Tottenham Hotspur’s visit to play A-League champions Auckland FC has stirred memories of their previous tour to New Zealand.
Fifty years ago, the London club arrived in New Zealand as part of an eight-match world tour, with fixtures against local sides selected from Auckland and Wellington clubs.
Spurs beat a Fiji XI 4-0 in Lautoka — with goals from England international Martin Chivers, Scottish international John Duncan and strikers Gerry Armstrong and Chris Jones — before landing in Auckland.
Interest in the match at Newmarket Park was high, despite the withdrawal from the touring squad of goalkeeper Pat Jennings, who was needed by Northern Ireland for the 1976 home international series, and Chivers, who bruised his heel on the hard surface of Lautoka’s Churchill Park.
The Spurs squad had big-name players such as captain Steve Perryman, Ralph Coates, Jimmy Neighbour, Willie Young and John Pratt.
They also brought with them rising youngsters such as Welsh age group international goalkeeper Mark Kendall, young striker Chris Jones and an 18-year-old midfielder, Glenn Hoddle, who had made his first team debut shortly before the squad left London.
The Spurs squad relaxed at their White Heron hotel in Parnell, and visited the local television studios to watch a replay of the FA Cup final in which second division Southampton had upset favourites Manchester United 1-0 at Wembley.
For the Auckland players, and their coach Wally Hughes, the match was a chance to test themselves against full-time professionals.
Hughes brought the Auckland squad together for the weekend before the Monday night match. He was adamant his side could cause an upset, and he showed the players film of a league match between Spurs and Stoke City, pointing out the squareness of the Spurs defence.
Auckland were to exploit this to the full in the wet conditions at Newmarket Park.
Spurs took the lead in the 18th minute when defender Keith Osgood scored from the penalty spot.
Main photo: Auckland concede a penalty despite the best efforts of goalkeeper Kevin Curtin and midfielder Dave Taylor (centre). Photo credit: Dave Barker.
Auckland levelled 90 seconds later when Hamilton’s Keith Nelson wriggled free of defender Willie Young to score.
New Zealand international Dave Taylor put Auckland ahead just before half-time, with a chip over the head of ‘keeper Barry Daines.
The crowd of 10,000 went wild, and coach Hughes could not resist running onto the pitch to share in the celebrations.
In the second half, local hero Ian Ormond scored a stunning goal, lashing the ball into the Spurs net from the edge of the area.
Auckland were leading 3-1, and the home crowd sensed an upset.
Coates set up midfielder John Pratt, who cut the deficit to 3-2 with little more than half an hour left.
For the rest of the game, Spurs threw everything at Auckland, and introduced Glenn Hoddle off the bench.
The pressure eventually paid off, and a goal from Jimmy Neighbour and a double from John Duncan got the tourists a 5-3 win.
After the match, Spurs manager Terry Neill said: “I’m told the Auckland side played above themselves but I was very impressed with the standard and their attitude of commitment.”
The Wellington side to face Spurs was brought together by New Zealand national coach Barrie Truman, drawing on players from National League and Central League sides.
His preparation was disrupted by the withdrawal of first-choice goalkeeper Alf de Munnick and the suspension of defender Sam Malcolmson.
Spurs’ star Chivers, still sidelined by his heel injury, publicly stated that the tourists would not underestimate their opponents in their second game on New Zealand soil, the Basin Reserve. He bullishly said the visitors would win by 10 goals.
In front of 7,500 spectators, Pratt put Spurs ahead in the 17th minute.
Wellington’s Brian Davidson brought his side level when he converted a penalty, awarded when midfielder Eric Lesbirel was upended in the box.
In the 32nd minute, a Glenn Hoddle corner was headed into the net by Gerry Armstrong.
Davidson levelled the score again, and the teams went into the break tied at 2-2.
In the second half, Spurs’ superior fitness wore down the Wellington players and the injection of England international Coates off the bench created more problems.
John Duncan scored the third goal, giving Spurs a 3-2 win.
Coach Truman was delighted by his team’s performance.
“As a team, Wellington played magnificently,” he said. “But they (Spurs) made us realise that we only perform at half a go in New Zealand. They played for keeps. Their tackling was so much harder. Still, we learned some valuable lessons.”
Wellington Football Association president Ken Boyden said he hoped the success of the match would lead to future games with overseas sides.
“It was soccer’s best-ever show in the capital and there is every indication that we are now ready to promote similar games after tonight’s exhibition.”
After their stint in New Zealand, Spurs headed to Australia where they. played and won all five of their fixtures against state sides and an Australian national XI.
Behind the scenes, manager Terry Neill was having disagreements with club directors during the tour.
In June 1976, he resigned to take over as manager at arch-rivals Arsenal, taking assistant Wilf Dixon with him.
Keith Burkinshaw, who was the coach for the touring squad, took over as Spurs manager, kickstarting a successful era for the club that yielded two FA Cups and a UEFA Cup.
Meanwhile, Glenn Hoddle, the teenager finding his feet on the tour, went on to make 490 first-team appearances for Spurs, and earn 53 full international caps for England.
Acknowledgement
Much of the information gathered during the research for this story comes from the 1976 DB Soccer Annual, published by Moa Publications, and edited by Josh Easby. The photographs used with this feature were supplied by Dave Barker.
Results
Game played on Monday May 3, 1976
Newmarket Park, Auckland
Attendance: 10,000 est.
Auckland XI 3 (Keith Nelson, Dave Taylor, Ian Ormond)
Tottenham Hotspur 5 (Keith Osgood pen, Jimmy Neighbour, John Pratt, John Duncan 2)
Auckland
Starting line-up: Kevin Curtin, Tony Sibley, John Houghton, Alex Young, Adrian Elrick, Brian Turner, Warren Fleet, Dave Taylor, Ian Ormond, Keith Nelson, Earle Thomas.
Subs: Praven Jeram, Keith Hobbs, Glenn Dods, Duncan Cole, Dave Fifield, Dennis Tindall.
Coach: Wally Hughes
Team manager: Arthur Egan
Masseur: Whatmo Baldwin
Tottenham Hotspur
Starting line-up: Barry Daines, Mick Stead, Willie Young, Keith Osgood, Steve Walford, John Pratt, Steve Perryman, Ralph Coates, Jimmy Neighbour, John Duncan, Gerry Armstrong.
Subs: Mark Kendall, Terry Naylor, Don McAllister, Glenn Hoddle, Chris Jones.
Manager: Terry Neill
Assistant manager: Wilf Dixon
First team coach: Keith Burkinshaw
Game played on Wednesday May 5, 1976
Basin Reserve, Wellington
Attendance: 7,500 est.
Wellington XI 2 (Brian Davidson 2, incl pen)
Tottenham Hotspur 3 (John Pratt, Gerry Armstrong, John Duncan)
Wellington
Starting line-up: Wayne Nichols, Maurice Tillotson, Ken Dugdale, Mike Simeonoff, Jeff Strom, Graham Storer, Eric Lesbirel, Grant McCulloch, Steve Boyland, Jim Richardson, Brian Davidson.
Subs: Derek Gibson-Smith, Grant Turner.
Coach: Barrie Truman
Tottenham Hotspur
Starting line-up: Barry Daines, Mick Stead, Don McCallister, Willie Young, Keith Osgood, John Pratt, Glenn Hoddle, Terry Naylor, Jimmy Neighbour, John Duncan, Gerry Armstrong.
Subs: Mark Kendall, Steve Walford, Ralph Coates, Chris Jones.
Manager: Terry Neill
Assistant manager: Wilf Dixon
First team coach: Keith Burkinshaw
Fixture
Game to be played on Sunday July 26, 2026
New Zealand International Football Festival
Auckland FC v Tottenham Hotspur
Eden Park, Auckland, 3pm
This story was first published on July 24, 2026.
