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

Spurs in History - 11th August

11th August, 1962

Ipswich Town 1 Spurs 5 F.A.Charity Shield (Portman Road)

The defeats by Ipswich in both League meetings during the previous season had cost Spurs the opportunity of retaining the Championship and completing a second ‘Double’.

Managed by former Spurs' full-back, Alf Ramsey, Ipswich had played a system that had taken most teams by surprise but in this game Spurs had found the tactics to nullify the system and won with ease.

Spurs' goals were scored by Jimmy Greaves(2), Terry Medwin, John White and Bobby Smith.

Spurs in History - 21st March

21st March, 1999

Leicester City 0 Spurs 1 WORTHINGTON CUP FINAL at Wembley

A day filled with European and Cup drama.

In 1953 Spurs lost an F.A.Cup semi-final tie to Blackpool when an Alf Ramsey mistake saw Spurs concede the winning goal with ten seconds left.

In 1962 Spurs lost 3-1 to Benfica in the European Cup semi final 1st Leg tie in Lisbon.

Alan Nielsen celebrates winning the Worthington Cup and MOTM award

However to mark the last success experienced by Spurs we note this Cup victory thanks to a last minute goal from Allan Nielsen. In a rather dour game, Spurs only came to life when reduced to ten men when Justin Edinburgh was sent off. The game seemed to be heading for extra time when Iversen broke on the right to cross and Nielsen was there to head into the net after Kasey Keller, who later was to join Spurs, had pushed the ball out.

Team: Walker; Carr, Vega, Campbell, Edinburgh; Anderton, Freund, Nielsen, Ginola (Sinton); Iversen, Ferdinand.

Spurs in History - 14th March

14th March, 1962

Spurs 1 Ipswich Town 3

This is the match that cost Spurs the chance of winning the ‘Double’ for a second successive season. If Spurs had won this game by a similar margin they would have been Champions on goal average.

As it was Spurs lost to Alf Ramsey’s team who had just been promoted. Ipswich won both games against Spurs and the goal scored by Jimmy Greaves was only a consolation when the whole season was taken into consideration.

Spurs had just qualified for the F.A.Cup semi-final and were in the European Cup semi-finals but they were unable to cope with Ipswich’s unorthodox game plan.