Terry Venables
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Terence Frederick Venables (born 6 January 1943), often referred to as El Tel, is an English former football player and manager, and an author. During the 1960s and '70s, he played for various clubs including
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 ...
,
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...
and
Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...
, and gained two
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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 ...
. As a club manager, Venables won the
Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
championship with
Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
in 1979. He reached the 1982 FA Cup Final with Queens Park Rangers and won the Second Division in 1983. With
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, he won
La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...
in 1985 and reached the 1986 European Cup Final. He guided Tottenham Hotspur to FA Cup victory in 1991. He also managed
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and
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 ...
. As the England national team manager from 1994 to 1996, he reached the semi-finals of the 1996 European Championships, and managed
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from 1997 to 1998.


Childhood

Terence Frederick Venables was born in Dagenham on 6 January 1943, the only child of Fred and Myrtle Venables. His father was a Navy petty officer who originally came from
Barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, a local government district covering the town of Barking ** Municipal Borough of Barking, a historical local government dist ...
. His mother was Welsh, and her family lived in Clydach Vale. When he was 13, his parents moved to run a pub in Romford, Essex, sending him to live with his maternal grandparents Ossie and Milly, who fostered his love of football.


Club career

Venables progressed from representing his county to earning caps for England Schoolboys, and attracted interest from
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 ...
,
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...
,
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 ...
, and Manchester United.


Chelsea

Venables left school in the summer of 1958 and signed for Chelsea as an apprentice at the age of 15. He later said that he joined Chelsea as he felt he had a better chance of breaking into the first team at Stamford Bridge, and also because the club offered his father a job as a part-time scout, and he denied West Ham's youth coach Malcolm Allison's claim that he had only joined Chelsea for financial reasons. He delayed becoming a professional player so he could try for a place on the
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squad for the
1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...
, and turned professional after learning that he would not be selected for the squad. He won the FA Youth Cup with Chelsea in consecutive seasons, as they beat Preston North End in 1960 and Everton in 1961. He made his much anticipated senior debut in a 4–2 defeat to West Ham United on 6 February 1960, with newspapers billing him as "the new Duncan Edwards".
Tommy Docherty Thomas Henderson Docherty (24 April 1928 – 31 December 2020), commonly known as The Doc, was a Scottish football player and manager. Docherty played for several clubs, most notably Preston North End, and represented Scotland 25 times betw ...
joined Chelsea as player-coach in September 1961, and went on to replace
Ted Drake Edward Joseph Drake (16 August 1912 – 30 May 1995) was an English football player and manager. As a player, he first played for Southampton but made his name playing for Arsenal in the 1930s, winning two league titles and an FA Cup, as wel ...
as manager the following month. Docherty proved to be a successful manager at the club, promoting younger players who became known as "Docherty's Diamonds", and was a highly influential coach in Venables' career. However the pair had a difficult relationship, and Venables believed Docherty to be tactically limited. Chelsea were relegated at the end of the 1961–62 season, but managed to gain promotion out of the
Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
at the first attempt with a second-place finish in 1962–63. They went on to finish fifth in the First Division in the 1963–64 season. He took his FA coaching badges at the age of 24, passing with distinction and a 95% pass mark. He went on to lift 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 ...
with Chelsea, and scored a penalty against
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in the two-legged
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
. Chelsea also reached the semi-finals of 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 1964–65, where they were knocked out by
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 ...
. With three games left to play they were also in with an outside chance of overtaking Manchester United and
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 ...
to win the league title, but Chelsea lost the first of these games 2–0 to Liverpool at
Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 189 ...
. Docherty reversed his decision to allow the players a night out after the game, but Venables and seven other players (
George Graham George Graham (born 30 November 1944), nicknamed "Stroller", is a Scottish former Association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. In his successful playing career, he made 455 appearances in England's Football ...
,
Barry Bridges Barry John Bridges (born 29 April 1941) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a forward (association football), forward in the Football League for Chelsea F.C., Chelsea, Birmingham City F.C., Birmingha ...
,
John Hollins John William Hollins (born 16 July 1946) is an English retired footballer and manager. He was initially a midfielder who, later in his career, became an effective full-back. Hollins, throughout his footballing career, featured for clubs such a ...
, Marvin Hinton,
Eddie McCreadie Edward Graham McCreadie (born 15 April 1940) is a Scottish former footballer who played at left-back, mainly for Chelsea. He later became a football manager. Career McCreadie started his footballing career with amateur Scottish side Drumchapel ...
,
Joe Fascione Joseph Victor Fascione (5 February 1945 – 5 February 2019) was a Scottish association football, footballer who played as a Midfielder#Winger, winger. Career A right sided winger, Fascione started out with Scottish junior side Kirkintilloch Ro ...
, and
Bert Murray Albert George Murray (born 22 September 1942) is an English former footballer who played as a winger. He played more than 100 games in the Football League for each of his four clubs, namely Chelsea, Birmingham City, Brighton & Hove Albion and P ...
) broke
curfew A curfew is a government order specifying a time during which certain regulations apply. Typically, curfews order all people affected by them to ''not'' be in public places or on roads within a certain time frame, typically in the evening and ...
and went out for a brief night out. Upon their return to the team hotel Docherty suspended all eight players for the remainder of the season. Chelsea then lost 6–2 to
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, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...
, before Docherty reinstated the players for a final day defeat to Blackpool. Venables never forgave Docherty for the punishment, describing it as "crass, stupid and self-defeating". Docherty placed Venables on the transfer list towards the end of the 1965–66, with Chelsea again heading towards a fifth-place finish.


Tottenham Hotspur

Venables was signed by Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of £80,000, and made his debut for the club in a 1–0 win at Blackburn Rovers on May 9, 1966. He soon made his presence felt when he punched club legend Dave Mackay during training, though no long-term rift developed because of the incident. Spurs went on to have a good 1966–67 season though, finishing third in the league and beating
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(after a replay),
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...
,
Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...
,
Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...
(after a replay) and
Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...
to reach the 1967 FA Cup Final to face his former club Chelsea at
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. Spurs won the cup with a 2–1 victory, Jimmy Robertson and Frank Saul providing the goals before
Bobby Tambling Robert Victor Tambling (born 18 September 1941) is an English former professional association football, footballer, who played as a Forward (association football), forward, most notably for Chelsea F.C., Chelsea, Crystal Palace F.C., Crystal Pa ...
scored a late consolation goal for Chelsea. Ironically, earlier in the season Venables had bet £25 on Chelsea to win the cup at odds of 25/1, which would have paid out £500 if Spurs had lost the game, exactly the same figure as the £500 cup bonus he would receive for winning the match; in fact after tax deductions, Venables would have been better off financially if Chelsea had won. Venables did not enjoy a great relationship with his manager, believing Bill Nicholson to have a negative attitude that drained him of enthusiasm. More significantly, he also felt that he was not appreciated by the Spurs fans. The club dropped to seventh and sixth-place finishes in 1967–68 and 1968–69 and Nicholson accepted an offer of £70,000 for Venables from
Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...
on 20 June 1969.


Queens Park Rangers

Venables later said that his transfer to Second Division QPR changed his life, and stated that "I cannot think of a transfer blessed with so much good fortune". Initially however, Rangers could only manage mid-table finishes in the 1969–70 and 1970–71 campaigns, with Venables scoring 18 goals in 83 games. Chairman Jim Gregory opted to sack
Les Allen Leslie William Allen (born 4 September 1937) is an English former football player and manager who played as a inside forward. Playing career Allen started his playing career at amateur club Briggs Sports where he helped them to reach the ...
and appoint
Gordon Jago Gordon Harold Jago (born 22 October 1932) is an English former football player and manager, and the former director of the Dr. Pepper Dallas Cup international youth tournament. Playing career Born in Poplar, London, Jago began his profession ...
as manager, who took Rangers up to fourth-place in 1971–72 – just two points behind promoted Birmingham City. Once coach Bobby Campbell departed Loftus Road for Arsenal, Jago allowed Venables to supervise the club's training sessions. Rangers continued to progress, and won promotion in 1972–73 after securing runners-up spot with an 11-point gap over third-place Aston Villa.


Crystal Palace

Venables signed with
Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
in 1974; he and Ian Evans were traded to Palace in exchange for Don Rogers. He made 14 Third Division appearances in the 1974–75 season before retiring due to arthritis on New Year's Eve. Manager Malcolm Allison gave him a coaching role for the second half of the campaign.


International career

As well as receiving two international caps, Venables held the distinction of being the only footballer to play for England at schoolboy,
youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. Yo ...
, amateur, Under-23, and for the full international team; as the amateur team was disbanded in 1974 no player was ever able to match his record. He was named by Alf Ramsey on the list of 33 "possibles" for the 1966 FIFA World Cup, having won two caps in 1964 – a 2–2 draw with
Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
and a 1–1 draw with the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, but did not make it into the final squad of 22.


Managerial career


Crystal Palace

Venables worked as Malcolm Allison's coach for the 1975–76 season, when Palace reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup; however they lost the semi-final tie with
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 their subsequent league form suffered as they slipped back to fifth-place. Venables succeeded Allison as manager in June 1976. It proved to be a busy month for Venables, as he turned down the surprise offer to walk out on Palace to succeed
Bertie Mee Bertram Mee OBE (25 December 1918 – 21 October 2001) was an English footballer who played as a winger for Derby County and Mansfield Town. Mee was also a manager, noted for leading Arsenal to their first Double win in 1971. Playing career Bor ...
as Arsenal manager and also had a para-sailing accident in Majorca which required 40 stitches. As Crystal Palace manager, Venables built a young team of mostly youth team players and free transfer signings which the media dubbed the "Team of the Eighties". Star winger
Peter Taylor Peter Taylor may refer to: Arts * Peter Taylor (writer) (1917–1994), American author, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction * Peter Taylor (film editor) (1922–1997), English film editor, winner of an Academy Award for Film Editing Politi ...
was sold on to Spurs for £200,000, but most of this sum went on balancing the club's books. Venables spent £1,500 to sign striker
Rachid Harkouk Rachid Peter Harkouk (born 19 May 1956) is a former professional footballer. Born in England, he played as a forward for the Algeria national team at international level. International career Harkouk was born in England to an Algerian father ...
from
Feltham Feltham () is a town in West London, England, from Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it became part of the London Borough of Hounslow in 1965. The parliamentary constituency of Feltham and Heston has been held by Labour Party ...
, coming up with half of this sum out of his own funds on the understanding that he would receive 50% of any future transfer fee for the player. By March 1977, the board found enough money for Venables to purchase
Jeff Bourne Jeffrey Albert Bourne (19 June 1948 – 31 July 2014) was an English footballer who played as a striker. Born in Linton, Derbyshire, he spent most of his early career in the lower English divisions before moving to the United States where he ...
from
Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...
for £30,000, and Bourne ended the 1976–77 campaign with nine goals in 15 games to help Palace to secure the third and final automatic promotion place. His team adjusted well to the Second Division and finished in ninth-place in 1977–78, before going on to win promotion as champions in 1978–79. They secured the title with a final day victory over Burnley in a rearranged fixture some days after all their promotion rivals had completed their fixtures; the win meant that they leapfrogged
Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...
, Stoke City and Sunderland, and they denied their M23 derby rivals from the south coast what would have been their club's highest honour. His first season as a manager in the First Division, in the 1979–80 season, started successfully, and on 29 September, Crystal Palace were top of the
English 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 Engl ...
for one week. They ended back down in 13th-place, which was at that time the club's highest ever league finish. The following season started badly for Venables; expensive high-profile signings failed to gel, and by October 1980, Palace were bottom of the First Division, and in financial difficulties. Venables left during October to join Second Division
Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...
; although the exact reasons behind his sudden departure have never been made clear.


Queens Park Rangers

Venables left Palace, in the top division, for Queens Park Rangers, who were in the Second Division. His departure from Selhurst Park coincided with a decline in form for Palace, who were relegated at the end of the season and did not regain their top flight status for another eight years. Venables drew a number of players over to Queens Park Rangers which, as reported at the time, gave an additional financial boost to his personal earnings. He took QPR back into the First Division as Second Division champions in 1983. He also guided Rangers to 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 ...
final in 1982 whilst still a Second Division side, but lost in a replay against his former club Tottenham. His final season as QPR manager, 1983–84, brought more success as they finished fifth in the league (their highest finish since they were runners-up in 1976) and qualified 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 solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...
. Venables then moved to Spain to take over at
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
, while
Alan Mullery Alan Patrick Mullery (born 23 November 1941) is an English former footballer and manager. After enjoying a successful career with Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur, and the England national team in the 1960s and 1970s, he became a manager working with ...
took over from him at
Loftus Road Loftus Road is a football stadium in White City, London, England, which is home to Queens Park Rangers. In 1981, it became the first stadium in British professional football to have an artificial pitch of Omniturf installed. This remained in ...
in an ill-fated arrangement that lasted just six months.


Barcelona

Venables gained a good reputation as a manager with his successes at Crystal Palace and QPR, and this attracted offers from some of Europe's most prestigious clubs. In 1984, Venables took the role of manager at
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
, earning the sobriquet "El Tel". He was recommended by
Bobby Robson Sir Robert William Robson (18 February 1933 – 31 July 2009) was an English footballer and football manager. His career included periods playing for and later managing the England national team and being a UEFA Cup-winning manager at Ipswich ...
, a good friend of the Barcelona Vice-president and who himself, years later, would take over the team. Venables used a very English system, a classic 4–4–2, which took advantage of outstanding defenders like
Gerardo Gerardo may refer to: People Given name Gerardo is the Spanish, Portuguese and Italian form of the male given name Gerard. * Gerardo Amarilla (born 1969), Uruguayan politician * Gerardo Bonilla (born 1975), Puerto Rican-born professional race ...
, Migueli and Julio Alberto and a hard-working midfield led by West German
Bernd Schuster Bernd Schuster (born 22 December 1959) is a German former professional footballer of the late 1970s through early 1990s, who won club titles playing for the Spanish sides FC Barcelona (1980–1987) and Real Madrid (1988–1990). He played as a m ...
. During his three seasons in
Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...
, Venables led the club to the Spanish league title in 1985 (their first since 1974). He also won the
1986 Copa de la Liga The 1986 Copa de la Liga was the fourth and last edition of Copa de la Liga. The competition started on May 1, 1986 and concluded on June 14, 1986. Due to time constraints, saturation and club pressure, the Copa de la Liga only lasted four years ...
, and led them to the
Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...
final in 1986 losing to
Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at L ...
. Barcelona also reached the 1986 European Cup Final, although they lost to Steaua București in a penalty shoot-out following a 0–0 draw. It was Barcelona's first appearance in a European Cup final since 1961 and had been achieved after one of the most dramatic European Cup semi-finals in the history of the competition. Venables's side overcame a 3–0 first-leg defeat to Swedish club
IFK Göteborg Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or simply Göteborg, is a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it is the ...
, winning the second-leg of the 1986 semi-final at the Camp Nou in a penalty shoot-out after a 3–3 aggregate score. Venables brought two British strikers to Barcelona in 1986 –
Gary Lineker Gary Winston Lineker (; born 30 November 1960) is an English former professional footballer and current sports broadcaster. He is regarded as having been one of the greatest English strikers. His media career began with the BBC, where he has ...
from Everton and
Mark Hughes Leslie Mark Hughes (born 1 November 1963) is a Welsh football coach and former player who is the manager of Bradford City. During his playing career he usually operated as a forward or midfielder. He had two spells at Manchester United, an ...
from Manchester United. Lineker was a great success at the Camp Nou, scoring 21 goals during his first season, including a hat-trick in a 3–2 win over Real Madrid. Lineker spent three years at Barcelona, until Venables brought him back to England with his new club
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...
in 1989. Hughes, however, was less successful and spent just one season in the Barcelona side, before being loaned to Bayern Munich. Venables was dismissed by Barcelona in September 1987, after failing to repeat his title success at the Camp Nou and losing home and away to eventual finalists
Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...
in the quarter-finals of 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 solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...
six months earlier.


Tottenham Hotspur

On 23 November 1987, he returned to England to manage Tottenham Hotspur. His success with the Spurs team was varied, with the side finishing in mid-table for most of his tenure, though they did 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 1991 and finished third in the league in 1990. Venables had brought both
Gary Lineker Gary Winston Lineker (; born 30 November 1960) is an English former professional footballer and current sports broadcaster. He is regarded as having been one of the greatest English strikers. His media career began with the BBC, where he has ...
and Paul Gascoigne to Spurs and was a favourite to replace
Bobby Robson Sir Robert William Robson (18 February 1933 – 31 July 2009) was an English footballer and football manager. His career included periods playing for and later managing the England national team and being a UEFA Cup-winning manager at Ipswich ...
as England national football team manager when the job became vacant in 1990, but doubts about his probity led him to be passed over in favour of
Graham Taylor Graham Taylor (15 September 1944 – 12 January 2017) was an English football player, manager, pundit and chairman of Watford Football Club. He was the manager of the England national football team from 1990 to 1993, and also managed Lincoln C ...
. Venables did not even make it onto the shortlist of three managers selected by
The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...
. After a failed £20m bid to take over Spurs with Larry Gillick, Venables was appointed chief executive by
Alan Sugar Alan Michael Sugar, Baron Sugar (born 24 March 1947) is a British business magnate, media personality, author, politician and political adviser. In 1968, he started what would later become his largest business venture, consumer electronics com ...
, who had won the takeover battle against
Robert Maxwell Ian Robert Maxwell (born Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch; 10 June 1923 – 5 November 1991) was a Czechoslovak-born British media proprietor, member of parliament (MP), suspected spy, and fraudster. Early in his life, Maxwell escaped from ...
in June 1991. Over the next two seasons, the Spurs team was managed by
Peter Shreeves Peter Shreeves (born 30 November 1940) is a Welsh former football player, manager and coach. Career Shreeves was born in Neath in South Wales where his mother had been evacuated to during the early stages of World War II, but was brought up i ...
and then the joint management team of
Ray Clemence Raymond Neal Clemence, (5 August 1948 – 15 November 2020) was an England international football goalkeeper and part of the Liverpool team of the 1970s. He is one of only 31 players to have made over 1,000 career appearances, and holds the ...
and Doug Livermore, with the final arrangement seeing Venables having more involvement with the first team. A clash of personalities developed and Sugar dismissed Venables on 14 May 1993, over his business dealings. After gaining a temporary injunction, he was reinstated, but lost a 3-day high court hearing and ordered to pay costs.


England

Venables was appointed manager of the England national team on 28 January 1994, having been recommended to
the FA The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world an ...
by
Jimmy Armfield James Christopher Armfield, (21 September 1935 – 22 January 2018) was an English professional football player and manager who latterly worked as a football pundit for BBC Radio Five Live. He played the whole of his Football League career at B ...
. However he came under intense scrutiny and censure in the media for his business dealings, which led MP
Kate Hoey Catharine Letitia Hoey, Baroness Hoey (born 21 June 1946), better known as Kate Hoey, is a Northern Irish politician and life peer who served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Home Affairs from 1998 to 1999 and Minister for Sport from 1999 t ...
to state in Parliament that Venables was unfit for the post of national team manager. He appointed
Don Howe Donald Howe (12 October 1935 – 23 December 2015) was an English football player, coach, manager and pundit. As a right back Howe featured for clubs West Bromwich Albion and Arsenal together with the England national football team in his pla ...
and Mike Kelly as coaches and put
Dave Sexton David James Sexton (6 April 1930 – 25 November 2012) was an English football manager and player. He was notable for managing Chelsea to their first ever major European trophy. Playing career Son of former professional boxer Archie Sex ...
in charge of the England under-21 team. He took England to a second-place finish in the
Umbro Cup The Umbro Cup was a friendly international football competition, which took place in June 1995 in England. The trophy was sponsored by the sports brand Umbro, the manufacturers of England's kit. Host nation England, Sweden, Japan and world ch ...
in June 1995, but froze
Paul Ince Paul Emerson Carlyle Ince (; born 21 October 1967) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the current manager of EFL Championship side Reading. A former midfielder, Ince played professionally from 1982 to 2007, st ...
out of the international set-up after Ince declined to play in the tournament. As England automatically qualified for
UEFA Euro 1996 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in England from 8 to 30 ...
as hosts, he organised friendlies to allow him to experiment and find his best squad for the tournament, and particularly to find the best tactical system to suit the players. Venables decided to stand down at the end of Euro 1996 after the FA's International Committee chairman
Noel White Noel White (16 December 1929 – 30 June 2019) was a businessman, football club chairman, director and administrator from the North West of England. He was one of the founding architects of the Premier League and Life Vice President of T ...
refused to grant Venables a contract extension in December 1995; the FA insisted on evaluating England's performances in competitive fixtures before deciding on his future. In May 1996,
Glenn Hoddle Glenn Hoddle (born 27 October 1957) is an English former football player and manager. He currently works as a television pundit and commentator for ITV Sport and BT Sport. He played as a midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur, Monaco, Chelsea and ...
was announced as his successor, meaning that Venables would have no choice but to stand down as manager no matter how well England performed at the tournament. Having selected
David Platt David Andrew Platt (born 10 June 1966) is an English former professional football coach and player, who played as a midfielder. Born in Chadderton, Lancashire, Platt began his career as an apprentice at Manchester United before moving to Crewe ...
as captain during the friendly matches, Venables decided to appoint
Tony Adams Tony Alexander Adams (born 10 October 1966) is an English former football manager and player. Adams played for Arsenal and England, captaining both teams. He spent his entire playing career of 19 years as a centre back at Arsenal, making 672 t ...
as captain for Euro 1996. He stood by his players in the face of media criticism before and during the tournament, which grew particularly intense after Paul Gascoigne and several others were photographed drunk in a nightclub during a team stay in
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
; Venables went so far as to accuse some reporters as being "traitors" for what he described as a "witch-hunt" against England players. England went unbeaten throughout the competition, drawing with
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
in the opening group game before beating Scotland national football team, Scotland 2–0 and the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
4–1. After his retirement, Venables described the win over the Netherlands as "perfection – my most thrilling experience in football". England advanced past Spain national football team, Spain in the quarter-finals with a victory on penalties, before being eliminated by Germany national football team, Germany on penalties at the semi-finals following a 1–1 draw. According to Alan Shearer, who played for Venables at Euro '96, "Terry's knowledge and tactical know-how were spot-on and he knew how to get the best out of us too. We responded to him, believed in him and played some outstanding football in that tournament." Another player in the squad, Gareth Southgate, said, "Terry opened my eyes to things that no one else has. He has fantastic tactical awareness. Every senior player in the group went away having learnt a lot from him, which is an achievement." On the Euro '96 team, Rob Smyth wrote in ''The Guardian'', "Under the managership of Terry Venables, this was an admirably enlightened, flexible and relaxed England side, one for the modern age; they even played a genuine 3-5-2... against Scotland and Germany. But they still weren't actually that good." Smyth argued there were "only two decent performances" by England in the tournament, against Holland and Germany.


Australia

Venables became manager of Australia in November 1996, following the resignation of Eddie Thomson. In the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup, 1997 Confederations Cup, Venables led Australia to the final before defeat to Brazil national football team, Brazil. His side swept through the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC), Oceania World Cup qualifiers, but were beaten in a 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification, play-off by Iran national football team, Iran on away goals. With the team having drawn 1–1 in Tehran, Australia led the second leg 2–0 early in the second half, but they conceded two late goals to miss out on qualification for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, 1998 World Cup on away goals. Venables decided to quit the Socceroos as the National Governing Body had bank-rolled the Federation in the hope of reaching their first World Cup since 1974.


Return to Crystal Palace

In summer 1998, he returned to Crystal Palace who had just been taken over by Mark Goldberg (football manager), Mark Goldberg. Venables left acrimoniously in January 1999, as the south-London club went into administration. His appointment had created a media frenzy, with Goldberg boasting that he was going to turn Palace into a European force within the next five years. Venables missed the first competitive game in charge citing his busy schedule as a TV pundit for that summer's World Cup as his reason for needing a break from football. Ultimately his first game in charge was the away leg of an InterToto Cup tie, with the club already 0-2 down from the home leg in his absence. Venables chose to field youth and ultimately the adventure ended immediately. After a spell of inconsistent results the Goldberg dream of building Palace as a force was over in January 1999 when Venables was released as the club faced financial problems and narrowly avoided going out of business, although they did at least finish in a secure position in Division One.


Middlesbrough

Despite being linked with vacant managerial positions with Wales national football team, Wales and
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 ...
, Venables remained out of football for nearly two years until December 2000, when he was appointed Head Coach to assist and co-manage
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 ...
with the incumbent manager Bryan Robson in a bid to help the club avoid relegation. The club eventually finished 14th and survived. However, Venables felt Teesside was too remote a base for his media and business interests and he left at the same time as Robson in June 2001.


Leeds United

In July 2002, Venables joined
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 ...
as manager. Although the extent of Leeds' disastrous financial problems were only beginning to become clear with club captain Rio Ferdinand sold to Manchester United only a fortnight into Venables appointment, he still inherited a stronger squad than the one that had qualified for the UEFA Champions League two years earlier (effectively, since Ferdinand was bought after qualification.) Despite this, by December of that year the side had crashed out of both 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 ...
and 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 solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...
and were languishing in the bottom half of the table. Leeds were further weakened in January 2003, when Jonathan Woodgate was sold to Newcastle United F.C., Newcastle United without Venables being informed, in an attempt to pay off mounting debts. Venables threatened to leave if Woodgate was sold, but was persuaded to stay by Peter Ridsdale. With the club spiralling towards relegation, and amid later substantiated rumours of further player sales by the board Venables was sacked in March 2003.


Later career

Venables was linked with Australian club Newcastle Jets FC, Newcastle Jets in 2005, but his commitments in the UK prevented him from taking up a role within the club, and his agent announced that he did not sign any deal with the club. At the end of the 2005–06 in English football, 2005–06 season, he was linked with a return to Middlesbrough, but decided that at his age he would be unable to manage a Premier League club full-time. Later in the year, Venables returned to the England set-up as assistant to new manager Steve McClaren. He was later sacked from this role in November 2007, along with McClaren, after England failed to qualify for UEFA Euro 2008, Euro 2008. Since 2007, Venables has been linked in the media with many managerial vacancies, including those at the Republic of Ireland national football team, Republic of Ireland, Bulgaria national football team, Bulgaria, Queen's Park Rangers, Hull City A.F.C., Hull City, and Wales national football team, Wales. In 2012, he was hired by Non-League football, non-League club Wembley F.C., Wembley as a technical adviser.


Public image and managerial style

According to Luke Ginnell, writing for football magazine ''FourFourTwo'', Venables' career "arguably promised more than it delivered," and he was dubbed the "False Messiah" by sports writer Mihir Bose. ''The Times'' described Venables as a "wide boy with a history of trouble off the pitch". According to Richard Williams (journalist), Richard Williams, "those who distrusted Venables were shouted down by those who had actually played under him, and who regard him—with rare unanimity—as possessing one of this country's very few exceptional football intellects." Writing for ''The Observer'' in 2004, Bill Borrows questioned why Venables, "who has won so little and failed at so much," was "considered by his peers to be 'synonymous with success'." Borrows wrote, "He has lost a couple of big games on penalties and even led Spurs to third in the League. But, in truth, his record isn't good enough, certainly when compared to the best managers, such as Brian Clough." Venables described himself as a "players' man", who gave players freedom off the pitch and defended them if they were criticised in the media. He was reluctant to praise players during his half-time team talks so as to avoid complacency, and felt it was important to keep his words brief and the tone light-hearted so players could take on board key points and remain in good spirits for the second half.


Personal life

Terry married Christine McCann, a dressmaker, in 1966. They had two daughters before divorcing in 1984. He met his second wife Yvette Bazire in 1984, in his father's pub in Chingford, Greater London. She accompanied him to Barcelona when he was appointed as their manager and they married in 1991. She managed his Kensington dining club, Scribes West, for seven years. He sold it in 1997.


Business interests

One of his first business ventures was to open a tailors in the West End of London, along with Chelsea teammates George Graham and Ron Harris (English footballer), Ron 'Chopper' Harris; the business proved unsuccessful and eventually filed for bankruptcy. On 14 January 1998 he was disqualified by the high court from acting as a company director for seven years under section 8 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 for mismanagement of four companies – Scribes West Ltd, Edenote plc, Tottenham Hotspur plc and Tottenham Hotspur Football and Athletic Company Ltd. The case was brought by the Department of Trade and Industry (United Kingdom), Department of Trade and Industry who cited instances of bribery, lying, deception, manipulation of accounts and taking money that should have been given to creditors. Re Tottenham Hotspur plc Venables combined his duties with Australia for a period as consultant and then chairman at
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...
. He purchased a 51% controlling interest in the club for £1 in February 1997, but left in controversial circumstances 11 months later. His company Vencorp received a £300,000 bonus in the summer of 1997 and he is thought to have been paid around £250,000 upon leaving the club, but he left them bottom of Football League First Division, Division One. Although Portsmouth avoided relegation 1997–98 in English football, 1997–98, their financial situation worsened and they were in real danger of bankruptcy, until being taken over by Milan Mandarić in late 1999. In 2014, together with his wife, Venables opened a boutique hotel and restaurant in Penàguila, in the Province of Alicante, Alicante region of Spain. It was sold in early 2019 when they decided to retire.


Other work (writing and singing)

Venables served the Professional Footballers' Association as vice-chairman in the 1970s, and represented QPR teammate Dave Thomas (footballer, born 1950), Dave Thomas at his tribunal 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, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...
chairman Bob Lord (football chairman), Bob Lord. He co-authored five novels with writer Gordon Williams (writer), Gordon Williams: ''They Used to Play on Grass'' (1972), ''The Bornless Keeper'' (1974), ''Hazell Plays Solomon'' (1974), ''Hazell and the Three Card Trick'' (1975), and ''Hazell and the Menacing Jester'' (1976). He used the pseudonym "P.B. Yuill" after completing the first book as he felt critics dismissed his contribution to ''They Used to Play on Grass'' as a gimmick. ''They Used to Play on Grass'' was voted at #172 in the BBC's ''The Big Read'' survey in 2003. He is credited as co-creator of the ITV (TV channel), ITV detective series ''Hazell (TV series), Hazell''. Having been a football pundit for BBC since the mid-80s, he left for ITV (TV channel), ITV in 1994, following a legal dispute with the corporation over allegations made against him in a ''Panorama (TV series), Panorama'' programme. In 1990, Venables co-devised the board game, "Terry Venables invites you to be... The Manager". His parents were very good singers, and encouraged Venables to also take up singing. At the age of 17 he entered a singing competition at Butlins in Clacton-on-Sea, though Chelsea did not allow him to compete in the final stages. In 2002, he recorded a single for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, World Cup together with the band Ultra (British band), Rider. "England Crazy" reached number 46 in the UK charts. In 2010, he recorded a cover of the Elvis Presley song "If I Can Dream" in association with British newspaper ''The Sun (United Kingdom), The Sun''. It featured a 60-piece Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with Harry Redknapp and Ian Wright filmed at Wembley Stadium. The song reached number 23 in the UK charts on 13 June.


Career statistics

Source:


Managerial statistics


Honours


Player

Chelsea *EFL Cup, Football League Cup: 1964–65 Football League Cup, 1964–65 *Football League Second Division runner-up: 1962–63 Football League Second Division, 1962–63 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 ...
: 1966–67 FA Cup, 1966–67 *FA Charity Shield: 1967 FA Charity Shield, 1967 (shared) Queens Park Rangers *Football League Second Division runner-up: 1972–73 Football League Second Division, 1972–73


Manager

Crystal Palace *Football League Second Division: 1978–79 Football League Second Division, 1978–79 *Football League Third Division third-place promotion: 1976–77 Football League Third Division, 1976–77 Queens Park Rangers *Football League Second Division: 1982–83 Football League Second Division, 1982–83 *FA Cup runner-up: 1981–82 FA Cup, 1981–82 Barcelona *
La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...
: 1984–85 La Liga, 1984–85 *Copa de la Liga: 1986 Copa de la Liga, 1986 *UEFA Champions League, European Cup runner-up: 1985–86 European Cup, 1985–86 Tottenham Hotspur *FA Cup: 1990–91 FA Cup, 1990–91 *FA Community Shield, FA Charity Shield: 1991 FA Charity Shield, 1991 (shared) Australia *FIFA Confederations Cup runner-up: 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup, 1997 Individual *Don Balón Award: 1985 *English Football Hall of Fame: 1997 (inducted) *Premier League Manager of the Month: 2000–01 FA Premier League#Monthly awards, January 2001


References


Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Venables, Terry 1943 births Living people Footballers from Dagenham English people of Welsh descent English footballers England schools international footballers England youth international footballers England amateur international footballers England under-23 international footballers England international footballers Association football midfielders Chelsea F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players English expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in Australia Crystal Palace F.C. players Expatriate association footballers in the Republic of Ireland St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players English Football League players English Football League representative players League of Ireland players English football managers Crystal Palace F.C. managers Queens Park Rangers F.C. managers English expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Spain FC Barcelona managers Tottenham Hotspur F.C. managers England national football team managers Expatriate soccer managers in Australia Australia national soccer team managers Middlesbrough F.C. managers Leeds United F.C. managers English Football League managers La Liga managers Premier League managers UEFA Euro 1996 managers 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup managers Queens Park Rangers F.C. non-playing staff Crystal Palace F.C. non-playing staff English chief executives Tottenham Hotspur F.C. non-playing staff Portsmouth F.C. non-playing staff English football chairmen and investors Portsmouth F.C. directors and chairmen English Football Hall of Fame inductees English male non-fiction writers 20th-century English writers English autobiographers English male singers English expatriate sportspeople in Australia English expatriate sportspeople in Ireland English expatriate sportspeople in Spain FA Cup Final players Association football coaches