Wed 27 March 2024, 15:15
Tottenham HotspurTo describe Gary Mabbutt's first months as a Spurs player as a whirlwind would almost be underplaying it.
Legendary former skipper 'Mabbsy' moved from Bristol Rovers, then of the old Third Division (League One), to White Hart Lane aged 20 in July, 1982. Within three months, he'd played at Wembley, made a goalscoring debut at Spurs and been called into the full England squad - winning his first cap against West Germany!
Gary went on to make 611 appearances for us between 1982-1998, captaining the Club for 11 years and lifting the FA Cup at Wembley in 1991.
And it all started with a flourish, approaching 42 years ago, with a goal on his competitive debut against newly-promoted Luton Town, managed by his future boss, David Pleat, at the Lane on 28 August, 1982.
With just three minutes on the clock, Glenn Hoddle clipped in a free-kick and Mabbsy planted home a header to open his Spurs account. Micky Hazard added the second in 2-0 win.
It wasn't long before he scored twice, from left-back, for England Under-21s against Denmark and he was then called up for his full international debut against West Germany at Wembley, aged 21, on 13 October, 1982. That was the first of his 16 caps spanning almost 10 years.
His form also earned recognition - he won three awards for September, 1982 - Robinson’s Barley Water Young Player of the Month and the Daily Mirror and Evening Standard's Footballer of the Month.
Mabbsy's Spurs life in pictures...
Speaking to us all the way back in 2015, Mabbsy recalled that 'whirlwind' start to life at Spurs. "We went on our pre-season tour to Norway and during the tour, a couple of players got injured, Keith Burkinshaw brought me into the middle of midfield and I then stayed in the team for the next 16 years! My debut for Spurs was the Charity Shield at Wembley against Liverpool and a week later, the first league game of the season at home to Luton and you can imagine, all the Spurs fans are used to seeing all these million-pound signings and big internationals and suddenly there was this young lad they’d never heard of from Bristol Rovers coming in for a bargain basement £105,000! I’m sure they were wondering who the heck this was but I came out against Luton, fantastic atmosphere and in the first five minutes we got a free-kick, Glenn Hoddle took it, put it on my head and I scored and from that moment, the Spurs fans warmed towards me and we’ve had the most amazing relationship since."
