Cliff Jones inducted into the National Football Hall of Fame

[zin]

Before my time but he was the original Welsh wing wizard.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/24273355

Welsh wing legend Cliff Jones has been inducted into the National Football Hall of Fame.

Jones, 78, played 59 times for his country and was in the Tottenham side that won the Football League and FA Cup double in the 1960-61 season.

He was also in the only Wales team to play in the World Cup finals in 1958.

Jones is the sixth Welshman to be inducted into the hall of fame, following John Charles, Billy Meredith, Ian Rush, Mark Hughes and Ryan Giggs.

Although he enjoyed great success with Spurs, Swansea-born Jones started his career with his home town club and said some of his fondest memories come from that period of his career.

“They were great days [playing for Swansea Town]. I'm a Swansea Jack and I love old Swansea”

"It was a privilege to play for Tottenham in the '60s because we were a good team," said Jones.

"But for me the most satisfying time was at Swansea Town at the dear old Vetch Field when we were all local lads together and Ivor Allchurch was the golden boy of Welsh football and Mel Charles was a character.

Jones was transferred from Swansea to Tottenham in 1958 and made his debut in a 4-4 draw with Woolwich.

As well as becoming the first team to win the double in 1961, Spurs won the FA Cup in 1962 and 1967 and became the first English club to win European honours when they claimed the Cup Winners' Cup in 1963.

Jones scored 159 goals in 378 appearance for Spurs and is fourth in the club's all-time scoring list.

He joined Fulham after leaving Spurs in 1968 and briefly for King's Lynn.

Today he is an ambassador for Tottenham Hotspur and said he was honoured join the list of players in the National Hall of Fame.

"I'm very pleased and I'm going to enjoy the evening," he added.

"I've been talking to (former Leeds United and Scotland winger) Eddie Gray and reminiscing about playing in the 1960s. It was a great time for British football."

Jones was one of a number of former players honoured at a dinner in Manchester on Wednesday.

Raich Carter, Eddie Gray, Matt Le Tissier, Mike Summerbee and Ray Wilkins were the other players inducted on Wednesday.

Fellow inductee Summerbee, the former Manchester City wing, said Cliff Jones epitomised Tottenham Hotspur.

"For me Cliff Jones is Spurs," he said.

"He's always there at White Hart Lane and they'll probably put him on top of that cockerel one day."

 

[Spurs14]

What a legend

 

[Mrs Perryman]

I only saw him play in a testimonial match, and he was playing for a Seventies side against an 80s team, so he was the oldest player on the pitch, but he gave everyone a run for their money. I met him in one of the lounges and he really is one of the nicest, humblest men and he is still very trim and dapper. Surprised its taken this long for the induction.

 

[8cspurs8]

Met him in one of the lounges too, nice guy.

 

[Guido 🇺🇦]

Now officially on twitter.

 

[Mrs Perryman]

Cliff Jones - genuine Spurs Legend, vital member of the Double Team, the original Welsh Wizard – was Graham Robert’s latest guest.
He played for Swansea, his schoolboy team, and moved to us in 1958 for £35,000, a record for the time. He got a £20 signing on bonus, weekly salary £20 pw, which went down to £15 in the summer. The team used to get a bonus of £4 for a win and £2 for a draw.
Cliff is obviously still a very fit 85, as evidenced by his online fitness routines. Although he needed to be prompted by his son or Robbo for certain stories, he remembered them very well once he got going.
He spoke about his debut at Highbury. As he was doing his National Service (believes it would be a good thing to have it now, teaches discipline and responsibility), he travelled from St John’s Wood by train, which was delayed, so he was late. The Commissioner wouldn’t let him in, as he didn’t recognise him, and he asked him to get Bill Nick. When Bill turned up, he wasn’t impressed with the fact that he was late, or with the state of his raggedy old boots. The result was 4-4 and Cliff missed a sitter to win the game, so mixed memories for his first game.
He kept referring to the start of the Glory, Glory Days and that Bill’s whole approach to the game was ‘train as you would play’, as sloppy play in training would lead to sloppy play in an actual game. The three key players of the Double side were Blanchflower, White and Mackay – the rest of the team bounced off them. He mentioned that Danny was the only person to turn down This Is Your Life, and Bill wasn’t too happy about it, as the whole team had to go down to White City and Eammon Andrews had to come out and say that he had walked out. He thought that Danny was one of the most intelligent men about and a real wordsmith. Bill was involved in everything at the Club, from boot room to boardroom, but Danny was his lieutenant on the field.
Going back to Bill’s training regime, when the team went to Russia on a pre-season tour, he took them to see the Bolshoi Ballet (not exactly a usual activity for footballers), but Bill wanted to show how extremely fit the dancers were. Back in the UK, Bill introduced weight training (with Bill Watson), which took their fitness to a new level. He believes the Double side would be able to hold their own in the modern game, because of their exceptional fitness, and the conditions of the pitch and ball was tougher back then.
His most memorable game was against Gornik in the European Cup, the noise in the ground was deafening, they were beaten before kick off. An 8-1 win and Cliff scored a hattrick.
Bobby Smith became a star player in European campaigns, as foreign teams, especially goalkeepers didn’t know how to handle him. He thought we were really unlucky in the semi final against Benfica, we just didn’t get the rub of the green and the officials were awful (sounds familiar!).
He rated Greaves as the best goal scorer (not necessarily the best player) the world has ever seen, not the best trainer but just a natural talent that always turned up at actual games.
He said that Maurice Norman was a great defender but would sulk if anyone shouted at him, he had the most elaborate autograph, which would take 5 minutes to do.
He rated Pat Jennings as the best keeper he played with, was good enough with his feet that he could have played as a defender.
Juve made a record bid for Cliff, but he wasn’t really interested in going abroad, and although the money would have been nice, he never regretted staying, not only that, Bill told Juve they could have him in five years time.
Cliff played for Wales in two World Cups, and he played against Pele, when he was only 17. No-one outside of Brazil know who he was, but he obviously came to the forefront of international football at that World Cup.
Coming to the present day, there was inevitable talk about Bale. Cliff can’t understand why he’s happy with the current situation, as he loves his football and he’s a good lad; he thinks he would still do a good job for us and would get the supporters excited about his return. When asked who was better – him or Bale, he didn’t like to say, apart from that he was better looking.
There was great banter between Robbo and Cliff, considering they played in different eras, nice to see that players of Robbo’s generation appreciate what players like Cliff mean to the Club. He mentioned that he would pop round for a quick cuppa and stay fora few hours.
Best player he played against – Pele; best player at Spurs – Mackay, he had everything; most difficult opponent – George Cohen; best goal – against Woolwich, can’t remember the game but it was a header, and he then said any goal against them was special.
Cliff loved Poch as our manager, he thought he was very similar with ideas as Bill and was sorry to see him go. He sees Jose as a winner and hopes it continues.
When holidaying in Spain, Cliff visited a bullring and he outran a baby bull – it’s on YouTube, it’s a bit grainy but funny to watch.
Cliff recalled that when his brother went to Watford and they came up against each other, their mum had a go at his brother for kicking him. He also said that when they went to see England play Wales at Ninian Park, and John Charles scored an own goal, his mum was the only one to jump up and say ‘well done’.
If he hadn’t been a footballer, he would have played rugby.
Robbo suggested that Cliff should do a 'Captain Tom' and raise money by being sponsored for doing burpees or press ups.
I hope the Club keeps using him in the hospitality lounges, as he is one of the few survivors of the fabled Double Team. He obviously loves the Club and and we should look after him.

 

[Adrian Cimino]

Cliff Jones - genuine Spurs Legend, vital member of the Double Team, the original Welsh Wizard – was Graham Robert’s latest guest.
He played for Swansea, his schoolboy team, and moved to us in 1958 for £35,000, a record for the time. He got a £20 signing on bonus, weekly salary £20 pw, which went down to £15 in the summer. The team used to get a bonus of £4 for a win and £2 for a draw.
Cliff is obviously still a very fit 85, as evidenced by his online fitness routines. Although he needed to be prompted by his son or Robbo for certain stories, he remembered them very well once he got going.
He spoke about his debut at Highbury. As he was doing his National Service (believes it would be a good thing to have it now, teaches discipline and responsibility), he travelled from St John’s Wood by train, which was delayed, so he was late. The Commissioner wouldn’t let him in, as he didn’t recognise him, and he asked him to get Bill Nick. When Bill turned up, he wasn’t impressed with the fact that he was late, or with the state of his raggedy old boots. The result was 4-4 and Cliff missed a sitter to win the game, so mixed memories for his first game.
He kept referring to the start of the Glory, Glory Days and that Bill’s whole approach to the game was ‘train as you would play’, as sloppy play in training would lead to sloppy play in an actual game. The three key players of the Double side were Blanchflower, White and Mackay – the rest of the team bounced off them. He mentioned that Danny was the only person to turn down This Is Your Life, and Bill wasn’t too happy about it, as the whole team had to go down to White City and Eammon Andrews had to come out and say that he had walked out. He thought that Danny was one of the most intelligent men about and a real wordsmith. Bill was involved in everything at the Club, from boot room to boardroom, but Danny was his lieutenant on the field.
Going back to Bill’s training regime, when the team went to Russia on a pre-season tour, he took them to see the Bolshoi Ballet (not exactly a usual activity for footballers), but Bill wanted to show how extremely fit the dancers were. Back in the UK, Bill introduced weight training (with Bill Watson), which took their fitness to a new level. He believes the Double side would be able to hold their own in the modern game, because of their exceptional fitness, and the conditions of the pitch and ball was tougher back then.
His most memorable game was against Gornik in the European Cup, the noise in the ground was deafening, they were beaten before kick off. An 8-1 win and Cliff scored a hattrick.
Bobby Smith became a star player in European campaigns, as foreign teams, especially goalkeepers didn’t know how to handle him. He thought we were really unlucky in the semi final against Benfica, we just didn’t get the rub of the green and the officials were awful (sounds familiar!).
He rated Greaves as the best goal scorer (not necessarily the best player) the world has ever seen, not the best trainer but just a natural talent that always turned up at actual games.
He said that Maurice Norman was a great defender but would sulk if anyone shouted at him, he had the most elaborate autograph, which would take 5 minutes to do.
He rated Pat Jennings as the best keeper he played with, was good enough with his feet that he could have played as a defender.
Juve made a record bid for Cliff, but he wasn’t really interested in going abroad, and although the money would have been nice, he never regretted staying, not only that, Bill told Juve they could have him in five years time.
Cliff played for Wales in two World Cups, and he played against Pele, when he was only 17. No-one outside of Brazil know who he was, but he obviously came to the forefront of international football at that World Cup.
Coming to the present day, there was inevitable talk about Bale. Cliff can’t understand why he’s happy with the current situation, as he loves his football and he’s a good lad; he thinks he would still do a good job for us and would get the supporters excited about his return. When asked who was better – him or Bale, he didn’t like to say, apart from that he was better looking.
There was great banter between Robbo and Cliff, considering they played in different eras, nice to see that players of Robbo’s generation appreciate what players like Cliff mean to the Club. He mentioned that he would pop round for a quick cuppa and stay fora few hours.
Best player he played against – Pele; best player at Spurs – Mackay, he had everything; most difficult opponent – George Cohen; best goal – against Woolwich, can’t remember the game but it was a header, and he then said any goal against them was special.
Cliff loved Poch as our manager, he thought he was very similar with ideas as Bill and was sorry to see him go. He sees Jose as a winner and hopes it continues.
When holidaying in Spain, Cliff visited a bullring and he outran a baby bull – it’s on YouTube, it’s a bit grainy but funny to watch.
Cliff recalled that when his brother went to Watford and they came up against each other, their mum had a go at his brother for kicking him. He also said that when they went to see England play Wales at Ninian Park, and John Charles scored an own goal, his mum was the only one to jump up and say ‘well done’.
If he hadn’t been a footballer, he would have played rugby.
Robbo suggested that Cliff should do a 'Captain Tom' and raise money by being sponsored for doing burpees or press ups.
I hope the Club keeps using him in the hospitality lounges, as he is one of the few survivors of the fabled Double Team. He obviously loves the Club and and we should look after him.

Some great stories Mrs P thanks

 

[Guido 🇺🇦]

I absolutely love this man.

By far and away the best ex-Player/Ambassador we have. A gentleman, passionate Tottenham man, doesn't embarrass himself on Twitter (take note Graham Roberts).

He used to live around the corner from me when I lived in Palmers Green. I used to take the long way home via his road on my walk back from the station in the summer after work in the hope to see him in his garden. If he was there he'll always say hello back and shout "Up The Spurs" as you walked further up the road.



My hero is Stevie P (my era) but Cliff simply has a closer, more genuine connection with the fans these days I think.

 

[skywalker68]

Great news for a great player well deserved.

 

[Mrs Perryman]

I absolutely love this man.

By far and away the best ex-Player/Ambassador we have. A gentleman, passionate Tottenham man, doesn't embarrass himself on Twitter (take note Graham Roberts).

He used to live around the corner from me when I lived in Palmers Green. I used to take the long way home via his road on my walk back from the station in the summer after work in the hope to see him in his garden. If he was there he'll always say hello back and shout "Up The Spurs" as you walked further up the road.



My hero is Stevie P (my era) but Cliff simply has a closer, more genuine connection with the fans these days I think.

What a superb interview and what a legend! Loved the story about the Bolshoi. Ben is such a lovely guy, including Joan, the Welsh boys are obviously very close.

 

[Pete27]

I absolutely love this man.

By far and away the best ex-Player/Ambassador we have. A gentleman, passionate Tottenham man, doesn't embarrass himself on Twitter (take note Graham Roberts).

He used to live around the corner from me when I lived in Palmers Green. I used to take the long way home via his road on my walk back from the station in the summer after work in the hope to see him in his garden. If he was there he'll always say hello back and shout "Up The Spurs" as you walked further up the road.



My hero is Stevie P (my era) but Cliff simply has a closer, more genuine connection with the fans these days I think.

I used to work with his son Steve. He told me that Cliff opened a butcher's shop in Palmers Green years ago, but his business partner took him for a bit of a ride. Lost quite a bit of money.
A top bloke in my book. Signed a shirt and a book for me, and also got Chiv and Pat to sign as well.
Also got me a spare ticket for the cup game at Stevenage in 2012.

 

[Paul Gascoigne]

He was the Bale of his time !

Shame that football, on tv was only the cup final in those days. Legend !

 

[Guido 🇺🇦]

Find me any legend more COYS than Cliff Jones, I'll wait.