NORMAN GILLER’S SPURS ODYSSEY BLOG No 165
Submitted by Norman Giller

I make no excuses for kicking off this blog with a plea to help our old heroes, who fifty years ago were the Harry Kanes and Dele Allis of their time. They got the same cheers and adulation as today’s young masters, but their cash rewards were peanuts compared to the fortunes earned in the modern game.

Yes, I know you’re tired of hearing me plug my Spurs ’67 book that revisits the golden season half a century ago, when Tottenham conquered Chelsea in the first ‘Cockney Cup Final’ at Wembley.

Profits from my book are going to the Tottenham Tribute Trust, who quietly and confidentially help any former Spurs player who is in difficulties. Run by a small group of caring, diligent, unpaid people, the Trust brings dignity to the autumn years of old footballers paying the price for the effort and entertainment they gave us.

They don’t like shouting about it, but among the many they have helped without fuss or fanfare are golden oldies like Tommy Harmer, Bobby Smith, Les Allen, Eddie Baily, Ted Ditchburn and Jimmy Greaves.

I know of several of our veteran heroes who are being helped with their medical bills right now, but I do not wish to embarrass them by making their names public. Above all, we need to help them keep their dignity.

Listen to former skipper Alan Mullery on the work of The Trust …

I would like to run a marathon for the Trust, but my old legs are not up to it. So I have written a book in a bid to raise money. I’m sure you want to help.

The book has been fact-checked by inaugural Spurs Odyssey Quiz League champion David Guthrie, so you can have faith in the accuracy of my accounts. For instance, can you name the five managers who have led out winning Tottenham FA Cup teams. You will be able to after reading a book that is like a visit to another planet. They did things differently there.

Goalkeeping goliath Pat Jennings and the famously feared Chelsea skipper Chopper Harris provide the forewords, both fee-free because they want to help the Trust.

“The Trust does a great job for my peers who have hit difficult times,” says Pat. “I’m only too pleased to do what I can to help a wonderful cause. So many old players face operations, medical bills and caring costs as they pay the price for all that they did on the football field. This book is a great way of helping because anybody buying it automatically gives a donation to the Trust Fund. It’s win-win.”

Please order a signed copy here http://www.normangillerbooks.com/spurs-67/4554925859. You will be helping a great cause. It is the perfect present for Dads and (definitely) Granddads who remember the days when Spurs were FA Cup kings.

Their victory over Tommy Docherty’s elegant but unpredictable Chelsea side was the third time that Bill Nicholson led out a winning team at Wembley in those Swinging Sixties.

Spurs can take a vital step to repeating the 1967 triumph at the Lane on Sunday when Millwall are the quarter-final opponents. Maybe it’s a good omen that on the way to their FA Cup final victory of 50 years ago, Millwall were among the teams they clambered over on the way to Wembley.

Millwall fans probably knew about Harry Kane’s potential before most of us Lane watchers. The Den was his second port of call after Orient on his learning loan curve.

I bet their defenders are quaking in their boots at the thought of trying to turn off his goal tap on Sunday. He is on a wonderful scoring spree, yet only Spurs could have turned an annihilation of Everton into a 3-2 tightrope walk, as recorded here by our beloved webmaster Paul Smith.

One thing’s for sure, our ‘One Season Wonder’ is getting well rewarded for his demolition work, and in 50 years time will not be having to go cap in hand to the Tottenham Tribute Trust for help.

Come on, please put your hand in your pocket and boost a great cause. Hurry if you want a personally signed copy.

That order link again: http://www.normangillerbooks.com/spurs-67/4554925859

COYS!

Spurs Odyssey Quiz League, week 29

Spurs Odyssey Quiz League, week 29

This week’s mystery player:

"Born in Newcastle, I scored 48 goals in 141 League appearances for Spurs after joining them from Crystal Palace in 1995. Who am I and with which non-English club did I start my League career? "

Email your answers, please, to SOQL29@normangillerbooks.com. Give your name, the district where you live and how long you’ve supported Spurs. I will respond, and will email a screen version of one of my Tottenham-themed books to the sender of the first all-correct answer drawn at random. Deadline is midnight on Friday.

Please keep a check on your points tally, because the contestant topping the SOQL table at the end of the season will receive a framed certificate announcing the winner as the 2016-17 Spurs Odyssey Quiz League champion. And the first three in the final table will win an autographed, hardback copy of my Bill Nicholson Revisited tribute book, PLUS a souvenir card signed by Spurs legends Jimmy Greaves and Steve Perryman.

The 28th teaser was:

“I was a left-half who played 32 times for my country and lifted the League championship trophy as skipper while with Spurs. Who am I and which club did I join from Tottenham?”

A maximum three points in the SOQL table to those who answered Ron Burgess, who went home to Wales with Swansea, the team he later managed before taking over as boss at Watford. He was instrumental in bringing us Cliff Jones and Terry Medwin and was influential in the transfer that took Pat Jennings to White Hart Lane. Apart from that, Bill Nicholson rated the Push and Run skipper the greatest player ever to pull on a Spurs shirt. What a compliment!

First name drawn at random from the correct answers is Gerry Pryce, from Neath, who has been a Spurs supporter since they won the Double back in 1960-61. I will be emailing Gerry a screen version of one of my Tottenham-themed books.

As regular contestants will know, the SOQL League table is decided on facts up until the final weeks of the season. Then I introduce tie breaks based on opinions, which is when I lose friends and fail to influence people with my views.

But please remember, it is just for fun and helps us all refresh our knowledge on the history and the heroes of our great club.

Thanks for your company. See you same time, same place next week. COYS!

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