Malcolm Bailey's Football Blog: STEVE PERRYMAN MBE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuhNuqwoQCM

Stephen John Perryman MBE (born 21 December 1951) played as a defender or midfielder. He is best-known for his successes with Tottenham Hotspur during the 1970s and early 1980s. He has won the FA Cup, League Cup, and UEFA Cup, all twice with Tottenham in his 17 years at the club. Perryman was voted Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year in 1982. He also played in and won the Anglo-Italian League Cup 1971. He was the director of football at Exeter City from 2003 until his temporary retirement in March 2018.

Perryman was born in Ealing, Middlesex. Aa a midfielder or defender, he played in a club record 866 first team appearances in all competitions for Tottenham Hotspur between 1969 and 1986 and was their longest serving player. During his seventeen-year career with the north London club, Perryman collected many medals, winning the UEFA Cup in 1972 and 1984 (playing in both legs of the 1972 Final and just the first leg of the 1984 Final as he was suspended for the second), and the League Cup in 1971 and 1973. He skippered Tottenham to successive FA Cup wins in 1981 and 1982. Perryman was also voted the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year in 1982.

Perryman did not score often even by the standards of contemporary midfielders, however he scored both goals in a 2–1 home win over AC Milan in the 1972 UEFA Cup semi-final first leg. Spurs went on to win the round 3–2 on aggregate, and then won the title, defeating Wolves in the final.

After leaving Spurs, Perryman moved to Oxford Utd in March 1986, but was cup-tied for their victory in the 1986 Football League Cup Final. He then played for Brentford as player-manager in the same year, before retiring in 1990. In his Coaching career, Perryman became manager of Watford from 1990 to 1993 saving them from relegation in the early years, before managing Start in Norway (1995), Shimizu S-Pulse, (1999–2000) and Kashiwa Reysol in Japan (2001–2002). He also served as caretaker manager for Spurs in November 1994. As a coach, he has won the J.League stage championship (1999 2nd Stage) and the Asian Cup Winners Cup (2000), both with Shimizu S-Pulse. He then worked at Exeter City with no official title to help them stay in the then football Division 3. After this he returned to Japan to manage J.League side Kashiwa Reysol. Perryman lent his name to a brand of Sports' Stores in the 1980s which were concentrated in the West London area and sported the Tottenham Hotspur cockerel. There were stores in Uxbridge, Ruislip, Greenford, Hayes and Hayes Town (Middlesex). A store in Bergen, Norway, also opened in the early 1980s, which is still operating.

Between 2003 and 2018, Perryman was director of football for Exeter City. On 5 May 2012, while watching Exeter's final game of the 2011–12 season against Sheffield United at St James Park he became unwell and was taken to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth where he underwent successful heart surgery. A month later he revealed that he might have died if it had not been for the instant medical support available at the ground, and he spent three weeks in a coma on life support.

In January 2018, Perryman announced that he would retire as Exeter City's Director of Football at the end of the 2017–18 season. However, in August of that year, Perryman joined former Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale at MK Dons, becoming an associate director of the club until November 2019 when Tisdale left. International career

After 17 matches for England U23 Perryman made a solitary appearance for the full side, appearing as a 70th-minute substitute against Iceland on 2 June 1982. The game was originally an England B fixture but was subsequently upgraded to full international status meaning Perryman was awarded his cap.

He has been married twice and has four children. He was appointed MBE in the 1986 Birthday Honours, "for services to association football".

Team information

Current team

MK Dons (Associate Director)

Senior career*

Years

Team

Apps

(Gls)

1969–1986

Tottenham Hotspur

655