English footballer
Stephen John Perryman
MBE
(born 21 December 1951) is an English former professional
footballer
who played as a
defender
or
midfielder
. He is best-known for his successes with
Tottenham Hotspur
during the 1970s and early 1980s. He has won the
FA Cup
,
League Cup
, and
UEFA Cup
all twice with Tottenham in his 17 years at the club. Perryman was voted
Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year
in 1982 and made a club record 854 first team appearances for Tottenham.
[1]
He was the
director of football
at
Exeter City
from 2003
[2]
[3]
until his temporary retirement in March 2018.
[4]
Playing career
[
edit
]
Perryman was born in
Ealing
,
Middlesex
. A
midfielder
and later
defender
, he played in a club record 866 first team appearances in all competitions for Tottenham Hotspur between 1969 and 1986 and was their longest serving player. During his seventeen-year career with the north London club, Perryman collected many medals, winning the
UEFA Cup
in 1972 and 1984 (playing in both legs of the
1972 final
and just the first leg of the
1984 final
as he was suspended for the second),
[5]
and the
League Cup
in 1971 and 1973. He followed in the footsteps of
Joe Harvey
and
Danny Blanchflower
and skippered Tottenham to successive
FA Cup
wins in 1981 and 1982. Perryman was also voted the
Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year
in 1982.
Perryman did not score often even by the standards of contemporary midfielders, however he scored both goals in a 2?1 home win over
AC Milan
in the 1972 UEFA Cup semi-final first leg. Spurs went on to win the round 3?2 on aggregate, and then won the title, defeating
Wolverhampton Wanderers
in the final.
After leaving
White Hart Lane
Perryman moved to
Oxford United
in March 1986, but was cup-tied for their victory in the
1986 Football League Cup final
.
[6]
He then played for
Brentford
as
player-manager
in the same year, before retiring in 1990.
[1]
Coaching career
[
edit
]
Perryman became manager of
Watford
from 1990 to 1993 saving them from relegation in the early years, before managing
Start
in
Norway
(1995),
[7]
Shimizu S-Pulse
, (1999?2000) and
Kashiwa Reysol
in Japan (2001?2002). He also served as caretaker manager for Spurs in November 1994.
As a coach, he has won the
J.League
stage championship (1999 2nd Stage) and the
Asian Cup Winners Cup
(2000), both with Shimizu S-Pulse. He then worked at
Exeter City
with no official title to help them stay in the then football Division 3. After this he returned to Japan to manage
J.League
side Kashiwa Reysol.
Perryman lent his name to a brand of Sports stores in the 1980s which were concentrated in the West London area and sported the Tottenham Hotspur cockerel. There were stores in Uxbridge, Ruislip, Greenford, Hayes and Hayes Town (Middlesex). A store in
Bergen
, Norway, also opened in the early 1980s, which is still operating.
[8]
Between 2003 and 2018, Perryman was director of football for Exeter City.
[2]
On 5 May 2012, while watching Exeter's final game of the 2011?12 season against
Sheffield United
at
St James Park
he became unwell and was taken to
Derriford Hospital
in
Plymouth
where he underwent successful heart surgery.
[9]
A month later he revealed that he might have died if it had not been for the instant medical support available at the ground, and he spent three weeks in a coma on life support.
[10]
In January 2018, Perryman announced that he would retire as Exeter City's Director of Football at the end of the 2017?18 season.
[11]
However, in August of that year, Perryman joined former Exeter City manager
Paul Tisdale
at
MK Dons
, becoming an associate director of the club until November 2019 when Tisdale left.
[12]
[13]
International career
[
edit
]
After 17 matches for
England U23
,
[14]
Perryman made a solitary appearance for
England
, appearing as a 70th-minute substitute against
Iceland
on 2 June 1982. The game was originally an
England B
fixture but was subsequently upgraded to full international status meaning Perryman was awarded his cap.
[15]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Perryman has been married twice, with four children. He is close friends with
Ossie Ardiles
.
[16]
He lives in
Kington St Michael
.
[17]
Perryman is a
Labour Party
supporter.
[18]
He was appointed
Member of the Order of the British Empire
(MBE) in the
1986 Birthday Honours
, "for services to association football".
[19]
Career statistics
[
edit
]
Club
[
edit
]
Managerial statistics
[
edit
]
[22]
Team
|
From
|
To
|
Record
|
G
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
Win %
|
Watford
|
1990
|
1993
|
135
|
45
|
38
|
52
|
0
33.33
|
Shimizu S-Pulse
|
1999
|
2000
|
60
|
37
|
3
|
20
|
0
61.67
|
Kashiwa Reysol
|
2001
|
2002
|
28
|
10
|
3
|
15
|
0
35.71
|
Total
|
223
|
92
|
44
|
87
|
0
41.26
|
Honours
[
edit
]
Player
[
edit
]
Tottenham Hotspur
Manager
[
edit
]
Shimizu S-Pulse
Individual
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Awards
|
---|
|
---|
UEFA Cup era
| |
---|
UEFA Europa League era
| |
---|
|