Footballers' Birthdays

[CosmicHotspur]

Happy 27th birthday today to Jermain Defoe - maturing nicely into the best form of his career and aren't we glad he came back to the Lane!




Retired striker Paul Stewart is 45 today. Born in Manchester, he began his career with Blackpool in 1981 and joined Man City in 1987 for a season before moving south to Tottenham. He played in 131 games for us, scoring 28 goals. He scored the first goal in the 1991 FA Cup Final against Notts Forest.

He transferred to Liverpool in 1996 and his career there was marred by injury and he spent much time out on loan, eventually moving to Sunderland. He ended his playing career with non-league Workington. Paul was capped at Under-21 and B levels, as well as gaining three full England caps.

Last heard of living in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire and selling advertising space at football grounds.

 

[CosmicHotspur]

Scottish international goalie (28 caps) Bill Brown was born today in 1931. He made a total of 262 appearances for us over the seven seasons he spent at Tottenham and was in our teams that won the Double in 1961, the FA Cup again the following season and the European Cup Winners Cup in 1963. He first played for Dundee from 1949 to 1952 before moving south for a fee of £16,500.

He is without a doubt one of the best goalies I have ever watched, very athletic with safe hands and excellent distribution and it is difficult for me to choose between Bill, Ted Ditchburn and Pat Jennings as the best ever Spurs goalkeeper.

He transferred to Northampton in 1966 and then left for Canada to keep goal for the Toronto Falcons a year later. When he retired from football, he worked as a property developer and then worked for the Government Land Department in Ontario for twenty years and retired in 1995. I was much saddened when I heard that Bill had died in Toronto, after a long illness, on 30 November 2004.

Rightly inducted into the Tottenham Hall of Fame, I remember Bill as a pleasant, quiet man off the pitch always willing to stop and have a chat with Spurs supporters and sign autographs for the kids.

Robert Burch is 25 today. Another goalkeeper, he was a trainee at Spurs turning pro in 2002, but never made it into the first team and had no less than seven loan spells before signing for Sheffield Wednesday in 2007 for a season and moving on to Lincoln City in 2008. He was capped for England at Under-20 level.

He famously proposed to his long-term girlfriend Kerry on Valentines Day 2008 live on TV on "This Morning" where she worked as a producer. She said yes and they married later that year.




Former winger Allan Cockram is 36 today. At the Lane from 1983 to 1984, he made two first team appearances for us before transferring to Bristol Rovers for a season in 1985. He also played for Farnborough Town, Brentford (where he played ajust short of 100 games) and Reading and he returned to Farnborough in 1992 and later managed St Albans City for a spell. He is now a fire fighter in West London, where he was born.

 

[CosmicHotspur]

One of the most capped Romanian international footballers of all time (115 caps), Gheorghe Popescu is 42 today.

He played for a string of European clubs in an illustrious career that saw him win many honours. His tactical knowledge as a defender made him a valuable team member in top European competitions even until he reached his late 30s. As well as his fine defending skills, he was also a capable playmaker. He joined Spurs from PSV Eindhoven for the 1994-5 season and played in 23 games for us before transferring to Barcelona.

Popescu was never outside the top four in the Romanian Footballer of the Year awards for 13 years from 1989 until 2001 and was recently voted into Romanian football's all-time World Cup team.

This summer, he was accused of being an informer for the dreaded Communist Romanian Secret Police back in the 1980s, which he strongly denied.




Johannesburg born defender Mark Arber is 32 today. He joined Spurs in 1996 and made one first team appearance for us. After a loan period at Barnet, he joined the club in 1998 for two seasons.

He has also played for Peterborough, Oldham and Stevenage and is currently with Dagenham & Redbridge. He is the son of the former Leyton Orient player Bobby Arber.

 

[CosmicHotspur]

One of the most versatile players in our Academy setup, Sam Cox signed his first professional contract at the Club in July 2009. He is 19 today.

Sam played at left back for much of the 2008-09 campaign, as well as in the holding midfield role as he made 24 appearances for the Under-18s and two substitute appearances for the reserve side.

Born in Edgware, Sam joined our Academy full-time in 2007-08. He previously captained our Under-16s team in 2006-07 and he was Brent Cross-Country Champion for four consecutive years between 2003-06 and 800m champion in 2003, 2004 and 2005. Great future prospect.

 

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Born in Haifa where he began playing football aged 11, striker "Rocket" Ronny Rosenthal is 46 today. Not the most talented footballer in the world or the most profific scorer and remembered as much for mistakes as successes, he was nevertheless capped 60 times for Israel and was always popular with the crowd.

He joined Spurs from Liverpool in 1994 and put in 88 appearances before moving to Watford in 1997 where he ended his playing career. He now works as a players' agent.

Defender Takura Mtandari was a regular in a successful 2007-08 campaign for our Under-18s. He played in 27 out of 28 Academy fixtures and scored once as the lads finished second in their division.

His performances were rewarded with a further nine appearances for the reserves and he flourished in a new defensive midfield role towards the end of the season. 20 today, he was brought up in Edmonton, attended Aylward Secondary School and was a runner-up with his school team in the Enfield League Cup in 2004.

He joined our Academy full-time in 2006-07 having made four appearances as a schoolboy in 2005-06. He played 21 times in 2006-07 and stepped up for three reserve games. After a loan period at Lincoln City, Takura had trials with Crystal Palace ane Norwich earlier this year and was released by Spurs. Not sure where he is right now...

Goalie Lee Butcher is 21 today. He had loan spells at Margate, St Albans City and Grays Athletic during the 2008-09 season, before signing a new one-year deal in July 2009. He then returned to Blue Square Premier club Grays on a one month loan in September 2009.

In 2007-08, Lee played 11 times for our Academy side as well as going out on loan to Wimbledon.
Born in Waltham Forest and brought up in Chingford, Lee has also trained regularly with our reserve squad.

Paul Miller, 50 today, began his professional career with Spurs in 1978 and remained with us until 1987. The defender/centre back made 208 appearances for us, including our successful 1981 Cup Final (although he conceded a penalty in the game). He won a second FA Cup winner's medal with Spurs the following year and played a key role in our UEFA Cup victory over Anderlecht in 1984, scoring in the first leg of the final.

He later played for Charlton Athletic, Watford, Bournemouth, Brentford and Swansea. On retiring from the game, he worked for a bank, as a player's agent, in property brokerage and for a London law firm.




Wing back Jimmy Skinner was born today in Beckenham in 1898 and joined Tottenham from his local side in 1919 making his debut with us on his 21st birthday. He made 89 appearances until 1925, when a knee injury effectively ended his career. Unhappy with his lot, he was subject to disciplinary action at that time and finally left Spurs in 1928.

As a boy, he went to school in West Ham and played for West Ham schoolboys as well as England schoolboys in 1913. He was also in the England squad in 1924, although he didn't play so was never capped.

When he hung up his boots, he ran several businesses including a drapery shop in Ladbroke Grove and a grocery in Enfield before running a building company in Harlow and and later a fruit farm. He died in September 1984 in retirement in Cranbourne, Dorset.

He's first left in the back row.




A mention for legend Bobby Charlton, who is 72 today. The photo shows the famous comb-over in action!

 

[CosmicHotspur]

Ledley, the King, is 29 today. With us since 1997 when he started out in our youth side, he is one of the finest defenders in the land, if not the world. I need say no more except I hope he has a great birthday and is able to stay with us for some time to come. :bowdown:




Retired goalie Bobby Mimms is 46 today. He joined us in 1988 from Everton and played in 37 games before transferring to Blackburn Rovers in 1990. He was capped at Under-21 level for England three times.

After retiring from the game in 2001, Bobby became a football coach with Wolves and is now doing the same job at his old club, Blackburn. His son, Josh, keeps goal for York City.





Bill Whatley was born today in 1912. He joined Tottenham from Ebbw Vale at the end of 1929 and gained experience playing for Barnet, as did several other Spurs players, before making his debut in 1932.

A more than competent full back, he made 256 appearances for us, as well as being capped for Wales which included wartime games in the forces and in an International Wartime side. He also guested for several clubs during the war.

Bill broke his ankle in 1947, while playing in our reserve side and never fully recovered from the injury. After retiring as a player he continued as a coach and scout for Tottenham and then went on to coach for Gravesend & Northfleet, our nursery club. Resident in Eltham, Kent, in 1974 he worked as a messenger for a West End firm and he died in Greenwich in December 1974 aged 62.

He is second from the right in the middle row, standing next to one of our ground staff.

 

[CosmicHotspur]

Speedy striker Michael Malcolm is 24 today. Aged 14, he was a trainee at the Lane but he failed to make the grade and moved to Stockport County in 2005 for two seasons.

He also played for Kettering, Rushden & Diamonds and Weymouth before joining Crawley Town earlier this year. He's the one on the right.

 

[CosmicHotspur]

Bertie Elkin was born today in Neasden in 1886. He played for Fulham, Luton Town and Stockport County before joining Tottenham in 1909 for one season. The right back played in 27 games for us.

Bertie died in 1962.

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Frank Osborne was born on this day in 1896 in South Africa and came to England in 1911. Rated as one of the best centre forwards of his time, he first played for Bromley and Fulham before joining Tottenham in 1924.

He played in 210 games for us, scoring 78 goals before departing for Southampton in 1931 for two seasons before ending his playing career. He was capped four times for England. He had two footballing brothers, Harold who made one appearance for Norwich and Reg, who played for Leicester City and was capped once for England.

Frank managed Fulham from 1948-49 and again from 1953 to 1956 before retiring quietly to Epsom, where he died on 7 March 1988, aged 91.

He is fourth from the right in the second row from the bottom in this 1928 photo.

 

[CosmicHotspur]

Anthony Jack is 18 today. Born in Edmonton and brought up in Stevenage, he is a left sided midfielder. He attended John Henry Newman School in Stevenage, where he was 1500m district champion.

Anthony joined our Academy full-time in July 2008 and made two substitute appearances for our Under-18s during his first season, scoring once.

 

[CosmicHotspur]

SOMEHOW GOT THE WRONG DATE AND DID A "FLASHFORWARD" WITH THIS ONE! These birthdays are actually on 17th October, not 16th!

Ilford-born midfielder Kevin Maher is 33 today. He came to Spurs as a youth player and turned professional in 1995, but never made a first team appearance. He joined Southend on a free transfer in 1998 and played in 384 games for them over ten seasons before moving on to Oldham for a season in 2008 and is now with Gillingham, where he had been for a short loan period while at Southend.

Kevin was capped four times for the Republic of Ireland Under-21s.




Rory Allan is 32 today. The striker was at Tottenham from 1995 to 1999 and put in 20 appearances for us, with a loan period at Luton, before moving on to Portsmouth in 1999.

Rory retired from the game in 2002 aged only 25, having already undergone eight operations to his ankles and knees over the course of his career. He left to go and see The Ashes series in Australia. "It was an amazing experience," he recalls, "despite the scoreline!" (England lost the series 4-1). Rory is now forging a career as a civil servant at the Foreign Office in London.




Born in Edmonton, Alberta and Canadian with German citizenship, goalie Lars Hirschfeld is 31 today. His first UK side was Spurs in 2003 but during his one season with us in the reserves, he failed to make it to the first team and, after loan periods with Luton, Gillingham and Dundee, he departed for Leicester City where he made one appearance before joining Norwegian side Tremso I.L.

He also played for Rosenberg and CFR Cluj and is now with German side, Energie Cottbus. Lars was capped 28 times for Canada.




Forward Albert Evans was born today in Camberwell in 1901. He came to Tottenham from Woking in 1927 and played in five games for us before moving on to Grantham Town the following season. In the photo, he is third from the left in the top row.

Albert died in 1969.




The late England and Fulham (1952 to 1970) legendary inside forward Johnny Haynes was born today in 1934. He was capped 52 times.

He died on his 71st birthday having suffered a fatal brain haemorrhage while driving in Scotland, his wife being injured in the resulting crash but surviving. Although Johnny's heart was re-started in hospital and he was put on a ventilator there was no chance of recovery and, sadly, the ventilator was turned off the following day.

 

[CosmicHotspur]

Born in Canada with a Calabrese father and Guyanese mother, right-sided defender Paul Stalteri is 32 today.

He joined us from Werder Bremen in 2005 and made 56 appearances, with a brief loan period of Fulham before his contract was ended by mutual consent in December 2008. Paul was capped at Under-17, Under-20 and Under-23 levels for Canada and has 77 full caps.

He joined Borussa Munchengladbach earlier this year.

 

[CosmicHotspur]

Tooting born midfielder Owen Price is 23 today. He came to Tottenham from Charlton amidst a lot of publicity and hype as a 14 year old schoolboy on a five year contract and was also snapped up by Adidas on a sponsorship deal. Capped at Under-15 and Under-17 levels for England, he held the record for the fastest goal scored at just 4.5 seconds while still at school.

Under Martin Jol's reign, he failed to make progress and felt he was being treated badly, so the last three years of the contract were written off and he moved on to non-league Lewes before signing for Swedish second division side Sundsvall. He was with Blue Square North team Northwich in 2008 where his career plummeted further.

I have no idea where he is now and can't even find a photo of him. What on earth happened to all that early promise?

 

[CosmicHotspur]

Ilford born Paul Ince is 42 today. Worth a mention because he was first black player to captain England and was also the first black Briton to manage a team in the Premier division. His career saw him play for seven English clubs, including stints at Man U and Liverpool as well as Internazionale. He is currently managing the MK Dons for the second time after an unsuccessful stint at Blackburn.

I've managed to work the Spurs theme into this post with this pic!

 

[CosmicHotspur]

Loads-a-birthdays today!

Alan Gilzean is 71 today. Tottenham legend, Gilly was one of the best headers of the ball I ever watched play. I knew him way back in the 1960s and once refused the offer of a date with him - after all, he was engaged to a tough Scots policewoman whom he later married!

A wonderfully skilled and stylish inside forward who could play equally well on the wing and in midfield, he graced the Tottenham side from 1964 (snapped up after playing in a Scotland XI in John White's memorial match) until 1974, always maintaining that football was "just a job" to him. He made 343 appearances, scoring 93 goals for us and was also capped 22 times for Scotland.

After a spell in South Africa and managing Stevenage for a while, Alan ran his own haulage company in Enfield.




Mark Falco is 49 today. The Bethnal Green born striker was with Spurs from 1978 to 1986, making 236 appearances and scoring 98 goals. He put away a penalty in our 1984 UEFA Cup Final winning team.

He had a loan period with Chelsea before signing for Watford and also played for Rangers, QPR and Millwall before retiring in 1992 through injury.




Retired midfielder/winger Scott Houghton is 38 today. He joined the Spurs youth team in 1990 and made ten appearances for us before moving on to Luton, after several loan spells, in 1993. He played for a succession of lower league clubs in his somewhat chequered career and was capped for England at Under-20 level.

He was with Leyton Orient in this photo.




Dave Leworthy is 47 today. The centre forward was born in Portsmouth and made one appearance for his home side before moving to non-league Fareham.

Spurs signed him in 1984 and played in eleven games for us before joining Oxford Utd two seasons later. He also played for Shrewsbury, Reading, Dover Athletic, Rushden & Diamonds, Kingstonian and Havant & Waterlooville as player-manager. His exploits in non-league football earned him the nickname of "the Legend".

He came out of retirement in 2006 for a brief second spell at Kingstonian and took over as manager of Banstead Athletic in the Combined Counties League Premier Division in December 2007. In November 2008 he became manager of Croydon.

*****​

Mentions for two legendary goalies - Russian international Lev Yashin, born today in 1929 but sadly no longer with. I saw Lev play at Wembley many years ago - he was breathtakingly, brilliantly athletic.



Bert Trautmann, 86 today, with Manchester City from 1949 to 1964 and Footballer of the Year in 1956, entered football folklore with his performance in the 1956 FA Cup Final. With 17 minutes of the match remaining he was injured but continued to play, making crucial saves to preserve his team's 3–1 lead. His neck was noticeably crooked as he collected his winner's medal and three days later an x-ray revealed he had been playing with a broken neck.

He was appointed an honorary OBE in 2004 for his work in Anglo-German relations and was inducted into the National Football Museum's Hall of Fame in 2005. He now lived in retirement with his second wife in Spain.




George Cohen MBE is 70 today. The England and Fulham (1956-1969, 459 appearances) right back still maintains his links with Fulham. He played in England's 1966 World Cup winning side and gave his usual immaculate performance.

 

[CosmicHotspur]

Born in Haverfordwest, Welsh winger/midfielder Simon Davies is 30 today. He joined Spurs from Peterborough in 2000 and spent five seasons with us, playing in 154 games although often injury-stricken, before departing for Everton. He joined Fulham in 2007.

Simon was capped at Under-21 level on ten occasions and has 56 full caps for Wales.




Eddie Gormley is 41 today. The Dublin born midfielder joined us from Derry City in 1987. Despite earning Under-21 caps for the Republic, Eddie only played in friendlies and testimonials for us and never made first team status.

After loan periods with Chesterfield, Motherwell and Shrewsbury Town, he was released in 1990 and joined Doncaster Rovers for three seasons, moving on to St Patricks Athletic in 1993. He then returned to his very first club, Bray Wanderers, for a further three seasons as a player. He is now their manager.




John "Jack" Hall was born today in 1912. The goalie played for several clubs including Failsworth (where he was born), Newton Heath Loco, Man Utd - he left them in 1936 to join Spurs - Stalybridge Celtic and Runcorn. He also guested for several clubs during WWII.

Jack died in August 2000.





Centre forward Billy Lane was born today in 1904. After playing for the London City Mission, Gnome Athletic and Park Avondale, he joined Tottenham in 1922 for the first time but left the club without appearing in a senior match.

He went on to play for Summerstown and Barnet before re-joining Tottenham after a spell with the club's "nursery" team Northfleet United and played in thirty matches, scoring six goals between 1924-26. After leaving Tottenham, he appeared for Leicester City, Reading and Brentford where he made 112 appearances. He signed for Watford in 1932 and featured in a further 124 matches and went on to have spells at Bristol City, Clapton Orient and finally Gravesend United.

Billy died in 1985.

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Jacques Maghoma is 22 today. The attacking midfielder who has dual Congolese and British citizenship joined our Academy full-time in 2004-05 having impressed as a schoolboy in 2003-04 and made 21 appearances for our Under-17 side.

He played 21 times for the Under-18s in 2004-05 and made another 23 appearances in 2005-06, where he stepped up to the reserve team and played 10 times during our title-winning campaign. Injuries restricted Jacques to 14 appearances in the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons.

He was released by Harry Redknapp in June and is now playing for Burton Albion.

Brazilian legend and national hero who spent most of his career with Santos before a spell in New York, Edson Arantes Do Nascimento, better known as Pelé, is 59 today and certainly deserves a mention here.

By many considered the best footballer in the world - ever.

 

[CosmicHotspur]

Possibly the best goalie Tottenham ever had and my favourite, just ahead of Pat Jennings and Bill Brown, Edwin "Ted" Ditchburn was born today in Gillingham in 1921, the son of a professional boxer.

He joined Spurs in 1937, turning professional in 1939. He made 418 appearances for us overall, in a playing career at the Lane which lasted until 1958, when he left the Lane after breaking a finger and this was interrupted only by WWII when he served in the RAF, which took him to Burma among other parts of the world. Returning to the Lane in 1946, he was part of our 1950 Division 2 Championship side and the team that won the First Division title the following season and he was also capped six times for England.

He joined Romford as player/manager in 1959 and opened a sports shop there and later owned a newsagents in Park Lane, near the Spurs ground - I remember it well as my friends and I used to go in there to buy comics as an excuse to talk to and gaze adoringly at one of our all-time heroes and a Spurs legend.

Ted died on Boxing Day in 2005 aged 84.




Another goalie, former Norwegian keeper with 50 caps, Frode Grodas is 45 today. He joined Tottenham from Chelsea in 1998 but failed to make it into our first team and left for Schaike 04 in 1999.

He is now the goalkeeping coach at Lillestrøm.




Yet another goalie has a birthday today. Melvyn Capleton is 45. Born in Hackney, he joined Spurs in 1990 but failed to break into the first team and moved on to Southend in 1992. He also played for Blackpool, Billericay Town, Leyton Orient, a second spell at Southend, Grays, St Albans and a second spell with Billericay.

He then became goalkeeping coach at Canvey Island for a while and now coaches kids in South West London and works as a personal fitness trainer. Here he is centre back row with fellow colleagues in a goalkeeping equipment company he set up.




Oh yes, and someone called Wayne Rooney is 24 today...

 

[CosmicHotspur]

Steve Hodge is 47 today. The midfielder was born in Nottingham and Forest was his first club where he was a favourite of Brian Clough. He was there for five seasons before joining Aston Villa for the 1985-86 season which turned out to be an unsuccessful move for him.

He came to the Lane and played in 45 games for us over two seasons before returning to Forest for a second time, where he played from 1988-91. He then played for Leeds, QPR, Watford and finally Leyton Orient, retiring from the game in 1998.

Capped 24 times for England, Steve was the man who passed the ball that Maradona picked up to score his "Hand of God" goal. He occasionally appeared on TV programmes to show off the Maradona shirt which he has now loaned to the National Football Museum in Preston. He went on to coach with Roy McFarland at Chesterfield and has since worked with TalkSport, as a football pundit in the Midlands and coaches the Under-14s at Notts County.




Jimmy Davidson was born today in 1873 in Edinburgh. The inside forward first played for Celtic, transferring to Burnley in 1895 and then moving south to join Spurs for one season in 1897, the year we played in our very first cup final, losing 2-0 to Wellingborough in a charity cup competition.

Jimmy moved to Brighton Utd and then returned to Burnley to play for them from 1899 to 1902. No further information has been forthcoming. The rest is lost in the mists of time.

 

[CosmicHotspur]

Bobby Bell is 59 today. The central defender was a failed apprentice at the Lane and moved on to play for Ipswich, Blackburn Rovers, Crystal Palace, Norwich and York.

While with Norwich on loan, he was part of the 1971-72 squad which won the Second Division championship.

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Bob McTavish was born today in 1888. The Scottish inside left came to Tottenham from Falkirk for one season in 1910 and made eleven first team appearances before transferring to Brentford. He later returned to Scotland to play for Third Lanark.

Bob died in 1972. He is fifth from the left in the bottom row in the photo.




Outside left, Tom Forman was born today in 1879 in Nottingham and played for Notts Forest, Manchester City, Sutton Town and Barnsley, where he was in the FA Cup Final losing side, before joining Spurs for the 1910-11 season and playing in eight game for us before ending his career with Sutton Junction.

 

[CosmicHotspur]

Glenn Hoddle, legend with flair and faith, is 52 today. Let us pray he has a happy birthday.



Bethnal Green born Vinny Samways, who joined Spurs as a youth player in 1986 and stayed with us until 1994, is 41 today (and I've sent him a happy birthday wish on Facebook). The central midfielder made 193 appearances before moving on to Everton.

He was in our 1991 FA Cup winning side . Unable to settle at Everton, Vinny enjoyed a degree of success in Spain with Las Palmas during the late 1990s and early 2000s, where he took on the captaincy. In 2002–03, he played ten league games with Sevilla before returning to England, where he spent the 2003-04 season with Walsall. He returned to Spain to play for Algeciras and retired from playing in 2005 aged 36 to manage San Pedro.

Vinny was capped five times for the England Under-21s.

 

[CosmicHotspur]

Former goalie Erik Thorstvedt is 47 today. Capped 102 times for Norway, he joined Spurs from IFK Goteborg in 1989 and made 218 appearances for us, including keeping goal in our FA Cup winning side of 1991.

He retired due to back injuries in 1996 and became goalkeeping coach for the Norwegian national side and was also Director of Football at Viking for a short time.

He has worked as an commentator/pundit for various TV-channels and was the TV-host on the Royal League games shown on TV Norge. He was also the coach of Tufte IL, a team created for the reality-TV show Heia Tufte. He now hosts a popular football show every Monday called "Matchball Mandag" on TV2 where he and guests look at games played in the Norwegian Premier League with a humorous approach.