From BBC Sport’s Football Legends archive: “Pat Jennings was snapped up to appear for English club Watford while still a teenager after playing from an early age in Northern Ireland. “He was playing away at the City Ground [for Arsenal] at the back end of the 80s. “After the game Howe went into see Cloughy and said, ‘your supporters are absolute animals! Tottenham Hotspur news from FanSided Daily, Giovani and Sandro in Olympic Semi-Finals, Caulker and Rose Miss Out, Lacklustre Tottenham beat Watford by a Single Goal in Pre-season Friendly. the author writes of seeing Pat’s hands shaking when walking out to He retired on his forty first birthday as Northern Ireland were eliminated from the competition by Brazil. Pat Jennings Moments. Nearly ten years later Spurs were Discussion in 'Spurs News & Views' started by NaijaSpurs, 15 Dec 2013. The manager of Watford when Jennings signed from Newry Town in 1963 for £6,000 was Ronnie Burgess who played over 450 League and Cup games for Spurs and captained the ‘Push and Run’ side which won the 2nd Division and 1st Division titles in consecutive seasons from 1949 to 1951. All great keepers 1968. A one-nil loss, but on the train home that night, I could In the incomparable Hunter Davies book, “The Glory Game”, Jennings is remembered for his ability to go out to catch the ball with one hand and for his numerous match winning saves. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. More like JCB diggers !! Shilton ? and were going strong for the Championship. Never officially coached, because he was un-coachable. If it is the one I am thinking of, he came for a long, lofted ball into the box, got underneath it, and after it went over his head he threw back an arm to catch it one handed. incensed, he kicked the ball out of the ground. Tottenham had been relegated and he was prepared to go down with them. as the wily Scot waltzed past him. He helped Spurs win the FA Cup in 1967, the League Cup in 1971 and 1973 and the UEFA Cup of 1972 and to the UEFA Cup Final of 1984. Letting Jennings and Greaves go too early. the Leeds United player right up the backside. The corresponding away fixture came, unusually, He went on to spend 13 seasons at Tottenham Hotspur and a further eight at Arsenal. giant, who went on to make nearly six hundred first team appearances. The ref pointed to the penalty spot. That's the two worst decisions in the clubs history (and GHod, there has been a lot). with Jones, Pat chased after him and in full view of the referee, kicked game. Dear Guest, His two penalty saves at Anfield as Spurs earned a 1 – 1 draw in 1973 are part of Spurs legend and after a UEFA Cup game in Switzerland in the same year, Spurs returned with a resounding 5 – 1 victory over Grasshopper Zurich but it was Jennings who received all the plaudits for his performance that evening. “And I said, ‘Yeah, I did for eight years’. Alan Gilzean. Players like Hunter, Bremner, He won the Football Writers’ Player of the Year Award in 1973 and the Professional Footballers’ Association award in 1976. Jennings was a young, inexperienced goalkeeper when Bill Nicholson signed him from Watford in June, 1964 for £27,000. “He pulled the dart out and put it in the back of the goal and didn’t make any great deal of it. look at the pitch before a game at Leeds. honour and valour. Easter Saturday that unbeaten record came to an end at White Hart Lane, Outfield players can make as many mistakes as they like, but He scored a goal at Old Trafford in the Charity Shield, brilliantly for Northern Ireland. Pat Jennings, was honoured by UEFA at Northern Ireland’s international Euro2012 match against Serbia at Windsor Park, Belfast in September, 2011. Leeds forward, Mick Jones came charging in like an express train and He was a sportsman and one of the game’s greats. pretty. Never officially coached, because he was un-coachable. He was such a hero and so highly regarded by everyone at Tottenham, however, that he has always been respected and was welcomed back warmly at the end of his career. He was unique with Pat Jennings ? With manager, Bill Nicholson looking to rebuild his team following the demise of the ‘Double’ team, Jennings, just as he had done the previous year with Watford, stepped straight into the Spurs team in place of Bill Brown. He won a record number of caps for Northern Ireland and played in over 1,000 top-level games. This site uses cookies. roughhouse tactics to unsettle the Heroes of White Hart Lane. Please do not post adult content and if you see any already on the forum, please report the post so that we can deal with it. Pat Jennings’ last League game for Tottenham was at White Hart Lane in the final game of the 1976-77 season. Sort of. ……………………………………..Pete Hanscomb. It was only in his last season that Jennings was troubled by injury and as Spurs were relegated manager Keith Burkinshaw made the unbelievable decision to release Jennings in favour of his young understudy, Barry Daines, believing that Jennings was past his best. This service is provided on talkSPORT Ltd's Terms of Use in accordance with our Privacy Policy. Dave Mackay was so He decided to That's the two worst decisions in the clubs history (and GHod, there has been a lot). It was the mid 1980s and Forest were entertaining Arsenal in a league clash at the City Ground. Initially, Nicholson must have had doubts about Jennings as he took time to settle and during his first two seasons he shared goalkeeping duties with Brown. turn and celebrate what would have been a 2-1 win. Then this massive leaving a bemused Alex Stepney to glare in disbelief at the celebrating “They thought that was the end of it but then a letter arrived a couple of days later. From FTBPro, “Pat Jennings Joined Arsenal To Get Back At Tottenham. The three course carvery produces some fine food and the chance to meet Spurs Legends is added benefit. shaney, 11 Jun 2014 #21. My memory of Daines is a little different, in that whenever called on to play when PJ was injured he would play really well. it was disgusting. Pat had also had an interest ). Happy Birthday Pat. Pat Jennings. at Anfield. Spurs winning 2-1. Gilzean aimed a kick back, without At 32 he was in his prime and the then board of directors decided not to offer him another contract, he was blanked and disrespected by the “suits” of the club he loved. Tottenham vs. Fiorentina: Team News, Predicted Lineups, Live Stream, TV Info, Conversation Corner: Tottenham is Bested by Dortmund, What We Learned From Spurs' Europa League Campaign. He was a one off. One on ones with forwards, flying leaps either side of the goal, The fact that it was to that lot that play up near Finsbury His last match was on his 41st birthday against Brazil. He would fly out of the area as if on an On the Arsenal legend Pat Jennings had a dart thrown at him by a Nottingham Forest fan “He then said he’d tell me a fantastic story about Cloughy. Roland Beurre Terry Yorath. With seats in the East Upper you can witness the game from a different perspective.”. On retiring from playing, Jennings took on the role of goalkeeping coach/consultant at Tottenham and is still involved with the club in their corporate and hospitality activities on match days. Ironically, Jennings was 32 years old when Spurs released him and it took them four years to find a suitable replacement, signing Ray Clemence from Liverpool in 1981, aged 33 years. He was among a number of players to be honoured by UEFA in recognition of winning over one hundred international caps for their country. scara, Please read this post: https://www.glory-glory.co.uk/community/threads/fund-raising-for-jeremy-yermiyahu.10542/. Speaking on talkSPORT, Psycho said: “I bumped into Pat Jennings last year and we started talking and he said to me, ‘you worked for Brian Clough didn’t you?’. We'll never pass along your email address to spammers, scammers, or the like. He retired from club football in 1985 but continued to play for Northern Ireland until the completion of their participation in the 1986 World Cup finals. News Corp is a network of leading companies in the worlds of diversified media, news, education, and information services. Often, after a game, I suffer headaches. Happy Birthday Pat, best keeper we have had here and a great bloke. The dart ended up becoming lodged in Jennings’ arm, who played on unaided, but that wasn’t the most incredible thing that came from the whole episode – with Pearce detailing the best bits below. Brian’. He was unique with a goalkeeping style all of his own. Of course, there was always the He saved two penalties in one game at Anfield. Joined: 22 Jan 2012 Messages: 2,542 Likes Received: 128. Yashin ? He had made his International debut for Northern Ireland against Wales in April, 1964 at the age of eighteen in the same team as George Best, helping Northern Ireland to a 3 – 2 victory in the Home International Championships. I only saw him lose his temper once and that was at Elland Road. Thanks, Pat thought so too. hand corner of the net …I was certain it was in and was just going to “Pat went into his pocket and pulled the letter out when I was chatting to him and told me to have a read of it. He would fly out of the area as if on an invisible trapeze and catch the ball with one hand. Jennings speaking to a Cork Supporters’ group in 2003 said that a few years after he’d left Spurs he met Keith Burkinshaw who told him that he now realised that  he’d made a big mistake in letting Pat go to Arsenal, something Spurs supporters could have told him in August 1977. Best keeper i have ever seen and a hell of a nice man, the way he could catch crosses with one hand was amazing. Page 2 of 3 < Prev 1 2 3 Next > shaney Alan Hutton. “It read along the lines of: ‘Dear Pat, I have absolutely no sympathy. Zenga ? said … “I picked my spot and headed it towards the top right Cooper and with the Elland Road crowd sensing victory over the ten men, Hands like shovels ? Vaya con Dios mi amigos Leeds fullback, Terry Cooper, kicked out wildly at Alan Gilzean penalty area and as usual, Pat came out to make a comfortable catch. and Leeds, being Leeds, resorted to their usual intimidatory and Jennings kept a clean sheet in the 2 – 0 win. caught Pat with a thigh high tackle. Leeds, under Don Revie, had produced a ten match winning streak He was a one off.”, Making a save against Paul Mariner of Ipswich Town, in the FA Cup Final. The score Barry Daines had begun to impose himself and Build your custom FanSided Daily email newsletter with news and analysis on Tottenham Hotspur and all your favorite sports teams, TV shows, and more. great hand appeared from nowhere to flick the ball over the bar. his one-handed catch of crosses into the penalty area. made some elementary mistakes during those first matches for Spurs, in the air. Pat explained that it was part from Pat. is so high at this level.