Good question.
I played for our U15's through to U18's. (At least I think it was that age group but can't be 100% certain, it was also very sporadic in terms of game time etc. and I couldn't give a shit about playing for Spurs then, nothing to do with supporting them just that the football experience was shite. Also the answer to why I don't know exactly the age groups is a tad complicated on my side and Spurs side but can be simplified as purely not really engaging with the youth set-up at all, IMO it was shit, poorly run and organised with little in the way of training and development). Anyway, for reference and time frame, I was in the group that had Steve Sedgley, Paul Moran and David Howels, so approx 1983-1986(??). All of us and a bunch of others all played for our respective school sides (most in the Enfield Borough) and then the County. At this age we were also playing for a Saturday or Sunday league side too, so basically we would be playing with each other or against each other several times a month. This group was also extended by the Woolwich academy intake as well, you were either Woolwich or Tottenham.
Anyway there was this kid called Kyriakides (christ I hope I have his name right, it's all some time ago). My word, he was the greatest footballer I have ever seen! YES, I mean this. We are talking Messi levels of brilliance. When playing for his school or Saturday/Sunday league football (he was in several of the Saturday/Sunday league teams as me and the others) all you had to do was give him the ball and he will dribble around the entire oppo side and score. He played (actually kicked a ball) for Spurs about as much as me, infuriatingly not that often, but when he did, he would dribble around the entire oppo team too, so even against a higher calibre of player he could do it. He was the standout player in the Borough team but to my knowledge I don't recall him playing for the County. As a Woolwich supporter and combined with the shit show at Spurs academy, he ended up at Woolwich.
The main reason I name drop the above players is because I am fairly certain if you ask this question to them they will mention his name. Anyone that played football in this era and played at a reasonable level (best player at their school, involved with Tottenham or Woolwich academy, played Borough or County level) will mention his name. I'm still mates with a couple of pals from back then and after a couple of beers reminiscing about our youth, as sure as eggs are eggs, he will come up in conversation.
He had one major flaw though, he got into beer, fags and girls and enjoying the nights out (as we all did but he was on another level, he was off his head). He was never there for the start of any game, always turning up about half time. As he got older this just got worse and worse. Absolutely no one knows (in my circle) what happened to him but easily the biggest waste of talent I have ever seen. I could probably list another 7 or 8 players from that era who were all far superior players to those that made it (Howells, Moran and Sedgely for Spurs and Campbell & Rocastle for Woolwich). Moran was so, so shit (shit for his school, Albany) I don't know where to start but unlike almost all of us he had his heart set on being a footballer and fair play to him because that's exactly what he achieved.
and yeah that's a bit pathetic because he went on and played for Spurs and I didn't but it's all I've got haha. Met him at WHL a few years back, to be honest not sure he remembered me, although he was nodding and going along with it. LOL. But bleeds Spurs, always has.
