David Pleat
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | David John Pleat | ||
Date of birth | 15 January 1945 | ||
Place of birth | Nottingham, England | ||
Position(s) |
Winger | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1962–1964 | Nottingham Forest | 6 | (1) |
1964–1967 | Luton Town | 70 | (9) |
1967–1968 | Shrewsbury Town | 12 | (1) |
1968–1970 | Exeter City | 69 | (14) |
1970–1971 | Peterborough United | 28 | (2[1]) |
Total | 185 | (27) | |
International career | |||
England Schoolboys | |||
England Youth | |||
Managerial career | |||
1971–1977 |
Nuneaton Borough | ||
1978–1986 | Luton Town | ||
1986–1987 | Tottenham Hotspur | ||
1987–1991 | Leicester City | ||
1991–1995 | Luton Town | ||
1995–1997 | Sheffield Wednesday | ||
1998 | Tottenham Hotspur (caretaker) | ||
2001 | Tottenham Hotspur (caretaker) | ||
2003–2004 | Tottenham Hotspur | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
David John Pleat (born 15 January 1945) is an English football player turned manager, and sports commentator. Pleat made 185 Football League appearances for five clubs, scoring 26 goals. He had two spells as manager of Luton Town, and four as manager of Tottenham Hotspur (three of which were as caretaker manager).
Early life
Pleat was born in Nottingham, England, and is of Jewish descent.[2][3][4][5]
Playing career
As a winger, Pleat represented England at schoolboy and youth international level. He began his playing career with his hometown club Nottingham Forest. In February 1962, he made his debut as the youngest ever player for the club at the time aged 17 years and 33 days against Cardiff City in Division 1. His goal in a 2-1 win over the Bluebirds that day remains the youngest by a debutant for Nottingham Forest.[6]
Injuries hampered his career and after spells at Luton Town (1964–67), Shrewsbury Town (1967–68) and Exeter City (1968–70) and Peterborough United (1970–71), he turned to coaching and management,[7] having already qualified as a Full Badge FA Coach in 1968 when he was just 23.
Managerial career
Nuneaton Borough
His first coaching position was for Southern League team
Luton Town
From there he joined the coaching staff at Luton Town, initially as reserve team coach. In January 1978 he was appointed manager of the club. During his eight years as manager of Luton Town the side were promoted from the Football League Second Division to the First Division, winning the second tier by a record number of points, and gained a reputation for playing attacking and attractive football, peaking at ninth place in the top flight in 1986. Although the highest position in the club's history was achieved in 1986/87 after Pleat had left (but with a team largely made up of Pleat's players) when Luton finished 7th in the old division one. A number of players in Pleat's team would receive international recognition, including defender Mal Donaghy (Northern Ireland), midfielder Ricky Hill and forwards Brian Stein, Paul Walsh and Mick Harford (all England).
In 1983, Luton came close to being relegated from Division One, but reached safety after a late goal by Radomir Antić against Manchester City in the final game of the season.[9][10]
Luton came close to reaching the FA Cup final in 1985 under Pleat. They were beaten 2–1 by
Tottenham Hotspur
In May 1986, Pleat was appointed manager of
The team narrowly lost 3-2 after extra time in the FA Cup Final against Coventry City in one of the most exciting matches that Wembley Stadium had witnessed.
Pleat's employment as manager of Tottenham came to an end in October 1987 when he resigned after unsubstantiated newspaper claims about his private life.[14] He was replaced by Terry Venables.[15]
Leicester City and return to Luton Town
Pleat made a quick return to management just two months later with
Sheffield Wednesday
Pleat left Luton after being offered the chance to manage Premier League side Sheffield Wednesday in the summer of 1995.[14][20] His first actions as manager for Wednesday, a position which he took over from Trevor Francis, were to add Mark Pembridge and Marc Degryse to the first team squad. His first season at Hillsborough was frustrating, as they finished 15th in the Premier League – their lowest finish in five seasons since promotion - with an aging squad of players.
Pleat was tasked by the board with moving on a number of star players deemed to be past their peak during this period with the likes of John Sheridan, Chris Woods, Chris Waddle and Mark Bright all departing permanently or on loan throughout 1996, with striker David Hirst following soon after in 1997 as his injury problems continued.
The start of Pleat's second season at the club saw them win their first four fixtures of the 1996–97 season, against
Back to Tottenham
In 1998, he returned to Tottenham Hotspur with
His ability to unearth young talent continued at White Hart Lane signing the likes of Matthew Etherington, Simon Davies, Gary Doherty and Anthony Gardner from the lower leagues, who would all become regular members of the first team and the latter three represented their respective countries at full national team level, while he was also key in the acquisitions of Frederic Kanoute, Robbie Keane, Jermain Defoe and Paul Robinson.
Other roles and achievements
Pleat left Tottenham in 2004 and took up advisory roles with Portsmouth, West Bromwich Albion and Nottingham Forest [23] before returning to Spurs again in 2010 as a consultant scout where he still remains active and has been instrumental in the signings of Dele Alli,[24] Jan Vertonghen[25] and Ben Davies.
He has also worked for the Premier League as an analyst for youth games and advising on academies.
Pleat is the longest serving member of the League Managers Association Board and management committee, having joined in 1978, and, in 2012, he was inducted into the LMA Hall of Fame,[26] which now includes the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson, Fabio Capello, Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho and Jurgen Klopp.
That same year, he was also awarded an M.A. (Hons) at Luton University for his services to football and the media.[27]
He has served on a number of FA panels concerning discipline, transfer tribunals and permits for overseas players.
In 2021, Pleat was voted Luton Town's greatest manager by fans in a poll by Vital Football, securing 74% of all votes cast.[28]
Media career
Pleat has written a regular column for The Guardian newspaper since 2004, primarily exploring the tactical side of recent matches,[29] and has also contributed articles to the Daily Mail,[30] The Independent and Daily Telegraph.
Starting with
Managerial statistics
Team | From | To | Record | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G | W | D | L | Win % | |||
Luton Town | 25 January 1978 | 16 May 1986 | 405 | 160 | 109 | 136 | 39.51 |
Tottenham Hotspur | 16 May 1986 | 23 October 1987 | 71 | 39 | 11 | 21 | 54.93 |
Leicester City | 24 December 1987 | 29 January 1991 | 153 | 49 | 44 | 60 | 32.03 |
Luton Town | 6 June 1991 | 14 June 1995 | 202 | 55 | 66 | 81 | 27.23 |
Sheffield Wednesday | 14 June 1995 | 3 November 1997 | 102 | 32 | 30 | 40 | 31.37 |
Tottenham Hotspur (caretaker) | 7 September 1998 | 1 October 1998 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 50.00 |
Tottenham Hotspur (caretaker) | 16 March 2001 | 2 April 2001 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 50.00 |
Tottenham Hotspur | 21 September 2003 | 3 June 2004 | 39 | 16 | 7 | 16 | 41.03 |
Total | 980 | 355 | 269 | 356 | 36.22 |
Honours
Manager
Luton Town
Tottenham Hotspur
Individual
- Football League First Division, Manager of the Month : January 1987, February 1987
- Premier League Manager of the Month: August 1996[31]
References
- ^ Barry Hugman, Rothman's Football League Players Records, Aylesbury: Rothmans Publications, 1981, p. 277
- ^ "Nobel winners? I'd rather have a Jewish Premiership footballer". The Jewish Chronicle. 25 October 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
- ^ "Jews in the EFL". soulsportsa. Archived from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
- ^ "Arsene Wenger, David Bernstein and David Pleat team up for Four Four Jew opening".
- ^ "Jews and soccer: A complicated relationship". Haaretz.
- ^ "David Pleat - Players - The Posh Supporters Trust". www.theposhtrust.co.uk. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
- ^ a b c d "Pleat's Ready To Bury Jinx". New Straits Times. 15 May 1987.
- ^ Phil Shaw (5 October 1998). "Football: Pleat lays foundations for Graham". The Independent. London.
- ^ Patrick Barclay (23 February 2002). "Pleat's soft-shoe shuffle suits Spurs". The Daily Telegraph. London.
- ^ Nick Greenslade (4 April 2004). "The 10 best managerial celebrations". The Observer. London.
- ^ "It's Not Over Yet Says Pleat". New Straits Times. 10 March 1985.
- ^ "Everton In Last Four". New Straits Times. 14 March 1986.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
- ^ a b c d e William Johnson (12 September 2003). "Tottenham give Pleat job for rest of season". The Daily Telegraph. London.
- ^ Glenn Moore (16 September 1995). "Pleat sustained by his passion for progress". The Independent. London.
- ^ "Former Manager Remembers: David Pleat". www.lcfc.com. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
- ^ "Motivational Speakers | After Dinner Speakers | Keynote Speakers | GPA". Gordon Poole Agency Ltd.
- ^ Lovejoy, Joe (11 April 1994). "FA Cup Semi-Final: Bridge bunch live up to Hoddle's hunch: Luton lack the inspiration that undermined other Premiership sides as Chelsea continue prosaic progress to the final". The Independent. London. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
- ^ "John Hartson at Arsenal". Retrieved 8 February 2023.
- ^ a b c Phil McNulty (24 September 2003). "Pleat the Spurs survivor". BBC Sport.
- ^ Richard Bright (22 September 2003). "Hoddle sacked after Spurs' poor start". The Daily Telegraph. London.
- ^ Conrad Leach (12 September 2003). "Spurs extend Pleat's caretaker role until summer". The Independent. London.[dead link]
- ^ "Pleat joins Forest coaching staff". 11 August 2006. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
- ^ "BBC Radio 5 Live - In Short, David Pleat: Why Tottenham had to sign Dele Alli". BBC. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
- ^ Mondal, Subhankar (22 April 2017). "David Pleat praises Jan Vertonghen for choosing Tottenham Hotspur over Arsenal". HITC. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
- ^ "League Managers Association - LMA HALL OF FAME DINNER 2012 - MCMENEMY AND PLEAT HONOURED BY THE LMA". leaguemanagers.com. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
- ^ "League Managers Association - DAVID PLEAT". leaguemanagers.com. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
- ^ "Luton – You Voted David Pleat As The Best". Vital Luton Town. 29 October 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
- ^ David Pleat The Guardian
- ^ "David Pleat | The Guardian, Daily Mail Journalist | Muck Rack". muckrack.com.
- ^ "Manager profile: David Pleat". Premier League. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
External links
- David Pleat at Soccerbase
- David Pleat management career statistics at Soccerbase
Further reading
- Brian A. O'Driscoll (14 April 2008). "Retro TV Review: David Pleat — This Charming Man". Soccer Scribe. Archived from the original on 10 May 2008.
- Stuart Jackson. "David Pleat". The Sheffield Wednesday Archive. Adrian Bullock.
- Barry J. Hugman "The PFA Premier & Football League Players' Records 1946–1998" ISBN 1-85291-585-4