Don McAllister was a tough tackling centre back in a transitional era for us as a club. Bill Nicholson had departed and Terry Neill was manager before pathing the way for Keith Burkinshaw. Don played 209 times for us and was with us through thick and thin. He is remembered fondly by us older fans as a very good player who gave his all every time he pulled the shirt on. Its my pleasure to now share with you Don's interview he was kind enough to do with me. Its not every day you interview someone who has played with so many Tottenham legends, Pat Jennings, Ossie and Steve Perryman as well as the likes of Pele, Carlos Alberto and George Best. Please read on and enjoy.
AH: You signed for spurs from Bolton in 1975 how did that come about?
DM: 72-73 Bolton were on the verge of financial problems and had been relegated to the 3rd division so they made a bold move of using the successful youth team, so the young players were used to get the club back to division 2. I was one of the players used in the 1st team at 16.
We won promotion at the first attempt I played 45 of 46 league games , the next couple of years the team got stronger as the players matured , players like Paul Jones (England u23) Peter Reid England & Everton , Sam Allardyce , Roy Greaves, and myself we became the targets for the bigger clubs. I had been keeping Sam Allardyce out of the team and Spurs came in to buy me. Bolton had Sam ready to step in to the team and also put £80,000 pounds into the clubs bank account.
I had been out playing golf and when I returned home the phone rang , it was the Manager Ian Greaves:
"Where have you been we have been looking for you all day" he asked
"Why?" I asked
He replied "Pack your bags and get down to the club ,we are selling you!"
"Where? "I asked
He said "1st division" and hung up! He didn't even tell me where!
AH: What do you remember about your debut?
DM: It was Coventry away , cold and wet Spurs were in need of points so the game was tight and finished up 1-1 so a much needed point. It was great to play in a team with names like Jennings, Peters, Kinnear, Chivers, Knowles, England, Beal and so on people I used to watch on tv. As it turned out we just managed to stay in the 1st div with a win at home on the last match of the season against Leeds United.
AH: You went on loan to Washington diplomats in 1977 what was that like?
DM: I enjoyed Washington its a very nice place to be sent to recover from knee surgery, and the early years of USAs venture into football. Plus it was the first time I had lived overseas , I got to play against great players like Pele , Carlos Alberto , George Best, Eusebio and may other big stars of the game.
AH: What was the reason for that?
DM: I had had knee surgery and needed to get fit to play again which takes time not just training but game time, Spurs were having a bad year and ended up being relegated , so there was no chance of me getting any game time whilst I was recovering when the team needed every point they could get , so I was sent to the USA , little did I know on my return we would be in the 2nd Division and would be fighting to bounce back at the first attempt a place I had been before with Bolton.
AH: You were there when we won promotion back from Division 2 to the First division what memories do you have of that season?
DM: Many memories. The season had already started when I arrived back from the US the team had been hard at work , I had to win a place back in the team and prove my fitness was back after my surgery and the trip to America .
So the season for me started and I playing for the reserves many of whom I did not know , as the season progressed I got back into the team and stayed there to the end of the season.
The closer we got the more the pressure increased the better our opposition seemed to play and the harder it got , for me I was back and started to score some important goals in this period
I got 4 goals non more important than my diving header against Bolton giving us a 1-0 win .
The last game was away at Brighton we needed a draw to go back to the first Division after a tense game the whistle blew at 0-0 the job was done , so I had been in 2 promotion teams from div 3-2 and div 2-1 while I had not played many games for spurs in the relegation year and at Bolton I was not in the 1st team when they were relegated
AH: Ossie and Ricky arrived what was that like? After all they were World Cup winners!
DM: It was very exciting to be at Spurs during this period the arrival of 2 World Cup winners brought with it expectations of better days ahead , the ticker tape welcome to us coming on the pitch at WHL was fantastic plus both players brought with them a different style of playing and excellent skills
AH: How did the players help them settle into the team and surroundings?
DM: In the early days it was difficult as they only had limited English but the boys did everything we could to help them settle in and over time friendships started , I took them fishing to some local spots and introduced Ossie to golf with his first game at Ware golf club , any of you that know Ossie these days know you can find him playing golf most days. I have regular contact with him and occasional contact with Ricky as he lives in Argentina. As for the football we had to learn how to play a different way, to best use the skills of the 2 new guys who changed the future of the club and moved in to a golden few years at Spurs
AH: You scored 9 goals for spurs in 209 appearances what was your favourite?
DM: No question it was the Bolton goal , a goal made on the training ground John Pratt near post , corner to Glen flick on with players moving in on goal , this one was a bit far in front of me so I had to dive at speed and got perfect contact , never to be forgotten , the top 2 teams (both my teams ) 52,000 fans it could not get better .. the one thing missing was cameras to video the goal….. we were the 1st and 2nd in the league the biggest crowd in London even with the cup semi on the same day and no cameras.
AH: Who was the best 2 players you played with?
DM: Its a difficult question as I played with a lot of great players I watch today's goal keepers with their non stick Gloves punch balls coming straight at them and think of Pat Jennings who caught footballs in one hand but its a specialised role .
My number 1 was a young player from the youth team , Glen Hoddle he did things so easy and was so skill-full he became the most dynamic player in the country for many years. Another of Glen’s attributes was he was a hard worker and a good trainer few people mention this about him , he was without question a Great Player.
Next for me is Steve Perryman not only was he a great leader for the players he was a dynamo never stopped running and pushing the team forward . Never missed training and very rarely injured , playing 850 games for Spurs wow if you play 50 games/year thats 17 years! Amazing!
I also have to mention my friend Ossie he was also another dynamo, non stop player with great skill who changed the way we played football , Ossie could run with the ball and change direction so fast made him almost impossible to catch and like Glen he could dictate the way the game was played. Ossie was a outstanding player and a great guy
AH: What was your favourite game that you played in and why?
DM: My Favourite game would be against Man Utd in the FA cup Replay at Old Trafford when we won 0-1 with Ossie scoring the winner in extra time , this game had everything , it had one of the best saves I have ever seen by Milja, he caught a shot hit hard and was going into the bottom corner of our net when he caught it in one hand at full length and it stuck , Milja was later carried off on a stretcher after a clash with Joe Jordan and was replaced in Goal by who else but Glen!. With extra time running out Ossie picked the ball up just inside the Utd penalty box and put his shot in the to right hand corner in front of a full house in Manchester (where I am from ).
There was also another great game at Old Trafford when in the first half we could have been 5 down not 2 but for the brilliant saves of Barry Daines we got hammered. The 2nd half was different, we the defence started to win our battles and we scored a goal by Ralph Coates this silenced the 60,000 crowd followed by another goal this time it was Ian Moores. Our final move was John Pratt came on as a sub he then scored from 30 yds us winning 2-3 a game of two halves for sure.
AH: You were part of the 81 cup winning team what memories do you have of that day and the build up to it?
DM: The build up to the cup final, we went away to a country hotel to prepare for the biggest game we had had for many years , we were away from the media and other distractions we trained and relaxed by playing golf and other non stressful things, the day was everything a player looks forward to thats the trip down Wembley way and to walk out on the pitch . The most important thing, the only reason to be there it to win the Cup unfortunately on this day it was a draw so we had to wait a few more days for us to win the cup with Ricky writing the history books with his goal the FA cup is ours…. over the next few years there were more to come
AH: If you could pick one player from the present team to play alongside you who would it be and why?
DM: It would have to be Harry Kane, he seems to score every week, every time the ball is in the danger area Harry is never far away, he is challenging some of the great goal scorers like Jimmy Greaves Clive Allen. These guys have set the records and Harry is chasing .. and doing a great job.
AH: When you signed for spurs where there any other clubs in for you and if so why spurs?
DM: The local papers had me linked to Liverpool < Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley were photographed in the crowd watching , Jimmy Arnfield had talks with them but nothing came of it seems Jimmy wanted swaps , then Terry Neill arrived.
AH: What are you up to now?
DM: I live on the Gold Coast in Queensland Australia I moved to Australia 1991 and have been retired for about 6 years. I live on 8 acres of land with views to the coast line , we also have chickens and had 1 cow until recently, there is plenty to do on the property, we also have a small lake out of the back of my home I want to stock it with some fish , I see my Grand Kids every day because they live on the same land as we do but another property. I play golf go fishing and visit the beach , my wife (46 years ) and I travel ,we are off to Hawaii soon, our life is busy.
I do miss the football contact as it was and still is a major part of my life , I am amazed that there is still interest in us as players from so many years ago, our supporters are so passionate about the club and its history as a ex player it makes me so proud to say I played for Tottenham, unfortunately for me I live in Australia where football is not the big game.
When I come home I am always treated very well at WHL, from the Club and our great fans who never forget, I catch up with my team mates and play golf with them at the Legends events under Golf captain Ossie . I try to get to a couple of games to watch our current team and on my next visit I will go to this fantastic new ground we will soon call home. Family for Life when you play for Spurs
Thanks to Don for his time and patience waiting for me to get this ready. It never ceases to amaze me the bond these guys still have after all these years and the love they till have for our great, great club. We should never forget the contribution they made to our history. Anthony
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