Friday, May 24, 2019

Tottenham All-Time team for English Players

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

Gazza and Gary Linker

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


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

This is my selection of a 25 member all-time team for Tottenham Hotspurs' English players.  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.


Team
GK: Ray Clemence
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. 

GK: Ted Ditchburn
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.
Ted Ditchburn
GK: Ian Walker
Walker was remembered for his career for Tottenham Hotspurs, where he played from 1989 to 2001 with loan spells during that period.  He won the League Cup in 1999.  He also played for Leicester City and Bolten Wanderers. For England, he was once projected to be the starter, but he only managed 4 caps. He was a backup at Euro 1996 and 2004.

RB: Alf Ramsey
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
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 
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: Maurice Norman
Norman began his career at Norwich City. He signed for Tottenham Hotspur in 1955. He was an integral part of Bill Nicholson's Double-winning Tottenham team of 1960–61 that went on to retain the FA Cup in 1962, and win the 1963 Cup Winners' Cup. At international level, he was capped 23 times for England, including in the 1962 World Cup. He was also a member of the England squad at the 1958 World Cup, but did not play.

CB: Sol Campbell 
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: Ledley King
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
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.

DM/CM: Alan Mullery
Mullery played for Fulham (1958–1964, 1972–1976), Tottenham Hotspur (1964–1972) and England (1964–1971). With the Spurs teams, he won the FA Cup in 1967, the League Cup in 1971, and the UEFA Cup in 1972. In the UEFA Final, he scored the decisive goal in a victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers. In a 1968 European Championship game against Yugoslavia, Mullery became the first England player to be sent off in a full international match.  He played in Mexico 1970.

CM: Martin Peters
Martin Peters was an all-round midfielder who played for West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur, Norwich City and Sheffield United. He was briefly a player/coach for Sheffield United.  He earned 67 caps for England between 1966 and 1974, and was a member of the 1966 World Cup winning team.  He also played in the 1970 World Cup Finals.

AM: Dele Alli
All started with Milton Keynes Dons. He signed for Tottenham Hotspur in 2015.  In each of his first two campaigns at White Hart Lane, he was voted the PFA Young Player of the Year and made the PFA Team of the Year.  He was a key player for England at the World Cup Finals in 2018 as England reached the semifinal for the first time since 1990.

AM: Paul Gascoigne
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
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
RW/RB: Darren Anderton
From 1990 to 1992, Anderton played for Portsmouth. 
From 1992 to 2004, he played for Tottenham Hotspurs. He later played for Birmingham City, Wolverhampton Wanderers and AFC Bournemouth. From 1994 to 2001, he was capped 30 times for England.  He played an important part in the Euro 96 England team that reached the semi-finals.  At France 1998, he shared and sometimes played with David Beckham on the right wing.

RW/AM: Chris Waddle
Waddle mainly played with Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspurs, Olympique Marseille and Sheffield Wednesday.  He won the 1987 FA Cup with Tottenham Hotspurs.  Then, in 1989, he joined Olympique Marseille for 4.5 million pound, which was then the third highest transfer fees.  He went to Sheffield Wednesday in 1992, where he reached both FA Cup and League Cup Final.  He was voted FWA Player of the Year for that season. He went to the WC Finals in 1986 and 1990.

LW: Jimmy Dimmock
Dimmock turned professional with Tottenham Hotspur in May 1919., He holds a unique place in the history of Tottenham Hotspur by being the only player in the club's history to play 400 league games and score 100 league goals. He also remains (at 20 years 139 days) the youngest Tottenham player to appear in an FA Cup Final. He scored the winning goal for them in the 1921 FA Cup Final. He was capped 3 times.

FW/SS: Teddy Sherringham
Terry 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 
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: Martin Chivers
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: Bobby Smith
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 
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: Vivian Woodward
Woodward played for Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea. He captained Great Britain to gold medals at the 1908 Olympics in London and in Stockholm in 1912. Woodward's tally of 29 goals in 23 matches for England remained a record from 1911 to 1958. He served in the British Army during the First World War, and as a result missed out on Chelsea's run to their first-ever FA Cup final in 1915. Woodward's injuries during the war caused his retirement from football

ST/SS: Jimmy Greaves 
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
Clive Allen, Graham Roberts, Bill Nicholson, Len Duquemin, Darren Anderton, Peter BakerRon Henry, Jermaine Defoe, Phil Beal, George Hunt, Arthur Grimsdell, Paul Robinson, Tony Parks, Graham Roberts, Eric Dier, Danny Rose, Michael Dawson.

Squad Explanation
-- Sixteen members of this team also belonged to my Tottenham Hotspurs All Time Team. So I added 7 new players to the list. They are Alan Mullery, Maurice Norman, Chris Waddle, Tony Parks,  Martin Peters, Darren Anderton and Vivian Woodward,
-- At the time of writing, Tottenham Hotspurs has not played Liverpool in the Champions' League Final.  The final list might be determined by the outcome at Wanda stadium in Madrid.  Harry Kane already made the team before the 2018-2019 season. I also selected Dele Alli to this team before the Champions' League Final.  Danny Rose and Eric Dier would be seriously considered at the end of their respective careers, I predicted. 
-- The "Double" winning team in the 1961 lacked English players. There are many non-English British players: Bill Brown (Scotland), Danny Blanchflower (N.Ireland), Dave Mackay (Scotland), Cliff Jones (Wales), John White (Scotland) and Terry Medwin (Wales). Maurice Norman is the only English player of note on that team. As compared to the current team, Ben Davis of Wales is the only non-English British players while English players such Danny Rose, Dele Alli, Eric Drier and Harry Kane are the star players. 
-- Vivian Woodward was the biggest star missing on my all-time team.  So I added him here. Chris Waddle is also a surprised omission on my all-time team.  Cliff Jones and Gareth Bale were my selections on the left wing on that team, which kept Waddle out.
-- Ray Clemence and Ted Ditchburn are obvious choices for the first two keeper position. Paul Robinson, Ian Walker and Tony Parks are candidates for the third keeper.  All three left the club with a reputation as talents unfulfilled. Ian Walker had the longest career here among the trio. So I took him.
-- Mike England is the only defensive player from my Tottenham Hotspurs all-time team not from England.  England is not from England.  For this English only team, I only added a single new player, Maurice Norman.  He edged out Michael Dawson, Graham Roberts, Phil Beal, Peter Baker, etc.
-- I needed a lot of midfielders and wide players to replace the non-English players on my All-time team.  Martin Peters and Chris Waddle are the obvious choices.
--Darren Anderton was chosen because I need a right winger.  Bill Nicholson, I felt, was more of an all-time great for coaching career here. His 1960-1961 team, as mentioned above, lacked English player. Jimmy Dimmock was also chosen for the left wing position.
-- Jimmy Greaves arrived in here the season after the Double.  However, he is the all time leading scorer in the English top flight football with most of his goals scored while playing for Tottenham.

Formation
I do not think this is a balanced team. Again, the lineup has too many attack midfielders.



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