Catching up with... Mark Bowen

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. First in the hot seat, Mark Bowen...

Former left-back Mark Bowen considers himself a lucky man.

Not only did he learn his trade from some of our all-time greats during the late-1970s and early-1980s, but he went on to establish himself as a legend in his own right at Norwich City, breaking into the Welsh national team and enjoying a lengthy playing career that also included time at West Ham, Charlton, Wigan, Reading and Japanese side Shimizu S-Pulse.

Since then, he’s built up a good reputation as a coach and has been back to Spurs in the opposition dugout on a number of occasions as the long-serving assistant manager to Mark Hughes with clubs such as Blackburn, Manchester City, Fulham, Queens Park Rangers, Stoke City and Southampton, in addition to a stint on his country’s coaching staff. He also worked at Crystal Palace and Birmingham City under Steve Bruce following his retirement as a player.

“I’ve been lucky, remaining in the game for such a long time,” smiled the now-55-year-old as he surveyed a stylish function room in the East Stand of our new stadium, alive with the buzz of guests mingling with many of the heroes of our 1983/84 UEFA Cup-winning side at a charity event last month. Mark actually made his Spurs debut against Coventry City at the beginning of that season and, although he didn’t feature in Europe, was an unused substitute in the second leg of the final against Anderlecht when Graham Roberts burst through to send the tie to penalties and goalkeeper Tony Parks was the hero of the shootout.

“I consider myself very, very fortunate because I actually signed schoolboy forms at the club in the same year that Ossie Ardiles and Ricky Villa came over from Argentina (1978), so the eyes of the country and the world were on Tottenham in those days. I was more than happy to grow up at a place like this as a young player, a teenager breaking into the first team and I had the best teachers you could ever have – Steve Perryman, Glenn Hoddle, Ossie Ardiles… and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The group of players who were at the club at that time, they taught you the game, how to think about the game and how to behave as a person as well, not just on the field but off it too. I will forever be in their debt. I was talking to Stevie Perryman just now, not just about my games here as a youngster growing up but the process of being taught the right way to behave, which is all-important as well.”

Mark played a number of times around the turn of the year during that memorable 1983/84 season and, by the time he left for Norwich in 1987, had made 20 first team appearances and scored twice. He now knows he was lucky, but admits he perhaps didn’t realise as much at the time.

“I was probably a little bit hasty when I left,” he said. “I made my debut when I was 19 then left when I was 23 to go to Norwich City but maybe I should have stuck around a bit longer and been a bit more patient. I was really hungry to play first team football – Chris Hughton wasn’t playing so much at the time and I thought I was going to get in the side, but then David Pleat brought in Mitchell Thomas, so it was almost like I was a bit impatient. I was offered a contract to stay but I left to go to Norwich.”

After earning cult hero status at Carrow Road, Mark eventually found his way into coaching. He ended the 2018/19 season as a technical consultant at another of his former clubs, Reading.

“I’ve come back to Spurs many times as an opposition player and an opposition coach, but I don’t think I’ve ever been so blown away as I was when I came here to the new stadium for the Ajax home game a few weeks ago,” he smiled. “Before you walk in, even outside, it just takes your breath away. I hesitate to say ‘where this club has come from’ because we’ve always been up there, but where it’s heading... it seems the sky is the limit.”