Anthony Galvin (born 12 July 1956) is a former professional footballer who played as a winger. He played most successfully with

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 ...

, for whom he played 201 league games. He finished his league career with spells at

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 ...

and

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

. Born in England, he played for the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

, winning 29 caps including 3 in

Euro 88 The 1988 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in West Germany from 10 to 25 June 1988. It was the eighth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. The tournament crowned the Nethe ...

Club career

Tottenham Hotspur

Galvin was born in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

, England. He was bought by

manager

Keith Burkinshaw Harry Keith Burkinshaw (born 23 June 1935) is an English former professional footballer and football manager. He is one of the most successful managers of Tottenham Hotspur, winning 3 major trophies for the club as manager there. Playing career ...

in 1978 from Northern Premier League side Goole Town on the recommendation of Tottenham's double winning manager Bill Nicholson. On 3 February 1979, he made his debut in the 3–0 home defeat to Manchester City highlights of which was shown on

The Big Match ''The Big Match'' was a British football television programme, screened on ITV between 1968 and 1992. ''The Big Match'' originally launched on London Weekend Television (LWT) – the ITV regional station that served London and the Home Countie ...

. His first goal coming at the Baseball Ground against

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 ...

. Around 1981 he became a regular with his strength in wing play being that he was difficult to knock off the ball and was able to put in accurate crosses. He was a member of the successful Spurs side of the early 80s, winning two successive

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 ...

s in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

& 1982, and also 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 ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

. In all he played 273 first team games and scored 31 goals including a hat trick against

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 ...

in May 1986.

Sheffield Wednesday

He was sold by new Spurs manager

David Pleat David John Pleat (born 15 January 1945) is an English football player turned manager, and sports commentator. Pleat made 185 Football League appearances for five clubs, scoring 26 goals. He had two spells as manager of Luton Town, and four as ...

in 1987, but his spell at Wednesday was hit by injury.

Swindon Town

Galvin tried to make a fresh start at

, where he was signed by former Spurs teammate Ossie Ardiles in 1989. He stayed as a player for the rest of the season where Swindon reached the Division 2 play-offs. He then went on to become Ardiles' assistant, before following him to Newcastle United where he took a similar position until Ardiles was sacked in 1992.

International career

Galvin won 29 caps for the

, despite playing for

England schools England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, 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 separa ...

. He made his debut for Ireland in the European Championships qualifier against

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 ...

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

on 22 September 1982 and scored his only goal away to

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

in a

qualifier. He was named by

Jack Charlton John Charlton (8 May 193510 July 2020) was an English footballer and manager who played as a defender. He was part of the England national team that won the 1966 World Cup and managed the Republic of Ireland national team from 1986 to 199 ...

in Ireland's first ever finals squad at

, and started all 3 games against

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 ...

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

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 ...

. Galvin was able to understand the USSR's tactical calls during a game in Euro 88 because he had a degree in Russian.

Outside of football

Before joining Spurs, Galvin gained a degree in

Russian Studies Russian studies is an interdisciplinary field crossing politics, history, culture, economics, and languages of Russia and its neighborhood, often grouped under Soviet and Communist studies. Russian studies should not be confused with the study of ...

Hull University , mottoeng = Bearing the Torch f learning, established = 1927 – University College Hull1954 – university status , type = Public , endowment = £18.8 million (2016) , budget = £190 million ...

. He also studied teaching as a postgraduate at Trent Polytechnic. After his football career ended he returned to education teaching at a London College.

Honours

As a player

Tottenham *

, 1982 * FA Charity Shield:

References

External links

*
Tony Galvin – Republic of Ireland International Footballer – Football-Heroes.net

Sunday Times article 21 February 2010
{{DEFAULTSORT:Galvin, Tony 1956 births Living people Footballers from Huddersfield English footballers England schools international footballers English people of Irish descent Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland international footballers UEFA Euro 1988 players Goole Town F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players English Football League players Alumni of the University of Hull Alumni of Nottingham Trent University UEFA Cup winning players Royston Town F.C. managers Newcastle United F.C. non-playing staff Swindon Town F.C. non-playing staff Association football wingers FA Cup Final players