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Tottenham Hotspur Football Club - Shirts, Shorts and Spurs: From Gazza to Ginola - My 29 Years as Kit Man at the Lane

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Tottenham Hotspur Football Club Shirts, Shorts and Spurs: From Gazza to Ginola - My 29 Years as Kit Man at the Lane

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This hilarious romp charts the dramatic ups and downs of Tottenham Hotspur, as seen through the eyes of one of its most unlikely heroes: Roy Reyland, the loyal kit man who has served Spurs for thirty years. Outlasting no less than 18 managers, Roy has seen it all and worked with some of White Hart Lanes biggest stars - from Ardiles and Gazza to Klinsmann and Ginola. As the clubs unofficial agony aunt, Roy has seen the tears and the triumphs, the dressing-room pranks, and has a unique insight into the inner-workings of the legendary Premiership side. He has visited Wembley more times that man.;Cover; Title Page; Dedication; ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS; Table of Contents; FOREWORD; PREFACE; PROLOGUE; CHAPTER 1 : MR GREAVES, MR GREAVES!; CHAPTER 2 : THE GOING GETS TURF; CHAPTER 3 : LEARNING THE ROPES; CHAPTER 4 : WHERES YOUR HOLSTEN?; CHAPTER 5 : GAZZA, GUNS AND GOALS; CHAPTER 6 : A BITTERSWEET VICTORY; CHAPTER 7 : SPURS IN ... BERMUDA?; CHAPTER 8 : THESE COLOURS DONT RUN; CHAPTER 9 : MANAGERS, MANAGERS, MANAGERS; CHAPTER 10 : SUPERSTITIONS OF THE STARS; CHAPTER 11 : EARNING THEIR SPURS; CHAPTER 12 : LEGENDS AT THE LANE; CHAPTER 13 : TOUGH GUYS AND HARD MEN.

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I have many fond memories of working with Roy, first with the reserves and then the first team. Roy is a true professional and could always be relied upon. We became colleagues in October 1984, and Roys knowledge and experience were invaluable to me in those early days as we forged a great working relationship. That quickly became an even greater friendship. Roy is a credit to the club, and one thing is for certain: he is Spurs through and through.

Doug Livermore

The only downside to Roys career as kit manager at Spurs was that he threatened my spot in our very able staff team! But seriously, his dedication and loyalty to his club have shown through over the years and his great personality in good and bad times was always appreciated by myself and the rest of the management team.

Peter Shreeves

Roys dedication and enthusiasm was always visible and nothing was ever too much trouble for our loyal kit man. When I was a player, he was brilliant, and this always carried on until I became part of the management side of the club. Roy is a credit to his profession.

Ray Clemence

I promoted Roy to the first team, and it was a decision I never regretted. His loyalty to the team and Tottenham Hotspur Football Club was second to none during my time at Spurs. As such, Roy is recognised throughout the game as a true professional.

David Pleat

Roy Reyland has been part of the Tottenham scene almost as long as I can remember. Kit men come and go, but Roys loyalty and fantastic attitude has become part of the very fabric of White Hart Lane. Nothing was ever too much trouble for him and, whats more, I am very proud to be able to call him a friend.

John Motson

In memory of my nephew Mark Priddy, who, during the writing of this book, tragically passed away from Huntingtons Chorea aged just 41.

I would firstly like to thank my ghostwriter Jeff Maysh for contacting me out of the blue and convincing me to write this book. I would also like to thank my editor John Wordsworth and everyone at John Blake Publishing for taking a lifetime of stories and committing them to paper.

To Rob Segal, for kindly loaning me his Spurs shirt collection for the photograph you see on the cover, but more importantly for being a special friend for so many years. To Bill Nicholson: a true legend who became both a close friend and mentor to me. And a special thank you to my predecessor, Johnny Wallis, for teaching me how to be the best in the business, and how to cope with all types of players from all around the world.

Also a massive thanks is due to my family, who put up with my moods when we lost. And of course, my daughters Vikki and Abbie: I wish I could have been home more during your childhoods. I hope this story explains where I was all the time. Thank you to all my close friends who are massive Spurs fans and who, for their sins, still travel home and away. And a huge thank you must go to my wife Alison, for all her patience and help while I wrote this book, and for tolerating Jeff Maysh twice a week for six months!

A final, big thank you must go to Tottenham Hotspur Football Club for giving me the opportunity to spend 29 years at the club in a working capacity, and giving me the chance to live my dreams.

Roy Reyland, October 2010.

CONTENTS

BY STEVE PERRYMAN, 2010

H aving played 854 games for Tottenham Hotspur, I know more than anyone that there are ups and downs in football. But I also know that Tottenham is a club where everyone is important, from the very bottom of the ladder to the very top. Its that old clich you hear about tea ladies, but its true: in the good times everyones with you, but in football when you go through the rough times you need all those extra people, willing you on.

When the coach pulls out of Tottenham on the way up North to a grim away match, you need to know everyone is right behind you. And thats why my old friend Roy Reyland was more than just a kit man to Spurs. He brought out the best in the team, win or lose. Thats why I love the club. So-called non-playing staff are treated as well as the superstars, and they respond in kind. But mark my words, youve still got to be good at your job to survive at Spurs. No one gets along by being a nice fella, and, if there was a pair of boots missing at a big match, Roy would never have lasted his 29 years at the club.

You see, theres an unwritten trust at Tottenham that everyone is trying their best to achieve: to do their own job to the best of their ability. From the coach driver to the centre half to the physio and kit man, when the shit hits the fan, everyone mucks in. And on a tough day youd rather see a smiling face than a long face, and Roy would always have a joke in his locker, or a story to tell. Always.

People at Tottenham, backroom staff as well as players, are always being reminded by the fans of their responsibility of wearing that famous lily-white shirt. What that shirt stands for is important, more so than at any other club in the world. Tottenham people are proud of their history, they have a respect for the past and cherish those glorious memories and all that goes with it.

When I first got in the team, I inherited the number 11 shirt, just because it became available, from Roger Morgan, I think. When my place in the team became regular, I took the number 8 shirt from Jimmy Greaves, and, although I didnt think about it at the time, Id taken the shirt from one of the top goal scorers in the world. I quickly got a letter from a young Spurs fan, saying, Do you realise youve got Jimmy Greaves shirt and you never have a shot at goal! So of course I felt much more comfortable finishing my career in the number 6 shirt, which I hope I made my own.

Speaking as a player who played so many times for Spurs, for me there was always a danger of things feeling like a routine. I used to like a change, particularly when we got a new style of shirt. If it were a new player, a new manager or even a new shirt, youd go out desperate to have a good game. For that reason, I used to love going away and playing in the away strip. It just used to make me feel fresh and new.

In the old days we used to play in the classic white shirt, navy shorts, and navy socks. I used to like navy socks, and I especially hated when we played in white socks. I thought any light-coloured socks looked weak, especially white shorts with white socks. I owned sports shops from the age of 19, and we used to sell a white football shirt which with a different cloth badge could become England, Derby or Tottenham. But to me it only ever looked right with the cockerel on the chest.

I remember getting obsessed with the different shades of blue in our kit. At one League Cup Final, they gave us a warm-up top each and I took one look and said, Fuck me, thats royal not navy, thats not us at all. I thought, Hold on, thats Chelsea! Im not wearing that!

We were a bit upset about it, but I quickly realised that it wouldnt make us win or lose. Its whats inside the shirt more than what is on it. It took me a while to learn this.

Roy will tell you that early on I used to be superstitious. I used to wear the same tie to every match. But as you go through your career, as you mature and get older, you work out its nothing to do with the tie. I used to like getting to the ground early, too, but Ill tell you this, you had to get up pretty early in the morning to beat Roy to White Hart Lane. However early you were, he was there. And even if the gates were locked youd find him in the caf over the road. Its that attitude, that unbending desire for the club to be successful that made Roy critically important to Spurs.

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