Tottenham Hotspur have been blessed with some fantastic Irish players down the years, with the likes of Robbie Keane and Stephen Carr becoming N17 legends.
Spurs have seen some wonderful stars from across the Irish Sea wearing their famous Lilywhite shirt, and so there is much reason to celebrate St Patrick’s Day on 17 March in these parts.
Indeed, Tottenham will be hoping teenager forward Mason Melia is the next great Irishman to represent the club, having splashed a League of Ireland record fee to sign him from St Patrick’s Athletic in February of last year.
So, before Tottenham play Atletico Madrid on Wednesday night in the Champions League, Tottenham News takes a look back at some of the very best Irish players to ever play for Spurs in honour of St Patrick’s Day.
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Robbie Keane is arguably Tottenham’s greatest ever Irish player
There aren’t many better places to start than with one of Tottenham’s best ever goalscorers: Robbie Keane.
Joining Spurs from Leeds United in the summer of 2002 for a reported fee of £7million, Keane became an instant hit with the White Hart Lane crowd for his energy, character and ruthless finishing ability in front of goal.
Scorer of numerous hat-tricks and some truly spectacular strikes, Keane won Tottenham’s player of the year three times during his Spurs stint, before joining Liverpool in a big-money move in 2008.
The Republic of Ireland great soon returned to N17 in 2009 though, and stayed for his second spell with the Lilywhites until 2011, before moving to LA Galaxy in a permanent transfer.
In total, Keane ended his Tottenham career with 112 goals in 306 appearances, and was part of the Spurs side that won the League Cup in 2008. A true Tottenham and Irish legend.
Keane has been linked with becoming Tottenham manager numerous times in recent months, as he continues to do an excellent job with Hungarian outfit Ferencvaros.
Stephen Carr is one of Tottenham’s best academy products
After rising through the ranks of Tottenham’s academy, Stephen Carr broke into Spurs’ first-team in 1993 aged just 17, and stayed there for 11 years until 2004.
Making 270 appearances for the Lilywhites, the right-back earned PFA team of the year honours in the Premier League in both 2000-01 and 2002-03, and helped Tottenham win the League Cup in 1999.
Wing-backs weren’t really a thing during Carr’s Tottenham heyday, but he was certainly one of the more attacking full-backs around in the late 90s/early 2000s, and he scored some brilliant goals for Spurs as a result.
Carr eventually left Tottenham for Newcastle in 2004, before finishing his playing career with Birmingham where he also helped the Blues win the League Cup against Arsenal in 2010-11.
Capped 44 times for the Republic of Ireland, Carr remains one of Tottenham’s best ever academy graduates, and one of Ireland’s best ever defenders.
Danny Blanchflower and more of Tottenham’s Irish legends
Now let’s take a look at some of Tottenham’s other Irish heroes, starting with Danny Blanchflower.
Often regarded as one of the very best Irish players of all-time, Blanchflower was the captain of Tottenham’s famous League and FA Cup double-winning team of 1961.
He was bought by Tottenham for a reported fee of just £30,000 from Aston Villa in 1954, and went on to make just shy of 400 appearances for Spurs, which included two FA Cup wins, a League title, two Charity Shields and a European Cup Winners’ Cup win.
Pat Jennings joined Tottenham in 1964, and over the course of the next 13 years, forged a legacy as one of Tottenham and English football’s greatest ever goalkeepers.
Playing over 590 times for Spurs, Jennings won the FA Cup, two League Cups, a Charity Shield and a UEFA Cup/Europa League, as well as being nominated for three Ballon d’Or’s during his playing career.
Joe Kinnear, Chris Hughton, Gerry Armstrong, Jimmy Holmes and Tony Galvin are all also deserving of accreditations as being among Tottenham’s best ever Irish players too.