Clive Allen was destined to play for Spurs.
Son of double-winning striker Les, Clive was born just two weeks after the FA Cup Final in 1961 and remembers attending games at White Hart Lane with his father in his early years.
Destiny was fulfilled when he joined us from QPR in August, 1984 and Clive went on to spend four years at the Club as a player and then another nine as coach between 2003-2012.
Clive will always be remembered for his goal-den season of 1986-87, when he scored a Club record 49 goals in all competitions. It was a season of 'so near, so far' as we finished third in the old First Division, runners-up in the FA Cup Final and reached the semi-finals of the League Cup. His efforts were rewarded with a PFA/Football Writers' Player of the Year double and the Golden Boot.
Now 57, Clive remains a popular member of our legends' hospitality team on matchdays and a regular pundit on TV and radio.
Evening Standard Footballer of the Month, November 1979 - Clive: "That was the first main award of my professional career and at that time, a prestigious award for players at London clubs. I was delighted to receive the award and that's my dad (Les) with me. I think he’s still got one of the Champagne bottles in the cupboard!"
England debut v Brazil, Maracana, 1984 - Clive: "This is the famous John Barnes game. Everybody remembers the magnificent, incredible goal that he scored that night. It was a sensational night. We beat Brazil in the Maracana and I came on for Tony Woodcock in that game to win my first England cap. It’s a great picture! I always remember going back down into the dressing rooms underneath the stadium and Bobby Robson (manager) saying ‘what a result' and how people at home would react. At that time, the Maracana was decrepit, but still absolutely massive. I think there were 70,000 there that night but it seemed empty! It was revamped for the 2014 World Cup, an iconic stadium. So not a lot of people remember this game as my debut, but they always remember when you say 'the John Barnes goal'. It was an incredible night."
With cousin Paul Allen at the Lane, 1985 - Clive: "I arrived in 1984, just after we had won the UEFA Cup. Steve Archibald had just gone to Barcelona. Paul arrived a year later having left West Ham. We played against each other a lot in youth football but we had never played together so to hook up here was just fantastic. The family ties were there but just to be on the same pitch, playing together was brilliant. I think sometimes, maybe Paul was underestimated. The level of consistent performance that he put in, he was one of those players that you just needed in your team. You knew what you were going to get week in, week out. He was a model professional and for me, great to play with."
Celebrating his second goal in our 4-0 win against West Ham, Boxing Day, 1986 - Clive: "This was the best game that season! As soon as I look at it, I know it's Boxing Day, West Ham at home and still to this day I say that was our best team performance that season. We had a great season obviously and we played some of our best attacking football that day with our passing and movement and I managed to score twice. I’ll never forget it, one of the best performances in what was a fantastic season. The players, the team, the way we played...we entertained, we scored goals - and it all came together that Boxing Day."
Emotional scenes with Chris Waddle after beating Watford 4-0 in the FA Cup semi-final, 1987 - Clive: "The thing I always remember and the story I always tell is that at half-time, we came in 3-0 up and Paul (Allen) had scored and he was running around the dressing room saying ‘I can’t believe it, I can’t believe it, it's the FA Cup semi-final, I’ve scored and we’re 3-0 up’. I remember one or two of the senior boys like Ray Clemence, Glenn Hoddle saying to him, ‘hold on Ollie (Paul's nickname) calm down, it's not done yet'. Steve Hodge soon scored to make it 4-0 in the second half. It was a semi-final that went perfectly."
Scoring in the FA Cup Final against Coventry City, Wembley, 1987 - Clive: "It was the perfect start to the game. Two minutes in, Chris Waddle's cross and again, just with the season we were having, I think the expectation was that we would go on and win the FA Cup. That goal was my 49th for the season. It was one of those great moments that you can never take away, but we didn’t end up winning it. It was at the Spurs end, so I remember that as well, wheeling away and saluting the supporters in that end of the stadium."
PFA Player of the Year award, 1987 - Clive: "Glenn Hoddle and Chris Waddle were nominated for that award and could have easily been winners with the season that they’d had. To be voted for this award by your fellow professionals, there’s no bigger accolade. I was fortunate to win the Football Writers' award that year as well. It was quite a year, quite a season. Sir Stanley Matthews presented the award. Memories that you love to have."
Playing golf with Hans Segers at the Ile aux Cerfs Golf Course in Mauritius, 2005 - Clive: "We toured Mauritius at the end of the 2004-2005 season. Hans was goalkeeping coach and we got on really well, a real avid golfer. We had the opportunity to play a beautiful course. I love my golf and I play regularly. It’s the one sport I’m reasonably competitive at so I enjoy it. I love playing it and I always will."
Talking to Dimitar Berbatov at Carrow Road, 2008 - Clive: "I have great admiration for him as a footballer. A sensational footballer. He was so clever. People will say he was languid, he was this, he was that. The one thing that a lot of people don’t know was that he was so knowledgeable about the game. He knew about the history of the Club. He was in love with the game and I have to say, he was one of the best forward players that I have seen."
Training with the players before our Champions League opener at Werder Bremen, 2010 - Clive: "I always loved to join in. Obviously I couldn’t run as I used to but some of the small-sided games, the boxes were always great fun. That Champions League campaign (2010-11) was our next step up the ladder. We needed that. Your level of play has to improve and the competition is fierce. I think we showed that we could deal with it and it was an unbelievable experience."
Finishing session with Rafa van der Vaart at Spurs Lodge, 2011 - Clive: "I loved that. It was something I always did as a player and as a coach, I always offered the finishing sessions at the end of training. Jermain Defoe always wanted it and it was something they all bought into. I was just drawing on all my years and experience and one of the things I tried to do was to make it realistic in terms of situations they might find themselves in as strikers. I really enjoyed those sessions and I would like to think they enjoyed it as well. We had some fun."
The Finale, White Hart Lane, 2017 - Clive: "I won't forget that day for the rest of my life. It was fitting. It was brilliant. It was such an occasion. All the Spurs fans I speak to - and I’ve been all over the world and even visited New Zealand six months after that - tell me they were at White Hart Lane that day, so many people from different parts of the world. What a day."
On the pitch at the Lane Finale with his father Les, 2017 - Clive: "I remember that moment because I said to him ‘the pitch isn't bad, is it? You’d be able to play on that, wouldn’t you?’ and he looked at me and said ‘yeah, it’s just magic'. It was immaculate and he played on a pitch that was a sandpit in probably the best Tottenham team that’s ever been. I remember him saying ‘it would be fantastic to play on this pitch'. Obviously to come out first in the parade, followed by my dad and Paul was wonderful for the family. It’s been a big part of our lives and it was just very special."
With cousin Paul again, this time at the premiere of 'The Lane' film, 2017 - Clive: "I'd been on the staff for a while, then moved back into the media and Paul suggested that I should be part of the Club with the legends, doing the matchday hospitality and I just love it. I love that hour when we get together early on matchdays. Paul and I travel in to most games together, we are very close. I know his family well. It’s just great, all the memories. We are a footballing family and that will never change. He’s done brilliantly with the PFA, he's highly respected throughout football and we’ve got a very special relationship. It’s great to spend time with him and all the legends, special times, fantastic memories."
