Martin Chivers - Tottenham Hotspurs

by Tony Smith

Martin Chivers signed for Spurs from Southampton in January 1968 for a then British transfer record fee of £125, 000. The young forward had made his name in his local team's 1966-67 Division 2 promotion winning side and was seen by the White Hart Lane club as the eventual successor to Jimmy Greaves. On his debut for Spurs in January Chivers scored the opener for his side in their 2-1 victory at Sheffield Wednesday. Later in the same month Tottenham's new number 9 hit both goals in the Londoners 2-2 F.A. Cup draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford. The following season provided more signs of encouragement, with Chivers scoring ten goals in his 23 league and cup appearances. Great things were expected of Martin in season 1968-69 and in September the big man scored his first hat-trick for Spurs in their 4-1 2nd round League Cup win at Aston Villa. However, later that month Chivers suffered a serious knee injury in a 2-1 home win over Nottingham Forest and he was sidelined for almost a year. With his fitness regained, Martin Chivers made 31 league appearances in 1969-70 and hit 11 goals. His return to the side signalled the end of Jimmy Greaves days at The Lane and Chivers and Alan Gilzean were now established as Spurs first choice strikers. The injury to his knee had prevented Chivers breaking into the full England team, having to content himself with 5 appearances for the under-23's, for whom he scored twice, against Scotland and Hungary. In total Chivers made 17 appearances for England under-23's and it proved to be an ideal international apprenticeship. It was a bold decision by Bill Nicholson to let the club's all time record scorer Jimmy Greaves leave for West Ham, but a fully fit Martin Chivers would repay his manager's faith.

The 1970-71 season was the beginning of Martin Chivers golden years, for both club and country. He played in all 58 of Spurs competitive games and scored 34 times, hat-tricks coming against Coventry in a 4-1 home League Cup win and in a 4-0 victory over Dunfermline in the Texaco Cup. Chivers seven goals, including the two in the final against Aston Villa, were largely responsible for his side winning the League Cup. Martin netted twenty-one times in the league, helping Spurs to a third place finish. Alf Ramsey awarded the Spurs forward his full England debut in April 1971 in England's 3-0 Wembley win over Greece in a European Championship qualifier. The new boy, playing alongside Geoff Hurst, scored England's opener and played a further seven times for his country that season, scoring 6 more times. During 1971-72 Chivers hit the best form of his career, making 64 appearances and scoring an astonishing 44 times. In September his goal earned Spurs a win at Torino in the 1st leg of the fledgling Anglo Italian League Cup Winners Cup Final and he also scored Tottenham's first in their 2-0 win in the return leg. Chivers seven goals in seven League Cup games enabled Spurs to make a spirited attempt at defending their trophy. Although he was on target in both legs of the semi-final against Chelsea, it wasn't sufficient to stop their London neighbours reaching the final. The Spurs number 9 saved his most impressive form for the season's UEFA Cup challenge. Martin played in 11 of Spurs 12 games and scored 8 times, scoring a home hat-trick in a 9-0 destruction of Keflavik in the opening round. The real glory for Chivers came in the 1st leg of the all English final when his superb double gave his side a 2-1 win at Wolves. Martin helped Spurs capture the crown with a hard fought 1-1 draw in the return leg. 

Martin Chivers continued his rich vein of scoring form in the 1972-73 season, scoring 33 times from 61 appearances. Four of these goals came in the League Cup as Spurs won the competition for the second time in three seasons with a 1-0 victory over Norwich City. In a December home replay with Liverpool, in the quarter-finals, the big man had popped up twice to help earn Spurs a 3-1 victory. Chivers was also on target in the semi-final second leg at Wolves, where the Londoners drew 2-2 to reach the final. The England international's European form was also impressive as Spurs reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup. Chivers played in all of his sides 10 games, scoring 8 times including 5 in the opening round tie against Lyn Oslo. The possibility of another piece of European silverware for Chivers ended when Spurs lost on the away goals rule to Liverpool. Tottenham made it all the way to the final of tha same competition the following season and their centre-forward again featured heavily. Of Spurs 12 games he played 10 times and scored 6 goals, including the opener in the home 2-0 victory over Lokomotive Leipzig in the semi-final 1st leg. The final was to bring disappointment however, with Dutch side Feyenoord coming out 4-2 winners on aggregate. In 1973 Chivers won the last of his 24 England caps (13 goals), appearing a remarkable 11 times for his country in that one year. The Spurs forward was on target for England 6 times during this hectic year, scoring against Scotland in a 5-0 Hampden Park romp in February, both in England's 2-1 victory against Northern Ireland in May and further goals against Wales, USSR and Austria.

By the beginning of the 1974-75 season Martin Chivers was now the senior forward at Tottenham, Alan Gilzean having left for South Africa at the end of the previous campaign. The season proved to be a nightmare for Spurs. Chivers missed the opening three league games, all 1-0 defeats, and on his return to the team in August, Spurs went down at home to Manchester City 2-1. In early September Martin played his last game for the manager who had signed him from Southampton 6 years earlier. There was to be no fond farewell for Bill Nicholson, as Chivers could do little to prevent Middlesbrough winning 4-0 at Spurs in the 2nd round of the League Cup. The new manager given the responsibility of keeping Spurs in Division 1 was ex-Arsenal hero Terry Neill, who took over in September. Chivers found the back of the net for his 1st goal of the season in Neill's first game in charge, a 5-2 defeat at Liverpool. Injuries restricted Chivers league appearances to 28 games, in which he scored 10 times. Crucial goals came in a 2-1 win over West Ham, two in a 3-2 win over Wolves, against Arsenal in a 2-0 win and the last in Spurs 4-2 win over Leeds, which secured their place in top flight football. The following season, 1975-76, was to be the last at White Hart Lane for the former England star. The Spurs number 9 appeared 37 times in all competitions, scoring 9 times. Tottenham finished 9th in Division 1 and were beaten in the League Cup semi-final by Newcastle United. Martin Chivers last appearance for Spurs came on April 24th 1976 when he was sent on as a substitute in a 3-0 home defeat by Newcastle, on the last day of the season. His final goal had come in the previous month's 5-0 home win over Sheffield United. After 367 competitive games and 174 goals for Spurs, Martin Chivers left in the summer of 1976 for Servette of Switzerland for a fee of £80, 000.

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