Monday, 9 July 2018

ALAN GILZEAN

Bombarded by World Cup news, it was with some sadness that midst all the hype from Russia, rescues in Thailand and resignations by Brexit politicians, I heard about the death of Alan Gilzean at 79 years old.

Gilzean, who I always thought looked a bit like a vicar, was part of Spurs' 1960s team, post Double! The Spurs were described then as a "swaggering" side with Jimmy Greaves, who was added to the famous Spurs squad alongside Gilzean whose elegant style of play complimented Greaves' fox in the box.

Alan was warned off transfering to Italy (Torino) by Denis Law, who found his exchange tough. Gilzean was with Spurs during the 1967 FA Cup win, the League Cup wins of 1971 and 1973 and the UEFA Cup Final in 1972 v Wolves in an all England Final. In 1973-4 he was also with Spurs when they lost to Feyenoord in another UEFA Cup Final played in Rotterdam.

In his Scottish youth he played for Coupar Angus Juniors and Dundee Violet Youth from 1957 and in 1959 went on loan south of the border, to Aldershot Town FC.

He eventually signed for Dundee, he scored 169 goals in 190 appearances and won 22 caps for Scotland with 12 goals. He helped Dundee win the Scottish League in 1961-2 and his team reached the European Cup semi-final the following season. Dundee then played Rangers in the Scottish Cup Final in 1964 losing 3-1.
Alan Gilzean made almost 400 appearances for Tottenham Hotspur
Gilzean then scored 93 goals for Spurs in 343 games between 1964-74 and was on Highlands Park in South Africa briefly before "managing" Stevenage Borough in 1975 for a season.

In 2009 he was elected to the Scottish Hall of Fame. Ian Gilzean, his son, played professional football, mainly in Ireland and Scotland, playing in UEFA Champions League at his highest point.

Alan Gilzean died from a brain tumour.


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