While his debut at the Spurs was far from ideal as the team crashed out of the EFL Cup to Colchester, Irish wunderkind Troy Parrott is not disappointed. After all, the 17-year-old is in Tottenham’s Champions League squad and manager Mauricio Pochettino is a fan of his, selecting him as the second-choice striker for the team. His performance with Ireland’s youth teams was already convincing, showing that the youngster indeed has the potential for greatness.
Football is one of the most-played sports in Ireland, a country that has given the Premier League – and the Spurs – many great players in the past. Let’s remember some of them today.
Robbie Keane
After five seasons played with four teams, Keane seemed to have found a “spiritual home”, as manager Glenn Hoddle put it at the time, at White Hart Lane. He played with Spurs for six seasons before leaving for Liverpool, from where he returned after just six months, directly to the position of the captain. During his time here, he appeared in 306 matches and scored 122 goals, winning the Football League Cup with the Spurs in the 2007-2008 season.
Troy Parrott is often likened to Keane, who the young player considers a role model.
Tony Galvin
Tony Galvin will always be remembered fondly by the Spurs fans because of his skill in keeping the ball and accurate crosses. Although he was born in Huddersfield and attended English schools he earned 29 caps by Ireland, including three in the UEFA Euro 1988.
Galvin joined the Spurs in 1978 but only made his debut a year later, in a match against Manchester City, and became a regular in 1981. He was an especially strong winger, beloved by the fans. All in all, he played 273 first team games with the Spurs and scored 31 goals during his nine years with the club before moving on to Sheffield Wednesday in 1987.
Chris Hughton
Another Irishman born and raised in the UK, Hughton spent most of his career with the Spurs as a left-back. He is one of the most fondly remembered defenders in the Spurs’ history – he is considered to this day one of the best. He won the FA Cup in 1980-81 and 1981-82 with the team, and the UEFA Cup in the 1983–84 season. He played in a total of 398 games for the Spurs, scoring 19 times in the process.
Soon after leaving the Spurs, he retired from active duty, returning to the Lilywhites as a coach, initially with the U-21 team, and later with the first team. He saw 11 managers come and go. He also served as caretaker manager twice before being let go in 2007, after a UEFA Cup home defeat.
