Maxi and Micky talk Frankfurt ’82 and our amazing, 66-game 81/82 campaign

Turn the clock back over 40 years and you’ll find the last time we played Eintracht Frankfurt at home.

That was in the quarter-finals of the European Cup Winners’ Cup and we secured our passage into the semi-finals thanks in main to a 2-0 win in the first leg at the Lane on 3 March, 1982. We lost the second leg 2-1 to progress 3-2 on aggregate.

On target that night, two products of our youth system who would become Club legends.

Micky Hazard and Paul ‘Maxi’ Miller joined us in the late 1970s and went on to make 455 appearances between them, helping the Club land two FA Cups and the UEFA Cup in the early 1980s.

Forty years on from one of our famous ‘glory nights’ in Europe, Micky and Maxi joined us to recall that night and an incredible 1981/82 season, where we finished fourth in Division One, retained the FA Cup, reached the final of the League Cup and the semi-finals of the European Cup Winners’ Cup - totalling 66 games, including the Charity Shield.

Eintracht Frankfurt ‘82

Maxi: “My goal against Eintracht Frankfurt was my best for Spurs, without question. It was a 25-yarder. Someone laid the ball square to Glenn Hoddle, I shouted, ‘over’, not thinking that he would let it run through his legs, by the way, but he did, and I ran onto it and hit it first time. It flew into the bottom corner. I’m not sure who was more surprised, me or the fans! It was a great feeling, and, at that time, everything was going well. It was a great period for us.”

Micky: “I remember Maxi’s great goal. He’s talking about the fans being surprised, so were we all! It was another amazing occasion. The season was incredible. In fact, I think we under-achieved. We could have won everything, I believe we were that good. In the end, the backlog of fixtures caught up with us, because we didn’t have such big squads in those days, and one substitute. Fatigue set in towards the end of the season and we almost ended up with nothing, which would have been an absolute travesty. To this day, I believe that if we’d held on against Liverpool in the League Cup Final in March (we led 1-0 until Ronnie Whelan levelled in the 87th minute, Liverpool went on to win 3-1 in extra time) then we could have won all four, because that would have taken all the pressure off.”

Back in Europe

Maxi: “We were back in Europe after a bit of a gap (we were previously in Europe in 1973/74) and the German teams at the time (remember, it was still East and West Germany) were tough. At the time the Germans, English and Spanish were the best teams in Europe. They were always well organised, well disciplined, but didn’t drink as much as we did! I remember at the hotel in the away leg, just outside Frankfurt, there was a drive-in movie opposite. That was quite surreal! It was a terrific time. We had a fantastic team and team spirit, and, in the end, injuries cost us. Half of our squad were home-grown, and we’d been together for a long time. These lads are my oldest friends, Micky, Mark Falco, Chrissie Hughton, and we’re still together now, still play golf together, still meet for games.”

Micky: “I felt this team was more geared for Europe than for the English style of play at that time. In Europe, we had players who could get on the ball and tear teams apart. English football was a bit up and under, and a bit more difficult to play the football we wanted to play. In Europe, I always felt no-one could stop us, and, ironically, the team that did stop us kicked us off the park, and that was Barcelona in the semi-finals (one back page headline after the first leg read, ‘Animals’ the next morning).”

Maxi: “If that game happened now, they would have been down to six players within 20 minutes. We weren’t innocent, myself and Graham Roberts gave a bit back, but they came to just kick us off the park that night. They scored a lucky goal, we equalised in the end, but we went out at the Nou Camp (lost 1-0, 2-1 on aggregate).”

81/82

Micky: “We retained the FA Cup in the end, but I have say, there is still a tinge of disappointment overall for me, because we should have won more. We lost the League Cup late, lost to Barcelona in the semi-finals having totally outplayed them and I’m convinced we were the best team at that time. Ossie Ardiles says that’s the best team he ever played in. Given he won the World Cup with Argentina, that says everything about how good that team was.”

Maxi: “I wouldn’t say disappointment, because we all grew up watching the FA Cup and dreaming about the FA Cup. That’s the reason a lot of us became footballers. We won it twice. The feeling for me was that it was all worthwhile. I remember both replays in 1981 and 1982, our fans filled most of the stadium, so the feeling to win in front of them was wonderful.”

Frankfurt - this time around

Micky: “I watched the game in Germany (0-0) and thought we played quite well. We started to show signs of gelling in our attacking play, as we’ve looked solid defensively all season. Some of the one-touch passing was a pleasure to watch. If you win your home games in Europe, the likelihood is that you will progress to the knockout stage, so it’s very important to win this one. It’s a massive game.”

Maxi: “I agree with Micky. I will say, their crowd was incredible. It’s our turn now, 60,000 in the stadium all behind us and I fancy us quite strongly.”