Good morning and a belated happy seventy seventh birthday to a living legend.
He was the best left winger in the world and he was Tottenham. One hundred and thirty five goals in three hundred and eighteen games. So Cliff, please accept the day late love and respect sent here from fans around the globe.
But here’s the thing. Cliff ended his Spurs career some eight months before I was born. So it would be tricky to say the least for me to write a piece on one of the greatest players that ever wore the Lilywhite shirt.
So this is your blog. Tell me about Cliff Jones.
1961 FA Cup Final (Highlights)
Spurs v Dukla Prague 1961
Spurs v Gornik Zabrze 1961
Spurs v Glasgow Rangers 1962 European Cup Winners Cup
Glory Glory
Tottenham Hotspur v OFK Beograd
Happy Birthday Cliff.
I saw Cliff play from the day he joined He was a complete attacking player. He could shoot and head the ball as well as any centre forward and, although only slightly built, he was rarely injured and survived the hackers of the day by skill,speed and acute positional sense. He was a menace to any team with his heading of crosses to the far post either at the goal or to Smudge’s or Greavie’s feet. These often came from his Welsh colleague and fellow winger, Terry Medwin. Cliff could play comfortably on either wing and regularly switched but Medwin was much more right footed.
Cliff could dribble and go past with the ball but he also loved to knock the ball forward and chase as Bale does today. He had an eye for goal and his strike rate rivalled that of many top strikers. He was never in trouble and and just loved to play. We were lucky to have had him and I was fotunate to have seen such a gifted player so many times.
Bale is certainl good, and may one day be as good as Cliff. He has a much better physique and the same pace and control. He should study Cliff, both man and method and he will be as great. Cliff had Medwin for all those crosse to the far post and to swap with and to confuse the backs. A fit and in form Lennon or his successor can only add to Bales effectiveness. I have always thought wingers work best in pairs.
Congratulations Cliff and thanks for the memories.
I missed his peak years – my first game was Dec 64 as an 11-year old (56,000 crowd, never saw a thing!) – but saw enough after that to know he was special. Any guesses what he would he be worth in today’s market?
What choice we had on the wing too, with Cliff and the two Terrys, Dyson and Medwin. In fact Medwin played a fair bit in the double year – 14 league games to Cliff’s 28 whereas the rest of the first XI barely missed a game between them. Happy days, jumpers for goal posts…
Happy Birthday Cliff. What a player. He could shoot, probably the best header of a ball, as he was small, and had phenominal speed. He was also as brave as a lion. Played on against Burnley in the FA Cup 4th round, with a broken collar bone. Lennon comes off with a brken toe nail.
A true great in the world of football, not just for Tottenham.
Congratulations Cliff and thanks for the many memories, particularly soaring above Booby Moore to score one of our five against West Ham! Magnificent.
Cliff was a vital piece of the jigsaw puzzle Bill put together in the late 50s/early 60s. They used to say behind the goal at the Paxton End where I had just graduated to after initiation in the Boys Pen up on the shelf that, if you opened the gates at WHL he would run down Tottenham Highroad (and no one would catch him. I have loads of memories of him, but the greatest is of the regularity with which John White used to play that slow high ball into the back post. He would be out at Cheshunt most afternoons practicing that, dropping the ball time after time onto a given spot. As the ball soared over, Cliff would run goalwards, leap about four feet off the ground (honest) and BEAT the ball into the net with his head …. it happened so often you waited for it!!! My other memory is of him slowing down and playing in John’s spot after his sad death (they were great mates). In one game against Wolves that vile coward Derek Doogan smashed into him and effectively ended his career at Spurs. Its great to know he’s still around at the Lane – you sometimes see him wandering around near the celebrity suites – as modest and friendly as ever! Happy birthday, Cliff, and many more!!!
Happy birthday Cliff and the way you look you are gonna’ have a lot more of’em. You youngsters today can have you’re Bale’s Lennon’s and anyone you care to mention- because believe me I have seen the best and none of them are in the same league as our Cliff.I well remember a goal he scored against West Ham he beat 3 men got brought down ran in the middle and dived through players boots to bullet home a header.I often hear that I live in the past but what a past to re-visit from time to time when you paid 10p to watch the best winger in the world play in that amazing double side.
I remember Cliff playing for Wales against England and letting a thunderbolt of a shot go. The ball hit another Spurs player, Maurice Norman, in the face and laid him out. Heavy leather footballs in those days, not the beach balls they play with today. Maurice was carried off but returned to finish the game later.
Happy birthday Sir Cliff, and many more of them.