Footballers' Birthdays

[CosmicHotspur]

Striker Jonathan Obika is 19 today. Born in Enfield, he grew up in Edmonton and came through our youth system, where he was top scorer for the Academy in 2007-08.

He made his first team debut against Shakhtar Donetsk in the UEFA Cup last year and is now on loan at Yeovil. In March 2009, Jon earned his first international call-up for the England Under-19s in their friendly draw with the Czech Republic at Walsall FC.

Nice bit of trivia - his cousin is Tottenham-born singer Lemar.




Inside forward Ronnie Dix was born today in 1912 in Bristol and first played football for Bristol Rovers from 1928 to 1932, where he claimed the record for being the youngest goalscorer in Football League history, when he scored for them aged only 15 years 180 days.

He went on to play for Blackburn Rovers, Aston Villa and Derby County before travelling south to the Lane in 1939, where he remained until 1947 and he then ended his playing career with two seasons at Reading

During WW2, Ronnie guested for several clubs including Bristol City, Chester, Blackpool, Bradford Park Ave, Wrexham, York and Liverpool. He died on 2 April 1998.

He's third from the left in the bottom row.

 

[CosmicHotspur]

Bradley Allen, son of Les and brother of Clive of the Allen footballing dynasty, is 38 today.

During his playing career the striker was at QPR, Charlton, Grimsby, Peterborough, Bristol Rovers, Hornchurch and Redbridge and he was capped eight times for the England Under-21 team.

He now coaches the Under-14s at the Lane and commentates on football for Radio London.




Striker Fraizer Campbell is 22 today. He joined the Man Utd Youth Academy in 2006 and had loan periods with Royal Antwerp and Hull before joining us on loan last season as part of the deal when Berbatov joined Utd.

He gained fourteen England Under-21 caps and is now with Sunderland.




Goalie Fred Griffiths was born today in 1873 in Presteigne, Wales. He was with Tottenham around the turn of the century and also played for Blackpool, Millwall, Preston NE, Middlesbrough, West Ham and Wales. He later returned to Wales to play for a local side and work as a coalminer.

After retiring from the game, he trained local teams in Shirebrook before joining the army during WW1. He served with the 15th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters(Notts and Derby Regiment), reaching the rank of sergeant.

Fred Griffiths was killed in action on 30 October 1917 at Passchendaele, along with four others of his battalion.




Wing half Ernie Phypers was born today in 1910 in Walthamstow and first played football for Walthamstow Avenue before joining Aston Villa as an amateur in 1932.

He came to Tottenham the next season and played for Northfleet, our nursery side, before turning professional in June 1934 and playing in 33 games for us between then and 1936. He transferred to Doncaster Rovers in 1939.

During WWII he made guest appearances for Clapton Orient, Southend and West Ham.

Ernie died in 1960.

 

[CosmicHotspur]

Mbulelo Mabizela, South African central defender/midfielder, is 29 today. He was at Tottenham from 2003-2005 and made seven first team appearances. Capped 44 times, he holds the record as South Africa's youngest ever captain at 21 years of age. He had a brief spell in Norway before returning to South Africa and now plays for Platinum Stars.

His career was marred by a six month ban for drug offences in 2006 when he was with Mamelodi Sundowns.




Andy Keeley is 53 today. The central defender from Basildon came to Tottenham as an apprentice and made six first team appearances in the 1976-77 season before transferring to Sheffield Utd. In 1981, he moved on to S****horpe for two seasons. Not sure where he is now and the only photo I could find was a very blurry team photo of Sheffield Utd, not worth downloading.

 

[CosmicHotspur]

Young goalie James Dalton is 19 today. Born in Leytonstone, he attended Trinity Catholic High School where he was 400m champion and a District Cricket Champion in 2005 and 2006.

James had spells at Crystal Palace and Watford during the 2007/08 season and was part of the Eurofoot and Talence trophy winning squads. He also made one substitute appearance for our Academy side in the 6-1 win against Norwich City in September, 2007. He joined our Academy full-time in 2007-08 having appeared on the bench in 2006-07 with the Under-18s.





Inside forward Stan Alexander was born on this day in 1905. Born in Percy Main, North Tyneside he joined Hull City in 1926, transferred to Braadford City in 1931 and then journeyed south to play for Millwall from 1933 to 1935.

He came to Tottenham for a season in 1936 and made nine appearances for us before ending his career with Accrington Stanley the following season. Stan died in 1961.

 

[Rocksuperstar]

He came to Tottenham for a season in 1936 and made nine appearances for us before ending his career with Accrington Stanley the following season. Stan died in 1961.

Accrington Stanley? Who are they? :shrug:

 

[CosmicHotspur]

Former striker, turned midfielder, John Piercy is 30 today. He joined Spurs as an apprentice in 1999, made eight appearances and then moved to Brighton & Hove Albion on a free transfer in 2002. During his time there he had surgery on a prolapsed disc in his spine and eventualy left because he was suffering with severe colitis.

However, he returned to the game with Eastbourne Town in 2004 and became player-coach before retiring from the game in 2007. John was an England youth international but never really lived up to that early promise. Also, he's a self-professed Gooner fan (poor, deluded chap!).




Two very famous goalies share a birthday - goalie Alex Stepney (one England cap) is 57 today and Peter Shilton (125 caps) is 60. Both excellent keepers, I saw them both in action.





Wing half James Archibald was born today in 1892 in Falkirk. He joined Tottenham in 1919 and made 24 appearances before moving on to Aberdare Athletic in 1921. He later returned to London to play for Clapton Orient from 1923 to 1925 and then moved on to Southend Utd (where he didn't make a single appearance), Margate and Tunbridge Wells Rangers.

He died in 1975.

He is first left in the back row.

 

[CosmicHotspur]

Born in Brazil of Brazilian and Italian parents, Diego Bortolozzo is 27 today. Hailed as a footballing whizz kid, the midfielder joined Spurs from Treviso for the 2002-03 season but never managed to break into the first team.

He moved on to R Francs Borains in Belgium, followed by brief periods with other European teams and is currently playing for german club SV Mappen.




Anthony Gardner is 29 today. The 6'5" centre back was bought from Port Vale as a replacement for Sol Campbell in 2000 and put in 114 appearances, with loan periods at Everton and Hull, transferring to the latter in 2008. Anthony represented England once and also gained one Under-21 cap.

His career has been blighted by injuries. On 23 March this year, it was revealed that he would miss the remainder of the season after x-rays revealed four fractured vertebrae in the base of his spine.




Former England and Gooner goalie David Seaman, very much a TV celeb these days, is 46 today.

 

[CosmicHotspur]

Edmonton born Ray Evans is 60 today. A quality right back and England youth international, he joined Spurs as an apprentice in 1967 and made his debut in 1969. After 181 appearances, he transferred to Millwall for a season, followed by a further season - 1977-78 - at Fulham and then played for Stoke from 1979-81.

He moved to the USA to play and is now head coach for Columbia Basin College in Washington.




Midfielder Sean Davis is 30 today. He first played for Fulham from 1996-04 before transferring to the Lane but only made 15 appearances for us before Harry Redknapp lured him away to Portsmouth in 2006. Sean joined Bolton on a free transfer earlier this year. He is one of the few footballers who has played at all four professional levels for the same club (Fulham) in England.

He was capped 12 times at Under-21 level for England.




Goalie Terry Lee was born today in Stepney in 1952. He came to the Lane as an apprentice in 1973 and made one appearance before moving on to Torquay in 1975, where he made 107 appearances in three seasons. He then transferred to Newport County for the 1978-79 season and ended his playing career with Minehead.

In the photo, he's standing next to Pat Jennings.

Sadly, Terry died in 1996.



Another Spurs player who died far too young. I knew him back in the 60s. Right back Ken Barton was born today in 1937 in Caernarfon and joined Spurs as a junior in 1956, making his debut in 1960, the Double season, part of the 17 man Double-winning squad. A rather dour Welshman, but a very useful defender, he made four appearances during the Double season.

He later played for Millwall, Luton and Dunstable. He is on the far right in the top row.

Ken died from cancer in 1982.

 

[CosmicHotspur]

Former midfielder John Moncur is 43 today. Remembered as much for his zany antics and as a heavy drinker with a fiery temper on and off the pitch and not without considerable footballing talent, he is now much reformed, a devout Christian and family man.

He joined Tottenham in 1984 but only made 21 first team appearances being out on loan to no less than five clubs, before moving to Swindon Town under former team-mate Glenn Hoddle's management, in 1992. In 1994, he transferred to West Ham where he made 173 appearances and become something of a cult figure before retiring. He likes a round of golf, still coaches and also runs a football academy in Debden, Essex near his Loughton home, with other ex-West Ham players.




Retired right back Ian Culverhouse is 45 today. He was at the Lane from 1982 to 1985 but only managed to break into our first team for two games before transferring to Norwich in 1985. He then joined Glenn Hoddle's Swindon side in 1994 and later played briefly for Kingstonian and Brighton & Hove Albion. He began his coaching career at Brighton where he coached the youth team and has subsequently been youth team coach at Barnet, Leyton Orient and Wycombe Wanderers.

He became assistant manager at Colchester but resigned alongside other Colchester management staff in August this year to become assistant manager at Norwich and has achieved cult status thanks to Soccer AM where he is repeatedly mentioned in a game in which obscure footballers are mentioned. A bit like Mornington Crescent, there are few if any rules but the game is won by mentioning his name!




24 today, semi-pro defender/midfielder, Barnet born Luke Garrard, was a trainee at the Lane in 2001 but was released while still a schoolboy.

He joined Wimbledon in 2006, after spells with Swindon, Bishop's Stortford, Borehamwood and Northwood.




Also (yes, I know who he played for but I had a fantasy wish that he would switch allegiance and transfer to us), Emmanuel Petit is 39 today.

 

[CosmicHotspur]

Defender Danny Foster is 25 today. He was a Tottenham youth player in the 2003-04 season but moved on to Dagenham & Redbridge where he made 171 appearances.

He transferred to Brentford at the end of last season.




Full back Danny Hutchins, currently on loan at Yeovil Town, is 20 today.

He played in 23 of our 28 Academy league fixtures last season and contributed three goals as the team finished second in their division. He made another six appearances for the reserves, including one start in the final league game against Reading.

Danny captained our Under-16s in 2005-06 and played four times for the Under-18s before joining our Academy full-time in 2006-07. He made 27 appearances for our Under-18s in his first season and stepped up to the reserves on three occasions.

He attended Northolt High School, helping them to become County Champions in 2003 and 2004 before moving to Leighton Buzzard and winning the same competition with Vandyke Upper.




Honorable mention for Italian legend Paolo Rossi who is 53 today. Too many honours to mention, a natural born goalscorer, (who can forget the 1982 World Cup?) capped 48 times.

In 1980, he was involved in a betting scandal and he was suspended, initially for three years which was commuted to two years, but has always insisted he was innocent. These days, he is still involved with football and is a business entrepreneur.




George Eastham is 73 today. Part of England's 1966 World Cup squad, he never got onto the pitch but he was capped 19 times for England, during which he played for Newcastle, Arsenal and Stoke City, where he took on the manager's role from 1977-78.

At Newcastle, he went on strike and left football for a time because the club wouldn't let him leave. He took them to Court in 1963 and the result was instrumental in changing contracts so that players could move between clubs more easily.

George came from a footballing family. His father, George Snr, was also an England international and his Uncle Harry played for Liverpool and Accrington Stanley. A versatile footballer, George could play equally well as an inside forward or in midfield.

When he left Stoke, he quit professional football completely and emigrated to South Africa where he set up a sportswear business as well as coaching local black children (being a strong opponent of apartheid).

I remember him well - he was a very talented player, even though he chose to move to the wrong North London club!

 

[CosmicHotspur]

Terry Medwin is 77 today. Terry was one of the 1960-61 Double team and part of our FA Cup winning side the following season and was also one of the "Palmers Green clique" of players I babysat for way back in that decade. He and Joyce had five gorgeous kids which then increased to six, four boys and two girls.

Terry and Joyce are two of the nicest people I have ever met with a very happy family life. I remember well the day Terry asked my friend Jill and I if we would like to take the two eldest boys to a "concert". We were beside ourselves when we were told it was for second row seats at the Finsbury Park Astoria to see the Beatles with a full supporting cast of Liverpool bands and artistes. What a lovely thing to do for two teenage girls and a super memory.

Terry, who played on the right wing, was the son of a Swansea prison warder and he played for Swansea from 1949 to 1956 before joining Spurs and put in 215 appearances, scoring 72 goals until he was forced to retire, after a badly fractured leg wouldn't heal properly, in 1963. (The John White thread has the story of how Terry was training with him, in a futile effort to regain match fitness, on the day John died). Terry was capped 30 times for Wales.

He went on to manage Cheshunt, coached at Fulham and then returned to Swansea (where he and Joyce still live) and became assistant manager to John Toshack at Swansea. I know from Cliff Jones that Terry has suffered some ill health over his years of retirement so I hope he is well and happy today.

This picture, from my scrapbook, of Terry and Joyce with their four boys was taken during the time I babysat for them.




Jamie O'Hara is 23 today. A useful, hard-working midfielder, he came to the Lane from the Arsenal youth academy in 2003 and made his debut in 2005. After loan periods with Chesterfield and Millwall, he is currently on loan with Portsmouth.

Jamie has seven England Under-21 caps.




Hackney born striker Ray Clarke is 58 today. He joined Spurs in 1972 but made only one first team appearance as a sub before moving on to Swindon Town the following season. He also played for Mansfield Town, Sparta Rotterdam, Ajax (his most successful period when the club did the Dutch League and Cup double), Club Brugges, Brighton and Newcastle before hanging up his boots due to injury.

He was Celtic's chief international scout before joining Portsmouth in September this year as their chief scout.




Juande Ramos is 55 today. Although he had a very successful track record as a manager, he just couldn't do it for us at the Lane after the success of the Football League Cup in the 2007-8 season. He went on to coach at Real Madrid and is now with CSKA Moscow




Glaswegian William Harris was born today in 1890. He joined Tottenham for a fee of five guineas from Scottish junior club Benburb in 1909 and made twelve appearances for us as well as playing several times for our reserve side.

He could play equally well at right and left back.

 

[CosmicHotspur]

Jimmy McCormick was born today in 1912 in Rotherham and played for Rotherham Utd, Scarborough and Chesterfield before travelling south to join Spurs in 1933. He was at the Lane for most of his football career, playing on the wing, and when he left in 1946 after 137 appearances, he had short spells with Fulham, Lincoln City and Crystal Palace before managing the Turkish national side from 1950 to 1951 and York City from 1953 to 1956.

Jimmy died in retirement in Spain on 3 January 1968.

In this 1936 team photo, he is third from the left in the bottom row.

 

[CosmicHotspur]

Glaswegian Steve Archibald is 53 today. Capped 27 times for Scotland, the high-scoring striker joined us from Aberdeen in 1980 and made 189 appearances, scoring 77 goals, and was part of our FA Cup winning sides of 1981 and 1982 and our UEFA Cup winning team of 1984. He left to join Barcelona later in that year.

After a loan period at Blackburn, he returned to Scotland where he played for Hibs, followed by a brief spell in Spain to play for RCD Espanyol before returning to the UK. He also had quite brief spells with St Mirren, Clyde, Fulham, East Fife (as player-manager) and finally with Home Farm Everton. He went on to manage Airdrie in the 2000-01 season. He now lives in Spain where he works as a players' agent and is involved in a property business.

He appeared on Top of the Pops twice, first singing "I Have A Dream" with the Scotland World Cup squad and joining Chas & Dave in their rendition of "Tottenham, Tottenham".




Goalie Alex Hunter (in the photo below) was born today in 1895. He hailed from Renfrew and joined Tottenham in 1920, making 23 appearances which included him keeping goal for our 1921 FA Cup winning team, before transferring to Wigan Borough the following season. He ended his career in the USA with New Bedford Whalers.



A mention for another goalie, Peter "The Cat" Bonetti, who is 68 today. Best remembed for his time with Chelsea, his nickname reflected his amazing athleticism and swift reflexes. He also specialised in a one-armed throw which could achieve a similar distance to a drop kick. Surprisingly, he was only capped seven times for England. He was born in Putney, where his Swiss parents ran a cafe.

Peter worked as a postman on the Isle of Mull after leaving Chelsea and came out of retirement for a spell at Dundee Utd and later coached at Chelsea, Man City and for the England team. He often made very brief appearances in charity games.

 

[CosmicHotspur]

Yet another goalie today - seems a lot of them were born towards the end of September!

Barry Daines is 58 today. Born in Witham, Essex he joined Spurs as an apprentice in 1969 and made his debut in 1971. Very much an understudy to Pat Jennings, he did manage to put in 146 appearances until 1980 when he moved on to play for Bulova in Hong Kong for two seasons. He ended his career with Mansfield Town in the 1983-84 season and retired from the game and worked as a supermarket manager in Essex.




Frank Arnesen is 53 today. The former Danish midfielder, capped 52 times, is now Director of Football at Chelsea, a move which made him profoundly unpopular with we Tottenham supporters.

In May 2004, Arnesen replaced David Pleat at the Lane and was given the responsibility of managing player transfers and scouting for new talent while Santini handled the daily training sessions and match setups, an arrangement identical to Arnesen's days as PSV manager. Things didn't work out well and Santini left within months citing "personal problems" as his reason for leaving. Martin Jol was then put in charge of the club.

Arnesen was suspended by Spurs on 4 June 2005 for expressing a desire to move to Chelsea after Chelsea allegedly made an illegal approach to sign him as their manager. He was photographed aboard one of Roman Abramovich's yachts, reinforcing our compensation claim. On 24 June, both clubs announced that they had reached a financial settlement, later disclosed to be £5 million but widely reported to be closer to £8 million, and Arnesen would move to Chelsea, filling in the role of head talent scout.

Another Judas! :evil:

 

[CosmicHotspur]

Enfield born midfielder Danny Hill is 35 today. He was with Spurs from 1992 to 1998 but had only ten first team appearances, with loan periods at Birmingham, Watford and Cardiff before joining Oxford Utd for a very brief spell. He then played for Cardiff from 1998-2001 before moving on to Dagenham & Redbridge, followed by Billericay Town and a job as a part-time plumber.




Paul Walsh is 47 today and a regular on TV as a match pundit and commentator with Sky Sports these days.

He was one of my favourites at Tottenham, a small, speedy talented striker with much flair. He played for Charlton, Luton and Liverpool before coming to the Lane in 1984 and made 158 appearances, scoring 19 goals with a loan spell at QPR before moving to Portsmouth in 1992 for two seasons.

He then transferred to Man City for a season and ended his playing days back at Portsmouth for a further season before retiring from the game.

 

[CosmicHotspur]

Mitchell Thomas is 45 today. The defender was born in Luton and first played for the Town from 1982 to 1986 before transferring to Spurs, where he made 157 appearances for us, including the 1987 FA Cup Final, before moving to West Ham in 1991.

He returned to Luton Town in 1993 and then ended his professional playing career with Burnley from 1999 to 2002. Mitchell's early promise awarded him three Under-21 caps for England.

He worked for the Charter Standard football club, Flitwick Eagles, from 2002 to 2008. The club is a registered charity and was formed in 1986 for local boys and girls but has grown into a much larger organisation with adult teams and a social club. He has also worked as an agent for the PFA.




Retired Northern Ireland striker (26 caps) Phil Gray is 41 today. He joined Spurs as an apprentice and turned professional in 1986, making nine appearances and loan spells at Barnsley and Fulham before transferring to Luton Town in 1991.

He spent 1993-96 with Sunderland and also played for Fortuna Sittard, Nancy, Burnley, Oxford Utd, Boston Utd, Chelmsford, Stevenage and Maidenhead (as player-manager) before hanging up his boots.





Alfred Day was born today in 1907. The Welsh left half was capped once for Wales and his shirt and cap were auctioned in 2005.

Having moved to London, Alfred came to the Lane from non-league Cheshunt in 1931 and played for Northfleet, our nursery club, before making his White Hart Lane debut. He made 13 appearances until 1936 and then he had spells playing for Millwall, Southampton, Tranmere Rovers and Swindon Town and also made several guest appearances during the Second World War with various other clubs. When he retired he worked for a power station in North London, where he lived and he died in 1997.

 

[milkman]

Happy Birthday people.

 

[CosmicHotspur]

Portuguese defender Ricardo Rocha came to us after five seasons with Benfica in 2007. He made fourteen appearances in all, mainly playing in our reserve side during his time with us, was released in June and moved on to Standard Liege in August this year. Ricardo was capped six times for Portugal and is 31 today.




Alfie Stokes was born today in 1932. A prolific goalscorer, he came to us from non-league Clapton in 1953 and made 60 first team appearances, scoring 42 goals. He also made 228 appearances for our reserve and A teams and found the net 141 times. He scored five goals in our 7-1 victory over Birmingham in September 1957. Alfie was capped at schoolboy and B team levels for England.

He left for Cambridge City in July 1959 and also played for Watford before emigrating to Sydney where he played local football. He returned to the UK to live in Homerton, close to where he was born, and worked as a chauffeur.

Retiring to Worthing Alfie died on 30 March 2002, aged only 69. He is pictured here in the bottom row, second from right.

 

[CosmicHotspur]

Full back Arthur Dixon was born today in 1879 in Barrowfield and played for Burnley from 1901 to 1907 before joining Spurs for a season.

He then moved back to the north of England to play for Bradford Park for five seasons. I can find little else about him or any photos. Arthur died in 1946.

***​

Ian Moores was born today in 1954. The striking, bearded 6'2" striker came to the Lane from Stoke in 1976 and made 29 appearances, scoring six goals (three of which were against Bristol Rovers in October 1977 when we won that game 9-0). He made a good start but things deteriorated for him with Tottenham, especially when we brought in Ardiles and Villa, and he moved on to play for Leyton Orient in 1978.

He also played for Bolton, APOEL and non-league Tamworth before retiring from the game in 1990. He was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1997 while working in personal finance and coaching a local youth team back in Stoke and, sadly, lost his battle with the illness and died aged only 43 on 12 January 1998.




Midfielder Mark Gower is 31 today. Born in Edmonton, he joined Spurs in 1996 and was part of our 1998-99 League Cup winning squad, although he never made a first team appearance. He was capped at England schoolboy level.

After a loan period at Motherwell, he moved to Barnet in 2001, transferred to Southend Utd in 2003 (his best career move) and joined Swansea in the summer of 2008 on a free transfer.




French Striker Yannick Kamanan is 28 today. He joined Tottenham in 1999 and was impressive in our reserve side, but failed to make it into the first team and left for RC Strasbourg in 2002 for a season. He went on to play for several other sides and joined Sivasspor in January this year.

 

[CosmicHotspur]

Romford-born former striker Steve Slade is 34 today. A Tottenham youth team player, he turned pro in 1994. He made eight first team appearances (without scoring a goal) and was capped four times for England at Under-21 level. He left for QPR in 1996 and after four seasons, moved on to play for Cambridge Utd. He also played for Hayes, Vikingur, Grimsby, Maidenhead and Barking, the latter for two separate spells.

After leaving football, Steve worked as a broker for Global Land Group. The last I heard of him was that he had contracted swine flu so hope he is making a good recovery.




Eugene "Taffy" O'Callaghan was born today in 1906. He joined the Spurs ground staff from Ebbw Vale in 1925 and made his debut in 1927. A two-footed forward with impressive passing skills and goal-scoring ability, he was a crowd favourite and helped us regain 1st Division promotion in 1932-33.

He made 252 League appearances for us, scoring 93 goals and was capped 12 times for Wales. It came as a shock to our supporters when he transferred to Leicester City in March 1935, but he did return to make guest appearances for us during World War II and after the war he went on to coach at Fulham.

Taffy died on 4 October 1946, two days short of his 40th birthday - I can find no details of what ailed him, but he was far too young to go.

He is third from the left bottom row in the team picture.