Читать книгу Shirts, Shorts and Spurs - Roy Reyland - Страница 8

BY TERRY VENABLES, 2010

There have not been many books written by kit managers – in fact, I’m certain this is the first – but Roy Reyland isn’t your average kit man. Like me, Roy grew up a Spurs fan and later he sat on the bench with me when Spurs won the FA Cup in 1991. For a new generation of Spurs fans, it was the greatest victory the club has seen. But after lifting the FA Cup twice for the team I supported as a boy – once as a player and again as a manager – how could I have anything less than a huge affinity for Tottenham Hotspur Football Club? Both occasions were as dramatic as they were satisfying, and for very different reasons.

I grew up in Dagenham, which is a big West Ham area, and my two best mates were dedicated Hammers fans. But in those days Spurs were much like Manchester City or Chelsea today – a powerful team with all the best players. We had Blanchflower, Mackay and some of the biggest names in the league. And as a young professional growing up, I knew that, if I were to join Spurs, I’d have a hard time getting in the team! Instead, when I left school in 1957 I signed for Chelsea as an apprentice and worked my way into the team. Eventually, I made over 200 appearances for Chelsea, narrowly missing out on winning the league.

But when you’re a schoolboy, it’s the not the league you dream of winning. Every game of football in the playground is an FA Cup Final! The cup was a marvellous thing in my day, and, for a young player, your greatest ambition was to play at Wembley in a cup final. For me that dream would come true in 1967, joyously, after I’d signed for Tottenham. And my opponents were, of course, my former club, Chelsea.

It was a tremendous final, the first to be contended by two London clubs and as such became known as the ‘Cockney Cup Final’. For a boy from East London, the occasion was especially memorable. A hundred thousand supporters watched Spurs win 2–1, with Jimmy Robertson and Frank Saul netting the goals. By getting my hands on that trophy, it was really one in the eye for my old team.

After 115 games for Spurs, I departed for Queens Park Rangers, but I would later return to Tottenham in 1987 as manager. Again, I had a burning ambition to lift silverware, and soon after I arrived I bought a young player called Paul Gascoigne, who would become vital to that aim. I was to test out that £2m signing – and the £1.5m signing of Paul Stewart – at a friendly tournament at Wembley no less, in the summer of 1988. Among other teams, we were to face the mighty Arsenal, but it was to be a disaster.

I fielded our strongest team: Mimms, Allen, Stimson, Fenwick, Fairclough, Mabbutt, Walsh, Gascoigne, Waddle, Stewart and Samways. But Gazza was – how do I say this politely – a little out of shape. In fact, my other big signing Paul Stewart looked like he’d had a good summer, too. We were destroyed 4–0 by Arsenal, and I remember thinking that we had a lot of work to do.

But hard work is what we did. It was three years before we returned to Wembley, to face Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-final of 1991, and, as the history books will tell you, it was one hell of a match. I felt that we outplayed them, and of course Gazza was instrumental. I’ve not seen a free-kick like his since, and both the semi-final and the final were magical, and it made all that hard work worthwhile.

Spurs meant a great deal to me, and the manner in which I left was obviously a massive disappointment. I never wanted to leave, and I’ve got a massive allegiance for the Spurs fans, many of whom rallied around me and supported me when things went a bit sour. Spurs people love a fighter, and they also love a man who has a genuine dedication to the team.

When I look back at my memories with Tottenham Hotspur, there were some fantastic moments, and in almost all of them one man was present: Roy Reyland. Tottenham’s loyal kit man was already part of the furniture when I arrived, and I remember Roy was always a cheery face in the dressing room. If the pitch was frozen over, the rain was coming down sideways – or worse, we’d lost – Roy would always have a smile on his face. You could see that he loved that job with his heart and soul. It was a pleasure working with Roy, and I’ve not had a more dedicated player on my team since.