Martin Harcourt Chivers (born 27 April 1945) is an English retired 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 le ...
from the 1960s and 1970s.
Playing career
Southampton
Chivers attended
Taunton's Grammar School
Richard Taunton Sixth Form College, until 2012 called Taunton's College, is a sixth form college in Upper Shirley, Southampton attended by approximately 1000 students.
Admissions
It offers a range of courses, mostly A Levels. Many students pa ...
,
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 ...
, and wrote to his local club,
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 ...
for a trial. He spent a brief period in the club's nursery side, CPC Sports, and signed as a professional footballer in September 1962, making his debut against
Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...
on 8 September 1962 (aged 17). He failed to score on his debut and his first goal came in a 4–1 defeat by
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
on 6 April 1963 (in his third first-team appearance).
In the 1963–64 season, he became a regular starter and was the club's joint leading goalscorer (with
Terry Paine
Terence Lionel Paine (born 23 March 1939) is an English retired footballer. Originally from Winchester, Paine is best known for his career with Southampton, for whom he made over 800 appearances (a club record) in 18 seasons with the club. H ...
) with 21 goals, as Southampton finished a disappointing fifth in Division 2. The following season, he was again a virtual ever-present, making 39 appearances with 17 goals as the Saints improved to fourth place.
In the
1965–66 season, he played an integral role as the club finally gained promotion to the top flight (as runners-up), scoring 30 goals from 39 games, generally from crosses provided by
Terry Paine
Terence Lionel Paine (born 23 March 1939) is an English retired footballer. Originally from Winchester, Paine is best known for his career with Southampton, for whom he made over 800 appearances (a club record) in 18 seasons with the club. H ...
and
John Sydenham
John Sydenham (born 15 September 1939) is an English former footballer who played as a striker, spending most of his career with Southampton.
Early career
Born in Southampton, John was educated at St. Mary's College, Southampton and, at 13, ...
. All his goals were scored from the first 29 games, and he failed to find the net after the end of February.
Once in the First Division, he played second fiddle to the Welsh striker,
Ron Davies, scoring 14 and 13 goals respectively in the next two seasons. He became unsettled at
The Dell and was soon being chased by many of the top clubs. Saints' manager
Ted Bates was prepared to allow Chivers to leave, as he had a more than adequate replacement coming up through the ranks in
Mick Channon
Michael Roger Channon (born 28 November 1948) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward, most notably for Southampton, and went on to represent the England national team in the 1970s. Scoring over 250 goals in his c ...
.
In January 1968,
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 ...
manager
Bill Nicholson signed Chivers for a club record fee of £125,000, which also made him the country's most expensive player at that time. The deal involved 24-year-old
Frank Saul moving 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 ...
to The Dell.
Whilst at Southampton he had won 12 England Under-23 caps. He scored a total of 106 goals in 190 appearances for The Saints. His name is also in the record books as the first
substitute to score for The Saints, in a 3–1 defeat by
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
on 29 April 1967.
Tottenham Hotspur
Chivers scored on his Spurs debut against
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...
in January 1968, but the initial stages of his White Hart Lane career were relatively unsuccessful, with Spurs legends
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
Alan Gilzean
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 and Tottenham Hotspur, and also appeared in 22 international games for ...
still preferred as an attacking partnership. Chivers remained a fixture of the
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
Under-23 squad and eventually became the most important goalscorer at Tottenham, following the sale of Greaves 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 1970.
Chivers was often seen as a lethargic and lazy player, but his pace and natural strength established 'Big Chiv' as a star of the Spurs side and
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
throughout the early 1970s. The 1970–71 season was the beginning of Martin Chivers' golden years, for both club and country. He played in all 58 competitive games and scored 34 times, including both goals in the League Cup final against Aston Villa, and 21 goals in the First Division as Spurs finished the season in third place. Chivers also scored his first senior goal for England a 3–0 win over Greece in April 1971.
During the 1971–72 campaign, Chivers hit the best form of his career, netting 44 times in 64 first team appearances. His seven goals in as many League Cup ties enabled Spurs to reach the semi-finals of the competition where they eventually lost to London neighbours
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
. The resurgent striker saved his most impressive form for the
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 ...
, scoring eight times in 11 matches, including a hat-trick in a 9–0 demolition of Icelandic side
Keflavik ÍF, and a superb double 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 ...
in a memorable final. In the First Division, he surpassed his tally of the previous campaign, scoring 25 times in 39 appearances.
Chivers continued his prolific form in the 1972–73 season, finding the net 33 times in 61 appearances. His acclaimed goalscoring ability again guided Tottenham to League Cup success with two quarter-final strikes against
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
, and a crucial goal at
Molineux where the Londoners drew 2–2 to reach the final. His European form was equally impressive, producing eight goals in ten matches, as Spurs reached the UEFA Cup semi-finals before losing to Liverpool on the away goals rule. In October 1973, Chivers won the last of his full England caps against
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
in an infamous World Cup qualifier. Despite scoring six international goals in the calendar year, the Spurs striker was a casualty of his country's failure to qualify for the tournament and would later be ignored by caretaker manager
Joe Mercer
Joseph Mercer, OBE (9 August 1914 – 9 August 1990) was an English football player and manager. Mercer, who played as a defender for Everton and Arsenal in his footballing career, also went on to manage Aston Villa, Manchester City and Engl ...
and future boss
Don Revie
Donald George Revie OBE (10 July 1927 – 26 May 1989) was an England international footballer and manager, best known for his successful spell with Leeds United from 1961 until 1974, which immediately preceded his appointment as England manage ...
.
Spurs again reached the final of the UEFA Cup in 1974 with Chivers scoring six goals, including the opener in a 2–0 home victory against East German side
Lokomotive Leipzig
1. Fußballclub Lokomotive Leipzig e.V. is a German football club based in the locality of Probstheida in the Südost borough of Leipzig, Saxony. The club may be more familiar to many of the country's football fans as the historic side VfB Lei ...
. The two-legged final was to end in disappointment with Dutch giants
Feyenoord
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 ...
winning 4–2 on aggregate as Spurs lost a major final for the first time. By the beginning of the 1974–75 season, Chivers was considered to be the senior forward at Tottenham, playing alongside
Chris Jones,
Chris McGrath and Scotsman
John Duncan John Duncan may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* John Duncan (painter) (1866–1945), Scottish painter
* John Duncan (artist) (born 1953), American artist and musician
* Big John Duncan (born 1958), Scottish punk musician
* John Duncan (harpist) ...
. In early September, he played his last game for the legendary Bill Nicholson, as
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
crushed Spurs 4–0 in the 2nd round of the League Cup. Injuries restricted Chivers to just 28 league appearances in which he scored 10 goals, including important strikes against
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 ...
,
Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...
and local rivals
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
.
The 1975–76 season was Chivers' last at White Hart Lane as he struggled to find the net in a relatively poor Spurs team. He made 37 appearances in all competitions, scoring nine times, before joining Swiss club
Servette
Servette is a district of the city of Geneva, Switzerland. The district's name comes from the Latin word for forest, ''silva'', and means "little forest". Its name alludes to Servette's rural past, before Geneva grew beyond its walls and incorpora ...
for an £80,000 fee. In his -year Spurs career, Chivers scored a total of 174 goals in 367 first-team appearances and remained the leading Tottenham goalscorer in European competition for 39 years until he was overtaken by
Jermain Defoe
Jermain Colin Defoe (born 7 October 1982) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He also played for the England national team.
Defoe began his career with Charlton Athletic, joining their youth team aged 14, be ...
on 7 November 2013. He was capped 24 times for
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, scoring 13 goals.
Later career
At the age of 31 in July 1976, the prolific striker moved to
Servette
Servette is a district of the city of Geneva, Switzerland. The district's name comes from the Latin word for forest, ''silva'', and means "little forest". Its name alludes to Servette's rural past, before Geneva grew beyond its walls and incorpora ...
in Switzerland, before returning to English league football with spells at
Norwich City
Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...
(1978–79) and
Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
(1979–80), where he finished his career.
Martin Chivers was appointed the National Development Manager to the FA in May 2008.
After football
After retiring from professional football, he managed clubs in England and Norway and owned a hotel and restaurant in
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
. Chivers has commentated for
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...
and remains a popular matchday host at White Hart Lane.
In April 2007, he was the most recent inductee to the Tottenham Hotspur Hall of Fame.
Chivers' autobiography, "Big Chiv - My Goals in Life",
was released in October 2009.
Honours
Southampton
*
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
Division 2: runner-up
1965–66
Tottenham Hotspur
*
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 ...
:
1970–71,
1972–73
*
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 ...
:
1971–72
Servette
*
Swiss Cup
The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup tournament that has been organised annually since 1925–26 by the Swiss Football Association. Since 1999 the winner earns the chance to qualify for the UEFA Europa League or the UEFA Europa Conference L ...
: 1977–78
*
Swiss League Cup: 1976–77
*
Coppa delle Alpi
Coppa delle Alpi (translated as ''Cup of the Alps'') was a friendly football tournament, first organized by the Italian national league as it started in 1960 and then they were aided by the Swiss League from 1962, for the reason that the majorit ...
: 1975–76
Individual
*
Swiss League Best Foreign Player: 1977–78
References
Bibliography
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chivers, Martin
Living people
1945 births
Footballers from Southampton
Association football forwards
English footballers
English expatriate footballers
England international footballers
England under-23 international footballers
Southampton F.C. players
Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players
Servette FC players
Norwich City F.C. players
Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players
SK Vard Haugesund players
Barnet F.C. players
Frankston Pines F.C. players
Dorchester Town F.C. players
English Football League players
English Football League representative players
Expatriate footballers in Switzerland
Expatriate footballers in Norway
UEFA Cup winning players
English expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland
English expatriate sportspeople in Norway