Right-hand corner: These are very hard, strong out-swinging corners, usually taken by Mullery. They either go direct into the middle of the goalmouth, for Gilzean to head, or further over towards the far post for Peters or England.

  For a spell during the second half of the season, when Mullery was out of the team injured, Chivers took several right-hand corners. He’d taken one at Cheshunt, just by chance, which had caught everyone by surprise. He drives the ball, low and very hard, right across the goalmouth, for Peters or Gilzean to volley into the net. Defences always expect high corners, lobbed into the goalmouth, for the other team to head, so the Chivers corners can be very effective.

  Throw-ins

  Chivers didn’t know he had a long throw till one day at Cheshunt he found he could throw the ball with ease right into the goalmouth. Normally, a striker like him is not expected to take throw-ins but to wait, lurking in the middle, to finish them off. But his long throw to the head of Gilzean has led directly to several goals and is always dangerous. Gilzean usually stands at the near post, to back-head the ball into the goal. On other occasions, Chivers throws the ball further back and aims for England who has come up to try a header at goal. If it’s going to be aimed at Gilzean, Chivers holds the ball first with the hand which is nearer the goal. If it’s meant for England, he holds it with his other hand.

  APPENDIX 2

  GOAL CATEGORIES

  Categorising goals is always arbitrary, unless you simply list the goalscorer. The following system, based on how each goal was created, was devised at the beginning of the season and applied to all Spurs goals.

  1 Error: A goal which comes from a clear error by the defending side, made when a goal looked completely unlikely. It ranges from a bad pass-back or the goalkeeper mishandling the ball, to an own-goal. The attacking side might still need to be quick off the mark to capitalise on the mistake, but the major factor has been the mistake itself.

  2 Scramble: More skill is needed to score a scramble goal. It’s often a 50-50 situation, with the ball perhaps going either way, such as in a goalmouth melée. There’s still an element of mistake on the part of the defence but the attacking team has made an important contribution and seized the opportunity.

  3 Dead Ball: This is a planned goal which comes from a restart, such as a free-kick, a corner or a throw-in.

  4 Set Moves: Set moves are essentially team passing movements which to a major extent have been worked out in training, like overlapping, far-post crosses, wall passes and others.

  5 Individual: When a player on his own beats two men to score, or when someone scores with a brilliant shot from long range or from a difficult angle. An individual goal is the result of one player’s effort as opposed to any of the other factors.

  During the season, Spurs scored 119 goals – 63 in the League and 56 in all Cup games.

  The type of goals were as follows:

  League Cup Total

  Error 5 1 6

  Scramble 8 7 15

  Dead Ball 16 11 27

  Set Moves 18 21 39

  Individual 16 16 32

  It’s noticeable how few goals were actually given away to Spurs, in the sense that they came directly from errors. It proves what most people already know. First Division defences are so well drilled and skilful these days that you rarely see defenders making mistakes.

  Including the next category, scramble goals, in which luck also plays a part, though not the major part, under twenty per cent of all Spurs goals could be said to have had an element of luck in them.

  Of the 27 dead-ball goals, 11 came from free-kicks, 7 from corners, 5 from penalties and 4 from throw-ins. Spurs’ most dangerous throw-in, Chivers’ long throw for Gilzean to flick on with his head, became too well known to work very often.

  The majority of goals, around fifty-five per cent, were scored from either these dead-ball tactics or set moves. Together they accounted for 66 goals out of the 119. Footballers might moan and groan about all the training they have to do, going over and over the same movements, but these figures leave no doubt that coaching pays dividends.

  As for the goalscorers, Chivers was well ahead – scoring 44 Cup and League goals, the highest in his career, about half of them individual goals. After Chivers came Gilzean with 22 goals (his highest for several seasons), Peters with 17, Pearce 8, Mullery 7, Perryman 5, Coates 4, England and Knowles 3, Pratt 2, Naylor, Neighbour, Morgan and Holder 1 each.

  APPENDIX 3

  FOOTBALL BACKGROUND

  APPENDIX 4

  PERSONAL BACKGROUND

  APPENDIX 5

  DOMESTIC BACKGROUND

  APPENDIX 6

  ATTITUDES TO FOOTBALL

  How do you look upon being a professional footballer – is it a job of work or a career?

  Mullery A job. You go out at the same time every day. A professional man chooses his times. I’m given orders. A professional man gives orders. It’s got to be a job.

  Jennings A career. It’s my career, for the moment anyway, but it’s really part of showbusiness. When people ask me, I say I don’t work, I’m a profesional footballer.

  Chivers A profession. It sounds better if you say that. But I do see it as a specialist job, like a surgeon. You’ve got to be dedicated. One person in ten thousand does it.

  Perryman A special job. I talk about ‘going to work’ and people laugh. They think you just kick a ball about on a Saturday afternoon and that’s your lot. It’s special because you get attention from the public for doing it. You go to a party and they say, saw you play. I don’t like attention. If you could do it successfully without the attention, I’d prefer it, but you can’t.

  England A job. I play it for a living as opposed to doing it just for sheer enjoyment. People depend on me to do a good job. It’s not a relaxing thing. I never say I’m going to play football. It’s work.

  Peters A career. You entertain people, like show business. It gives you a good standard of living. It gives you a lot of pride. An ordinary job doesn’t do that. So it’s got to be a career. My wife calls it work. If I’m going training, I say I’m going training. I never call it work.

  Gilzean A sport. It’s not a job or career – you’re meant to enjoy it. I’ve always enjoyed it so I’ve never called it work. People spend hundreds of pounds getting as fit as we are. I get paid to enjoy myself.

  Knowles A job. It gives me a good income, at the time of going to press anyway. People pay to see me play. It’s my job to make it worth it for them. It’s how I get my living.

  Beal A job. It’s work, that’s what I always call it. It’s the job I do. What else can you call it?

  Coates A job. I get paid for it, so it’s a job. I can do without all the glamour that goes with it.

  Kinnear A career. A career means you get on, you see things you’d never see in a factory. In a job, you don’t get on. A job’s a sort of routine thing.

  Evans A job. But not an ordinary job. I chose it. You don’t choose ordinary jobs. It’s a job I like doing.

  Naylor A career. It’s a career because I have ambitions to do it well, not like an ordinary job. I want to make the grade and be a regular first-team player. I want to play for England. I want to get on.

  Morgan A job. They pay me, don’t they, so it’s a job. But it’s a bit like a career as well because it’s entertainment. When you’ve a 9–5 job, you’re only entertaining yourself. Being a pro footballer means earning as much money as you can in a short space of time and enjoying yourself at the same time.

  Pearce A career. You don’t get things like travel in an ordinary job. You don’t have to do much grafting either. You get more spare time.

  Want A profession. I’m getting paid to do something I enjoy, so that can’t be called work.

  Collins A job. I always call it work, so does my wife. When I come home, she says how did you get on at work. It’s a job I try to do to the best of my ability. But it’s a bit different from an ordinary job. When I come home from work I sit and think about all the things I did wrong. You don’t do that in an ordinary job.

  Pratt A job. It can’t be a career – you’re not in it long enough. Five days a week I call it work, because I think of the money, but on the last day, Saturday, I call that play and I never think of the money.

  APPENDIX 7

  QUALITIES NECESSARY FOR SUCCESS IN FOOTBALL

  In order of importance, which of these are necessary for a successful professional footballer: confidence, coaching, luck, perseverance, personality, physical toughness, skill?

  Mullery Luck, skill, perseverance, coaching, confidence, toughness, personality. I reckon I got my chance two years earlier than I would have done, just through luck. I got my chance because four people were injured in my position. I’ve been very lucky. Personality is definitely last. It’s irrelevant. I know some great players I dislike very much.

  Jennings Skill, confidence, luck, personality, perseverance, toughness, coaching. You’re no good without skill. I put coaching last because I’ve never had any. If anyone tried it now I’m as likely to say bollocks as to act on it.

  Chivers Skill, confidence, perseverance, luck, toughness, coaching, personality. Personality means nothing – if you’ve got the rest the crowd will still cheer for you.

  Perryman Luck, coaching, skill, confidence, perseverance, personality, toughness. Lucky breaks make all the difference. I would never have got started but for luck.

  England Skill, perseverance, luck, coaching, personality, confidence, toughness. They wouldn’t look at you without skill and perseverance. The rest can be bred into you.

  Peters Coaching, personality, skill, confidence, perseverance, luck, toughness. You’ve got to be able to listen and act on advice. I put personality high as well because you need the right character, to take stick when things are going wrong and the right moral character not to go off the rails when girls start chasing you when you’re doing well.

  Gilzean Skill, perseverance, confidence, luck, personality, toughness, coaching. Without skill you haven’t got a chance. You could pick the best runner, the strongest athlete, but you couldn’t turn him into a footballer unless he had the basic skill. I don’t rate coaching very high. Any grade of manager or coach will give you that. That’s what they’re there for. I look upon training as getting fit to use the skills I’ve got naturally.

  Knowles Skill, coaching, personality, confidence, luck, perseverance, toughness. It’s like playing the piano. They can’t teach you if it’s not there. Skill is born into you. I think personality is important so that people look up to you.

  Beal Luck, toughess, skill, confidence, personality, coaching, perseverance. I was one of only two boys chosen out of thirty-three when I came for a trial – one of the ones turned down is now the captain of Chelsea. You need luck all the way along. I put perseverance last. If you get chopped from the first team and go into the reserves, it’s hard to keep going and it doesn’t do any good anyway. You don’t get back on reserve form but on the first-team player losing his form.

  Coates Skill, confidence, coaching, coaching, luck, personality, perseverance, toughness. If you’ve got no confidence in your skill there’s no point in going on the field.

  Kinnear Coaching, skill, perseverance, personality, luck, confidence, toughness. My skill was never as great till I went to Spurs and they taught me, just simple things, like trapping the ball. You get the naturals, the football geniuses, like Pelé, Eusébio, Greaves, but everyone else needs a lot of help. How many are born being able to kick a ball with either foot?

  Evans Skill, coaching, confidence, toughness, personality, perseverance, luck. I don’t believe in luck. All the rest of these things are facts. Luck’s not a fact. Footballers are always talking about luck but it’s just an excuse. I’m waiting for a break, not for luck.

  Naylor Confidence, coaching, toughness, skill, luck, perseverance, personality. You’ve got to go out there thinking you’re a great player. You need coaching because coaches have been through the mill and can teach you a lot. Skill can come and go, but you must be tough all the time. If you’re told to mark someone out of the game, you’ve got to do it.

  Morgan Coaching, confidence, perseverance, skill, luck, personality, toughness. Skill isn’t enough on its own. You’ve got to be able to use it. Toughness is last for me. I’m not tough.

  Pearce Luck, perseverance, skill, personality, coaching, confidence, toughness. I’ve seen many good players go right out of the game through bad luck, such as an injury. You need perseverance to keep going when things are bad.

  Want Skill, confidence, perseverance, luck, coaching, personality, toughness. Without skill, no one would ask you to be a player in the first place.

  Collins Skill, luck, toughness, perseverance, coaching, personality, confidence. You do need skill to get in, but not great skill. I wouldn’t call myself a skilful player. I owe a lot to my size and being tough. I think you can make someone a good defender but a forward has to be born.

  APPENDIX 8

  PRE-MATCH RITUALS, SUPERSTITIONS AND ANXIETIES

  Mullery I always put my left pad on first. I always hang my towel on my peg with my clothes, not on the bench like the other lads. When I lead the lads out, I always bounce the ball twice on the ceiling in the corridor.

  Jennings I have no superstitions, but I get very irritable before a match. I hate any fuss. I always refuse to go shopping with the wife on a Saturday.

  Chivers I get a bit nervous away from home. When our fans shout my name, I never wave back, but at home, I always do. I feel at home that anything I do is right in their eyes. I don’t have lucky signs, except my teeth. Sometimes I play with them in and sometimes out, but I can’t decide which brings best luck. I worry about how I look with them out.

  Perryman I’m always third out on to the pitch. I did it once, years ago, and played a good game so I’ve done it ever since. I wear nothing under my shorts. I feel freer without anything. I don’t worry about being injured but I worry about being dropped. Inside the club it would be okay, they’d understand, but outside, with friends and the press, I wouldn’t be able to bear the aggravation.

  England I start thinking about the game on a Friday night. I might be talking to Gwen, but I’m thinking about their centre-forward’s weak spot, going over his record in my mind. Every season I keep in my head a count of all the centre-forwards who’ve scored against me. It’s a little competition I have with myself. I like to be last in the dressing-room. I stand in the carpark, chatting, as long as possible. I never have a cup of tea in Mrs Wallace’s office like the rest of the lads. I don’t like her tea. Too strong. I worry about my ankles and always get both of them strapped up.

  Peters I never go through the main door to the dressing room. I made a mistake the first time and went through the boot-room so now I always do. I believe in lucky signs. I have lucky cufflinks, ones I got in Brazil. I always put my shorts on last. I hate any larking around in the dressing-room, any music or noise. I think a dressing-room should always be quiet and tense. At Spurs, if we’re playing a lower team in the League, there’s usually a lot of noise. I think that’s bad.

  Gilzean I always have oils rubbed into my legs before a match. It’s probably old age creeping up. But I haven’t any superstitions. I never think about such things.

  Knowles I’ve got no superstitions. I’m a terrible coward when it comes to pain, but I tend to worry more about losing form and being dropped than being injured.

  Beal I’m always last out, even at half-time. I go round the toilets to make sure no one’s left behind. I don’t like wearing pads. I worry that they’ll stop the circulation in my calf muscles.

  Coates I oil my legs for good luck. If I have a bad game, I stop it for a week. I don’t actually believe it makes any difference, but I always find myself doing it.

  Kinnear I never put my shorts on till the buzzer goes. Until then I walk round in my jock strap, carrying my shorts. I worry about loss of form but I suppose every player does. I worry a bit about being right-footed. I wish I’d started on my left years ago.

  Evans I like to get changed as late as possible, that’s all. I don’t believe in lucky signs.

  Naylor At one time I always used to touch the ground before the match and after we’d scored. It’s supposed to be a good luck sign, like touching something twice so your mother will live for ever. Then I just forgot to do it. I don’t have any superstitions now. But I have little habits I like doing, such as splashing water on my face and legs. It makes me feel fresh.

  Morgan I always have chewing gum to go on the pitch, but I spit it out before the game starts. As I spit out, I try to kick it. If I hit it well, I’ll have a good game. I’ve lots of superstitions. When they don’t work, I change them.

  Pearce I always massage my legs before a match. I like playing top teams best. I don’t play so well against not so good teams.

  Want I like getting changed very early, about forty minutes before the match. I always rub my thighs with Transvasin cream, all the season round, just out of habit.

  Collins I like to wear the same clothes to every match. I once wore the same suede jacket for two years. I always drive the same way to the ground. I always take my trousers off first and put my jock strap on before I take off my jacket. I like to go out on the field second from the end. I never carry a ball out.

  Pratt I always go to the kazzi in the dressing-room, save it up for the last thing. I feel better when I clear myself. Before big matches, I kiss my wedding ring for good luck. My only worry is whether I’m going to play – I rarely know till the day of the match and I worry about it all week.

  APPENDIX 9

  ENJOYMENT OF FOOTBALL

  Do you enjoy the act of playing football more today than you did at 15?