Jimmy: I was pleased. They were a great team, the best in England at the time. I felt that it would have been pointless going back to Chelsea because I wanted to move on. So that was it. Bill Nicholson brought me back to White Hart Lane for £99,999.
Did that one pound make any difference to you?
Jimmy: It didn’t make a blind bit of difference to me, no. Most people seemed to be under the impression that it was done for my benefit – to ease the pressure – but it wasn’t. The deal could have been for 10 million quid for all I cared. All I wanted to do was move to Tottenham Hotspur.
I think Bill didn’t want to be the first manager to pay that amount of money for a player, but it never made a scrap of difference to me – I didn’t get any of the fee anyway! So contrary to it being done to take the pressure off, I really couldn’t have cared less.
It was quite a return to English football. Over 13,000 people turned up to see you play your first game, a reserve team match against Plymouth...
Jimmy: I didn’t give that any thought to be honest, I just wanted to get the first game out of the way. I ran out onto the field and there were all these people there. I hadn’t played in the reserves before: I’d played for the Chelsea youth team and then went straight into the first team at 17. I thought that was the norm. The chairman of Plymouth even welcomed me onto the pitch!
And, of course, you scored a hattrick on your debut at White Hart Lane (against Blackpool). That must have got you off to a good start?
This story is from the Spurs v RB Leipzig edition of Tottenham Hotspur Publications.
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This story is from the Spurs v RB Leipzig edition of Tottenham Hotspur Publications.
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OBITUARY – JOHNNIE HILLS
We were saddened to hear of the passing of John ‘Johnnie’ Hills, a defender who spent 11 years at the Club as an amateur and professional between 1950-61. He passed away at home in Brussels, Belgium, on Friday, 26 November, aged 87.
PAPER CHASE
Club historian John Fennelly looks back at what supporters were reading on their way, at half-time and heading home afterwards when NORWICH CITY visited in March 1938.
RIDE FOR UGO
Laurence Gant, Head of Academy Sports Medicine and Science, is set to take part in a five-day charity cycle in memory of his friend, and our former Under-23s coach Ugo Ehiogu.
DEVELOPMENT SQUAD
BIG WIN OVER EVERTON
SPURS WOMEN
INTERNATIONAL ROUND
GAME ZERO ACHIEVES NET ZERO CARBON STATUS
Sky this week published a case study revealing that Game Zero, our Premier League match against Chelsea here in September, achieved net zero carbon emissions.
LIVING IN THE MOMENT
Exclusive interview with our young midfielder OLIVER SKIPP, now an established member of our first team and also a familiar face to today’s opponents, who is enjoying every moment in the Premier League spotlight.
MEET OUR FIRST-YEAR UNDER-18S PLAYERS
TOUGH DAY AGAINST COTTAGERS
TREBLE TOP
Looking back at Spurs hat-tricks scored against tonight’s opposition.
WHERE ARE THEY NOW ?
A creative midfielder who was full of heart and desire, LEWIS HOLTBY made his Spurs debut against this afternoon’s opposition back in January 2013 and went on to make 42 appearances in our colours, scoring three goals. We caught up with the Germany international to discuss his time at the Club and find out what he is up to now…
