Tottenham Hotspurs Greatest All-Time Team

This blogger Artur Yanturin of Russia copied many of my blog teams.  This blog was one of them.  It was my Russia All-Time Team here.  His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014.   His Spartak Moscow All-Time team entry of was published in October 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2017.  His entry of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014.  He also copied many many of my blog entries.

His Facebook and Instagram

UEFA Cup 1972

Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index.


Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal,
Chelsea, Tottenham, Manchester City, Everton, Ipswich
Aston Villa, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, 
Leeds United, Leicester City, Wolverhampton Wanderers

Tottemham Hotspurs All-Time Team for Foreign Players
Tottenham All-Time Team for English Players
Tottenham All-Time Team for British Isles Players(excluding England)
Greater London All-Time Team

This is my selection of a 25 member all-time team for the club.  The number 25 was chosen because it is the official squad size for the Champions' League.

Founded in 1882, Tottenham won the FA Cup for the first time in 1901, making them the only non-League club to do so since the formation of the Football League in 1888. Tottenham were the first club in the 20th century to achieve the League and FA Cup Double, winning both competitions in the 1960–61 season. After successfully defending the FA Cup in 1962, in 1963 they became the first British club to win a UEFA club competition – the European Cup Winners' Cup.  They won the UEFA Cup in 1972, becoming the first British club to win two different major European trophies. In the 1984, Spurs again won the UEFA Cup. In the 1990s the club won the FA Cup and the League Cup.  They had won a major trophy in each of the last six decades – an achievement only matched by Manchester United. In 2019, they reached the Final of the Champions' League.

UEFA Cup 1984

Team
GK: Ray Clemence (England)
Ray Clemence was considered one of England's greatest keepers. He won 3 European Cups and 2 UEFA Cups in the 1970's with Liverpool and a UEFA Cup with Tottenham Hotspurs.  He was voted as Liverpool's greatest keeper.  He is one of only 25 players to have made over 1,000 career appearances. For the national team, he was locked in a battle of number 1 with Peter Shilton.  He was Shilton's backup at the World Cup Finals in 1982. He made 61 appearances for England. 

Ray Clemence

GK: Pat Jennings (N.Ireland)
Considered among the greatest goalkeeper of all-time.  The prime of his career was spent with both Tottenham Hotspurs and Arsenal.  In 1973 the Football Writers' Association named him as its footballer of the year. Three years later he won PFA's version of the award – he was the first goalkeeper to receive this accolade, and to this date remains only one of two, along with Peter Shilton. He earned 119 caps for Northern Ireland and went to two WC Finals. 

GK: Ted Ditchburn (England)
Ditchburn made his senior debut for the Spurs in a wartime league match against Chelsea in 1940. At this time he represented both the RAF and the Combined Services and guested at Aberdeen. At the end of the war, he returned to Tottenham. He went on to play in an unbroken run of 247 matches between April 1948 and March 1954.  Tottenham won promotion as Division Two champions in 1949–50 and the First division league title the following year. Capped 6 times and went to the WC Finals in 1950.

RB: Alf Ramsey (England) 
Ramsey started his career with Southampton in 1943.  He moved to Tottenham Hotspurs in 1949, he played in the famous "push-and-run" style.  He helped the club to grain promotion to the First Divison in the 1949-50 season, and then, won the First Division League title in Tottenham's first season up.  Ramsey was a member of the ill-fated World Cup team in 1950.  He would captain England after that World Cup Finals.

CB/RB/CM: Steve Perryman (England)
Steve Perryman is best remembered for his successes with Tottenham Hotspur during the 1970s and early 1980s. Perryman was voted Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year in 1982 and made a club record 854 first team appearances for Tottenham.  He was only capped once by England in 1982.

CB: Gary Mabbutt (England)
Gary Mabbutt became one of the best known defenders in English football in the 1980s, playing initially for Bristol Rovers before joining the first division club Tottenham Hotspur, where he became captain. With Spurs, he won the UEFA Cup in 1984 and the FA Cup in 1991 (as captain). However, he scored an own goal in the 1987 FA Cup that gave Coventry the cup. He played 16 times for England between 1982 and 1992. He scored his only international goal against Yugoslavia. 

Gary Mabbutt

CB: Sol Campbell (England)
Sol Campbell was a member of Arsenal's "Invincibles" that went undefeated in 2003-2004 season.  He spent 9 seasons for Tottenham Hotspurs and served as its captain before moving to its rival Arsenal on a free transfer that sparked a controversy.  He later played for Portsmouth. For England, he earned 73 caps in 11 years.  He went to three World Cup Finals: 1998, 2002 and 2006, and three other European Championship in that period.

CB Mike England (Wales)
Mike England helped Tottenham Hotspurs to win the UEFA Cup in 1972 and reached the Final again two years later.  He also played for Blackburn Rovers and Cardiff.  England played in the North American Soccer League with the Seattle Sounders from 1975 to 1979.  He was capped 44 times for Wales and was also the youngest Welsh captain at one point.

CB: Ledley King (England)
Ledley King spent his entire career with Tottenham Hotspurs.  He was among the best defender in the Premiership during his prime, but his international career was limited by a golden generation of great English centre backs.  He only had 21 caps due to fierce competition in his position. He went to the 2004 European Championship and 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa, but missed the World Cup Finals 2006 due to an injury.

Ledley King

LB: Cyril Knowles (England)
Knowles would spend 11 years at White Hart Lane. He scored 17 goals in 507 appearances for Tottenham Hotspur, winning the FA Cup in 1967, the League Cup in 1971 and 1973 and a UEFA Cup winners medal in 1972. In 1975, with Spurs needing victory to avoid relegation against Leeds United the reigning First Division champions and 1975 European Cup finalists, Knowles scored twice in a 4–2 victory.  Capped 4 times for England.

CM/DM/LB: Dave MacKay (Scotland)
Known for his toughness and passing abilities. He won the Double with Tottenham Hotspurs in 1961 and the Cup Winners' Cup in 1963.  He was selected as one of the Football Heros stamp series to celebrate the 150 years of English FA. He also represented Scotland 22 times, and was selected for their 1958 FIFA World Cup squad. Mackay tied with Tony Book of Manchester City for the Football Writers' Association's Footballer of the Year award in 1969.

Dave McKay

CM/LH: Ron Burgess (Wales)
Burgess was a miner before becoming a footballer. He spent majority of his career with Tottenham Hotspurs.  He was the captain of Tottenham Hotspurs' League champion team in 1951. Burgess joined Swansea Town in 1954 as a player and played until 1956, taking over as manager of Swansea Town from 1955 to 1958. For Wales, he played 32 times and was the captain.

CM:  Osvaldo Ardiles (Argentina)
Osvaldo Ardiles was the central midfielder when Argentina won the World Cup in 1978.  From 1975 to 1982, he earned 52 caps. He also went to the World Cup Finals in 1982. At the club level, he also played for Club Atlético Belgrano and Huracán.  He was also one of the first foreigners to play in England.  He was a top player with Tottenham Hotspurs. He won the FA Cup in 1981.  He left Tottenham briefly because of the Falklands War. He later won the UEFA Cup in 1984 for them.

Osvaldo Ardiles

CM/AM:  Danny Blanchflower (Northern Ireland)
Danny Blanchflower is considered one of Northern Ireland's greatest footballers.  He won the Double in 1961 with Tottenham Hotspurs.  He won the FA Cup the following year, and then, a Cup Winners' Cup in 1963.  He was the PWA Player of the Year in 1958 and 1961. He also played for Aston Villa and Barnsley before joining Hotspurs. He went to the World Cup in 1958, where Northern Ireland reached the quarterfinal.

Danny Blanchflower

LW: Cliff Jones (Wales)

Jones was the best left winger in the world during the eraly 1960's. He won the Double with Tottenham in 1961-1962.  He also won the 1963 Cup Winners' Cup. He also played for Swansea and Fulham.  He played 59 times in all for Wales, scoring 16 goals. He went to play at the 1958 WC Finals in Sweden. He also was the hero of Wales' 1955 victory over England.

RW/LW:  Gareth Bale (Wales)
Bale began his professional career at Southampton. Bale moved to Tottenham Hotspur in 2007. In 2011 and 2013, he was named PFA Players' Player of the Year.  His transfer to Real Madrid in 2013 was believed to be the most expensive in history.  He won two Champions League title with Real Madrid.  He scored the winning goal in the 2014 version. In 2016, he led Wales to reach the semifinal of Euro 2016.

Gareth Bale

AM/CM: John White (Scotland)
John White was a legend with Tottenham Hotspurs. He won the "double" of League championship and FA Cup in 1961 - the first club in the 20th century to do so.  He won the FA Cup again in 1962 and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1963, the first ever European trophy for an English club.  He died at the age of 27 in 1964.  He played 22 times for Scotland.

AM: Paul Gascoigne (England)
Gazza was the most gifted player of his generation, but his career was marked controversy and injuries.  He played for Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and Lazio.   In 1995, he joined Rangers with a club record fee. He had a successful career at Rangers, but he left in 1998 and went to play for many clubs all over the world.  For England, he earned 57 times.  He was remembered for the tears in his eyes as he received his yellow card against West Germany in the semi-final.

AM: Glenn Hoddle (England)
Glenn Hoddle often considered one of the most talented players of his generation, but not always appreciated by his fans.  He played mainly with Tottenham Hotspurs, where he won the UEFA Cup in 1984 and two FA Cups.  He also played for AS Monaco, Swindon and Chelsea. Huddle played 53 times for England. He went to the 1982 and 1986 World Cup Finals, helping England to reach the quarter-finals in the latter tournament.

Glenn Hoddle

FW/SS: Teddy Sherringham (England)
Teddy Sherringham was a star player with Tottenham Hotspurs from 1992 and 1997.  In 1997, he made a big move to Manchester United as a replacement for Eric Cantona.  He won the Champions' league in 1999 with Manchester United.  He was capped 51 times for England.  He played at the Euro 1996, the WC 1998 and the Euro 2000.

ST: Harry Kane (England)
At the time of writing, Kane has played his entire career with Tottenham Hotspurs, except a few seasons on loan.  Kane made his first-team debut for Tottenham in 2011.  He finished top scorer of both the 2015–16 and the 2016–17 Premier League seasons, and aided Tottenham in qualifying for the UEFA Champions League on both occasions.  For England, he has earned over 30 caps. He captained England at the 2018 World Ciup Finals, he won the Golden Booth award.

Harry Kane

ST: Bobby Smith (England)
Bobby Smith was the second all-time leading scorer for Tottenham Hotspurs.  He was an integral part of Bill Nicholson's famous double winning Tottenham team of 1960/1961 (scoring in the final of the FA Cup), which went on to retain the FA Cup in 1962 (scoring in the Final again) and win the 1963 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.  He also played for Chelsea before his career with Tottenham and he played for Brighton at the end of his career. He capped 15 times, scoring 13 goals.

Bobby Smith

ST: Gary Lineker (England)
Gary Lineker was one of England's best goal poachers.  He scored 48 goals for England(second overall) and won the Golden Boot with 6 goals at 1986 World Cup Finals in Mexico.  He was PFA Players' Player of the Year in 1985–86 and FWA Footballer of the Year in 1985–86 and 1991–92.  In England, he played with Leicester Town, Everton and Tottenham Hotspurs.

ST: Martin Chivers (England)
From 1962 to 1966, Martin Chivers played with Southampton. He  moved to Tottenham Hotspurs in 1968, breaking the tran sager record at the time.  During the 1971–72 campaign, Chivers hit the best form of his career, netting 44 times in 64 first team appearances. He scored eight times in 11 UEFA Cup matches in 1972, in which Tottenham became champion.  He was indicted to Tottenham's Hall of Fame. Chivers was capped 24 times for England.

ST/SS: Jimmy Greaves (England)
Jimmy Greaves was the top scorer in the English league for 4 seasons. He won the FA Cup in 1962 and 1967, and the UEFA Cup in 1963. He started with Chelsea, but alo played with AC Milan and spent 9 seasons with Tottenham Hotspurs.  He was a member of the World Cup winning team in 1966.  However, he lost his starting position after suffering an injury against France.  Sir Ramsey used Geoff Hurst in the remaining matches in the World Cup Finals.

Jimmy Greaves

Honorable Mention
Bill Brown (Scotland), Ricky Villa (Argentina), Clive Allen (England), Chris Waddle (England), Maurice Norman (England), Graham Roberts (England), Bill Nicholson (England), Len Duquemin (England), Steve Archibald (Scotland), David Ginola (France), Darren Anderton (England),  Mel Hopkins (England), Chris Hughton (Ireland), Peter Baker (England), Ron Henry (England), Martin Peters (England), Alan Mullery (England), Jermaine Defoe (England), Jurgen Klinsmann (Germany), Phil Beal (England), Vivian Woodward (England), Hugo Lloris (France), Christian Eriksen (Denmark), Jan Vertonghen (Belgium), Son Heung-Min (South Korea), Erik Thorstvedtm (Norway), Bill Brown (Scotland).

Squad Explanation
-- Bill Nicholson got onto honourable mention as a player. I rated him more as a manager.  He led Tottenham Hotspurs to the League/FA Cup Double in 1960-1961 season.  I selected the following players from that team: Danny Blanchflower, Dave MacKay, John White, Cliff Jones and Bobby Smith. Blanchflower was their captain while Bobby Smith was their top scorer. 

-- The team that reached the 2019 Champions' League Final would one day be rewarded for their achievement.  At the time of writing, Harry Kane is the only member on the team.  Hugo Lloris, Christian Eriksen, Son Heung-min, Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen, Eric Dier and Dele Alli may have a chance to win a spot at the end of their career. 

-- Pat Jennings was the FWA Footballer of the Year(1972–73) and PFA Players' Player of the Year: 1975–76 while playing here.  The older fans considered Ted Ditchburn as their greatest.  I took Ray Clemence based upon his international reputation.  Bill Brown might have achieved more here than Clemence.  He won the Double and the Cup Winners' Cup while Clemence took home the UEFA Cup.

-- I only took two fullbacks because Steve Perryman and Dave Mackay can be converted into backup fullbacks. Alf Ramsey got the rightback spot over Peter Barker. I tried not to factor Ramsey's career as the football manager into his selection.  Ron Henry who won the Double was forced into honourable mention.

-- For centerbacks, I went with Sol Campbell, Gary Mabbutt, Ledley King and Mike England.  Steve Perryman and Dave MacKay also can play there.  I do not have space for Maurice Norman. 

-- Ledley King was one club man for Tottenham Hotspurs.  Both Gary Mabbutt and Mike England won an UEFA Cup respectively.  Mabbutt spent 16 years with the club. Steve Perryman was FWA Player of the Year in 1982.  He holds the club's appearance record.

Steve Perryman

-- Sol Campbell's controversial move to Arsenal was overlooked because I also selected Pat Jennings who made the same move (but the fans mainly blamed the club for his exit).  I did not select Luis Figo for Barcelona, but Ashley Cole made my all-time team for both Chelsea and Arsenal.  The diehard Tottenham fans might disagree with my decisions on Campbell and Jennings.

-- In central midfield, Dave MacKay is a very obvious choice.  Ron Burgress was a captain of the club.  He was a key figure in Arthur Rowe "push and run" side in the 1950's.

-- Gareth Bale also got selected for being one of the best in the world while playing with Hotspurs.  He edged out David Ginola who also was named the PFA and Football Writers' Player of the Year.

-- David Ginola and Chris Waddle did not get into squad because I have Glenn Hoddle, John White, Paul Gascoigne, Danny Blanchflower and Osvaldo Ardiles ahead of them. The same applied to Martin Peters and Alan Mullery.

-- Paul Gascoigne was unstoppable while playing in London.

-- Jermaine Defoe and Clive Allen did not make the team. Defoe spent many seasons with the club, but went trophy-less and only scored around 70 goals.  The others produced better results.  Allen was a one season wonder.  He scored 49 goals in a single season.

-- I also do not have the heart to drop John White. He helped them to win the Double and died a year after winning the Cup Winners' Cup.  David Ginola, Martin Peters and Alan Mullery really deserved the spot too.
-- Osvaldo Ardiles was a fan favourite.  He was also the first foreign player to become a star at the club.  His teammate and countryman Ricky Villa made honourable mention.
-- Danny Blanchflower was the PWA Player of the Year in 1958 and 1961.  He captained Tottenham Hotspur, most notably during its double-winning season of 1960–61.  Some considered Tottenham Hotspurs' greatest players.

-- Tottenham Hotspurs has many great strikers. Jimmy Greaves joined Tottenham Hotspurs in 1961 right after the "Double" season. He is the highest goalscorer in the history of English top-flight football (357 goals) and 266 of them were scored wearing Tottenham's jersey.

-- I considered Harry Kane, Len Duquemin, Alan Gilzean, Martin Chivers, Bobby Smith, Jurgen Klinsmann and Gary Lineker for the remaining striker pots.  

-- Bobby Smith was probably rated higher than Gilzean and Chivers.  He also had the stats and the medals to back up his credentials. Alan Chivers often listed as one of the greatest for this club. Both are on this all-time team.

-- Then, I have choose one between Gary Lineker and Jurgen Klinsmann.  Both of them have more international recognition than the other players mentioned.  Klinsmann was a fan favorite and a FWA Player of the Year winner.  The fans also won't forget how he scored 4 goals and saved Tottenham from relegation in 1998. However, Lineker scored 80 goals in just three seasons and won a FA Cup.  He also had a longer career with Hotspurs than Klinsmann. So I went with Lineker. 

-- Harry Kane was a new addition to the team.  At the time of writing, he has scored over a 100 goals for them.  He was the top scorer at the Premier League twice.  He has already played 8 seasons for them.  His career there is longer than Gary Lineker, Teddy Sherringham, Paul Gascoigne, etc.  At this given point in time, Kane is considered the best footballer from the United Kingdom and among the best in the world. 

1960-1961 Double winning team

Formation