Five minutes with... David Howells

David Howells, 54, lived the dream, a Spurs fan who watched from the terraces in the 1970s, joined the club’s youth system in the 1980s, graduated and lifted the FA Cup at Wembley in 1991 and wore our lilywhite shirt with pride for 12 years.

‘Howellsy’ went on to make 335 appearances in all competitions for us between 1986-1998 and, almost 30 years ago, played in our first-ever Premier League game, the 1992/93 season opener coincidently against this season’s first opponents, Southampton, at their former stadium The Dell on 15 August, 1992.

How are you today?

David: “I’m great. I’ve just had a nice break with my wife up in Yorkshire. I feel refreshed!”

What do you remember about our first-ever Premier League game at Southampton?

David: “It was a decent game, a hot day, as they always seem to be on the opening day of the season, Southampton were a good team, although they’d just lost Alan Shearer to Blackburn, and a draw wasn’t a bad result down there, at the old Dell. It was a cracking atmosphere, I bet there wasn’t 20,000 in there (19,654), but the fans were right on top of you.”

Did it feel like a new era?

David: “Retrospectively, it was a massive moment in English football. At the time, not so much. It was a new name after the First Division/Division One, but it didn’t feel that different to start with. As the season went on, it started to have a different feel, more TV games, more Sunday games. The first day though,3pm on a Saturday, felt like the first day of a ‘normal’ season. Looking back though, of course, it’s massive.”

Southampton have a bit of a timeline through your career...

David: “Yes, they do. This first game of the Premier League, my last game at Spurs at the end of 1997/98 was against Southampton - although I didn’t play in that one - then I joined Southampton from Spurs later that summer. I always enjoyed playing against them, had a good relationship with a few of the lads there like Neil Ruddock, I was always good mates with Razor. I knew I was leaving, I’d spoken Southampton and that deal was done, which was great. Obviously, I didn’t want to leave Spurs, but I enjoyed my time there. Unfortunately, I got injured quite quickly, big regrets about that, but it’s a terrific club and I made some great friends down there.”

What is your earliest Spurs memory?

David: “My first home game was in 1974/75 against Coventry (1-1 draw, 15 February 1975), I remember standing in the enclosure in the West Stand, right at the front. Ralph Coates was warming up right in front of me and Gareth (David’s brother). My dad was a big Spurs fan and took us along.”

Can you remember your first European trip as a Spurs player?

David: “It was a youth team trip, an end of season tournament in Germany. I’d never even flown before! It was brilliant. I’d just joined the club full-time and after that, I’d be coming in a full-time apprentice, but I got picked for this tournament and that was a real thrill for me, travelling with the likes of Trevor Wilkinson, John Moncur, some great lads who I still speak to today.”

What do Spurs mean to you?

David: “Wow, massive! To be honest, away from family, Spurs is my life. Probably even more so now then when I played, because it became a job. It’s everything. Like most supporters, my whole mood for the week depends on the result, and only people who have a deep affection for football and their team understand that. It’s a difficult one to explain to people who don’t. I was quite young when we won the FA Cup in 1991 and you think it’s going to be the first of many, but it didn’t turn out like that. It’s still a brilliant thing to look back on and to be part of that group is something really special. That can never be taken away from us, a real honour.”

Tell us about Spurs Legends...

David: “I’ll play as long as I can! It’s going well, we’re playing regularly, always raising funds for good causes. It’s great to see lads from different eras playing as well now, for instance, Michael Brown and Pascal Chimbonda both turned out for our last game against Yorkshire Spurs on Sunday. That was held at Marine FC, who we played in the FA Cup during lockdown in 2021. Getting to know those players has been really nice and as I said, I’ll play until I drop, hopefully.”

Finally, what are you up to for the rest of the day?

David: “We’re going to take a lovely walk around one of the reservoirs up here in Yorkshire.”

We spoke to David on Tuesday...

Follow him on Twitter - @Howellsey