Alan Gilzean

Football player infobox


playername = Alan Gilzean
fullname = Alan John Gilzean
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1938|10|23|df=y
cityofbirth = Coupar Angus
countryofbirth = Scotland
position = Striker
years = 1957-1964
1964-1974
clubs = Dundee
Tottenham Hotspur
caps(goals) = 134 (113)
343 0(93)
nationalyears = 1963-1971
nationalteam = Scotland
nationalcaps(goals) = 022 0(12)
manageryears =
managerclubs = Stevenage Athletic

Alan John Gilzean (born 23 October 1938 in Coupar Angus, Perth and Kinross, Scotland) is a professional footballer from the 1960s and 1970s, playing for Dundee in his native country and English club Tottenham Hotspur. He scored 12 goals in 22 full international appearances for Scotland between 1963 and 1971.

Dundee F.C. (1957-1964)

Gilzean began his career with local sides Coupar Angus Juveniles and Dundee Violet before joining Dundee in January 1956 as a 17-year-old amateur. He finally signed professional forms at the beginning of the 1957-58 campaign and would score more than 100 goals in the Scottish top flight as an important part of the successful Dens Park side, winning the Scottish league championship in 1961-62, reaching the semi-finals of the European Cup the following season and the final of the Scottish Cup in 1964, losing 3-1 to Rangers.

Gilzean made his debut for the Scottish national team in November 1963 against Norway having previously represented his country at Under-23 level on three occasions as well as playing for the Scottish League representative side. He would receive four more international caps in the following twelve months and scored twice at White Hart Lane for a Scotland Select XI against Spurs in a memorial match for fellow Scot John White, who died in tragic circumstances in July 1964.

Tottenham Hotspur F.C. (1964-1974)

His performance in the memorial match alerted the Spurs management staff who were still searching for a suitable replacement for 'Double' winner Bobby Smith and Gilzean joined the North London club in December 1964 for a fee of £72,500, making his debut in a home fixture against Everton.

Gilzean enjoyed a glittering career as a Tottenham player, quickly changing his style of play from a prolific striker to an intelligent and creative forward, forming a famed partnership alongside crowd favourite Jimmy Greaves. A member of the 1967 FA Cup winning team, Gilzean continued to be a regular first-team player despite the arrival of Martin Chivers in early 1968 from Southampton.

After strike-partner Greaves moved to West Ham United in March 1970, Gilzean and Chivers formed a new and equally successful goalscoring partnership, contributing greatly to Tottenham's cup triumphs in the first half of the decade, winning the League Cup in 1971, an all-English UEFA Cup final in 1972 against Wolverhampton Wanderers and a second League Cup victory in 1973.

The 1973/74 season would be Gilzean's last as a professional footballer as Spurs lost the UEFA Cup final to Dutch giants Feyenoord Rotterdam. Announcing his retirement during the club tour to Mauritius he was awarded a testimonial in November 1974 to recognise his ten years of service as a Tottenham player. Gilzean represented Scotland seventeen times during his Spurs career and following his retirement played in South Africa for three months before returning to England as manager of Stevenage Athletic, alongside his Assistant Manager, Tim 'Pieman' Welton. He has since worked for a transport company in Enfield, only a short distance from White Hart Lane.

Tottenham Hotspur F.C. statistics

*First Division: 343 matches, 93 goals
*FA Cup: 40 matches, 21 goals
*League Cup: 28 matches, 6 goals
*Europe: 28 matches, 13 goals
*TOTAL: 439 matches, 133 goals

International goals

:"Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first."

Honours

Dundee
* 1961-62 - Scottish League championship

Tottenham Hotspur
* 1967 - FA Cup (2-1 Chelsea F.C.)
* 1971 - League Cup (2-0 Aston Villa F.C.)
* 1972 - UEFA Cup (2-1, 1-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.)
* 1973 - League Cup (1-0 Norwich City F.C.)

External links

* [http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/player_details.cfm?playerid=113778 Profile] at Scottish FA website
* [http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_club.asp?HeroID=5680 Profile] at Sportingheroes.net