THE CONTENTS OF THE CLARET JUG

Ron Henry, a first class right back in Tottenham's historic “Double” winning side, died at the ripe old age of 80. Ron Henry helped Spurs do the League and Cup double, for the first time by any club, in the 20^th Century, in 1960-1, The legendary Preston North End had held that achievement alone from the 19^th Century. Spurs then went on to win the FA Cup in 1962 and the European Cup Winners Cup in 1963. Ron only played one game for England, competing with the likes of the favoured Jimmy Armfield, from Blackpool. Jimmy, a radio pundit, would be saddened to witness the present plight of his old club.

Mentioning old men, I saw Emile Heskey come on as sub for Bolton Wanderers yesterday, at the John Smith's Stadium, Huddersfield. At 35 he has been rescued from the Australian Football leagues by Neil Lennon and given a chance to play in Bolton's drive for a play off place. This may prove a shrewd move, but yesterday Emile contributed little to his team's defeat and was booked. There will be more to come from this long serving centre forward, who played 62 times for England and gained another host of caps at youth level and U21.

At the other end of the age scale, what about the success of Ashley Barnes who has been snatched by Burnley's scouts from the lesser realms of Plymouth Argyle, Salisbury, Eastbourne Borough and Brighton and been given an opportunity to make his name in the Premiership? Burnley won't have a lot of money to thrown around, so Sean Dyche has invested his money in local products and this strategy may help him keep the Clarets in the top division. Barnes has qualified as an Austrian international, having a grandparents with Austrian nationality. Danny Ings is another success story, who is making his team difficult to beat ( see previous blog) and if you look at the club's list of players, there are a lot of home grown youngsters and a number from Australia and New Zealand.

By the way when Spurs did their double in 1960-61, I saw Burnley play at White Hart Lane; the Lancashire club had been the First Division champions in 1959-60 and were top drawer, so it was some game. In the following season, Burnley were beaten in the Cup Final 3-1 by Spurs. What goes around, comes around?