50 years ago today - Alan Mullery leads us to more European history

It's 50 years ago today - 17 May, 1972 - that a footballing fairytale came true for Alan Mullery, on a night the Club created history at White Hart Lane.

The captain led from the front in the UEFA Cup Final, second leg against Wolves. Leading 2-1 from the first leg at Molineux a fortnight earlier - Martin Chivers' memorable double putting us in the driving seat - 'Mullers' scored a diving header after 29 minutes to put us 3-1 up on aggregate. David Wagstaffe levelled for Wolves on the night just before half-time, but with Pat Jennings in imperious form, we'd done enough.

Victory meant we were the first winners of the UEFA Cup and became the first British team to win two different European trophies after our Cup Winners' Cup triumph in 1972.

That wasn't the whole story though...

A classy midfielder snapped up from Fulham in 1964, Alan had pretty much seen it all in his career by the start of the 1971/72 campaign. Capped 35 times by England, a goalscorer in the 1970 World Cup quarter-final loss against West Germany, he'd racked up almost 350 appearances for us, realised his childhood dream by winning the FA Cup in 1967 and then captained the team to a League Cup victory in 1971, lifting the trophy at Wembley.

However, a serious pelvic injury sustained in October, 1971 looked like it might end his time at Spurs. He was sent on loan back to Fulham, then in the Second Division, to regain match fitness in March, recalled by Bill Nicholson just a month later due to a lengthening injury list and returned to the side for the first time since 30 October, 1971 for the first leg of the UEFA Cup semi-final against Milan at the Lane on 5 April, 1972.

The rest is history. Handed back the captain's armband on his return, Mullers helped us overcome the Italian giants over two legs, rifling home in a 1-1 draw to silence the San Siro. He then scored the crucial goal in the second leg as we secured the trophy on another famous 'glory, glory' night at the Lane.

Talking about that trophy... the full-time whistle sparked joyous celebrations, and another of those stories that go down in Spurs folklore as Alan completed a lap of honour holding - well, just about clinging onto - this new, huge European trophy!

Speaking this morning, 50 years on, Alan joked: "That lap of honour - I can still feel my back now! That trophy was heavy! What a night though...

"It's something you dream about. I'd always dreamt of getting to the FA Cup Final, as a football-crazy kid growing up in Notting Hill, about 10 miles from Wembley. I'd listen to the final on the radio, then later, watch it on an old black and white TV set. You didn't think of anything else then. You just wanted to play in an FA Cup Final. I used to think, 'if I won the FA Cup, I'd be one of the greatest footballers ever'.

"In the end, it was even better than that! I was lucky enough to do that in 1967, lucky enough to join a football club that won trophies before I got there, and during my time there. I won other trophies, played in Europe, won the UEFA Cup, lifted the League Cup as captain at Wembley.

"I'd got injured earlier in the season and recalled by Bill (Nicholson) in the March. He phoned me up and just said, 'we want you to come back'. I said, 'I'm okay at Fulham, Bill, I'm getting fitter and fitter'. He just replied, 'I want you to come back now'. As soon as he said that...

"When we were about to play Milan, Eddie Baily, Bill's assistant, asked, 'Bill, who is captain?' and Bill said, 'we've only got one', and pointed at me. So, I led the team out again and we did well against Milan, a fantastic side at the time.

"I then scored the goal in the second leg of the final. Perhaps it was meant to be. It's a real fairytale story. It all is, really... this snotty nosed kid growing up in Notting Hill, seven, eight years old, going on to do all I managed to do. I use to keep a tennis ball in my pocket and kick it all the way to school. You could make a film of it, you really could..."