Spurs stories | John Metgod - from AZ to Spurs, via Real Madrid

John Metgod's stay at the Lane was only brief in 1987/88, but he packed a lot into a playing career spanning almost 20 years, including making his name at our next UEFA Europa League opponents, AZ Alkmaar, a spell at Real Madrid and two European finals.

Born in Amsterdam, Metgod made over 200 appearances for AZ (then known as AZ '67) between 1976 and 1982, during which time he won the Eredivisie title in 1980/81 as well as three KNVB Cups. Capped 21 times by Holland between 1978 and 1983, Metgod also represented HFC Haarlem, Real Madrid, Nottingham Forest and Feyenoord during a glittering playing career. He has held various technical and coaching roles since hanging up his boots in 1994, at home and abroad.

Andy Greeves spoke to the midfielder for our Official Matchday Programme ahead the meeting of his former clubs in UEL MD3 at Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium on Thursday evening (8pm).

Firstly John, how fondly do you look back on your time with our opponents this evening, AZ Alkmaar?

John: "Sometimes when you are at a particular club, you maybe don’t realise just how good the team is at the time. It’s probably only after you stop playing you fully appreciate it. I look back on my time at AZ and think, ‘my goodness, not only did we have a team with a lot of good players but we were a team in every sense of the word’. I joined AZ Alkmaar in 1976 and the club was already trying to build a squad at the time to compete with Ajax and Feyenoord. There were two brothers, Cees and Klaas Molenaar, who had a retail business – a department store called Wastora – and they owned the club. I met my wife, Patty, at Wastora funnily enough, where she worked in the photography department. Cees and Klaas had one major ambition, to have a football team who could challenge the big clubs in Holland, and that’s what they achieved. There were some people outside of the club, who didn’t like the fact they were the owners, the main sponsors and that they put lots of money into the club. But for AZ, it was a fantastic period. In 1980/81, we managed to win the league. We finished 12 points clear of Ajax that season, in the days of two points for a win, and we only lost one league match all season, at home to Ajax. We also won the cup (KNVB Cup) three times during my time at AZ and we reached the UEFA Cup Final too, but we lost on aggregate to Ipswich Town in the final."

You moved from AZ to Real Madrid in 1982. How do you look back on your two seasons with Los Blancos?

John: "Moving from a provincial club like AZ to one of the biggest clubs in the world was a huge step. In every position, Real Madrid had two or three top players. You were only allowed to play two foreign players per match and at that time, Madrid had Uli Stielike from Germany and Laurie Cunningham from England. Laurie was injured and couldn’t play, so I got the opportunity to play. It was hard to adapt to begin with, both from a footballing and a life perspective, learning a new language and a new way of life at the age of 24, just a matter of months on from my wife having a baby in the May and then moving in the August. It was a big learning experience for me but I had a fantastic time too. At that time and throughout my career, I am so grateful to my wife Patty for the help and support she has given me. She has moved around with me…from the Netherlands, to Spain, to England and so on and so forth. She has always taken care of things around our home which has meant it has always been easy for me to focus on football. I will always be thankful to her and appreciative for everything she has done for me. During my playing days, we were blessed with three children - Dimitri and Amber, who were born in the Netherlands in 1982 and 1989 respectively, while Naomi was born in Nottingham in 1984."

What attracted you to make the move to Nottingham Forest in 1984?

John: "Forest showed some interest in me around the time I went to Real Madrid. I was always aware of them, not least because they won the European Cup in 1979 and 1980. I had always liked the idea of playing in English football because when I was growing up in Holland, the only glimpses of European football you could see was English football. I loved the culture around English football, the passion the supporters had for their club and the game as a whole. I liked the idea of testing myself in English football, coming across a different style. Brian Clough was Forest’s manager at the time and he liked to play. It wasn’t like the long ball football some other English clubs were playing at the time. We played football, which suited me and the kind of player I was."

Three seasons later, you moved to Spurs. How did that transfer come about?

John: "I was at the end of my contract at Nottingham Forest. Even though Forest had won the two European Cups I mentioned, Tottenham were possibly a slightly bigger club than Forest. I liked the football they played under David Pleat and I also liked the idea of experiencing playing for another club in England."

You made your Spurs debut as a substitute in a 2-1 defeat at Coventry City on 15 August, 1987 before starting in a 3-1 win over Newcastle United four days later at White Hart Lane. You must have fond memories of your home debut especially?

John: "Yes, it’s always special in terms of playing in front of your supporters for the first time. And to win in front of your supporters on your home debut is fantastic, so it was a good day overall. It’s a day I’ll never forget. White Hart Lane was always a fantastic ground in terms of atmosphere. The new ground is even more impressive. I watched Spurs’ 4-1 victory over West Ham on television and the atmosphere there sounded incredible."

What was it like being part of a very talented squad of players at Spurs during the 1987/88 season?

John: "We had a lot of good players as you say…a lot of internationals. There was Ray Clemence, Clive Allen, Paul Allen, Chris Waddle, Gary Mabbutt, Ossie Ardiles, Nico Claesen and Mitchell Thomas to name a few. The season was disappointing for us, in terms of only managing to finish 13th in the league and unfortunately, things didn’t really work out for me."

What were the biggest factors in terms of your Spurs experience being somewhat mixed?

John: "There were two things that didn’t help me during my time at Spurs. The first was that the summer I arrived at Spurs, Glenn Hoddle departed for Monaco. I was dubbed by the press in England as being ‘Glenn Hoddle’s replacement’. That kind of comparison was not easy for me. The second thing was I suffered an injury for the first time in my career that required surgery. I had a hernia. Just before I went into hospital for the surgery, David Pleat departed as manager and was replaced by Terry Venables. So, for the first few months of us having a new manager, I was recovering while he was giving coaching sessions to the other players on how he wanted to play etc. When I did return from injury, I was usually on the bench or not playing at all, up until the last four or five matches of the season."

You departed Spurs for Feyenoord in the summer of 1988 after just one season with us. Were you disappointed not to stay here longer?

John: "I wasn’t able to establish myself as a regular in the Spurs starting line-up and I wasn’t the sort of person that was happy to stay at a club but not be playing regularly. The same was true when I was at Real Madrid and they signed Jorge Valdano, another foreign player at a time only two foreign players could play, which reduced my chances of playing. At both Madrid and Spurs, I could have stayed for another season at least, but I knew I was unlikely to play much and I loved football too much not to be playing. I tried everything to get back into the Spurs team and it didn’t work out. I wanted to move to a club where I knew my chances of playing were greater – albeit it, you can obviously never guarantee you’ll play at any club. Feyenoord contacted me after the season and eventually, a deal was done for me to move back to Holland."

During the 1991/92 season, you played for Feyenoord against us in both legs of our European Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-final tie. What are your memories of that?

John: "In between the first leg in Rotterdam and the second leg at White Hart Lane, I appeared on a programme on ITV hosted by Ian St John and Jimmy Greaves (Saint and Greavsie). We won 1-0 in Rotterdam and they were very confident Spurs would win the second leg. As they saw it, Spurs were a good attacking team and with Gary Lineker up front, there was no way they couldn’t score. But I pointed out, at Feyenoord, we were a team who knew how to defend and that we were capable of keeping a clean sheet, even against a team like Spurs with a renowned goalscorer like Lineker. And so it proved! We drew 0-0 at White Hart Lane to get through to the next round 1-0 on aggregate. It was a great team performance from us on the night and I also remember John de Wolf doing a good marking job on Lineker. The thing that stood out for me and the whole team on the night was how quickly the match went by. The first time I looked up at the scoreboard, it said ’43 minutes’. I couldn’t believe it. It felt like that match was only about 20 minutes in at the time. I think it felt like that because of the atmosphere, because of the fact Spurs were putting us under pressure trying to get the equaliser and we were so determined to keep a clean sheet. It was an unbelievable game and it went so quickly. Speaking to my teammates in the dressing room after that game, we all had the same experience of feeling the game just flew by."

You’ve held various technical and coaching roles since retiring from playing - in England (with Portsmouth, Derby County, Brighton & Hove Albion and Nottingham Forest), Spain, the Netherlands and now, the United Arab Emirates. How much have you enjoyed these roles?

John: "I’ve been in different countries and different roles and I’ve really enjoyed the opportunity of experiencing different things. Currently, I am assistant coach for the United Arab Emirates Under-20 team. It’s a completely different challenge to working in Europe for example, but one I’m enjoying. I’m enjoying living in Dubai too although I am looking forward to the weather becoming slightly milder soon. The humidity here can be very hard to take in the midst of summer! When I look back on my playing career, I am proud that in every situation, there is never a time when I think ‘I could have done more’ to have tried to have a better career or be more successful. That is very important for me. Even in difficult situations, you always have to do your best to make things work. There are no guarantees, particularly in football, but the only thing you can guarantee is your own input into things. I take that approach into every coaching role I have."

Finally, how much are you looking forward to seeing two of your former clubs, Spurs and AZ, going head-to-head this evening?!

John: "I’m very interested to see how AZ are able to compete with the level of quality and intensity I saw Spurs produce, particularly in the second half, in their game against West Ham on the weekend. There is no doubt AZ can play – they are a very good technical side. They were unlucky to lose against PSV on the weekend. They had a player (David Møller Wolfe) sent off in the opening 10 minutes and I think the game could have been different if it stayed 11 v 11. But PSV ending up winning 2-1. It's going to be a very interesting match for sure!"