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, rugby ...
, 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 the ...
. 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 competi ...
in
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. 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
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 ...
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 l ...
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 dom ...
.[ 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
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 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
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 ...
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 Bru ...
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 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 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's ...
, 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 it ...
. 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 Bel ...
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 c ...
.[
]
International career
Gilzean made his debut 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 the ...
in November 1963, in a 6–1 win against Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a 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 Jan Mayen and t ...
. 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 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
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 ...
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
Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponding to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. It is a popular name in Sc ...
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 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 ...
: 1961–62
Tottenham Hotspur[
* ]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 competi ...
: 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 Le ...
: 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 ...
(shared)
* 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 ...
(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 Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
: 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 Par ...
: 2009
*Inducted to the Dundee FC Hall of Fame: 2009
*Inducted to the Tottenham Hotspur Hall of Fame: 2013[
]
Further reading
*
*Ross, Kenny Dundee Champions of Scotland 1961/62
* Donovan, Mike The King of Dens Park: The Authorised Biography of Alan Gilzean. 2019.
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