| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | David John Pleat | ||
| Date of birth | (1945-01-15)15 January 1945 (age 80) | ||
| Place of birth | Nottingham, England | ||
| Position | 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 (caretaker) | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
David John Pleat (born 15 January 1945) is an Englishfootball player turnedmanager, and sports commentator. Pleat made 185 Football League appearances for five clubs, scoring 26 goals. He had two spells as manager ofLuton Town, and four as manager ofTottenham Hotspur (three of which were as caretaker manager).
Pleat was born inNottingham, England, and is of Jewish descent.[2][3][4][5]
As a winger, Pleat represented England at schoolboy and youth international level. He began his playing career with his hometown clubNottingham 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 againstCardiff 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) andExeter City (1968–70) andPeterborough 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.
His first coaching position was for Southern League teamNuneaton Borough[7] in 1971,[8] where he was appointed as player-manager on the recommendation ofPeter Taylor, who worked alongsideBrian Clough at Derby County and Nottingham Forest, and stayed there for two and a half seasons.
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 theFootball 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 defenderMal Donaghy (Northern Ireland), midfielderRicky Hill and forwardsBrian Stein,Paul Walsh andMick Harford (all England).
In 1983, Luton came close to being relegated fromDivision One, but reached safety after a late goal byRadomir Antić againstManchester 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 byEverton in the semi-final inextra time atVilla Park. Luton also lost in the quarter-final against Everton the following year.[11][12] Although Luton did not manage to reach a Cup final during Pleat's time in charge, the team that won the 1988 League Cup underRay Harford, beating Arsenal 3–2 in the final, was largely Pleat's team of the early and mid-1980s, with nine of the starting XI having been his signings.[7]
In May 1986, Pleat was appointed manager ofTottenham Hotspur. He broughtMitchell Thomas with him from Luton. His earliest change at the club was to bring inRichard Gough[13] whom he paired withGary Mabbutt in defence, movingPaul Allen into midfield.[7] In the 1986–87 season, his only full season as manager, Tottenham Hotspur finished third in the First Division, and reached theFA Cup final and the semi-final of theFootball League Cup. Pleat received the 'Manager of the Month' awards in both January and February 1987. Glenn Moore, writing inThe Independent in 1995, described the play during Pleat's stint as manager of Spurs as "some of the best attacking football of the last two decades". During this season, he played with five in midfield including creative players such asOssie Ardiles,Chris Waddle andGlenn Hoddle and just one striker –Clive Allen, who scored 49 goals in all competitions.
The team narrowly lost 3–2 after extra time in theFA Cup Final againstCoventry 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 byTerry Venables.[15]
Pleat made a quick return to management just two months later withLeicester City, who had just been relegated from the First Division, initially taking them from the lower regions of the Second Division into the top six thanks to 34 points from 17 games. He stayed atFilbert Street for more than three years but, hampered by financial constraints and the sale of key players such asMike Newell,Gary McAllister andRussell Osman,[16] was unable to help them achieve promotion[17] and returned to Luton Town in June 1991 for a second spell as manager of the club. They were relegated at the end of his first season back atKenilworth Road, missing out on a place in the newFA Premier League, but the club's board kept faith in him. Despite disappointing form in the new Division One, they did reach the FA Cup semi-final in 1994, losing 2–0 toChelsea.[18] During his second spell at Luton, he developed a number of players from the youth team includingMark Pembridge,John Hartson,Paul Telfer andCeri Hughes, who would all go on to leave for large transfer fees. In fact, Hartson's £2.5m transfer toArsenal in January 1995 was a British record fee for a teenage player at the time.[19]
Pleat left Luton after being offered the chance to manage Premier League sideSheffield Wednesday in the summer of 1995.[14][20] His first actions as manager for Wednesday, a position which he took over fromTrevor Francis, were to addMark Pembridge andMarc Degryse to the first team squad. His first season atHillsborough 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 ofJohn Sheridan,Chris Woods,Chris Waddle andMark Bright all departing permanently or on loan throughout 1996, with strikerDavid 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, againstAston Villa,Leeds United,Newcastle United and Leicester City, earning Pleat thePremier League Manager of the Month for August 1996 as the Owls topped the Premier League. In October of that season, Pleat signedBenito Carbone, who would become a cult hero atHillsborough. That summer saw Pleat add another Italian inPaolo Di Canio, who would also go on to make a significant contribution in the Premier League, but after a poor start the following season, Pleat was sacked in November 1997.
In 1998, he returned to Tottenham Hotspur withAlan Sugar appointing him as the club's firstDirector of Football,[14][20] working alongside then managerChristian Gross, who was soon succeeded byGeorge Graham. In September 2003, after the sacking ofGlenn Hoddle, he took over as caretaker manager,[20][21] a position that he held until the end of the season.[14][22] This was the third of three occasions in which he had been caretaker manager for the club;[14] he had previously fulfilled the role in 1998, beforeGeorge Graham, during which time the team achieved four wins, two draws, and one defeat.
His ability to unearth young talent continued atWhite Hart Lane signing the likes ofMatthew Etherington,Simon Davies,Gary Doherty andAnthony 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 ofFrederic Kanoute,Robbie Keane,Jermain Defoe andPaul Robinson.
Pleat left Tottenham in 2004 and took up advisory roles withPortsmouth,West Bromwich Albion and Nottingham Forest[23] before returning to Spurs again in 2010 as a consultant scout. He departed Tottenham at the end of the2023/24 season.[24] Pleat has been instrumental in the signings ofDele Alli,[25]Jan Vertonghen[26] andBen 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 theLeague Managers Association Board and management committee, having joined in 1978, and, in 2012, he was inducted into the LMA Hall of Fame,[27] which now includes the likes ofSir Alex Ferguson,Fabio Capello,Pep Guardiola,Jose Mourinho andJurgen Klopp.
That same year, he was also awarded an M.A. (Hons) at Luton University for his services to football and the media.[28]
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.[29]
Pleat has written a regular column forThe Guardian newspaper since 2004, primarily exploring the tactical side of recent matches,[30] and has also contributed articles to theDaily Mail,[31]The Independent andThe Daily Telegraph.
Starting withMexico 86, he has covered seven consecutiveWorld Cups as a co-commentator, working on either radio or television, including with theBBC,ITV andUEFA. He has also covered a number ofChampions League finals and severalEuropean Championship tournaments.
His autobiography "Just One More Goal" was published in September 2024
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Luton Town | 25 January 1978 | 16 May 1986 | 405 | 160 | 109 | 136 | 039.51 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 16 May 1986 | 23 October 1987 | 71 | 39 | 11 | 21 | 054.93 |
| Leicester City | 24 December 1987 | 29 January 1991 | 153 | 49 | 44 | 60 | 032.03 |
| Luton Town | 6 June 1991 | 14 June 1995 | 202 | 55 | 66 | 81 | 027.23 |
| Sheffield Wednesday | 14 June 1995 | 3 November 1997 | 102 | 32 | 30 | 40 | 031.37 |
| Tottenham Hotspur (caretaker) | 7 September 1998 | 1 October 1998 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 050.00 |
| Tottenham Hotspur (caretaker) | 16 March 2001 | 2 April 2001 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 050.00 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 21 September 2003 | 3 June 2004 | 39 | 16 | 7 | 16 | 041.03 |
| Total | 980 | 355 | 269 | 356 | 036.22 | ||
Luton Town
Tottenham Hotspur
Individual
