2,055 - a new Q&A - part three

Three giants of Tottenham Hotspur. 10 questions.

Welcome to part three of our special 2,055 Q&A with Steve Perryman, Gary Mabbutt and Pat Jennings, all-time Spurs greats and our top three appearance makers with 854, 611 and 590 matches respectively, a grand total of 2,055.

Over the course of the 10-part series we’ll talk about the day they signed, walking into the dressing room as youngsters, biggest influences and magic moments over their collective span of 34 years at the Club we all love - 1964-1998. What game would they love to play again? What made them proudest? Over 20 years since the last of the trio retired from playing - Mabbsy in 1998 - what does Spurs mean to them?

These are our heroes, legends whose names are and will be forever indelibly linked with Tottenham Hotspur.

2,055 - part three

At the start of your Spurs career, was there a defining moment when you felt you really belonged?

Steve Perryman

“I suppose it was the reaction of the crowd to me on my debut. Up to that point, you don’t know if you’re a good player. There wasn’t a lot of praise going around! You were always searching for that appreciation. Well, the biggest appreciation you can get is when you are on that White Hart Lane pitch and you put your foot into a tackle, or pass the ball inside the full-back for the winger to run on to, or you have a shot that maybe hits the post, the appreciation from those people just said ‘this is the place to be’. The reaction to me before, during and after that debut game against Sunderland, as much as Pat Jennings saved me after my first touch, which was a poor one and nearly gave a goal away, eventually people were treating me like I deserved to be alongside Pat Jennings, Jimmy Greaves, Alan Gilzean and Mike England and without saying I was a ready-made player, I wasn’t, there was a respect. I call it a north London respect. That is very special.”

Gary Mabbutt

"The moment for me, and I know it sounds like ‘yeah, really?’ but the moment I walked through those gates at White Hart Lane, I knew that was where I had to be. I had a feeling in me... I was arriving in one of the top clubs in the world, meeting Bill Nicholson, those gates, synonymous with the Club, I was driving through them on the way to discussing becoming a Spurs player. I was told I might not get into the first team for a couple of years, but I was happy with that because I just felt it was where my future was.”

Pat Jennings

“It was when I started to get into team on a regular basis. In my first season, I’d shared with Bill Brown. He would have seen me as opposition to him. There were no goalkeeping coaches as such, you had to learn from your mistakes. A big moment was being part of the team that won the FA Cup against Chelsea in 1967. That was massive, to get that first cup win. We were still being compared to the great double-winning team. That’s what we were aiming for and that season was the nearest we got to doing the double. We missed out to Nottingham Forest, who we beat in the FA Cup semi-final, and they finished runners-up to Manchester United. We were four points off in third - that’s how close we came.”

Next: 2,055 - part four

Bill Nicholson meant a lot to you all, and played a key role in all of your careers – do you have one abiding memory of the great man?

2,055 - the series

Part one - what do you remember about the day you signed for Spurs?
Part two - what was it like stepping into the dressing room for the first time with all those greats around you?