Vic Buckingham: The ex-Tottenham player’s legacy lives on

Management

Buckingham parted company with Tottenham to take charge of amateur side Pegasus before moving to Bradford Park End, eventually earning a shot at England’s First Division with West Bromwich Albion.

In Buckingham’s first season with the Baggies he won the FA Cup and came within a whisker of the league. Despite bringing exciting football to the Hawthorns, the board ultimately let him go after a six-year reign.

Buckingham became disillusioned by the resistance to change in England; the country created the sport but its outdated approach was rapidly being overtaken by other cultures around the world.

Ajax

The name Ajax did not command anywhere near the grandeur it does today, residing in a semi-professional Erdivisie when Buckingham took charge. But Amsterdam offered Vic an amenable audience and the stage he had always desired.

He was able to fully instil his footballing philosophy of freedom, fluidity and short passing; he secured the Erdivisie in his first attempt, adding the Dutch Cup the following year. Speaking to David Winner in A Brilliant Orange about his approach, Buckingham commented:

"“Possession football is the thing, not kick and rush. Long ball football is too risky. Most of the time what pays off is educated skills. If you’ve got the ball, keep it. The other side can’t score.”"

Despite his success in Amsterdam, Vic wanted another crack at the motherland and returned home to take over at Sheffield Wednesday. Wednesday had been a yoyo club in the decade before his arrival, but Buckingham turned it around, securing three consecutive First Division top-six finishes during his stewardship. His tenure came to an end at Wednesday, the board deciding to part ways with the manager.

Although Buckingham’s methods were met with some resistance in Yorkshire, ex-Wednesday player Peter Swan acknowledged in his autobiography Setting the Record Straight  that Buckingham was ‘so far ahead in his thinking, he wanted us to play like they do today.’

Return to Amsterdam

A devastated Buckingham returned to the Dutch capital where he inherited an aging squad. He turned his attention to the youth team, and particularly to an un-capped 17-year-old by the name of Johan Cryuff.

In Mister, Smith eulogized the pair’s relationship which was so close that Buckingham ‘regarded [Cruyff] as a son.’ Smith writes that in Cruyff,

"“[Buckingham] found a player capable of doing things he could not have imagined. . . [while] in Buckingham, Cruyff and Ajax found a coach who encouraged them to play the football their talents demanded, who taught them to play the football they deserved to play.”"

Although Vic’s second stint at Ajax did not result in any tangible glory, he laid the foundations for future generations. Buckingham was succeeded by ex Ajax player Rinus Michels and, as they say, the rest is history.

Michels won four league titles in his first five seasons and captured three consecutive European Cups, in 71, 72, and 73, building upon Buckingham’s work and playing a style that became known as ‘total football.’

Such a style demanded technical excellence from the players involved, something that is today espoused by De Toekomst at Ajax’s youth academy. A carousel of talent has passed through the ranks over the years, one or two finding themselves in Lilywhite towards the twilight of their careers, including Edgar Davids and Rafael Van der Vaart.

The current Spurs crop, though, is benefiting greatly from having a trio of De Toekomst alumni in their prime.