Scott Parker to Captain England against Holland

Tottenham's Scott Parker has been selected by Stuart Pearce to captain England in the friendly international against Holland at Wembley.  He is the tenth Tottenham player to have led the England team, following in the footsteps of such payers as Alf Ramsey, Alan Mullery, Martin Peters, Gary Lineker and Ray Clemence.

Scott Parker, the new England Captain

Scott Parker has deservedly been selected by England's caretaker manager, Stuart Pearce, to captain the team in the international friendly against Holland at Wembley.  Parker who joined Spurs from West Ham United won last year's Sportswriters' Player of the Year award and he has carried on in similar fashion since joining Tottenham.  Parker who has won ten England caps is the tenth Tottenham Hotspur player to captain England.

His all action, robust style of play has been instrumental in Tottenham's rise to third place in the Premier League.  He was seen at his fully committed best against Liverpool at Anfield as an understrength Spurs held on in the final minutes to earn a scoreless draw.  He was everywhere in those closing minutes - blocking shots, putting in last minute tackles while withstanding the midfield rigours of playing against Suarez.  It is his total commitment which has given Luka Modric and Gareth Bale the freedom to play their more expressive, creative game knowing that Parker is there to cover in defence.

It has been a strange few days for Parker - sent off against Arsenal for a second bookable offence in the final minutes as Spurs unexpectedly let slip a two goal lead to their closest rivals, named as the Vauxhall England Player of the Year and now named captain of his country.

So, the naming of Parker as England captain has brought to an end a saga that commenced with the FA deposing John Terry of the position which led to the removal of Fabio Capello as England manager, leaving the way open for Harry Redknapp to manage his country in the near future.

Other articles about Scott Parker:

Parker Joins Spurs: Here

Parker - Born to Play for Tottenham: Here

Parker - the new 'Dave Mackay': Here

Parker - on his Time at Spurs: Here

They Played for Tottenham and Norwich

There's a long list of players who have represented both Spurs and Norwich but only a few who have come from Norfolk to London and of those, only one has had a major influence at Tottenham but what  a massive impact he had in the early 1960s.

Maurice Norman

Maurice Norman is one of only three players who has been transferred from Norwich City to Tottenham Hotspur.  He had played only 35 League games as a centre half for Norwich when he signed for Spurs in November, 1955 to replace Alf Ramsey at right-back.  He immediately settled into his new position which he held for most of the next two seasons.  In late October, 1957 he reverted to centre half - his position through the greatest years in Tottenham's history.  At the start of season 1965-66 he returned to right back and was an ever present in the team until cruelly struck down by injury sustained in a friendly that November.  So serious was his broken leg that he never played again and retired in 1967.

At centre half in the 'Double' team he was a massive influence at the heart of the defence and at set-pieces, he was one of the first defenders to go forward for corners and free-kicks.  He missed only one game in 1960-61 and scored four goals in the League.  He was present as Spurs won the League and Cup in 1961, retained the FA Cup the following year and won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1963.  He made 23 appearances for England and was just as important to those successful Spurs' years as the more celebrated players.

More recently, Tim Sherwood and Ruel Fox had played for Norwich before arriving at Spurs via Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United.

The first player to sign for Spurs from Norwich was Roy Hollis.  He was a prolific goal scorer during his time at Norwich and although he scored twice on his debut as Spurs beat Tranmere Rovers in the FA Cup, he only played three League games, scoring once.  He scored regularly in the reserves but couldn't replace Len Duquemin and moved on to Southend United in February, 1954 after just over two years with Spurs.

Johnny Gavin was  Republic of Ireland international when he joined Spurs from Norwich in October, 1954.  A winger who scored goals he made 32 League appearances for Tottenham and scored an impressive 15 goals.  he returned to Norwich as part of the deal which brought Maurice Norman to White Hart Lane.

Many young players who have progressed through the Tottenham youth system have moved to Norwich where they have had long and successful footballing careers.  Kyle Naughton is currently on a season-long loan with Norwich and his career is developing as he adds Premier league experience to his CV.  Before him, however, many who have been unable to break into the first team at Spurs have become regulars at Carrow Road.


Mark Bowen made 20 League and Cup appearances for Spurs at full back, scoring twice.  He joined Norwich in 1987 for £90,000 and became a full international for Wales and made over 321 League appearances for Norwich in nine seasons.

Ian Crook scored once for Spurs in twenty appearances but found it difficult to break into the first team when Glenn Hoddle and Ossie Ardiles were in his way.  He was an unused substitute for the UEFA Cup Final of 1984.  He joined Norwich in 1986 for £80,000 and played 418 League games in midfield during eleven seasons with Norwich, scoring 24 goals, some of them against Spurs as he reminded his former employers of his capabilities.  He was part of Norwich's most successful team and helped them into European competition through a high league finish.

John Polston was a defender who made 28 appearances for Spurs before moving to Norwich in July, 1990 for £300,000.  He and his brother Andy played in a game for Tottenham, the first brothers to appear together in a first team match for the club since 1912.  He made 263 appearances for Norwich in eight seasons with the club.

Ian Culverhouse made only two League appearances for Spurs and was transferred to Norwich in October, 1985 for £50,000.  He had been an unused substitute in the UEFA Cup Final against Anderlecht.  A full back, he spent nine seasons at Carrow Road and made over 360 League and Cup appearances.

Garry Brooke made an immediate impression at Spurs with his powerful shot and spectacular long-range goals.  He was substitute for both the 1981 and 1982 FA Cup Finals.  He made just over 100 appearances for the club but he was involved in a serious car accident which threatened his football career.  He recovered but was never quite the same payer and joined Norwich for £50,000 in May, 1985.  He was there for only a short time and moved around many clubs during th erest of his career.

When Martin Peters left Tottenham he joined Norwich in 1975.  He had won League Cup medals and a UEFA Cup with Spurs, captaining the successful 1973 League Cup winning team.  The appointment of Terry Neill as replacement for Bill Nicholson, saw Peters move on to Norwich where he spent five seasons - as he points out in his book - longer than he was at Spurs.  He formed a great partnership with Alan Gilzean and Martin Chivers at Spurs, scoring and creating many goals.  He scored 76 goals for Spurs in 260 appearances.  He joined Spurs from West Ham United in 1970 in the deal which took Jimmy Greaves to Upton Park.

Gary Doherty is the last player to join Norwich from Spurs, signing in the summer of 2004.  He spent six seasons at the club and made over 200 League appearances.  He joined Tottenham from Luton Town in 2000 and played 64 League games, scoring four goals.

Others players who have appeared for both clubs include:
Laurie Brown, Willie Young, Paul McVeigh, Garry Brady, Neale Fenn, Kevin Scott, Jimmy Neighbour, Steve Walford, Martin Chivers, Fred Sharpe, Chris Adams, Andy Thompson, Jimmy Smith and Jimmy Banks who played in Spurs 1921 FA Cup winning team.

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In Search of Alan Gilzean (a book by James Morgan)

Alan Gilzean signed for Spurs in mid-December, 1964 and made his debut in a home game against Everton. He scored his first goal for the club a week later on Boxing Day as Spurs achieved their first and only away win of the season at Nottingham Forest. Two days later he scored his first League goal at White Hart Lane when Spurs defeated Forest 4-0 in the return match. This was the game which saw me become a Spurs supporter and so following the team closely through the rest of the 1960s and early 70s, I am familiar with Gilzean’s successful career at White Hart Lane.

However, what of Gilzean before and after his Tottenham days? I knew that Gillie had signed from Dundee for a fee of £72,500 and that he had already played for Scotland before coming to Tottenham and that after retiring in 1974 he had played in South Africa before returning to manage a transport business and that his son, Ian, had been a young player at Tottenham. Beyond those few basic points very little was known of Alan Gilzean who while at the club was ‘The King of White Hart Lane’.

In the summer of 2005, into this vacuum came some internet rumours of Gilzean being down and out and living somewhere in the west of England but no-one knew for certain whether this was true or not but with the immediacy of the internet, rumours very quickly become fact. There was much disappointment and sadness among Spurs’ fans that one of their ‘legends’ who had brought such enjoyment and success to the club, could be living in hardship.

It was at this point that James Morgan, a sports journalist with the The Herald newspaper in Glasgow, set about trying to establish the truth of the matter. Morgan is a Spurs’ supporter and Alan Gilzean was his late father’s favourite player and he had frequently heard of Gilzean’s talent and contribution to Spurs’ success. His early research into Alan Gilzean yielded little, even Hunter Davies ‘The Glory Game’ shed little light on the subject, leading the author to feel that Gillie had become the forgotten man of both Scotland and Tottenham.

Morgan’s research has been extensive and he used his numerous contacts as a journalist to speak to former friends, colleagues and acquaintances of Gilzean in his endeavours to discover the truth. Everyone whom he spoke to regarded Gillie highly – in awe at his talent as a player and of his generosity as a person. His former colleagues recounted many stories of his playing days both north and south of the border and they regretted having lost touch with him and asked the author to pass on their best wishes to Alan if he managed to track him down.

Today, many sporting biographies detail the sensational lifestyle of a celebrity sportsman to shock the public and grab a striking headline for the newspaper serialisation. James Morgan has written this book about Alan Gilzean as a fitting tribute to the private man who displayed an exceptional talent as a player for Dundee, Tottenham Hotspur and Scotland.

‘In Search of Alan Gilzean’ covers his life from his youngest days in Coupar Angus in Scotland where he grew up and played football for the local team. It discovers the difficulties of combining National Service in the army with a developing football career. It details his successful career with Dundee when Gilzean was a vital member of the team that won the Scottish Championship in 1961- 62 and then was their star player as Dundee took European football by storm to reach the semi-final of the European Cup, only to lose in controversial circumstances, something all Spurs’ fans can relate to with their club’s experience against Benfica a year earlier.

Gilzean progressed to the Scotland team but suffered first with the selectors’ preference for players from the two Glasgow clubs while he was with Dundee and then their opposition to Anglo-Scots during his years at Tottenham. In total he made 22 appearances for his country and scored 12 goals but with a professional career spanning fifteen years in top flight football in Scotland and England, he surely deserved many more.

Gilzean arrived at Spurs following a protracted transfer saga as Bill Nicholson considered his suitability as the player to replace Bobby Smith. It was perhaps the two goals that Gillie scored for a Scotland XI at White Hart Lane in John White’s Memorial game that finally persuaded the manager to go ahead with the transfer. Gilzean immediately hit it off with his strike partner, Jimmy Greaves, who described him as ‘the greatest player I played with’.

Alan Gilzean was an adaptable player with an outstanding ability to head the ball both to score and to create chances for his team. He was a goal-scoring inside forward with Dundee but he played as centre forward for Spurs to support Greaves and when Martin Chivers arrived in 1967 he again adapted his style to play alongside the strong running centre forward. The arrival of Ralph Coates at Tottenham in 1971 suggested Gillie might be on his way out but he continued to be a part of the Tottenham team which won the UEFA Cup and a second League Cup to add to his earlier FA Cup success.

Gilzean seemed to improve with age and he grew in popularity among the fans as his partnership with Chivers and Martin Peters developed to such an extent that he was an important part of Spurs' creativity as his delicate headers created many goals for himself and his two colleagues.

His eventual departure from White Hart Lane in 1974 meant that Gilzean slipped off the football radar. Not for him, the corporate, hospitality work that many retired players have now become involved with. He moved out of football circles to retain his privacy and so became largely forgotten by all but a few ardent fans. Morgan discovered that many in Coupar Angus, his home town, had never heard of Alan Gilzean and the local council had done nothing to mark his contribution to Scottish football. The ‘forgotten man’ of Scottish football has only recently been inducted into both the Dundee and the Scottish Football Association’s Halls of Fame due to pressure from James Morgan who put Gilzean’s name forward as a worthy recipient for the award.

Many books have been written about Spurs since the 1950s and this book is a worthy addition to that collection and a fitting tribute to a Spurs great. Many players who have contributed much less to the Spurs' cause have had books written about them so it's good to have Gilzean's contribution marked in this way.

The author did a great job weaving the past detail of Gilzean's career with his search for the great man and his struggle to keep his emotions as a Spurs’ supporter in control was clearly evident as he met some of his past heroes for the first time so that his journalistic endeavours would be rewarded.

Many rumours and stories existed about Gilzean’s career and his life after football and Morgan has endeavoured to find answers for them and as one reads the book there is the constant temptation to turn to the final chapters to discover if the search was successful.

Why did Alan Gilzean so dislike Bob Wilson, the Arsenal goalkeeper? The comparisons with Dimitar Berbatov are considered. Did Morgan meet up with Gillie? Those are some of the issues and questions you will have to read the book to find out about.

While Alan Gilzean has spent the last thirty six years avoiding the spotlight in order to maintain his privacy, perhaps this excellent book by James Morgan will demonstrate to him how highly he is regarded by those colleagues whom he played with and by those supporters who sang his name every week from the terraces and that if he were to return to White Hart Lane he would receive a rapturous reception.

A place awaits Alan Gilzean in the Tottenham Hotspur Hall of Fame – a true legend of White Hart Lane.

Spurs in History - 13th April

13th April, 1970


Spurs 2 Manchester United 1


The penultimate game of the season, although the final game wasn’t until early May. Following the difficult period in mid-season Spurs had reshaped the team, the senior players had re-established themselves, Peters was settling into the team and Perryman was gaining experience and influence in the team. Also and importantly, Gilzean and Chivers were developing a goal scoring partnership that was to blossom in the next few seasons. It was this combination that was to ensure victory over United but despite the stronger finish to the season, Spurs could only finish in 11th position.

Spurs in History - 20th March

20th March, 1974

Spurs 3 FC Cologne 0 UEFA Cup 4th round 2nd Leg

As winners of the League Cup the previous season, Spurs European adventure in the UEFA Cup continued with a comfortable win, ensuring that there were no slip ups after their 2-1 win in Germany in the 1st Leg. Spurs increased their aggregate lead with goals from Martin Chivers, Martin Peters and Ralph Coates.

The semi-final tie saw them drawn to play East German opponents, 1.FC Lokomotiv Leipzig.

Spurs in History - 13th January

The Tale of Two Non-League FA Cup Ties

13th January, 1923

Spurs 0 Worksop Town 0 (FA Cup 1st Round)

What an embarrassment this First Round tie was.

Spurs were at home to a team from the Midland League. Spurs, the Cup winners in 1921, semi – finalists in the Cup and runners up in the League in 1922 and with six members of the Cup winning team still playing - failed to score and overcome determined opposition.

Wintry weather conditions made the pitch difficult to play on but the non–League team adapted to the conditions and showed greater determination and bravery to earn their place in Cup history.

After the game the Worksop officials decided to play the replat at White Hart Lane rather than on their home ground. Spurs quickly agreed to this request and the game was arranged for two days later, Monday, 15th January.

Team: Blake, Clay, Pearson, Smith, Lowe, Grimsdell, Walden, Seed, Lindsay, Handley, Dimmock.

13th January, 1973
Margate 0 Spurs 6 (FA Cup 3rd Round)


Another non-League opponent was Margate in 1973. The UEFA Cup holders having been to the vast San Siro Stadium to play AC Milan the previous spring had to adapt to the closeness of the Margate ground at Hartsdown Park.

In the Margate team that day was former Spurs' player, Eddie Clayton. He made over 100 appearances for Spurs before signing for Southend United in 1968 and joined Margate two years later.

Margate should have scored first but Spurs ran out easy winners through goals from Cyril Knowles, Martin Peters, Martin Chivers (2), John Pratt and Jimmy Pearce.

The term "Nice one Cyril" was coined that day.

The attendance that day was 14,169 although the official ground limit had been 8500. Extra tickets had been sold to meet the demand to see the game swelling the crowd to that much higher figure with chair5s being placed around the side of the pitch. Health and Safety regulations would prevent anything like that happening today.

Team: Jennings, Evans, Knowles, Pratt, England, Naylor, Gilzean, Perryman (Pearce), Chivers, Peters, Coates.

On This Day - 5th January

Paul Stewart

5th Janary, 1991

Blackpool 0 Spurs 1 (FA Cup 3rd Round)

This was a 3rd Round FA Cup tie made for an upset.  Played in very stormy conditions, Spurs who were having an indifferent season needed to show determination and character.  This they did and managed to overcome the weather and Blackpool with a goal from Paul Stewart who began his career at Blackpool before joining Manchester City.

Spurs, inspired by Paul Gascoigne, then set off on an amazing series of results which took them to Wembley and success against Nottingham Forest.  This was achieved against a background of financial problems threatening the Club’s very existence and leading to the eventual take-over by Alan Sugar and manager Terry Venables.




Team: Thorstvedt, Fenwick, Edinburgh, Samways, Howells, Mabbutt, Stewart (Bergsson), Gascoigne, Moran, Lineker, Allen. Sub: (unused) Garland.





5th January, 1971
Spurs 2 Chelsea 2 (League Cup Semi-Final 2nd Leg)

Spurs, the League Cup holders, were a goal down from the first leg played before Christmas but were confident of overturning the deficit.  With five minutes remaining Spurs were 2-1 ahead through goals from Martin Chivers and a Martin Peters penalty.  The score was 3-3 on aggregate and the game looked to be heading for extra time.

Chelsea were awarded a free- kick out on the touch line and there was no imminent danger.  The kick was fired in low but Cyril Knowles had it covered on the near post and could have cleared it to safety but for some unknown reason he seemed to change his mind over which foot to use to clear the ball and missed it, leaving Jennings unsighted and the goal to take Chelsea to the Wembley Final.