Alan John Gilzean (; 22 October 1938 – 8 July 2018) was a Scottish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...

, active from 1955 to 1975. A striker, Gilzean played most prominently for

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

and

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

, and also appeared in 22 international games for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. He helped Dundee win the

Scottish league championship The Scottish League Championship (currently the Tennents League Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic rugby union league system within Scotland. Operated by the Scottish Rugby Union, the championship was founded in 1973 as the fi ...

in 1961–62 and Tottenham win the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

, two League Cups (1971 and 1973) and the

1971–72 UEFA Cup The 1971–72 UEFA Cup was the inaugural year of the UEFA Cup (now known as the UEFA Europa League), which effectively replaced the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. It was won by English side Tottenham Hotspur over their countrymen Wolverhampton Wanderer ...

. He died on 8 July 2018 after being diagnosed with a brain tumour.

Playing career

Dundee

Gilzean began his career with local side Coupar Angus Juniors, before signing provisional forms with

in January 1956 as a 17-year-old amateur. He played once for their youth team Dundee Violet, but then played again for Coupar Angus while working as a despatch clerk for a carpet manufacturer in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

. He signed professional forms with Dundee in February 1957, but then had a spell in Hampshire while he underwent

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

in the

Royal Army Service Corps The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was a corps of the British Army responsible for land, coastal and lake transport, air despatch, barracks administration, the Army Fire Service, staffing headquarters' units, supply of food, water, fuel and do ...

. Gilzean made his competitive debut for Dundee in August 1959, and then became a key part of a successful side. He scored 169 goals in 190 appearances for Dundee in the Scottish top flight as Dundee won the

in 1961–62 and reached the semi-finals of the

1962–63 European Cup The 1962–63 European Cup was the eighth season of the European Cup, a football competition for European clubs. The competition was won by Milan, who beat two-time defending champions Benfica in the final at Wembley Stadium in London. Milan ...

. In 2009 Gilzean was one of the first inductees in the Dens Park club's Hall of fame.

Tottenham Hotspur

Gilzean joined

in December 1964, moving for a transfer fee of £72,500. He made his first appearance for Tottenham a week later, in a home fixture against Everton. Gilzean enjoyed a glittering career as a Tottenham player, while he also changed his style of play from being the main goalscorer to being an intelligent and creative forward. He formed an effective goal-scoring partnership alongside crowd favourite

Jimmy Greaves James Peter Greaves (20 February 1940 – 19 September 2021) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward. Greaves is regarded as one of England’s best ever players. He is England's fifth-highest international goalscorer ...

, and together they were referred to by fans as the "G-Men". A notable match he was involved in was the 4th round FA Cup in 1966 match against

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Br ...

when he scored a hat-trick, and won the game 4–3 with a late goal. He was a member of the

1967 FA Cup Final The 1967 FA Cup Final was the 86th final of the FA Cup. It took place on 20 May 1967 at Wembley Stadium and was contested between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea. It was the first FA Cup Final to be contested between two teams from London, and is t ...

winning team. Gilzean continued to be a regular first-team player after the arrival of

Martin Chivers Martin Harcourt Chivers (born 27 April 1945) is an English retired professional footballer from the 1960s and 1970s. Playing career Southampton Chivers attended Taunton's Grammar School, Southampton, and wrote to his local club, Southampton f ...

in early 1968 from

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. After strike-partner Greaves moved to

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

in March 1970, Gilzean and Chivers formed a new and equally successful goalscoring partnership. This contributed greatly to Tottenham's cup triumphs in the first half of the decade, winning the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

in 1971, an all-English

1972 UEFA Cup Final The 1972 UEFA Cup Final was the final of the first UEFA Cup football tournament. It was a two-legged contest played on 3 May and 17 May 1972 between two English clubs, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur. This was the first UEFA club com ...

against

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club' ...

, and a second League Cup victory in 1973. He earned the moniker "The King of White Hart Lane" while at Spurs. The 1973–74 season was Gilzean's last as a professional footballer as Spurs lost the UEFA Cup final to Dutch side

Feyenoord Rotterdam Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after its ...

. Tottenham awarded Gilzean with a

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

, played against

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in Be ...

in November 1974, to recognise his ten years of service as a Tottenham player.

Highlands Park

Following his retirement from Tottenham, Gilzean played in South Africa for three months with

Highlands Park Highlands Park Football Club was a South African professional soccer club who played in Modderfontein, Johannesburg. They were founded in 2003 as a phoenix club to the earlier Highlands Park F.C. (1959) and Highlands Park F.C. (1990) The cl ...

International career

Gilzean made his debut for

in November 1963, in a 6–1 win against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

. He had previously represented his country at Under-23 level and the

Scottish League XI The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...

. He received four more international caps in the following twelve months while playing for Dundee. He also scored twice for a Scotland Select XI against Tottenham Hotspur in a November 1964 memorial match for Tottenham and Scotland player John White, who had died in tragic circumstances earlier that year. Gilzean represented Scotland seventeen times during his Spurs career. In total he scored 12 goals in 22 full international appearances for Scotland, between November 1963 and April 1971.

Management career

Gilzean returned to England after his spell in South Africa, to become manager of Stevenage Athletic who he managed for one season from 1975 to 1976.

Personal life

Gilzean stated, whilst playing, that he disliked football and had no intention of furthering his career after playing. He later worked for a transport company in

Enfield Enfield may refer to: Places Australia * Enfield, New South Wales * Enfield, South Australia ** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb ** Enfield High School (South Australia) ...

, only a short distance from

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater it had a capacity of 36,284 before demolition. ...

. When journalist

Hunter Davies Edward Hunter Davies (born 7 January 1936) is a British author, journalist and broadcaster. His books include the only authorised biography of the Beatles. Early life Davies was born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, to Scottish parents. For four y ...

surveyed the Tottenham Hotspur squad in 1972, Gilzean said that he was supportive of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. His son Ian also became a professional football player. Gilzean died on 8 July 2018, having been diagnosed as suffering from a brain tumour a few weeks earlier.

Career statistics

International goals

:''Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Gilzean goal''.

Honours

Dundee *

: 1961–62 Tottenham Hotspur *

: 1967 *

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier L ...

(shared) *

(2): 1971, 1973 *

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

: 1972 Individual *Inducted to the

Scottish Football Hall of Fame The Scottish Football Hall of Fame is located at the Scottish Football Museum. Nominations are made each year by fans and a committee selects the inductees. The first inductions to the Hall of Fame were in November 2004 in a ceremony at Hampden Pa ...

: 2009 *Inducted to the Dundee FC Hall of Fame: 2009 *Inducted to the Tottenham Hotspur Hall of Fame: 2013

References

;Bibliography *

External links

*
Profile
Sporting-Heroes.net

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilzean, Alan 1938 births 2018 deaths Association football forwards Coupar Angus F.C. players Dundee Violet F.C. players Dundee F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Highlands Park F.C. players Scotland international footballers Scotland under-23 international footballers Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductees Scottish Football League players Scottish Football League representative players Scottish football managers Scottish footballers Footballers from Perth and Kinross English Football League players Scottish league football top scorers UEFA Cup winning players Scottish Junior Football Association players Expatriate soccer players in South Africa Scottish expatriate sportspeople in South Africa Scottish expatriate footballers National Football League (South Africa) players Southern Football League managers 20th-century British Army personnel Royal Army Service Corps soldiers FA Cup Final players