- Feb 1, 2005
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- #1
Alan John Gilzean was born in Coupar Angus, Perth, Scotland, on October 22, 1938.
Dannythomas writes:
His first professional club was Dundee who he joined in January 1956, turning professional in 1957-58. He went on to score more than 100 goals for them.He won the first of his Scotland caps with Dundee and played his first game at the Lane for a Scotland X1 in a memorial match for the late great John White,scoring twice. [ar]
[/ar]
He signed for Spurs in December 1964 for £72,500 and formed a memorable partnership with Jimmy Greaves .
The G- Men as they became known, was possibly Spurs best ever strike duo with Gilly the creative foil for Jimmy the master poacher. When Jimmy left in 1970 Alan then formed another great partnership with Martin Chivers until he retired from the game whilst still a Spurs player in 1973. During his 439 games for Spurs he scored 133 goals. Not prolific but that is because he was utterly unselfish and set up countless goald for Greaves and Chivers with his deft flicks and headers. He was brilliant in the air and a master craftsman..
With Spurs he won the FA Cup in 1967 , 2 League Cups and a UEFA Cup. He played a ludicrously low 22 times for Scotland, scoring 14 goals.
On leaving Spurs he played a short time in South Africa, briefly managed Stevenage Town before getting involved in a transport business in Enfield.
Gilly was a true Spurs great, a players player and deserves a place amongst all the other Spurs Legends. Gilly was awarded a testimonial by Spurs in 1974.
Thanks for that DT :clap:
I managed to dig out some interesting facts about Gilly, for example, the following songs were sung about him:
We've got the G-men
In Greaves and Gilzean
They are the world's best
Goal scoring machine
So we say
C'mon Tottenham
Score a goal or two
Or three or four or more
For the fans of
Britains best team
Gilzean, Gilzean
Born is the king of White Hart Lane
I know Alan Gilzean
And Alan Gilzean knows me
I know A-Alan Giiiiil-zean
And Alan Gilzean knows me
And the prolific football author Hunter Davies writes:
"I have a totally clear memory of Gilly, bought from Dundee in 1964, for £70,000, a Spurs star for ten seasons, scorer of 93 goals, but I hadn't seen the comparison - and still don't. Both elegant, artistic strikers, but Gilly was slimmer with a baldy head. His most distinctive skill was in the air, he could flick the ball on from corners and take free kicks so subtly that you half believed he hadn't touched it, yet he had changed its direction enough to land it in the corner of the net. He was adored by the fans, the first to my knowledge to be hailed in their chants as the "King of White Hart Lane".
I got to know him when writing my book The Glory Game. I can remember that his wife was a policewoman, that he liked a drink and was dead lazy - getting into his Jag to drive a hundred yards to the newsagent. But what I mainly recall is something I have never come across in a footballer before - he had little interest in football. It was just his job."
Dannythomas writes:
His first professional club was Dundee who he joined in January 1956, turning professional in 1957-58. He went on to score more than 100 goals for them.He won the first of his Scotland caps with Dundee and played his first game at the Lane for a Scotland X1 in a memorial match for the late great John White,scoring twice. [ar]
He signed for Spurs in December 1964 for £72,500 and formed a memorable partnership with Jimmy Greaves .
The G- Men as they became known, was possibly Spurs best ever strike duo with Gilly the creative foil for Jimmy the master poacher. When Jimmy left in 1970 Alan then formed another great partnership with Martin Chivers until he retired from the game whilst still a Spurs player in 1973. During his 439 games for Spurs he scored 133 goals. Not prolific but that is because he was utterly unselfish and set up countless goald for Greaves and Chivers with his deft flicks and headers. He was brilliant in the air and a master craftsman..
With Spurs he won the FA Cup in 1967 , 2 League Cups and a UEFA Cup. He played a ludicrously low 22 times for Scotland, scoring 14 goals.
On leaving Spurs he played a short time in South Africa, briefly managed Stevenage Town before getting involved in a transport business in Enfield.
Gilly was a true Spurs great, a players player and deserves a place amongst all the other Spurs Legends. Gilly was awarded a testimonial by Spurs in 1974.
Thanks for that DT :clap:
I managed to dig out some interesting facts about Gilly, for example, the following songs were sung about him:
We've got the G-men
In Greaves and Gilzean
They are the world's best
Goal scoring machine
So we say
C'mon Tottenham
Score a goal or two
Or three or four or more
For the fans of
Britains best team
Gilzean, Gilzean
Born is the king of White Hart Lane
I know Alan Gilzean
And Alan Gilzean knows me
I know A-Alan Giiiiil-zean
And Alan Gilzean knows me
And the prolific football author Hunter Davies writes:
"I have a totally clear memory of Gilly, bought from Dundee in 1964, for £70,000, a Spurs star for ten seasons, scorer of 93 goals, but I hadn't seen the comparison - and still don't. Both elegant, artistic strikers, but Gilly was slimmer with a baldy head. His most distinctive skill was in the air, he could flick the ball on from corners and take free kicks so subtly that you half believed he hadn't touched it, yet he had changed its direction enough to land it in the corner of the net. He was adored by the fans, the first to my knowledge to be hailed in their chants as the "King of White Hart Lane".
I got to know him when writing my book The Glory Game. I can remember that his wife was a policewoman, that he liked a drink and was dead lazy - getting into his Jag to drive a hundred yards to the newsagent. But what I mainly recall is something I have never come across in a footballer before - he had little interest in football. It was just his job."