Alan John Gilzean (; 22 October 1938 – 8 July 2018) was a Scottish professional footballer, active from 1955 to 1975. A striker, Gilzean played most prominently for

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

and Tottenham Hotspur, and also appeared in 22 international games for

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. He helped Dundee win the Scottish league championship in 1961–62 and Tottenham win the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

, two League Cups (1971 and 1973) and the 1971–72 UEFA Cup

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 list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. He signed professional forms with Dundee in February 1957, but then had a spell in Hampshire while he underwent National Service in the Royal Army Service Corps. 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 Scottish league championship in 1961–62 and reached the semi-finals of the 1962–63 European Cup. In 2009 Gilzean was one of the first inductees in the Dens Park club's Hall of fame.

Tottenham Hotspur

Gilzean joined Tottenham Hotspur 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, 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 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 winning team. Gilzean continued to be a regular first-team player after the arrival of Martin Chivers in early 1968 from

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

. After strike-partner Greaves moved to West Ham United 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 1971, an all-English 1972 UEFA Cup Final against Wolverhampton Wanderers, 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. Tottenham awarded Gilzean with a testimonial match, played against

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

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.

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 located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

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

Style of play

A prolific goalscorer during his time at Dundee, Gilzean would continue to be a prolific goalscorer at Tottenham while also providing chances for his strike partners Jimmy Greaves and Martin Chivers. Gilzean was a natural header of the ball and possessed great technique. Greaves described Gilzean as the finest player he ever played with and as a "blood brother". Many Tottenham supporters who watched him play in the 60's and 70's have compared 21st-century Tottenham forward Dimitar Berbatov to Gilzean.

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, only a short distance from

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a Association football, football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater i ...

. When journalist Hunter Davies surveyed the Tottenham Hotspur squad in 1972, Gilzean said that he was supportive of the Conservative Party. 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 * Scottish League Division One: 1961–62 Tottenham Hotspur *

: 1966–67 * Football League Cup: 1970–71, 1972–73 * FA Charity Shield:

(shared) *

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

: 1971–72 Individual *Inducted to the Scottish Football Hall of Fame: 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 Men's 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 men's international footballers Scotland men's under-23 international footballers Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductees Scottish Football League players Scottish Football League representative players Scottish football managers Scottish men's footballers Footballers from Perth and Kinross English Football League players Scottish league football top scorers UEFA Europa League–winning players Scottish Junior Football Association players Expatriate men's soccer players in South Africa Scottish expatriate sportspeople in South Africa Scottish expatriate men's footballers National Football League (South Africa) players Southern Football League managers 20th-century British Army personnel Royal Army Service Corps soldiers 20th-century Scottish sportsmen