Catching up with... Ally Dick

Some of the lesser-spotted former players from our successful team of the early-1980s were visitors to the new stadium recently for a private charity event, which coincided with the 35-year anniversary of our memorable UEFA Cup victory in 1984. We caught up with some of them to look back on years gone by and discover how they rate our current set-up. In the hot seat today, Ally Dick...

Even now, some 37 years after becoming the youngest player to represent our first team, Ally Dick still enjoys being the ‘baby’ of the squad.

A midfielder from Stirling, Scotland, Ally joined us as an apprentice and was thrown in for his senior debut from the start at just 16 years, 301 days old as we beat Manchester City 2-0 at White Hart Lane in February, 1982, making him the youngest player ever to appear for us at the time.

That record has since been eclipsed, although the now-54-year-old remains the youngest player ever to start a game for us – something he was reminded of when he visited our new stadium last month to catch up with some of his former 1984 UEFA Cup-winning team-mates at a charity gala dinner.

“The one thing I do like about coming to these reunions… I’m always the youngest!” he quipped. “It doesn’t happen very often but everyone is older than me when I come to these events. As far as history goes, I’m still the youngest to play in a league game and still the youngest to ever start a first team game. I know John Bostock came on for the last few minutes as a substitute in Europe in 2008 (against Dinamo Zagreb) to become the youngest player for Spurs but I actually started a game to set the record.

“It’s great to come back. We had a reunion for the 1984 squad about 10 years ago and since then I’ve been back once for a game, but I never really met anybody. Today I’ve met all the players again and it’s great to see that the guys have not changed much! Basically you just pick up where you left off. The guys are just the same, cracking the same jokes and laughing as they used to.

“I was just talking to Tony Parks – even before I signed with Tottenham, I went on some of the youth team trips with the club. I was only about 15 and we went on a trip to Bellinzona in Switzerland. I was very quiet, I just used to sit in the background but I remember guys like Tony, who were so funny. Every time I was asked why I signed for Tottenham, because I had a lot of clubs that I could have signed for, I said it was because every time I came here I just had such fun! Everybody made me feel at home, there was a true family feel about the club and I still stick by that to this day. That’s why I came here.”

Ally made four appearances during our epic 1983/84 UEFA Cup journey, including one as a substitute in the second leg of the final when he replaced Gary Mabbutt. His old pal ‘Parksy’ was the hero that night as we beat Anderlecht in a shootout at White Hart Lane to lift the trophy.

“Leading up to the final, I was lucky in the sense that there were a lot of guys injured and a lot of guys suspended,” said Ally, who scored twice in 25 overall appearances for us between 1982 and 1986 before moving to Ajax and later playing in Australia and South Africa. “Me and some of the other younger guys, we knew we had a chance of maybe getting on the bench and luckily enough that happened for me. I always got on well with Keith (Burkinshaw, manager), he was always pushing me forward, but when I came on I was only playing for about five minutes and tore the ligaments in my right knee. So the day after the final I was in the hospital and the next day I had plaster on from my thigh to my toes – I had that on for six weeks. So as good as it was to win, it was a bittersweet ending for me.”

Now living back in his home town, Ally has gone down the coaching route in recent years, working with the Under-13s and Under-14s at Stirling Albion before coaching at Under-23 level at the University of Stirling. He called time on that last year and has since undergone ankle surgery.

“Things go very quick, they just fly past!” added Ally. “It was fantastic to see this club reach the Champions League Final this year and it goes without saying, I’m very impressed with the stadium. It’s certainly one of the nicest stadiums I’ve seen and hopefully we’ll have lots of success here.”