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Gary Mabbutt

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Profile

Football player for Tottenham Hotspurs and England, now an ambassador for the sport.
Date of birth: 23rd August 1961 (Bristol).
League career: 147 appearances and 12 goals for Bristol Rovers (1977-82); 618 appearances and 38 goals for Tottenham Hotspurs (1982-98). England internationals: 16 Full Caps.
Other honours: Spurs club captain 1987-98; UEFA Cup (1984); FA Cup (1991); MBE awarded (1994).

Gary began his career with Bristol Rovers FC in 1977, making 147 appearances in his five years with the club. He was transferred to Tottenham Hotspurs in 1982, the club with which he has become synonymous, playing over 600 games and scoring 36 goals in his 16 years with the club. He was the Spurs captain for 11 years from 1987-1998. Gary also achieved international honours winning 16 England caps. A true gentleman and ambassador, Gary was awarded an MBE from Her Majesty The Queen in 1994 for his services to the game.

Though he may have now retired, Gary Mabbutt was, and still is, an immensely popular character, respected for his play on the pitch and his professionalism and demeanour off it. After a career at Bristol Rovers and of course Spurs, during which time he earned a healthy number of England caps, Mabbutt remained a hero for many and a figure of respect for others. Even Arsenal fans would give him grudging praise. It came as no surprise that when he finally called it a day as a player, Mabbutt should become a respected pundit and more recently one of the FA's advisors on their much-publicised ‘video panel'.

A successful career, international caps, honours and an unrivalled reputation in the game, sounds like little has gone wrong for Mabbutt. Even when the odds were against him, as with his battle against diabetes, he came up trumps. Not that he will put his success down to anything other than plain hard work. “If you have the talent, at some stage luck may deal you a good hand, if you do not work to get the talent then all the luck in the world will not help you. A famous quote goes: ‘It's amazing, the more I practice the luckier I seem to get' and that's true for me.”

After a successful five-year stint at Bristol, early life was good at Spurs. Mabbutt quickly became a crowd favourite, even getting his own official fan club, and bagging his first medal when Tottenham won the 1984 UEFA Cup. A call up to the national side soon followed, with the first of 16 full caps.

Doing well at a big club, an international career spreading out ahead of him: everything seemed set for fair for Mabbutt. Just as it all seemed Burkinshaw would lead Mabbutt and Spurs to greater glory, however, the club's tendency to shoot itself in the foot reappeared with the manager making a bitter exit, famously remarking ‘there used to be a football club over there'. It is perceived as a defining moment in Tottenham history, a key event when the club turned into a business and began its long decline.

Mabbutt had first hand experience of the issues that forced Burkinshaw's departure and the key players involved, saying, “The players saw it exactly the same way. Keith was not prepared to be the coach only and not have a say in the then other managerial areas (i.e. contracts). He felt that his position was being undermined.”

It was to set the tone for virtually the remainder of Mabbutt's 15 years at White Hart Lane. Managers and players of proven quality came only for a lack of stability to undo all the good preparation. §Mabbutt feels the best squad was David Pleat's nearly-side of 1987. “In my opinion the squad that had been assembled by David had the potential, (if it had been kept together) to challenge for the title.”

The title, of course, never arrived, though Mabbutt had plenty of chances himself to earn honours elsewhere. “In 1987 my contract ran out at Tottenham and I was approached by Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Atletico Madrid and Lyon in France. I had some very attractive offers and in the end it was a choice between Liverpool and staying at Spurs.”

Instead of going onto great things with Liverpool, Mabbutt played through a frustrating time at Tottenham. The FA Cup was landed in 1991 under Venables (including the famous semi-final win over Arsenal), but despite much promise neither El Tel's nor subsequent teams could make the league breakthrough.

Since his departure form Spurs, Mabbutt has forged a successful career that mixes media work with various roles, including a position of significant responsibility on the FA's video panel.


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