TOTTENHAMHOTSPUR.COM(^87)
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR V APOEL FC
March 21, 1984. We returned there on August 21, 1991,
when beating SV Stockerau 1-0 in a Cup-Winners’ Cup
preliminary round first leg game.
Back in April, 1972, we faced AC Milan at the San Siro in
a UEFA Cup semi-final but it was not until October, 2010,
that we were paired with their city rivals Internazionale
in the Champions League. We have faced both clubs
again since then.
As well as Ian Moores, who is featured on pages 49-51
of tonight’s programme, another of our former players with
a Cypriot connection is Ilie Dumitrescu. The Romanian
international had two spells as coach at Cypriot clubs.
He was with newly promoted Alki FC, based at Larnaca,
for season 2001-02 and guided Apollon Limassol between
June, 2003, and February, 2004. His time with us during
the mid-1990s yielded five goals in 20 senior appearances.
Our current Academy graduate Jack Roles is eligible
to play for Cyprus and has featured twice in competitive
matches for their Under-19s to date. The midfielder was
in the squad for the European Under-19 Championships
qualifying matches against Serbia and Azerbaijan in
October, coming on in the 79th minute in a 1-0 defeat
to Serbia.
Six days later on October 10, he started against
Azerbaijan and scored a 70th-minute penalty as his side
won 2-1. Both games were played at Wexford’s Ferrycarrig
Park in Ireland and Jack was an unused substitute in
Cyprus’ 5-0 defeat against Republic of Ireland in between
his two appearances.
Three players who featured in our youth teams during
the 1980s also had Cypriot connections. Mario Alexandrou,
who joined our Trainee ranks during July, 1986, was of
Greek-Cypriot extraction, as was Andy Theodosiou who
signed as a Trainee 12 months later. Theodosiou went on
to have spells with Norwich City and Hereford United and
also spent some time with tonight’s opponents APOEL
during season 1993-94. Dean Gordon had a brief spell
on our books as a schoolboy during 1988 before joining
Crystal Palace. He had a stint at APOEL during 2005.
Further back in time, Keith Spurgeon had a couple of
spells as a coach in Cyprus, including managing APOEL
during the 1977-78 campaign. His Spurs connection was
making two appearances as a teenage centre half for our
“B” team in the Metropolitan & District Football League
during December, 1951. His coaching career was chiefly
spent in the Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden but also
included posts in Libya, Nigeria and the USA.
Malcolm MacDonald celebrates the first of his
five goals against Cyprus here in 1975
Ilie Dumitrescu