Hotspur Towers - Jurgen Klinsmann

Jurgen Klinsmann arrived at Spurs in July 1994 in a hail of publicity, having been signed by Alan Sugar on his yacht in the south of France. This was followed by the press whipping up a story that he dived in matches. His abilities, his enthusiasm for the game and charm quickly won the fans of all clubs over as he set out to ridicule the rumours and asking reporters where he could find a diving club. 

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His debut at Sheffield Wednesday saw him score in a 4-3 win with a trade mark powerful header and followed that with a diving celebration. This was meant to be a one-off but he was persuaded to repeat it when he scored both goals at home in a 2-1 over Everton. He netted seven goals in his first six games.

He would go on to win the first Premier League player of the month and followed that with the Football Writer’s Player of the Year award to go with the German player of the Year he won in 1994 and the West German award (1988).

He came, he scored, he dived - Wednesday away

His first season at Spurs saw him reach 29 goals, 20 league. Five in FA Cup as we reached the semi final including Spurs coming from behind to win at Liverpool in the sixth round with a goal in the last minute. He also added 4 in the League cup, this included a hat trick away to Watford. These came in a total of 50 games, (1).

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It is hard now to explain to those who dint live through it just how he lifted the club after several  years of troubles both with in-fighting in the courts  a  15th place finish in the league the season before.  His year at Spurs would see the departure of Ossie Ardiles in the autumn to be replaced by Gerry Francis as we rose to 7th place. At the end of the season he exercised his option to leave the club and join Bayern Munich, much to the publicly expressed anger of Alan Sugar.

From Munich he went to Sampdoria and then back to Spurs midway through the 1997/98 season.  A sense of excitement ran through the fans when he returned to Spurs a few day s after Christmas in December 1997 which found Spurs sitting near the wrong end of the table. His second debut came against  Arsenal.  His third game back and he scored the winner against West Ham.  He scored 9 goals in 15 league games; he also played in three FA Cup matches.  His goals pulled Spurs away from the relegation fight and his four goal haul at Wimbledon as we won 6-2 ensured Spurs safety as we finished 14th.  The next game at home to Southampton saw him score again in a 1-1 draw the last game before he retired from top flight football.

During his career he had won the World Cup (1990) and the European Championships (1996), the UEFA Cup with Inter Milan and a bronze medal at the 1988 Olympics.

Left an 89th minute winner in front of Liverpool's Kop.

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 He played 26 times for West Germany and 82 for the reunified Germany with a total of 47 goals.  17 of those caps came during his period with Spurs, all of them as captain.

He was later appointed the national team manager and steered Germany to third in the World Cup in 2006. He would later manage Munich and then the USA, winning the CONCACAF Cup.

He returned to White Hart Lane, for the first time since the Tottenham Tribute Trust game in 2002, in one of its last games and received a tremendous reception. He has often spoken of the special affection he has for the club and that day he commented “ It feels amazing to be back I’ve lived in the US for twenty years but I feel like I’m coming home.”

COYS
Keith Harrison.
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Notes -1- Some records show slightly different figuares which is hard to explain given how recent they are these figuares checked with THFC and Bob Goodwin's Complete Record.