Argyle v Tottenham (1962) | PASOTI
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Argyle v Tottenham (1962)

Sep 15, 2020
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As we all know , we blew the chance of an attractive fixture tonight along with the prospect of making some well needed cash !
That performance i now history and best forgotten but it got me thinking of one of my first visits to Home Park when we played Spurs in the FA cup in Jan 1962
The overriding memory is of the crowd of 40000 crammed in and despite me arriving in the queue at about mid day i was still not down the front ! I also recall the crowd behind me suddenly parting and the sound of running water coming from a couple of slightly drunk matelots - not that they had anywhere else to go !!
We lost 1-5 but played really well against a double winning side with a load of well known names eg Greaves , Blanchflower and
Mackay
What a day - how many of you were there and have memories of the day
There you are - my first ever post on PASOTI but i'll be back !!
 

Dreamgreen

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Welcome to PASOTI. As you may already know, there is often a divergance of opinion, wildly sometimes, but we all care about our team !

The Spurs 4th round FA cup game was my second ever visit to Home Park, as my first visit was the 3rd round game home to West Ham.

We were indeed all crammed in, and I was passed from my dad from the back of the Devonport to the raiings on peoples shoulders so I could see at the front.
 
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I was there too. I stood with my cousin at the back of the old Main Enclosure immediately adjacent to the wire netting which protected the then exit / entrance to the dressing room areas. Supporters were buoyed up by Argyle's terrific success in Round 3 when they defeated First Division West Ham 3-0 at Home Park. Personally, I felt very flat at the end of the Spurs game as it was such a disappointing score line, although Spurs were full of international at the time from Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and of course England. One thing that did make me smile was the sight of our left full back George Robertson putting in a hard tackle against Welsh International Cliff Jones, who was playing right wing. Jones appeared to take off and fly for a few yards before hitting the turf over on the Lyndhurst side, which at that time was open to the elements. It is good to think back to happy days supporting Argyle.
 

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What was the game where we had a full-house for Spurs reserves, as Greaves had just re-signed for them from AC Milan?

That would have been a nice parallel to playing an effective Spurs reserve side, with Gareth Bale having just re-signed from Real Madrid.
 
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Biggs":1km3iuj6 said:
What was the game where we had a full-house for Spurs reserves, as Greaves had just re-signed for them from AC Milan?

That would have been a nice parallel to playing an effective Spurs reserve side, with Gareth Bale having just re-signed from Real Madrid.

I am afraid there is a bit of hyperbole in your attendance figures Mr B. The gate was 12,907 when the normal attendance Figure was probably 2,500 tops. All the national newspapers were present for the game, both photographers and journalists. One scribe was Clement Freud, then working for THe Observer. He was a life long Argyle fan. Jimmy Greaves had only just been transferred to Spurs from Milan for the then record fee of £100,000. It made me laugh to discover that Spurs received only £15 from that game as a share of proceeds.! Spurs won 1-4 on the day. This was December 1961 and his wages were only £60 per week, which was good money in those days. The Football League refused Greavesie permission to play for the first team at Tottenham until they were fully satisfied that the transfer deal with Milan was all above board.
 

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I was in the Barn Park End climbing up the flood lights to get a better view, Peter Anderson scored the goal for the Greens.
 

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Quintrell_Green":2cyum1bh said:
Biggs":2cyum1bh said:
What was the game where we had a full-house for Spurs reserves, as Greaves had just re-signed for them from AC Milan?

That would have been a nice parallel to playing an effective Spurs reserve side, with Gareth Bale having just re-signed from Real Madrid.

I am afraid there is a bit of hyperbole in your attendance figures Mr B. The gate was 12,907 when the normal attendance Figure was probably 2,500 tops. All the national newspapers were present for the game, both photographers and journalists. One scribe was Clement Freud, then working for THe Observer. He was a life long Argyle fan. Jimmy Greaves had only just been transferred to Spurs from Milan for the then record fee of £100,000. It made me laugh to discover that Spurs received only £15 from that game as a share of proceeds.! Spurs won 1-4 on the day. This was December 1961 and his wages were only £60 per week, which was good money in those days. The Football League refused Greavesie permission to play for the first team at Tottenham until they were fully satisfied that the transfer deal with Milan was all above board.

My mistake, thanks for the info :thumbup:

Was this the match from one of Graham Little's anecdotes about meeting Greavesie in the dressing room?
 
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It is covered by Harley Lawer in his Argyle Classics books, but much of my information came from Greaves' autobiography
'Greavesie' of which I have an autographed copy. My wife once worked for a couple who were best friends with Greaves and his wife, when he played for Spurs. She got the book autographed for me.
 
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Just something i read about Jimmy Greaves signing for Spurs,Jimmy insisted that the transfer fee should be a pound under the one hundred thousand as he did not want to be the first hundred thousand player,perhaps it may have been a burden on his shoulders, also i thought that footballers were on a maximum wage of twenty pounds a week at that time,not sixty.
 
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rongreenblood":76drd2le said:
Just something i read about Jimmy Greaves signing for Spurs,Jimmy insisted that the transfer fee should be a pound under the one hundred thousand as he did not want to be the first hundred thousand player,perhaps it may have been a burden on his shoulders, also i thought that footballers were on a maximum wage of twenty pounds a week at that time,not sixty.

See Chapter Eight 'Walking Back to Happiness' P 164 of Greavsie. He refers to the efforts of Jimmy Hill and Cliff Lloyd in that the maximum wage had been abolished. His signature for Spurs was after that abolition.
 

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rongreenblood":232hv0et said:
Just something i read about Jimmy Greaves signing for Spurs,Jimmy insisted that the transfer fee should be a pound under the one hundred thousand as he did not want to be the first hundred thousand player,perhaps it may have been a burden on his shoulders, also i thought that footballers were on a maximum wage of twenty pounds a week at that time,not sixty.
It was Bill Nicholson who insisted on the published fee being £99,999 as he did not want Greaves to be labelled as the first £100,000 player. Nicholson and Chelsea Chairman Joe Mears both travelled to Milan and were instructed to furnish the club with sealed bids. Nicholson was the better poker player! The maximum wage was abolished at the end of the 1960-61 season after the players had threatened to strike from 17 January 1961 if the £20 maximum was repealed. Greaves had only left England because of the maximum wage here preventing him earning what he felt he deserved. Once he knew he could earn a decent wage here, coupled to the monasterial life-style he endured in Italy, he wanted to return.
 

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Quintrell_Green":2k8pg488 said:
I was there too. I stood with my cousin at the back of the old Main Enclosure immediately adjacent to the wire netting which protected the then exit / entrance to the dressing room areas. Supporters were buoyed up by Argyle's terrific success in Round 3 when they defeated First Division West Ham 3-0 at Home Park. Personally, I felt very flat at the end of the Spurs game as it was such a disappointing score line, although Spurs were full of international at the time from Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and of course England. One thing that did make me smile was the sight of our left full back George Robertson putting in a hard tackle against Welsh International Cliff Jones, who was playing right wing. Jones appeared to take off and fly for a few yards before hitting the turf over on the Lyndhurst side, which at that time was open to the elements. It is good to think back to happy days supporting Argyle.
It is indeed good to think back. You and I have discussed the third round v West Ham a few times. My memory of the Spurs game is that George Robertson was at right back and Cliff Jones played on the left. Bryce Fulton was at left back and he marked another Welsh international, Terry Medwin. John Newman rates George Robertson as one of the toughest footballers he ever saw - that is some epitaph!
 
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As a 12 year old I was present in the enclosure in front of the main stand, level with the Devonport End penalty box 18 yard line. This was an excellent position from which to see Jimmy Greaves score his second goal. I have always considered myself fortunate to have seen the finest team of that era at Argyle, and thanked my late father many a time for getting tickets and driving us to the match from St Ives. Spurs were just too good for us that day with a strong defence, ball playing midfield and flying wingers (no pun intented Q-G).

Wasn't the high attendance for the reserves match starring Jimmy Greaves, boosted by the fact that the redemption of this ticket gave the holder a priority access to a ticket to the Cup match? I seem to recall that at least one of the tickets in our party of four was obtained in this way.

On to January 1965, Torquay v Spurs at Plainmoor and half of the Spurs team had changed. An incredible 3/3 draw with Jimmy Greaves a non -scorer, but a happy return to St Ives by train for two young adopted Torquay fans.
 

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Biggs":pelulphw said:
Was this the match from one of Graham Little's anecdotes about meeting Greavesie in the dressing room?
Yes it was (the Reserves game). Graham's recollections are on the Argyle Archive website, here: https://argylearchive.org.uk/collection/graham-little/. It's the first clip ("Before Argyle"), starting about 9 minutes in.