Ardiles and Villa Tottenham Debut as Spurs Draw with Forest – Know Your Tottenham History

Villa and Ardiles made their Tottenham debut at Forest

Tottenham won promotion to the 1st Division after only one season in the 2nd tier and their opening game was away to the reigning Champions, Nottingham Forest. All the summer interest following the 1978 World Cup in Argentina was the transfer of two of the Argentine World Cup winning team to Tottenham Hotspur. Attention during pre-season was on Ossie Ardiles and Ricky Villa with fans wanting to see them play. Demand for tickets for the opening game of the season was immense and it was on the City Ground, Nottingham that all media attention was focused on 19th August, 1978. Such was the clamour to attend the match that the kick-off had to be delayed to allow everyone into the ground.

Nottingham Forest 1 Tottenham Hotspur 1

Scorers: O’Neill                                       Villa

It was expected that Forest would come out on top against the newcomers with many sceptical comments that ‘they wouldn’t be able to adapt to English football’. Tottenham, however, with both Ardiles and Villa making their debut, surprised the Champions. Forest went ahead early in the first half through Martin O’Neill but but Ricky Villa made an impressive start and equalised after 27 minutes, scoring against the England international goalkeper Peter Shilton.

Team: Daines; McAllister, Gorman; Hoddle, Lacy, Perryman; Villa, Ardiles, Armstrong, Moores, Taylor (Pratt)

From an article in The Guardian blog in 2007  by Paul Doyle assessing the impact Ardiles and Villa had on Tottenham –

The Joy of Six: Post-Tournament Transfer Deals

Much of the talk before the 1978 World Cup had been about the sinister military junta running Argentina. Afterwards all the talk, in England at least, was about the sensational coup pulled off by Tottenham Hotspur. The manager Keith Burkinshaw had somehow convinced two Argentina players to venture into the wilds of the largely uncharted English First Division. Unusual terrain for folks from beyond the British Isles – but, it rapidly transpired, an inspired move. Villa scored on his debut against Nottingham Forest and Ardiles, dynamic and deft, soon formed a marvellous midfield partnership with Glenn Hoddle, not to mention a celebrated understanding with Chas ‘n’ Dave. Love and tributes cascaded down on the pair like ticker-tape as Tottenham embarked on their most glorious era in a generation, winning two FA Cups before Villa left in 1983 and then, with Ardiles to the fore, the 1984 Uefa Cup. In all, Ardiles would make over 300 appearances for the club and, in 1993, was invited back as manager, whereupon he showcased an avant-garde new formation that was part gung-ho, mostly hara-kiri. His five-man strikeforce, which after the 1994 World Cup featured Ilie Dumitrescu – definitely one to add to the list of ill-fated post-tournament transfers – led to his sacking in October 1994. Despite that, both he and Villa are remembered with great affection at White Hart Lane.

#knowyourtottenhamhistory  18th August, 1971