 16 team that competed at the 1996 Milk Cup. During the 1996/97 South-East Counties League season Chris Marshall was the first choice goalkeeper for the South-East Counties League Division Two side. However, after going full-time with Spurs, he decided to leave football, and instead he went onto study away from the game.

Gavin Kelly: Gavin Kelly was a goalkeeper who commanded his penalty area really well, and who was a fine all-round goalkeeper. The Hammersmith born former Republic of Ireland Schools international was a player who would rise up the ranks at Spurs, in the Academy and later into reserve team football. Kelly had signed trainee forms with Spurs the year after Spurs had won the Milk Cup tournament, and he would actually feature on three occasions for Spurs’ first team in pre-season friendlies during the early 2000’s. He would do well at Spurs, where he did well to progress up the various ranks at the club. However, after spending some time out on loan with non-League clubs, he would leave Spurs to go on trial with some lower league clubs, before joining Kettering Town on loan, and then later joining them on a permanent basis in late 2003. Gavin would later play for Welling United, Cambridge United and Leatherhead.

Defenders:

Gavin Stone: Good with both feet and tall, Gavin Stone had a real presence about him as a central defender, and he was also composed on the ball. The Stafford born former Spurs youth player was also good in the air, and he scored a decent amount of goals for Spurs at youth level. Gavin would make good progress during the 1996/97 season with Spurs. After leaving Spurs later on in the 1990’s, Gavin Stone would spend a good amount of years in non-League football, playing for  Stafford Rangers, Hinckley United and Ilkeston Town, to name just some of Gavin’s former clubs.

Steve Dobson: A right-back/wing-back who was tireless on the pitch, defender Steve Dobson was also very good at getting forward out wide on the flanks. He would make the right-back spot almost his own in Spurs’ South-East Counties League Division Two side in 1996/97, following Spurs’ success at the Milk Cup, as well as also featuring in the Division One side. After leaving Spurs, Steve Dobson was around the time of the mid 2000’s playing non-League football for Burnham Ramblers.

Ledley King: A former Spurs player who needs no introducing. Ledley King is without doubt one of the finest Spurs Academy graduates, ever! A central defender with real class, quality and reading of the game, Ledley King was a one club man and Spurs legend, who played a big part for Spurs’ first team over the years, despite his very unfortunate injury record. The Londoner who captained Spurs to the 2008 League Cup final success against Chelsea, was just so unlucky, particularly with knee injuries during his footballing career. However, the former England international still achieved great things in the game, and along with Peter Crouch from this group of Spurs youth team players, would have a fantastic career in the game at the top level. Ledley now works as an ambassador for Spurs.

Jamie Dormer: Jamie Dormer was a clever and technically gifted left-back. He would progress well at youth level for Spurs, and he would spend a good number of years with Spurs. The defender would make a good amount of South-East Counties League Division One appearances during the 1996/97 season. Jamie got the all important goal which took the Milk Cup semi-final tie with Crewe Alexandra to penalties. After being released by Spurs in the early 2000’s, he joined Billericay Town when the late Justin Edinburgh was manager, but Jamie would also play non-League football for East Ham United and later AFC Hornchurch.

Narada Bernard: Narada Bernard was very good at defending in one v one situations. A left-back who had good pace, the Bristol born former professional footballer would mainly play in the South-East Counties League Division Two side during the 1996/97 season after the Milk Cup. However, Narada would later join Arsenal from Spurs as a youth team player, and he would progress up to reserve team level with them. He would enjoy a long career in the game, playing for AFC Bournemouth, Woking and Weymouth, to name just some of the clubs that Narada played for. He also won a full international cap for Jamaica during his playing career.

Kevin O’Brien: Waterford man Kevin O’Brien joined Spurs just after the mid 1990’s, from local side Villa FC, in Waterford. A solid and versatile player who could play in defence as well as in midfield, O’Brien did the under appreciated side of the game really well, and he was tenacious. Kevin was a strong tackler who kept good defensive positioning. After playing his part in Spurs’ Milk Cup winning success pf 1996, Kevin O’Brien would spend a good couple of seasons with Spurs at Academy level. After leaving Spurs the former Republic of Ireland youth international would return to Ireland to sign for Waterford, where he played League of Ireland football.

Midfielders:

David Lee: The captain of the Spurs youth side that competed in the 1996 edition of the Milk Cup, highly skilful and also versatile midfield player David Lee was a key player at that year’s tournament. A central midfielder with a really good range of passing, David could also play out wide on the flanks as a winger. He was unlucky with injuries during his career and it would in the end mean that he had to retire from the game quite early, but in 1996 as the captain of the Spurs Milk Cup winning side he was a really important player for Spurs at that tournament. In the following seasons David would progress up to reserve team level with Spurs, where he became a regular. He would later move to Southend United in 2000, before later playing for Hull City and Brighton & Hove Albion, before finishing his career with Canvey Island during the late 2000’s, after having played for a decent number of other clubs. David now works as a football agent.

Nicky Hunt: In 2022 I attended a legends evening with Ledley King and Michael Dawson (hosted by Micky Hazard) in which Ledley mentioned former Spurs youth player Nicky Hunt as being someone who he thought would go onto make it in the game and have a good career, such was his talent. Nicky Hunt was a skilful box to box midfielder who had an eye for goal, and the former Spurs youth player would play for both Spurs youth sides in the South-East Counties League Division One and Two, during his time with the club. 

Ciaran Duffin: A wide player who was industrious and hardworking, but also direct with the ball at his feet, Ciaran Duffin was one of two Northern Irish Spurs players at the Milk Cup in 1996, to play at the tournament. Ciaran only spent one season with Spurs as an apprentice, before returning to Northern Ireland, where he continued to play football. He played for clubs such as Coleraine and Moyola Park, after returning to Northern Ireland.

Ciaran Toner: A player who would go on to become a full Northern Ireland international, Craigavon born former professional footballer Ciaran Toner was a hardworking, two footed midfield player. He could pass well off both feet, and he also worked well off the ball. A former Spurs youth and reserve team player, Ciaran only made one appearance for Spurs’ youth side at the 1996 Milk Cup, in their final group game against County Tyrone. This was because Ciaran was away on international duty with Northern Ireland at youth level, during the tournament. The player who made one first team appearance for Spurs in a pre-season friendly, would later play for the likes of Leyton Orient, Rochdale and Grimsby Town.

John Piercy: A versatile midfield player who played the game with flair, John Piercy was a real standout player at the 1996 Northern Irish Milk Cup, scoring the winning goal in the final against Blackburn Rovers. The Forest Gate born former Spurs man was a good dribbler with the ball at his feet, and he was also creative with the ball. John would progress up through the youth and reserve team ranks at Spurs to make nine competitive appearances for Spurs’ first team during the late 1990’s/early 2000’s. He would later play for Brighton & Hove Albion, and later Eastbourne Borough and Worthing for a short time. John Piercy was a key player for Spurs at the 1996 Milk Cup.

Darren Twidell: Central midfielder Darren Twidell was a midfield player who was capable of keeping the ball moving in the central areas of the pitch, as well as having good ball retention skills. Darren would later play non-League football after leaving Spurs, playing for Great Wakering Rovers.

Jamie Sinclair: A left-back who worked hard, was difficult to get past on the pitch and who also had a good range of passing, Jamie Sinclair was a fine player for Spurs at youth team level. However, I was unable to find out where he went after leaving Spurs, or whether he continued playing football.

Forwards:

Luke Bauckham: A centre-forward and a competitive player on the pitch, Luke Bauckham always made it difficult for the central defenders. He was good at being able to receive the ball and at making runs in behind, and he was also a good finisher. Luke scored one goal at the 1996 Milk Cup, for Spurs. Luke would later play for Billericay Town and East Thurrock, later on in his footballing career.

Wayne Vaughan: A tenacious and very hardworking centre-forward, who certainly knew where the goal was, Barking born former Spurs Academy player Wayne Vaughan scored a lot of goals for Spurs at youth level, and he would also play for the Spurs reserves side. Wayne was a talented player, who did really well at the Milk Cup in 1996. In one season with Spurs he scored 22 goals from 31 appearances for the club at youth level. Wayne would later play in the non-League for Romford and Aveley, to name just a couple of his former clubs.

Peter Crouch: Like Ledley King, Peter Crouch had a wonderful career in the game. A former England international, the centre-forward would play for the likes of Aston Villa, Liverpool and of course Spurs’ first team on his return to the club in 2009. A centre-forward who I always thought had good skill on the ball, and who was also good in the air and at holding up the ball, with the ability to finish well inside the penalty area. Peter Crouch played for Spurs as a youth team player, and he scored an important goal against Brondby IF, in the 1996 Milk Cup. A player who would of course have a great footballing career, and who played at the highest level of the game. It was great to see Peter return to Spurs later on in his footballing career, as a first team player.

Stephen William Pitt made his competitive first team debut for Spurs at the age of 17 years and 26 days, making him at the time one of the youngest ever first team debutants in Spurs’ history. From Willesden in London, Steve Pitt joined Spurs as an apprentice in 1963 for the 1963/64 season following a time on trial with the club, after being recommended to Spurs by their chief-scout Dickie Walker. Steve had played for the London Schools side during his youth, but he would adapt to life at Spurs really well during his first season at the club. Pitt scored 13 goals in the South-East Counties League from 23 appearances in the South-East Counties League in 1963/64, with only centre-forward David Tobitt scoring more goals for Spurs’ youth team in that league (18), that season. Steve Pitt was a winger with exceptional pace and quick feet. Steve, as he was described to me by an old teammate, was a natural winger who was very tricky and skilful with the ball. In fact the same former Spurs teammate of Steve’s told me that me that Steve reminded him of Jimmy Robertson in his style of play. 

Steve would progress really well in his first couple of seasons at Spurs. A creative and direct winger, with a real eye for goal, Steve scored a lot of goals for the Spurs A team after progressing up into that side from the youth team (in one season Steve finished as the top scorer in the Metropolitan League – 1967/68), and also for the reserves during his time with Spurs. Steve was without doubt a real prospect at Spurs during the 1960’s, and at 16 he was selected to travel with the Spurs first team to Israel during the mid 1960’s for the John White Testimonial game, against the Maccabi club of Tel Aviv. Steve actually provided an assist for one of the goals, which was scored by Alan Gilzean in that testimonial game. Not long after that game, in the August of 1965, Steve was selected to start for the Spurs first team in a home first division game against Blackpool at White Hart Lane, shortly after his 17th birthday. This must have been one of, if not the biggest occasions of Steve’s footballing career. He was playing alongside greats of the game, such as Jimmy Greaves and Dave Mackay, and by all accounts in that match Steve had a good game despite being up against Jimmy Armfield.

That game against Blackpool would be Steve’s last for the first team, despite excelling for the A team and doing well for the reserves also, in subsequent seasons. He was a great prospect at Spurs during the mid 1960’s, and it’s just a real pity that because of just how difficult it was to get into the first team at Spurs during the 1960’s, that Steve didn’t get another chance to play for the first team. He was great friends with former Spurs first team player Jimmy Pearce at Spurs, with both signing apprenticeship forms in the same year, as well as former apprentice Jimmy Walker. I had the the great pleasure of interviewing Steve Pitt earlier this year about his time at Spurs, and I must say that he is an absolutely top man, and one of the nicest ex-footballers that you’ll ever meet! Now enjoying his retirement, Steve has great memories of the Spurs days. Steve, along with Jimmy Pearce and also Paul Shoemark were just some of the former Spurs youth team players who were considered to be top prospects in football during the mid 1960’s era. And Steve managed to write his name into the Spurs history books during the 1960’s.

Barking born former footballer Joe Nixon signed for Spurs as an apprentice in 1966 and would play for the junior youth team, senior youth team and the A team, during his time at the club. Quick when running with the ball and skilful on it, Joe would spend a couple of seasons with Spurs during the mid to late 1960s, before being released by the club. He would play for QPR at reserve team level, and then move over to Australia, after spending a season with Romford, to sign for a team called South Sydney. Upon his return to England, Joe played one season with Barnet before finishing his playing career. I recently had the great pleasure of talking to Joe about his time at Spurs.

What are your earliest footballing memories? 

Joe: My earliest memories are playing for my junior school in Barkingside, in Essex. Then afterwards I played football for the senior school, and later Ilford and Essex as a schoolboy, so there were some happy memories there.

What are your earliest memories of your time at Spurs? And how did you come about joining the club?

Joe: My dad was approached by Spurs’ chief-scout Dickie Walker after a county game, and I was probably 13 at the time. I was asked whether I’d be interested in going to Spurs as a schoolboy, and being coached in the evening. So for two years before I signed as an apprentice I used to go to White Hart Lane on a Tuesday and a Thursday to be coached. That was good except for the footballs that used to hang from the underside of the stand, and you used to have to run and head them, and it felt like you were heading a medicine ball sometimes. So they are my earliest memories of Spurs. 

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

Joe: I always thought of George Best as probably the most skilful player that I’ve ever seen. So George Best was the one, but from the point of view of somebody that you could look up to as being at the same club that you were, well Dave Mackay was without a doubt a leader. Not just because he was the captain of the team, but he led by example, and if he said something then nobody argued.

Who were your greatest influences at Spurs?

Joe: Dave Mackay would be the one, but I also used to like watching Cliff Jones, as although he was an older player he had a work ethic when he was there. He wasn’t one of those who joked around all of the time, and although he did have a laugh and a joke, everything that he did regarding his football, he took seriously. I thought that he was a bit of a role model.

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

Joe: I was a winger who was quite quick, and although I wasn’t as quick as some of the other players, I could run at almost the same speed with the ball. So I had some pace running with the ball. I wasn’t that good defensively and I didn’t sort of think that it was up to me if someone played a poor pass to you. So while I didn’t think that my attitude then was bad, looking back on it I think that I should have put in a little bit more than what I did.

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

Joe: Of the ones that were around with the crowd that I played with I thought that the couple who would go on to do well because of their attitude and their ability was Ray Evans, who I always thought was a solid player. Some people have bad games now and then, but Ray wouldn’t. He might not be as good as some of the others, but he generally wouldn’t have a bad game. So he was one player, but in the first team at that time the player who impressed me most for being very consistent was Philip Beal. He never seemed to get flustered and he didn’t panic or do anything really wrong on the pitch. It was just always a steady game when Phil was there. So I would try and watch those two players to see what they did, and that was pretty ironic as they were both defenders, while I was pretty useless at defending, albeit later in my career I ended up playing as a defender. Playing as a defender felt so easy that I wondered to myself why I didn’t move back a bit on the pitch when I was younger, because I had a bit of pace, could tackle and I could also read the game well.

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

Joe:  It was good from the point of view that I was full-time as an apprentice, and that I got into the routine of turning up at the ground and doing whatever you had to do before getting on the coach, to go to Cheshunt. So it was a good way of when you left school, of having some responsibility of things that you had to do, but I wouldn’t say that my time at Spurs in terms of football was my happiest. I had an injury which had torn the ligaments in my ankle, and so I was in plaster for six weeks and so I had to recover from that. However, they weren’t the happiest times because really I don’t think that I was strong enough then, to sort of stand up for myself. So when people were taking the mick which was always going to happen at a football club, sometimes the banter was a bit over the top, but if you were someone who would stand up for themselves, then you were sort of accepted, but I didn’t. And the more that I didn’t do anything, the more it happened. So at that time I didn’t think that it was in my nature to really stand up for myself. But with regards to the football side of things, I played with some great players and I thoroughly enjoyed playing for the youth team and also the odd game in the A team.

What was the greatest moment of your footballing career?

Joe: I would say that the greatest moment wasn’t actually in this country. I went to Australia in June 1972, and I was there until September 1975. In 1974 we (South Sydney) won the Australian equivalent of the FA Cup, and that match was televised and it was great getting the cup afterwards, with a good crowd of between 25,000 and 30,000. The hairs on the back of your neck would stand up in that game, and it was just a terrific and really enjoyable experience. 

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

Joe: We had some really good games when everyone played really well and everyone was happy about it, although there were odd times when it wasn’t. One standout memory was when we were running around the track at White Hart Lane and Johnny Wallis was out with us, and there was an entrance from the side of the pitch to the gym. The physio Cecil Poynton had shouted to Johnny to send one of the lads in, and so Johnny selected me to go to the gym. During those days when someone told you to do something, then you didn’t argue. So he told me with his voice raised to get in there now, after I’d asked him why. So I said alright and went into the gym and it’s the first team who are in there, and I’m looking around and there was Dave Mackay, Jimmy Robertson, Alan Gilzean and Cliff Jones. So I thought blimey this is great, and so we’re playing two touch football and as I get the ball and roll it off Terry Venables came in strongly and gave me a bit of a clatter, and so a few words were spoken. The reason why I’d went in there in the first place was because there’d been an argument and so someone was told to go the shower to cool off. So two or three minutes later I get the ball and thought I’ll lay it off straight away this time, which I did, but Terry Venables once again clattered me! So Dave Mackay came over to Terry Venables and got his shirt and turned it around, tearing the shirt to pieces before throwing him along the wall. He then shouted at him to go back to Chelsea!

After that had happened in the gym, Bill Nicholson had said that that was it and that everybody had to finish up and have a shower to cool off. I’d only been in there for about three minutes and I’d been clattered twice and it was already finished. So that was my lasting memory of training with them, but it was a shame that it didn’t last any longer, although I won’t forget playing football in the gym with those guys. I can also remember playing in a game for the A team, and Brian Parkinson was playing. He was a very, very skilful player, and so I was thinking blimey if someone like that was not progressing further ahead then he was a year ago, then at that time I felt a bit sad really, as he was just so good. I can also remember being in the changing room, and Jimmy Greaves had been on the cinder track at the ground, and as he came in he took his boot off and it had red cinder all on it, so he put it behind and so there was a bit of it on the wall. He then called Johnny Wallis and said to him had anybody cleaned the changing room? To which Johnny replied that Joe had done it. He then asked Jimmy why he was asking, and Jimmy, who was joking around said that he didn’t want to cause any trouble said that it was fine, but Johnny then started having a go at me about the red cinder that was on the floor. Jimmy found it amusing which it was, and to be honest it was the kind of thing that I could see myself doing! Although I thought oh no! As I would have to clean up the changing room again.

I can also remember when Spurs beat Chelsea 2-1 in the 1967 FA Cup final, which was a great day. Afterwards when we all went for the meal, there was at the time a bit of an embarrassing moment for me with the cutlery, as me and a few of the other young lads before hands were trying to work out how to properly cut the food, but thankfully in the end we were alright! 

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

Joe: The toughest player was probably Phil Holder when I was playing for QPR reserves against Spurs, when I went back to Spurs. And Phil was playing at left-back, with me playing on the right flank as a winger. About only five minutes in to the game the ball got passed out to the right, and I was about four inches taller than Phil at least. As the ball came up in the air I thought that I was going to win it, when I felt his studs on the top of on of my calves. And then there was an elbow over my shoulder, and so he’d only got there above of me because his studs were on my calf, and I couldn’t believe that the referee hadn’t seen what he’d done. So Phil would have been one of the hardest players and one of the most aggressive players that I ever came up against in my career. 

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

Joe: Spurs was very competitive then so everyone was competing with each, even though they were all mates. So they didn’t want to help each other. I wouldn’t say that I was particularly close to anyone, even though you had players who were good mates, like Phil Holder and Terry Shanahan, and also Phil Holder and Steve Perryman. I did know Peter McGillicuddy, who was a nice guy, but I had more actual friendships when I went to QPR. The players there wanted you to do well, and so it was two really different atmospheres at the two clubs.

Could you talk me through your career after you left the Lilywhites and what prompted you to leave the club?

Joe: I left Spurs because they released me and so I wasn’t signed on for another year. So I left Spurs and went to QPR, who I had a couple of years at, mainly in the reserves. I did however, play for the first team in things like a testimonial or a friendly. So I did get to play with some really good players in the reserves, as you had first team players playing for the reserves after coming back from injury. The most skilful player who I ever played with was Rodney Marsh, who played for the reserves for 20 minutes or so with me. He was incredibly skilful and just so good that he could take the mick out of players on the pitch, and he was just a tremendous player. After leaving QPR I spent a season with Romford, but I didn’t like it at all! The referee often couldn’t control the games. The only good thing about being there was playing against John Charles, who was in his late 30s/early 40s then. I’ve never seen anyone head a ball like him, as it was just absolutely unbelievable, and he was just an exceptional player. I later went to Australia to join South Sydney, and during those three or so years I was playing first team football and playing competitive football.

During my time in Australia I actually got picked to play for the Australian Under 21 side, but when they asked me about it I never gave it a thought. I immediately said that I was English, but what I should have done was said yes and that that would he great. Because if I had wanted to play for them then I could have taken up citizenship, but I enjoyed my time in Australia. My final team upon my return to England was Barnet, and I liked my time there. But it was just too much, playing football for Barnet and also having a job at the same time. So in the end I had to make a choice that if I didn’t think that I was going to make it in football, and then in my mid 20s I had a young family and so I needed to earn some money. So it was a decision that I didn’t really have a lot of choice in.

What would your advice be to the young Spurs players of today as they look to rise up through the ranks at the club?

Joe: I would say that if I’ve learnt anything, then that’s that you shouldn’t assume that you’re not good enough. You’ve got to go in there and believe that you’ve got the ability and have the work ethic, a bit like Steve Perryman, then there’s no reason why you can’t make it and get as far as you should do. So my advice is to have a bit of confidence in your own ability, and believe that you deserve to be there.

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?

Joe: My endearing memory of being at Spurs is actually feeling very proud of wearing that Spurs shirt and having everything one else thinking that those players play for the Spurs youth team. So even though it never amounted to anything I understand what people would give to have been in my position.

Edmonton lad Jimmy Walker joined Spurs as an apprentice in 1963, and the tenacious and talented right-back/defender would spend a good number of years with Spurs during the 1960s. Walker was associated with Spurs as a player from 1963 until 1968, and the player who was a fine athlete, would make many an appearance for the Youth team and also for the A team, as well as making some appearances for the reserves. Tough tackling and difficult to play against, Walker would leave football all together after he left Spurs, as he would work in the scrap metal business. I recently had the great pleasure of talking to Jimmy about his time at Spurs. He is a top man!

What are your earliest footballing memories? 

Jimmy: So when I was about six or seven I was living in a little street in London which had a fence at the bottom of a cinema (The Granada), where you could kick a ball. The plastic ball had just come out, and I could lift it off of the floor, unlike the old leather balls, as they were solid. So I can remember kicking the ball up against the fence for hours, and there was only one car on the street (Mr Adams’) so I have to apologise for the ball hitting his car on occasions! At my school to start off with I played in goal, but I don’t think that we won a game for about two years, as the other school teams that we were playing were two years older than us. Eventually after I started playing outfield, I was selected for one of the Edmonton Schoolboys’ teams, which was when I first started to think that I must have been an alright player. I would also play for a Sunday morning team at Walthamstow, which was where I first met Dennis Bond, who I used to play against. And Dennis was a class player.

What are your earliest memories of your time at Spurs? And how did you come about joining the club?

Jimmy: I’d been training with Edmonton Schoolboys at Spurs on a Tuesday night, even though Spurs didn’t take the training. So we used to have to train under the stands, but there were a lot of iron poles under the stand, which made it difficult to play football. However, just the thought of going to Spurs for training was great, and at that time they could get all of the top players. After a little while I was invited to go to Spurs for training with the schoolboy footballers, and the Spurs player Tony Marchi used to train us. His dad used to have an ice cream stall on Edmonton Green, and Tony was a recently nice man. Eventually we got to play/train in the five-a-side ball court, but before that I had been going to train with West Ham United as a schoolboy. It was nice to train with West Ham, as well. Dickie Walker (Spurs’ chief-scout) was the one who had actually first recommended me to Spurs, and what a character he was.

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

Jimmy: At the time it was Dennis Law. I think that he was released by Huddersfield when he was 14 because they thought that he was too small. But I used to love him as player when he used to play against Spurs. However, I mainly used to go to Spurs back then to watch the reserves play and you used to get around 8,000 people watching those games. Playing for the Spurs reserves then was Johnny Brooks and Tommy Harmer, and Tommy was a player who I used to like watching. I didn’t go to a lot of first division Spurs games then, but my dad did used to take me when he wasn’t working.

Who were your greatest influences at Spurs?

Jimmy: I’ll be honest with you, as I don’t think that I really got coached at Spurs during my time there, but Eddie Baily was probably the best coach there. You never used to see a ball, and you used to run all around the stands and down to the north stand. Most of the first team used to be split up into groups to train with us, and Jimmy Greaves when I was there, he never ever, ever used to train. You’d be on the cinder track at the ground and Eddie Baily would be blowing whistles and holding sprints and relays, but Jimmy used to be standing in the stands watching everyone. Eddie Baily used to get really annoyed and start blowing his whistle! He once asked Greavsie to do three laps of the track, but he ended up running from corner flag to corner flag. Then afterwards he’d go straight into the ball court and go in goal! However, on Saturday he was amazing, which was why he always got away with not training. I couldn’t get away with that! When we used to go to Feyenoord with the youth team and to other international tournaments, I think that Feyenoord had about 14 training pitches outside the stadium. The players who were there all used to watch us training, and I used to wonder why because we didn’t do anything interesting. But they were watching us because we didn’t have a football. 

The Feyenoord players would do ten laps, the same as us, but they had a ball at their feet, because that made sense. At the time I think that Jimmy Pearce was the best player out of all of us in the youth team, and as far as I know Feyenoord came in and contacted Spurs wanting to buy Jimmy Pearce. He was 17 at the time. And on those proper pitches out at the Feyenoord tournament, he was great and I used to think wow! As that was my mate. Jim was someone to watch on the pitch, and back then Jimmy was very small before they started building him up and building him up. And in the end I thought that they built him up too much, but he did well before his injury. 

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

Jimmy: I could run for ever, even though I used to come last in all of the sprints. But I did win all of the cross-country races five years in a row when I was at school. I used to play mainly at right-half and I used to get up and down the flank, but when I joined Spurs they put me at right full-back, and I didn’t like to have someone running at me at all, and you were told to take players out of the game. I marked Trevor Brooking loads of times when he was at West Ham, and I used to let him know that I was in the game in the first seconds of the match, as that’s how it was then. But playing at full-back wasn’t for me, and I can remember playing for the Spurs A team in the Metropolitan League, and that was the worse league in the world as it was full of old professionals, whereas we were trying to make something of ourselves. However, those old professionals weren’t having any of that, and you didn’t get near them. As a full-back I used to just hit two balls, the long one forward or the long cross-field ball, but if I started to go forward then they just used to start shouting at me from the sidelines. Brian Parkinson was the best player who I’ve ever seen with the ball and if you gave him the ball then he could go past a player four times! But Johnny Wallis used to tell him to get rid of the ball, but when we went abroad with the youth team Brian was just great. 

Another really good player was the right-back Joe Kinnear, who apart from Jimmy Robertson, he was the fastest player at the club. Steve Perryman arrived at the club not long before I left Spurs, and you just knew that he was going to make it at the club, as he had the ability and was just too good.

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

Jimmy: I used to try and mould myself in my head on Dave Mackay, and I could tackle, but Dave Mackay was a really good player with the ball, and he could hit the ball all over the place. In my first week at Spurs as an apprentice I went into the ball court, and I don’t know how but I was put in Dave’s five-a-side team, and so it started and I was doing alright, and then this big wing-half (Freddie Sharpe) had left a gap along the wall. So I thought that I’d go along the wall, but as I went past him he just hit me, and so I hit the wall. I finished up on my back looking at the lights on the ceiling, so did he knock me out? I think he did! I can remember him standing over me when Mackay grabbed him and ended up hitting him! So I thought that that will do me and Mackay, you’re my man. When Dave broke his leg later on, I played with him for a year in the A team. He was never going to be the same player again, but he just wanted to be as good as he could, because that was a badly broken leg. So he played all of the time during that year playing for the Spurs A team. It was very competitive in that ball court, and I think that Mike England and Phil Beal used to argue all of the time in there, as did Terry Venables and Dave Mackay. But I was lucky, as I was always on Dave’s side. You didn’t want to play against Dave Mackay as he was the hardest thing that I have ever hit on a football pitch, as he was like hitting a brick wall! 

Dave Mackay was one of the few first team players who would speak to you, and he was a nice guy. As was John White, and if you were cleaning the dressing room in the afternoons, then all of a sudden a bucket of water went over you. And it was him, as he was always messing around and having a laugh. He actually used to pick me up in the mornings when I was an apprentice, as he lived in a building up at Church Street with his wife. He was a Scottish international then, who was playing for the Spurs first team. 

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

Jimmy: For me it was a bit strange. I remember playing at Brentford in the FA Youth Cup, and Bill Nicholson wasn’t there. In that game I had probably the best game that I’ve ever had at Spurs, and I don’t know how or why but I was playing as a sweeper and I just swept up everything in that game, even though we lost. Anyway, Bill Nicholson came in the dressing room asking what had happened to the captain Terry Reardon, who said that we were all basically not good in that particular game, and that he was sorry. But Bill Nicholson said that if we were no good in that game, then why’ve I had Arsenal on the phone wanting to buy Jimmy Walker! At that moment in time I felt a million dollars, and I thought get me out of here! Because I’d have rather Spurs said that they didn’t want me, rather than carrying the skips around. I didn’t play a game for six weeks after that, even though I trained every single day. But when it came to checking the team-sheet on the Saturday, written next to my name was skip-man, and that went on for six weeks. I should have gone in there straight away and said that I wanted to go to Arsenal. But Keith Weller went through all of that when he went to Millwall, which was hard for Keith.

I can remember making an appointment to see Bill Nicholson to see if I could have my wage of £18 a week raised to £20 a week as a professional, because I was married at the time. As I went there I saw Keith Weller there sitting down, and he asked me what I was doing there and so I told him why, and then Keith told me that he wanted another £5. He had already probably played quite a lot of games in the first team, and you could see that Keith was a class player. I eventually spoke to Bill Nicholson at his desk and explained to him that I wanted another £2 a week. He said that my timing wasn’t good and that I couldn’t head a ball, and to be honest if I could have got under the door then I would have. So eventually he said no, and he was right, but I just wish that he’d have sacked me. As I was coming out of the office I said to Keith that he didn’t have a chance of getting an extra £5 a week, but Keith was good enough to say that he wanted to go on the transfer list. Bill Nicholson wanted for the club to get £30,000 for Keith’s transfer which was a lot of money, but after a tribunal it went down to £17,000 and so off he went to Millwall, and he finished up being a great, great footballer, which was what he was, and he deserved it. 

Bill Nicholson did however, give me three World Cup final tickets in 1966. Me, Jimmy Pearce and Terry Reardon all going. Eddie Baily did give me some good advice though as a coach, and another story is that he must have been the only assistant manager, when were at the youth tournament at Feyenoord, to have the police called to carry him out! As he was getting so worked up on the sidelines, as he was smoking his cigar. We were playing a German side and Keith Weller got hit quite bad by one of the players, and so Baily got so angry that he said something like that’s it, go and kick all of the opposing players’ legs! I was behind Joe Kinnear on the pitch, who was at right-half, and I think that Roger Hoy was playing then, and you didn’t have to tell him twice! So everyone on the pitch was just kicking each other, and I’d never seen anything like it in my life on a football pitch. I think that they could have taken the ball off the pitch, and no one would have taken any notice. I can still now see the police pulling Eddie Baily out of the ground. Another story was when I was sent off in a youth team game against QPR, and I was actually the first professional footballer for Spurs to be sent off for 30 years. Frank Sibley, who was someone who I’d known as a youngster, I’d kicked him up in the air on the pitch, and then as he came back down I kicked him again! The referee came up to me, took my name and said that I had to go off the pitch.

As I was sent off I asked the referee to tell me where to go, as in my life I’d never seen anybody sent off. So anyway the referee said that he was sending me off the pitch, and as I was walking off Eddie Baily was there with a big cigar, walking up and down, and he asked me what I was doing? So I explained to him what had happened, and he ended up asking the referee the same thing that I had. I think that that same afternoon Cliff Jones got sent off for Spurs. I made the back pages of one of the big newspapers, and my dad was so proud that I’d made the newspaper. On another topic I can remember that Eddie Baily was still so good with a football, even then. I can also remember Bill Nicholson taking us out to do running out near Cuffley, in pre-season. There were no mobile phones then, and I remember us calling for Bobby Smith to be collected, and as he was in the car going past you, he’d wave at us. That was one of the good memories of my days at Spurs.

What was the greatest moment of your footballing career?

Jimmy: I’d probably have to say that Brentford game. We’d won a few tournaments abroad, but to be honest I was never in it, as I was always on the outside looking in. I did try and I’d run up and down the pitch. When I see Jimmy Pearce again I’m going to ask him about Johan Cruyff, because I’m sure that I came up again Johan Cruyff in a youth tournament against Ajax. I can remember Eddie Baily saying that Ajax had this young player on the wing, who was already in the first team. Jimmy Pearce, me and I think Joe Kinnear all had to double up on him as he came past, but he was so quick with the ball. Somehow we beat Ajax 1-0 in that game, I don’t know how! The time/year before that year’s Dutch tournament, which we won, we also got to the final of another tournament. This final finished 1-1, and so after the referee sounded his whistle for full-time, I just thought that we would share the trophy and that was it, and that we’d be able to have a free day. Sid Tickridge was the coach at that tournament, and he said to us that the final was going to penalties. He told us that both teams would take six penalties each, with the one who got the most winning the trophy.

After Sid had asked people to take the penalties and the first couple of players had agreed to take one, he was struggling to find any other players. So I said that I would take one, to which he told me that this was serious! Eventually he put John Pratt’s name on the list, and he hit this ball which I think they are still looking for! Stuart Skeet was in goal for Spurs, and he faced the first penalty against this Dutch side, but the player taking it hit it over the bar. Skeetsy, who was something else and a real character, came up to the player who was lying on the floor distraught and crying, and started clapping! He had annoyed all of the crowd by doing that, and after that I think that he’d let the next five penalties in.

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

Jimmy: We played in this game against Bury Town for the A team in the Metropolitan League, with Joe Kinnear at wing-half and me at full-back. We came up against this winger who was as fast as a greyhound, and I couldn’t get near him in that match. Joe Kinnear was laughing at me, and I as the full-back was one v one with him. If you thought that you’d go higher up the pitch to get tight to him when he had the ball, then someone would shout to me to get back, as he was so quick. My time in the youth team was good in the first couple of years when I was captain, but there was no progress for me to be honest, before I got into the famous A team. Had I have stayed with West Ham then I think that I could have made it as a professional footballer. Going back in time, I remember shortly after Bill Nicholson had won the double with Spurs he had phoned my parents up to say that he wanted to come around to say that he wanted to meet my mum and dad. I can remember my mum and dad doing the front room up to get ready for him arriving. There were no cars in my street then, and I can remember Bill Nicholson arriving outside my house in a black Austin Westminster car. 

Bill Nicholson came into the house with a big box of chocolates and a bunch of flowers. My dad was quite a shy man who never said a lot, but my mum could talk. Anyway he came in the front room and I was sitting in there with my mum and dad and he was saying that he wanted to sign me as an apprentice. I could see my mate knocking on the window as if to signal if I wanted to go out. I said yes, got up and said see you later. I can still see Bill Nicholson’s face looking at me in disbelief. From there I don’t think that we ever got back on level tracks to be honest, but I didn’t think anything of it. I had some good times with some good lads at Spurs though like Tony Want, Joe Kinnear and Neil Johnson. Neil was like the most powerful player that I’ve ever seen. He was from Grimsby and while us as teammates used to go out and wear our suits, Neil would turn up wearing a green Beatles suit. But he didn’t care! And Neil did well for himself at Spurs, and played for the first team. You could never outrun, outmuscle or out-tackle him. 

When I used to play against Arsenal’s John Radford, I used to do alright against him, and he was a big, strong player. I didn’t get the ball off him, but he didn’t get the ball much either. John Pratt did really well at Spurs and he never stopped running, and Johnny Wallis nicknamed him lungs, which was written on his slippers. I don’t want to repeat myself, but there was another game, this time in I think the Southern Junior Floodlit Cup. I didn’t even play this game as I was the one who had to pick all of the rubbish off the floor and put it in a skip. Bill Nicholson came in after the game, I didn’t even know what the score was, but he started moaning and having a go at me, basically saying that I’d had a bad game. But I didn’t even answer him as I was just gobsmacked, as I hadn’t even played. Terry Reardon told Bill that I hadn’t even played, but he didn’t apologise to me after that. We just never got on. 

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

Jimmy: For me as a player it has to be Billy Bonds, when I played against Charlton Athletic in a youth tournament in Holland, as he was a big and strong player. But also there was a player at Millwall who was a boxer called Adams, and he was really tough. Millwall was a really difficult place to go in them days, and there used to be lots of dockers in the crowd. In one game against Millwall, Terry Naylor said that his shoulder was playing up, so he asked me if I could go over to the other side of the pitch to take the throw-ins. Well my back was covered in spit from the fans as I was taking the throw-ins! 

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

Jimmy: Me, Jimmy Pearce and Steve Pitt were like the three stooges. John Pratt was also another good friend, even though he didn’t join full-time until 18.

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

Jimmy: At the end of I think the 1967/68 season Bill Nicholson told me that he wouldn’t be signing me on for another season and so I went into the scrap metal business with my brothers, and I never really kicked a ball again (I did get an offer from Enfield at one time). I did play for a Sunday morning side for a mate, for a while though. 

What would your advice be to the young Spurs players of today as they look to rise up through the ranks at the club?

Jimmy: Well I’ve always thought that you’ve really got to stand out when you’re having a trial. But really I don’t think that I was that good to advise people, but I did have some good times at Spurs.

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?

Jimmy: I really think that I went down to Tottenham first of all for my dad, to be honest. I did want to be a footballer, but I did do it for my dad as well. I do think that I would have been better staying with West Ham, as I enjoyed it more there than at Tottenham, as it didn’t really work for me. I think that I gave up at Spurs in the end.

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.