When Ireland Players Were Shining For Tottenham at White Hart Lane

“When Irish eyes are smiling ……” go the words of the song but for Tottenham fans, it was their eyes which were shining when players from Ireland were playing at White Hart Lane. Some of Tottenham’s best players came from Ireland, both north and south of the border.

Tottenham scour the world looking for the best of players, but before the influx of foreign internationals to the English game, clubs looked much closer to home and recruited players from Ireland, Scotland and Wales to supplement the home grown English talent. Two of Tottenham’s greatest players came from Northern Ireland and had a major influence on Tottenham’s success in the 1960s and 1970s.

Danny Blanchflower

Danny Blanchflower

Danny Blanchflower was the inspirational captain of Tottenham’s greatest ever team. He was an experienced player when he signed from Aston Villa in 1954. His career had started in Belfast with Glentoran but as his career drew to a close he led Spurs in the most successful period in the club’s history. A skilful player who was very influential on the field, he held strong views on the way the game should be played. He always wanted to win and to entertain at the same time.

One of Danny Blanchflower’s famous quotations, found on the Spurs Community web-site,

"“The great fallacy is that the game is first and last about winning. It is nothing of the kind. The game is about glory, it is about doing things in style and with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom.”"

For a time, after Blanchflower’s arrival at Spurs, as the team struggled in the late fifties, he appeared to be a ‘luxury’ they couldn’t afford but on his return he established relationship with manager Bill Nicholson and together they developed a team that played football never before seen at White Hart Lane.

On the eve of the 1960-61 season, Blanchflower predicted that the team would win the Double, something that had never been achieved in the twentieth century. He was proved correct and the team went on to retain the FA Cup the following season and became the first British club to win a European trophy in 1962-63.

The following season, injury forced him to retire, having made over 380 appearances for Tottenham. He won 53 caps for Northern Ireland and as captain, he inspired them to untold success in the 1958 World Cup finals in Sweden. He won the Football Writers’ Player of the Year award in1958 and 1961.

On Bill Nicholson’s retirement in 1974, he recommended that Blanchflower, working with Johnny Giles, be appointed manager but the directors in their wisdom looked elsewhere for an appointment, if only.

Pat Jennings

Legendary Tottenham goalkeeper, Pat Jennings [Photo: Jav The_DoC_66]Pat Jennings signed for Tottenham in June, 1964 after just one season at Watford. He made his debut on the opening day of the next season and for two years shared the goalkeeping duties with Bill Brown. In spite of early concerns about his progress he went on to make the position his own and from 1966-67 he was unchallenged for the Number 1 shirt at White Hart Lane for the next eleven seasons.

As Bill Nicholson set about building a new team to replace the ‘Double’ team, Jennings became a very important member of the successful team of the early seventies. During his career he made over 590 appearances for Tottenham with many outstanding performances and enjoyed success in the FA Cup, two League Cups wins and victory in Europe in 1972. He was the Football Writers’ Player of the Year in 1973 and won the Players’ award three years later.

In his final season injury restricted his appearances and as Spurs were relegated, Keith Burkinshaw made the decision that Jennings was past his best. He was transferred to Arsenal and went on to make Burkinshaw regret that decision. Throughout his career he made 119 International appearances, playing in the World Cup finals of 1982 and 1986. To prepare fro the finals in 1986, Jennings returned to Tottenham and has continued his association as goalkeeping coach and in the club’s hospitality lounges on match-days. His performances set him aside as Spurs’ greatest goalkeeper and a true Legend of the club.

While none could match the contribution Blanchflower and Jennings have made to Tottenham’s success, others worthy of mention include:

Joe Kinnear

Joe Kinnear was a member of the successful team of the late 1960s, early 1970s. He came through the youth system and made his debut at right back in 1965-66 as part of Bill Nicholson re-building programme. He had a lucky break the following season when an injury to Phil Beal, gave him the chance of an extended run in the team which was on its way to to the 1967 FA Cup final. In the final against Chelsea, Kinnear was the youngest player on the pitch but he put in a “Man of the Match’ performance from right back with his over-lapping runs of the right.

He retained his position through the following seasons developing a full-back partnership with Cyril Knowles. He was out for almost a year after breaking his leg in January, 1969  but returned to regain his place for the success of the early 1970s, winning the League Cup twice and the UEFA Cup. After

Born in Dublin, Kinnear made 26 appearances for the Republic of Ireland and on retiring he went into management and is remembered best for his seven year spell with Wimbledon. Kinnear was often linked with the vacant manager’s post at White Hart Lane and he gave the impression that he would have loved the post but he was always overlooked.

Tony Galvin

Tony Galvin came to Spurs from non-league Goole Town in January, 1978 for a fee of £30,000. Galvin came to professional football late as he had completed a degree in Russian Studies and also a teacher Training course before signing for Spurs. He took time to make an impact having made his debut in a 0 – 3 defeat at home to Manchester City in February, 1979.

That would have been enough to end the hopes of many a player and although it was his only appearance of that season and he only made a few appearances at the end of the next season, at the beginning of January, 1981 he was given an opportunity to establish himself in the team and was an ever present in the team that went on to win the F.A.Cup against Manchester City. He now became a very important member of that successful team under Keith Burkinshaw that won the FA Cup in successive seasons (1981 & 1982), won the UEFA Cup in 1984 and were runners-up in the League Cup/Milk Cup in 1982.

Galvin’s hard work and powerful runs on the left of midfield became an important element in Tottenham’s attacking force in the early 1980s. He holds the distinction of an ‘assist’ for Ricky Villa’s wonder goal at Wembley in 1981 as it was he who made the short pass to Villa before the Argentinian set of on his goal-scoring run. An early injury to Galvin in the 1982 League Cup Final greatly reduced his effectiveness and the threat that Tottenham could pose and was a contributing factor to their defeat by Liverpool.

Galvin, although born in Huddersfield, played for the Republic of Ireland and made 194 League appearances before his transfer to Sheffield Wednesday for £130,000 in August, 1987.

Stephen Carr

Stephen Carr made his debut for Spurs in 1993 but it was the 1996-97 season before he established himself in the team. Having worked his way through the youth system at White Hart Lane he became an important member of the team, attacking from the right and scoring vital goals. He was a member of the 1999 Worthington Cup winning team and a full international for the Republic of Ireland. In total he made 226 appearances, scoring 7 goals. Injury hindered him and he was out for over eighteen months and on his return he had lost some of the impetus he had previously had and as the team struggled he looked for a new challenge in the north east. He departed saying that he was moving to ‘a bigger club’ which infuriated Tottenham supporters who had previously idolised him before tiring of his seeming lack of interest.  Hewas transferred to Newcastle United in 2004 after thirteen seasons at Tottenham for a fee of £2 million.

Robbie Keane

Robbie Keane joined Tottenham in August, 2002 from Leeds United for £7 million as his former club slipped into financial ruin. Only turned 22 years of age, Keane had also played for Wolves, Coventry and Inter Milan. Keane made his debut in a 3-2 home win over West Ham United and scored his first goal for the club in an away win at Blackburn three weeks later. He scored 122 goals for Spurs in all competitions and is tenth on the Tottenham’s all-time goal scoring list.

There was constant competition between Keane and Jermain Defoe for a place in the team and many debates among supporters on their merits. Keane developed his game to become a creator as well as goal scorer and had a great understanding with Dimitar Berbatov as Spurs enjoyed Carling Cup success in 2008. He scored many memorable goals – hat-tricks against Wolves and Everton, his juggling goal against Blackburn Rovers and the super strikes against Fulham in the Cup and in Europe. One other memorable moment was his dribbling and bamboozling of the Chelsea full back, leaving him on the ground, as he tricked his way up the line to eventually set up Aaron Lennon for the winner against Chelsea at White Hart Lane in November, 2006.

In the summer of 2008, his relationship with Tottenham fans soured when he signed for Liverpool but after an unsuccessful few months at Anfield he returned to White Hart Lane the following January. He never rediscovered his goal scoring touch in his second spell at Spurs and after time out on loan, joined LA Galaxy in 2011.

Keane has made 122 appearances for the Republic of Ireland and scored 54 goals making him the country’s all-time leading goal scorer. He captained Ireland and has been an important part of the team’s success in recent years.

Chris Hughton

Chris Hughton developed through the Tottenham youth system and became a regular at full-back in the early 1980s and was part of the success under Keith Burkinshaw, winning two FA Cups and the UEFA Cup in 1984. He remained at Tottenham until 1990, making over 300 appearances for the club. He went to West Ham for a short time but rejoined Tottenham on their coaching staff. He held a number of coaching positions under ten different managers, rising to Assistant Manager but was sacked along with Martin Jol in October, 2007. He took on the role of Caretaker Manager on two occasions as Spurs tried to fill the vacancy at White Hart Lane. A loyal player who was totally committed to Spurs.

Born in London, he made 53 appearances for the Republic of Ireland.

Tottenham can be grateful for the contribution that players from Ireland have made to the club’s success over the years. Others have had their moments – Chris McGrath, Jimmy Holmes, Gerry Armstrong and Gary Doherty – but nothing to match that made by Blanchflower, Jennings, Kinnear, Galvin, Carr and Keane.