A year before Bill Nicholson’s glory, glory team clinched the double by winning the FA Cup at Wembley, a young forward lit up the hallowed turf for England Schoolboys against Scotland.
Scoring a goal and claiming a couple of assists in a 5-3 win in front of 95,000 fans at the home of football – and live on TV – it’s no surprise that young forward was much sought after, Spurs one of the teams rumoured to be interested in his signature.
Based in Nottingham, he eventually stayed at home and signed for Forest. He never would play for Spurs but, 65 years on, he’s done pretty much everything else here – manager, caretaker manager, director of football, consultant scout.
That young forward, of course, is David Pleat.
He tells his story in his autobiography, Just One More Goal, released in September, 2024 and will be signing copies at the Tottenham Experience at ahead of our Premier League clash against Brentford on Saturday week, 6 December, 11am – 1pm – where you can purchase the book to be signed for £12 (paperback) or £20 (hardback).
Ahead of meeting the fans at the stadium, David took time out to reflect on his life in football, and particularly his time at Spurs...
You first played for Nottinghamshire Under-11s in 1956 – almost 70 years in the game – how did you go about writing a book to encapsulate it all?
David: “Well, it was done during COVID and it was, in a way, a labour of love. Many people had asked me why I hadn’t written a book. They’d say, ‘you can do it’. I doubted it! Then COVID came, I started writing and, word for word, I did it in the end. A journalist in Manchester dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s. Then, a publisher took it. I think it’s done quite well. It was nominated in the Charles Tyrwhitt Sports Book Awards (autobiography of the year), so I was pleased about that.”
What were the emotions writing it?
David: “There were a lot of anecdotes where people within the game said something to me that resonated. It could have been a journalist, often a chairman, maybe a player. I have a good memory! I can say that. I remember all the events clearly, and those things that resonate do stay with you. I've met so many good people and, as I say in the very last chapter, football is a passport to friendship.”
Spurs fans will know everything about your time here, but they may not know too much about your playing career, and that you were selected for England Schoolboys and played at Wembley as a youngster…
David: “Yes, I played for England Schoolboys and England Youth. Then I got injuries…”
You were just 26 when you first stepped into management at Nuneaton Borough – how were you received then as a young manager?
David: “I coped with it. At first, I thought, ‘I'm too young’. I was player-manager and signed a proper contract. I enjoyed it. I had a chairman called Mr Scattergood. He was a nice man, and one of the things he said to me, which I learned was important in football, was, if you want to keep jobs, remember you're an employee and not the employer. He said, ‘any fool can spend someone else's money’ and what he was saying to me is, ‘be careful’. I learned a lot from him. He said he wanted me to be next Frank O’Farrell. He had come through non-league at Weymouth, Leicester City, and had gone to Manchester United. He said, ‘you could be the next Frank O’Farrell. It’s amusing when you look back.”
You were 16 when Spurs won the double under Bill Nicholson, 1960/61. You speak in glowing terms about that team – what is it that struck you at the time?
David: “I saw them play at Forest when they won 4-0 (15 October, 1960). It was the 13th game of that wonderful run. The team was Brown, Baker, Henry, Blanchflower, Norman, Mackay, Dyson, White, Smith, Allen, Jones. The greatest Tottenham side that had the greatest impression on me in all my time. I was impressionable because I was young and I just thought, ‘what a wonderful side, these Lilywhites’. Spurs meant something to me. At one point, my father lived near the Seven Sisters Road and would watch Tottenham and had a feeling for Tottenham. When I was a schoolboy, believe it or not, someone from Tottenham came to my house… I was a schoolboy international, I was much wanted, but I stayed at school to take my O-levels and never knew when I would be back at Tottenham, but of course I would come and when I did, I thoroughly enjoyed my time here.”
Many consider your team of 1986/87 as one of the best Spurs teams…
David: “People say, ‘you're a bit of a genius to change the system’, but I wasn't a genius, we semi-stumbled on it. There was some thought behind it, of course there was, Graham Roberts had left for Rangers. Tony Galvin, poor Tony, broke his leg, we hadn’t really integrated Ossie Ardiles into the team, so we experimented. We tried it at Oxford (22 November, 1986) for the first time, and we were 2-0 down at one stage! The players took to it and from then on we were winning every game, weren't conceding any goals, and the five-man midfield, which was a mesmeric Chris Waddle, Paul Allen, what a grafter, Ossie was the link man, Glenn Hoddle was coming off the front, playing loose, which was the first time in Glenn's career that he'd played loose, he didn't have responsibility, he didn't have to track back as one of two midfield players, or alternate the defending, which he was always criticised for. He was a fine player, he made chances, and then we had a workaholic on the left in Steve Hodge. So, we had Waddle, Allen, Ardiles, Hodge and Glenn, supporting Clive Allen – 49 goals. It was an absolutely wonderful feeling, and I was proud to coach that team, but of course it all ended rather upsettingly, with the FA Cup Final extra time defeat (3-2 against Coventry City), the League Cup semi-final defeat to Arsenal, which was also in the last minute of the game, so it was really very sad. In many ways, can you celebrate sadness? Maybe you can, because I think it was a ‘Tottenham’ team.”
In 1998, you were appointed director of football – you must have been one of the first in the Premier League…
David: “Yes, Alan Sugar had a vision - we needed a director of football, a link between the directors and the playing side… it was a six-year period, 1998-2004, and I was the first, and I enjoyed it. I do appreciate, as director of football, I learnt a lot, business-wise certainly, certainly going to the meetings at the time with the Premier League, with Peter Barnes (secretary) and Alan Sugar (chairman) and then later with Daniel Levy, when Daniel came in.”
In all that, you also had another spell as caretaker manager in 2003/04…
David: “I’m very proud, and I've done 980 games as a league manager. I regret not doing a further 20, maybe if I'd have gone into a lower league, if I'd have got the opportunity, I'd have had another 20 games, and done that magic thousand, I don't think I'm going to get there now! In 2010, I was invited back here, as a consultant scout, and I thoroughly enjoyed the 14 years, to 2024, a super period. I particularly enjoyed the camaraderie with the academy players here, and the academy coaches, particularly, and watching the players develop, like Harry Kane, Ryan Mason. Kane has done magnificently. He is so dedicated and deserves everything he’s achieved.”
