Cray Wanderers – Tottenham Hotspur Connections – Neil Smith & Tim O’Shea
As the Wands prepare to face a Tottenham Hotspur side for the first time since 1969 on Tuesday 6th August, Manager Neil Smith and Assistant Manager Tim O’Shea share their experience of playing for Tottenham Hotspur early in their careers. Here Neil and Tim reflect on those days and the positive impact the club has had on their life in football.
Neil Smith
Hello Neil. Looking ahead to Cray Wanderers vs Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday, you were at Spurs early in your career. How did you arrive at Spurs, did you progress through the youth teams?
Yes, I was there as a schoolboy, I think at the time it was referred to as the School of Excellence and went there at the age of 12. There were a few other clubs that were interested but I was very lucky that I had a PE Teacher at Ravensbourne School who was very influential in me going to Tottenham. I went through the youth ranks, the School of Excellence and into the Youth Team, Reserves and then signing pro forms.
At this time was Terry Venables the first team manager at White Hart Lane?
When I signed professional he was the first team manager. Before that though there was Peter Shreeves, David Pleat and we had some good coaches but it was the youth section that was really strong at the time. We had Keith Waldon, Keith Blunt who were amazing and Ray Clemence was my first team manager. As a youth team we were very strong and playing against the likes of Arsenal with Ray Parlour in their side and we had Ian Walker in goal, Scott Houghton, Sol Campbell was my apprentice believe it or not, Darren Caskey, Nick Barmby were all playing around that time so we had strength.
Did you play in midfield in this side?
It was funny, I went there as a midfield player, my first season in the youth team I was centre-forward where I was top scorer and we won the league. Then the second season I was a centre-half/right back for the youth team and for the reserves under Ray Clemence in midfield. That was brilliant as you learn the game through every position.
At this time the Spurs first team had a strong midfield didn’t it with the likes of Vinny Samways, Paul Stewart, David Howells and the likes so it wouldn’t have been easy for you to break into the First Division squad.
That was exactly it when you were looking at ways to break into the first team. I signed pro around 1989, Spurs won the FA Cup in 1991 so there was Paul Stewart, Nayim, Paul Walsh with Gary Lineker up front, Paul Gascoigne, Gary Mabbutt at the back and as captain, Pat Van den Hauwe so it was an amazing time to be a pro there. The Youth team won the FA Youth Cup in 1990 vs Middlesbrough and that was the last time they’ve won it so I’ve got that honour playing with some great players and against Manchester United in the Semi Final who had Ryan Giggs playing and was coming through so that was a great achievement and honour.
From there I believe you moved on to Gillingham in late 1991 where Tosh was playing at the time and you scored against Brentford in the FA Cup in the early days of Sky Sports football coverage.
Yes, I rocked up at Gillingham on loan. I could have stayed at Spurs and played for the reserves but I wanted first team football and the Gills at the time had a partnership with Tottenham, Keith Burkinshaw had been manager there and I met up again with Tim. Those were good times down at Gillingham and playing league football which was all I wanted to do. They ended up paying a fee for me and as you say the FA Cup game at Brentford with Andy Gray on co-commentary and to score a goal as we came back from 3-1 down, made it 3-2 through Alan Walker and I score the equaliser and that put a bit more money on the fee that Gillingham had to pay and Tosh was there who I knew from my days at Tottenham.
A few years later of course you scored for Fulham at White Hart Lane in the FA Cup in January 1998. That must have been a special moment.
Yes, well I don’t like to talk about it (jokes!) but what happened, Matty Lawrence got the ball and put a cross in from the right and playing against Spurs who had Ian Walker in goal and Sol Campbell at the back I just managed to get in between them to score with a glancing header. That was a great day and game for us, Spurs had David Ginola playing for them and were a good side. They beat us in the end but to score at White Hart Lane was a nice feeling.
So all in all you enjoyed your time at Tottenham and helped set you on your way in your footballing career.
It was brilliant, I still now talk about how Tottenham were ahead of the game with their youth setup. Everyone was talking about total football and they played the Ajax way. As I said I played centre-forward, right-back, centre-back, centre-midfield and it was about all the players knowing their positions. That was down to the talented coaches at the club and Patsy Holland, Keith Waldon and Keith Blunt, I couldn’t thank them enough for my introduction to football and coaching.
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Tim O’Shea
Hello Tim. As we prepare to face a Tottenham Hotspur side on Tuesday, you spent the early stages of your career at White Hart Lane. Please tell us how you got to Tottenham and the start of your footballing journey.
Well, I was 15 years old and doing my football apprenticeships and had to make a choice between Arsenal and Spurs as I was at Arsenal. In the end it was a no-brainer for me so I chose Spurs. I did enjoy my time at Arsenal but went with Spurs and signed as an apprentice. Under Keith Burkinshaw I was a first year pro and then signed another two-three years pro and was captain of the youth team and reserves. Then I was in and around the first team but back then you had some quality players so it was hard to get into that side especially as a 21 year old.
I remember you played for Spurs against the great Liverpool side of the 1987-88 season in Terry Venables first game in charge in November 1987. That must have been a great occasion for you to play at White Hart Lane and in such a big match.
Yes, Terry had arrived at Spurs a week before the game and went to watch the reserves and then he put me on the bench for the Liverpool match. Subsequently I came on with about half hour – 35 minutes to go and that was against a Liverpool side that won the league that year and had an incredible team.
When you were at Spurs was there a player or players that were mentors for you or took you under their wing so to speak?
Yes, when I first went in at Spurs I was a centre-half so you had Graham Roberts and Paul Miller and they looked after me and between them they taught me a few of the dark arts as you can imagine back then. I’ll never forget Paul saying to me “when in doubt get the ball” and I came away scratching my head and then I realised what he was talking about. They were a great centre-half pairing and if one never got you, the other one did. So it was a great upbringing with those two at the club.
Tim, centre of the front row, captain of the Tottenham Hotspur Reserve side, 1987-88.
From there I believe you went on to Leyton Orient during the 1988-89 season. Was that to seek more first team opportunities?
Yes, I wanted more first team football. Terry had offered me another year’s contract but back then it was a case of first team football and I wasn’t just looking at the likes of an Ossie Ardiles or Glenn Hoddle playing in the middle of the park where I was then playing just in front of the back four. You had Micky Hazard, Ian Crook, John Moncur so it was always going to be tough to get a run of games there.
The Orient manager Frank Clark had been to many of our Football Combination games and had approached the previous Spurs manager David Pleat to ask if I could go there. He turned the move down but when Terry arrived and it came to the end of the season I decided to take the opportunity of playing first team football at Brisbane Road. It wasn’t the greatest six months of my career if I’m honest and found it a bit of a culture shock having come from Tottenham who were renowned for playing good football to one who played more long ball and direct. You couldn’t knock their style as it was effective as they ended up getting promoted from the 4th Division.
So I had six months at Leyton Orient and then Keith Burkinshaw who was the first Spurs manager to sign me had come back from Sporting Lisbon in 1988 to take charge at Gillingham and I was his first signing.
Of course at Gillingham a little while later you linked up with Smudge who came over in 1991.
Yes, Neil was a few years younger than me but certainly during the summers and times like that the youngsters would come in for training and combination play so we did cross paths during the Tottenham days. Obviously I moved on but Neil was able to enjoy being around the club with the likes of Paul Gascoigne and Gary Lineker. So I had been at Gillingham for a couple of years and then Neil came over on loan from Tottenham initially and we played quite a few games together.
So it sounds like you really enjoyed your time at Tottenham. Did you continue to have contacts around the club as you were instrumental in getting a Tottenham side to play the Wands!
Yes, I was able to get this game on for us and I cannot thank the Spurs U23s manager Wayne Burnett enough. I approached Wayne and said Cray Wanderers are moving into a new ground. It was going to be our main friendly although technically still is as it brings the curtain down ahead of our first league season at Flamingo Park. Wayne is the one that deserves enormous credit as he had to jump through hoops as U23s teams these days have to as they have to go through so many meetings which includes first team manager Ange Postecoglu and other officials so Wayne has done wonders to get a team down here. So I can’t thank Wayne and the club enough.
It will be a huge night for us won’t it to have a club of this stature coming down to Flamingo Park and also will bring a very talented side.
Without a doubt, their U21s/U23s have just won the Premier League trophy so these players will be in and around the first team. They are a hell of a side and it will be an honour and a privilege to be able to be part of it and hopefully we can get a bumper crowd and a great night for Cray Wanderers.
Cray Wanderers vs Tottenham Hotspur U23s takes place on Tuesday 6th August, 7.30 pm ko. Admission £10 adults, £5 concessions, £2 U18s on the gate or online at www.cray-wanderers.com/tickets/ with a match programme available on the night.
