Perryman's home-grown heroes

Legendary former skipper Steve Perryman celebrated the 30th anniversary of our 1984 UEFA Cup success by proclaiming it to be “a victory for home-grown talent.”

We defeated Anderlecht on penalties in the final to lift the trophy at White Hart Lane on May 23, 1984, with many of the players involved having emerged through our ranks to compete at the top level.

Others, such as Tony Galvin and Graham Roberts, had joined us from lower league clubs at a young age – but Steve, who famously missed the second leg of the final through suspension, revealed at Friday night’s anniversary celebrations that he still considers the pair to be two of our own.

“There was talent in the team – some wonderful players,” recalled Steve, who was also part of our 1972 UEFA Cup-winning side. “A lot of good players didn’t play all the games in that competition so you’re then calling on squad strength and I always thought the 1984 win was a victory for home-grown talent.

“Of course, not one person wins the games, but if you think about Parksy (goalkeeper Tony Parks) in the penalty shootout in the final, you think about Mark Falco’s winner against Bayern Munich, you think about Micky Hazard controlling the game and his goal against Hajduk Split in the semi-final, you think about Paul Miller’s goal in Anderlecht – everyone contributed.

“I remember Tony Galvin scored three goals against Feyenoord over two legs in one of the earlier rounds and – I was talking to Maxy (Miller) about this – I always think of Tony Galvin and Graham Roberts as being home-grown.

“I know they weren’t, but that’s how we saw them because they were young and they hadn’t really made it anywhere before they came to us.

“We all came up together. I suppose I was a little bit older than most of them but there’s great spirit among the group and it’s lovely to see them again tonight – let’s hope it’s not another 30 years until we meet again.”