Pat Jennings

1964-1977
Appearances: 590. Goals: 1 (1967 Charity Shield)
FA Cup winner 1967, League Cup 1971, 1973, UEFA Cup 1972
Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year, 1972/73
PFA Player of the Year, 1975/76
119 caps for Northern Ireland, played in 1982 and 1986 World Cups

Pat Jennings joined us from Watford in June, 1964. Initially battling it out with legendary double goalkeeper Bill Brown, Pat made his debut against Sheffield United in August of that year and having made 23 and 25 appearances in his first two seasons, established himself in 1966/67, when we landed the FA Cup.

The best goalkeeper in the world in his pomp, third behind Steve Perryman (854) and Gary Mabbutt (611) in our list of all-time appearances with 590 between 1964-1977, Pat added two League Cups (1971, 1973) and the UEFA Cup (1972) to his FA Cup win in 1967. He also scored against Manchester United in the 1967 Charity Shield, was named Football Writers Footballer of the Year in 1973, PFA Player of the Year in 1976 and won a then world record 119 caps for Northern Ireland between 1964-1986. How apt that his last competitive appearance was against Brazil at the World Cup Finals in 1986.

After a spell at Arsenal in 1977, Pat returned briefly in 1985 as he built up to the 1986 World Cup and has been a coach and goalkeeping consultant since 1993...

Pat Jennings

Fact file by former Club Historian, Andy Porter

Born at Newry, County Down on June 12, 1945, Patrick Anthony Jennings is one of a family of eight children, seven boys and one girl.

His first organized football was at the age of 11 for Shamrock Rovers, an under-19 side playing in the local Newry league. He missed out playing in a local cup final as he was deemed to be too short but eventually received a winners medal.

Schooldays employment included working on a milk round and as delivery boy for a grocer. On leaving school at the age of 15 he worked as a bobbin boy at a spinning mill and then for the Haldane & Shiells timber firm in Newry.

Having attended St. Joseph’s - a Gaelic football playing school - Pat resumed his soccer career in 1961 when one of his brothers, Brian – a Northern Ireland Amateur international -  persuaded him to join Newry United, the reserve team of  Newry Town. Season 1961-62 ended with a winners’ medal in the Irish Junior Cup and the following campaign promotion to the Newry Town side.

Pat made his international debut in a two-legged play off between Northern Ireland Youth and the Republic of Ireland to determine which team would feature in the 1963 European Youth Championships being staged in England. A 1-1 draw at Dalymount Park coupled with a 3-2 victory at Windsor Park saw the north progress.

Come the finals, the Irish won their group with victories over Belgium – 2-1 at Eastbourne – and Czechoslovakia – 1-0 at Woking – along with a 3-3 draw against Sweden at Bromley. Their semi final ended 1-1 against Bulgaria with the Irish successful on drawing of lots. The Final, watched by a 30,500 crowd at Wembley Stadium on April 23, was won 4-0 by England.

Unbeknown to Pat, former Irish international Bill McCracken had been at Bromley and alerted Watford manager Ron Burgess to his prowess. No sooner had he returned home to Newry than he was back again to sign for Watford in a £6,500 deal.

Pat didn’t have long to wait for his Football League debut. His first taste of  Third Division football was a 2-2 draw at Queens Park Rangers, staged at the old White City Stadium on May 13. He made his home debut five days later against Port Vale and was ever-present the following season when Watford finished third behind Coventry City and Crystal Palace.

The 1963-64 season saw Pat represent a Rest of Britain XI – made up of Irish, Scots and Welsh players - against the England Youth team at Wembley and on February 5, 1964 he gained an Under-23 cap in a 3-3 draw with Wales at Windsor Park. The Welsh also provided the opposition for Pat’s Full international debut, a 3-2 win for the Irish at Swansea on April 15, 1964. A fortnight later he featured in a 3-0 home win over Uruguay.

Pat signed for Tottenham on June 9, 1964 for a reported £27,500 fee and made his first division debut in the 2-0 home win over Sheffield United on the opening day of  the 1964-65 campaign, August 22.  For two years he vied with Bill Brown for the ‘keepers jersey until finally becoming first choice for season 1966-67.

His early years here were spent in local digs, along with another new arrival, Cyril Knowles, at the home of a club landlady Mrs. Elizabeth Galloway.

An FA Cup winners’ medal against Chelsea during May,1967 was followed by a goalscoring start to the next campaign. The occasion was the FA Charity Shield match at Old Trafford on August 12. With just nine minutes gone Pat launched a drop kick upfield which bounced once and flew off the wet turf past his opposite number Alex Stepney. That gave us a 2-0 lead, the match ended in a 3-3 draw.

That Charity Shield appearance is included in a sequence of 172 consecutive matches played by Pat - the third best by any player in our colours - between October, 1966 and January, 1970.

Football League Cup winning tankards were gained in 1971 and 1973 along with an Anglo-Italian League Cup Winners’ Cup medal in 1971 and a UEFA Cup winners medal in 1972. Season 1972-73 saw Pat become the second Spur to collect the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year trophy – following compatriot Danny Blanchflower - thanks in no small part to two penalty saves made in a 1-1 draw at Anfield on March 31. Three years later he was the first Spur to receive the PFA Player’s Player of the Year award.

On October 4, 1975, at Newcastle, Pat made his 419^th League appearance in our colours, surpassing the record of another goalkeeping great, Ted Ditchburn, who made a special presentation prior to the Manchester City home game a fortnight later. Named as an MBE in the 1976 Queen’s Birthday Honours List, Pat was rewarded with a testimonial match against Arsenal on November 23, 1976, a fixture which was included within the club season ticket for the first time, watched by a crowd numbering 28,694.

By the time he left to join Arsenal in August, 1977, Pat had established a club record of 472 League games plus 118 in major cup competitions, which stood until April, 1981 when Steve Perryman took over the mantle.

Eight years at Highbury yielded three consecutive FA Cup Final appearances but just the one winners medal, in 1979. Pat also featured in his third European final, in the 1980 European Cup Winners Cup. On February 26, 1983, at West Bromwich Albion, he became the first British player to reach 1,000 senior appearances. His Arsenal appearance tally was 237 League outings plus 89 major cup matches. We were the opponents for nine of those games. Arsenal staged his farewell match against us on May 8, 1985 which we again won 3-2.

Pat returned here on non contract terms for season 1985-86 adding nine reserve team appearances to his total of 32 games for our second XI during his first spell. His only senior appearance for us was in a Screen Sport Super Cup match against Liverpool here on January 14. Their neighbours Everton signed Pat as cover for their FA Cup semi final and final but he wasn’t called upon to play.

The 1986 World Cup saw Pat bid farewell on his 41st birthday, against Brazil, having gained a then world record 119 caps. His travels for Northern Ireland, spread over 22 years, saw him face 30 different countries, feature in two World Cups, keep 43 clean sheets and play in 25 different countries.

The final senior match of his career was on July 27, 1986 when Pat captained the Rest of the World versus The Americas in the FIFA/UNICEF charity match at Pasadena, California. Later that year, on December 3, a tribute match was staged at Windsor Park, Belfast between Pat Jennings’ Select and an International XI.

Pat’s aggregate total of 1,098 senior appearances comprises 757 League games, 218 cup matches, 119 Full plus three ‘other’ internationals and his Under-23 cap.

Awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Ulster during July, 1986 Pat also received the OBE in January, 1987. He has served as our Goalkeeping Consultant since July, 1993 and also held a similar post with Northern Ireland during the late 1990’s having previously been on the UEFA Fair Play committee for four years from 1992. In 1999 he received the Papal Knighthood Medal (KSG) for his charitable works. He continues to work with our legends on matchdays.