Hotspur Towers - Terry Neil

Terry faced what many thought an impossible task when he was appointed Tottenham manager to succeed the legendary Bill Nicholson, in September 1974. His only managerial experience had been four years at Division Two Hull City. Where he had finished in mid-table, with a win ratio of 35%. He was not helped by the fact that he was a former captain of Arsenal.

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A strange decision and one that was not welcomed by many fans. The former Northern Ireland captain was born in Belfast and joined our North London rivals youth team.  Able to play in any of the half back positions he became that clubs youngest captain at 20 years of age. The nearest he came to an honour as a player was runner up in the League Cup 1968. He moved to Hull as player manager in 1970. He later held that duel role for his country. Terry retired from playing having overtaken Danny Blanchflowers appearance record for the North with 59 games. A record that would be taken back by Pat Jennings. He scored twice for his country.

Playing days - Sept 66 with Jimmy Greaves

Taking over from Nicholson the Spurs side needed rebuilding and in his first season Spurs finished just above the drop zone. Safety  was only ensured on the last day of the season as we beat Leeds 4-2 at home just before they played in the European Cup final. 

We had also got out of both domestic cups at the first hurdle.

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The next year (75/76) Spurs rose to ninth in the season as he gave Glenn Hoddle his debut. We also reached the semi finals of the League Cup. The fans at least accepted we were moving in the right direction.
Then as that season ended Bertie Mee resigned as Arsenal manager and there was little doubt that Neil would take the job after just under two years with Tottenham, in fairness it was his dream job. 
In 1979 he tried to sign Hoddle for Arsenal.  Despite his Arsenal roots he liked flair players and had tried to sign Johan Cruyff in his time at Spurs. At Arsenal he took them to four different cup competition finals, winning once. They sacked him in 1983 and he left football at just 41 years. He has since worked in various business interests including Sports bars.

Terry trivia – In 1983 he ran the London Marathon.
Possibly the most remarkable thing he did at Spurs was to bring Keith Burkenshaw to the club as coach from Newcastle. Keith would succeed Terry and become one of our most successful managers. Terry despite his red roots has been quoted as saying what an honour it was to manage Spurs.  

top - Terry's first day at Spurs and he meets his players in the car park.

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