Catching up with… Steve Sedgley

For Enfield-born Spurs supporter Steve Sedgley, the opportunity to sign for us from Coventry City in the summer of 1989 was, 'like coming home'.

Sedgley, who trained with both ourselves and the Sky Blues as a youngster, played 103 games for Coventry between 1986 and 1989 and was an unused substitute in the club’s 3-2 extra-time victory over us in the 1987 FA Cup Final.

His competitive Spurs debut came in our 2-1 victory over Luton Town in August, 1989 – the first of his 211 appearances until a transfer to Ipswich Town in the summer of 1994. He featured in five of our six FA Cup matches as we triumphed in the competition in 1990/91 including the 3-1 victory over Arsenal in the semi-final and in the 2-1 extra-time win against Nottingham Forest in the final.

What early memories do you have of the Club?

Steve: "I was a Spurs supporter from a young age. My dad took me to my first game when I was 12 and I was hooked! Not long after, I was invited to start training with the club. I was training with some of my future team-mates like Vinny Samways and David Howells, who were in the youth team. Graham Roberts always says he spotted me. When he came from Weymouth, Graham’s wife became friends with our Sunday league team manager’s wife. To cut a long story short, Graham came down to train us, a week or so before he made his debut for Spurs I think. It was a brilliant experience that, as you can imagine. I don’t tell Graham very often, but he’s always been my hero!"

How did you come to sign for Coventry City as a youngster?

Steve: "Around the time I left school, Spurs were keen for me to stay on, but on a non-contract basis. Coventry offered me an apprenticeship and they were doing well in the top flight. When I was a kid, I alternated between training with Coventry and Spurs over school holidays, which obviously wouldn’t be allowed now. My dad, who had a lot of experience in non-league football, thought the best move at the time for me was to go to Coventry as they brought lots of young players through into the first team. Things worked out well for me at Coventry and I will always be grateful to the club for giving me my start in football."

You must have been disappointed to be an unused substitute for the 1987 FA Cup Final, given that you’d played in 40 matches during the season up until that point?

Steve: "It was a bit of a bitter-sweet one. I was a non-playing substitute. I was delighted we won but having not played, I was wondering if my chance of playing in a cup final might have come and gone. Like my time at Spurs, I played at centre-half and in midfield at Coventry. In the latter part of that season, my room-mate Graham Rodger was playing centre-half and I was playing in midfield. Graham and I were both on the bench for the final. When our captain Brian Kilcline went off with an injury towards the end of the 90 minutes, Graham – who had done well at centre-back in the weeks leading up to the final - went on and I stayed on the bench."

How did your move from Coventry to Spurs come about?

Steve: "Around Easter time (in 1989), I was told Spurs had come in for me. John Sillett knew I wanted to go and fortunately, in the summer, the move came off. I came back home and joined the club I’d always dreamed of playing for. Derby came in for me around the same time, but I wasn’t going anywhere another than Tottenham once they had come in for me."

Your debut season saw you make 39 appearances in all competitions as we finished third in the First Division and made it to the semi-finals of the League Cup. You must have been pleased with that first season as a Spurs player?

Steve: "Yes, I really enjoyed that first season. There were some ups and downs during my time at Spurs but I absolutely loved it. I played with some great players and met some fantastic people – people who became friends for life. It’s amazing the number of people you meet in football who become lifelong friends. I still go to Spurs on a regular basis and it’s always great catching up with former team-mates."

What was it like playing in the same team as a certain Paul Gascoigne in your early seasons at Spurs?

Steve: "I knew Gazza prior to going to Spurs as we’d met on the England Under-21 scene. When anyone asks me, ‘who was the best player you played against during your career?’ I say Gazza and whenever anyone asks me, ‘who was the best player you played with during your career?’ I say Gazza too! When you were around Gazza on a daily basis, you realised how committed he was. As crazy as he was, he was so committed and he loved football. He was an absolute genius too, who had an incredible career."

What was Terry Venables like for you as a manager?

Steve: "Terry was very calm and there was never any confrontation with him after matches. He’d have a word with you on the Monday if he felt he needed to, in a peaceful manner. Tactically, Terry was very astute. When Terry was at Spurs, John Lyall came from West Ham to work as a coach and a scout and he was similar to Terry. They both knew the game inside out and had a real love for the game. You could sit and listen to people like them all day long."

What memories spring to mind from our journey to the FA Cup Final in 1991?

Steve: "Pat Van den Hauwe and I were suspended for the third round tie at Blackpool but I played in all the matches after that. Gazza was fantastic on the run, scoring twice against Oxford, twice down at Portsmouth and he scored in the quarter-final when we beat Notts County at White Hart Lane too. Of course, everyone will remember the semi-final against Arsenal. It was a great day for us and we really did play well, but it has only been watching the game back a few times over the years that I realised that match was perhaps closer than a lot of people will have thought. We were delighted to come out on top!"

How do you reflect on our victory over Nottingham Forest in the 1991 FA Cup Final?

Steve: "When you lose your talisman so early in a game, it’s always going to be difficult and that’s what happened with us with Gazza’s injury. We went behind to Stuart Pearce’s free-kick and I think after that, it was just a case of us regrouping. I remember Terry Venables being pretty calm at half-time. We got back into the game with Paul Stewart’s goal. You sometimes need a bit of luck in football and we got that with the own goal (from Des Walker). But over the course of the 90 minutes and then into extra-time, I felt we were good value for the win in the end. I remember us heading to the Princess Grace Hospital after the match to take Gazza his winners’ medal. It was a difficult year for Gazza after that but he bounced back. He went to Lazio, he was amazing at Rangers, he was brilliant for England at Euro ’96. I wouldn’t have minded that career!"

What prompted you to make the move to Ipswich in the summer of 1994?

Steve: "I didn’t miss a game the season before I left Spurs. I captained the team for a period and had a good season. The money I was initially offered was different to what I was offered at the end of the season. So, I left. In hindsight, I don’t think I was particularly well advised and I think I should have stayed put, especially when Jürgen Klinsmann was signing for us a few weeks later! I don’t have any regrets from my football career but I do think I left Spurs at the wrong time. I went to Ipswich, mainly because John Lyall was there and I had close links with him. I think John was pretty much the only person I’d have left Tottenham for."

Can you tell us a bit about what you’ve been up to since retiring from playing?

Steve: "I went into non-league football after retiring. I managed at Kingstonian. I lived in Barbados for a while after that and then I came back to the UK and worked as a youth team coach at Luton under Mike Newell. Then, about 15 years ago, I got involved in what I’m doing now, which is running a construction business. I didn’t have any previous experience in construction but a Spurs fan called Joel Zimelstern got me into it and I’ll always be grateful to him. I’ve stuck with it. It’s a tough game but it has given me a different life after football. I had some great experiences working back at Spurs on matchdays after playing. Now, I have a table in the Loge on matchdays with my business partners. I get to go and watch Spurs play in a lovely environment."

Finally, how great is it to see Tottenham Hotspur versus Coventry City as a Premier League fixture once again?

Steve: "It’s great to see Coventry back in the Premier League. They were a great club when I was there. They brought a lot of players through into the first team and were doing well in the First Division. They had a difficult time after leaving Highfield Road and it has taken them a long time to get back to the top flight, but it’s great to see."

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