By Vince Cooper
Football in the 1960s and especially 1970s is often fondly remembered as the ‘maverick’ era, filled as it was with players who had talent and temperament often in equal measure. Martin Chivers, who sadly passed away recently aged 80, certainly didn’t fit that mould as he was an old-fashioned, hard-working forward, who undoubted skills often went under the radar as he was much less of a headline maker than the likes of George Best and Rodney Marsh.
Martin Harcourt Chivers, the son of a local dock worker and a German mother whose family had moved the England after the First World War, was himself a war baby having been born in Southampton in April 1945.
Taunton’s Grammar School. Martin second from the left in the back row.
Martin started at Foundry Lane Primary School where he passed his 11+ enabling him to attend Taunton’s Grammar School (which future Saints and England stars Theo Walcott and Gareth Bale later also attended after it had become Taunton’s College) and he got his football start in the old fashioned way when writing to his hometown team and asking for a trial.
Southampton liked what they saw, Ted Bates snapped him up and he was sent to the club’s nursery team CPC Sports in 1961 whilst continuing to work as a part-time painter. He quickly showed his ability, so much so that he signed for the Saints as a professional in September 1962 and made his debut within weeks against Charlton Athletic in a 2nd Division match.
Martin in action on his debut. Charlton’s Marvin Hinton in the background.
He didn’t manage a goal in that first match but it only took until his third appearance to get off the mark, although the third start didn’t come until seven months later as he had been sent back to the reserves for more seasoning.
Saints were preparing for an FA Cup quarter-final 2nd replay against Nottingham Forest just over 48 hours later so they left a number of first choices out for the trip to St James’s Park to play Newcastle. Whilst the home team put four past their weakened visitors, Chivers got a consolation, after earlier hitting a post.
Saints made it to the FA Cup semis where they lost to Manchester United but it was back to the reserves for Martin for more experience and he finished his first 1st-team season with three starts and that solitary goal.
Young Chivers
The 1963-64 season was a breakout one for the young forward. He started the campaign again with the 2nd team but after finding the net 13 times in the first two months manager Bates unleashed him for the early November visit to table-topping Swindon Town. With Saints a goal down and with just 15 minutes remaining, he laid on the equaliser for Terry Paine before slamming home the winner two minutes later.
Having hit the ground running Chivers went one better a week later, grabbing a brace in a 4-2 home win over Manchester City. He continued to find the net with regularity ending the campaign with an impressive 21 goals in 28 matches as Saints finished 5th.
He was now showing the football world that he was a big, powerful striker with power in his boots, good in the air and with the added bonus of an excellent long-throw.
That season, which also saw a call-up for England Under-23s, alerted some of the country’s bigger clubs to the young striker with Wolves reportedly considering a player-plus-cash deal.
He remained at The Dell though and followed up on that great first debut campaign when finding the net 18 times with strike partner George O’Brien netting 34 in 1964-65 as Southampton moved up to 4th in the table.
Martin stepped up again in the following season, top-scoring in the 2nd tier with 30 goals and playing a huge part as Saints won promotion to the top flight for the first time in their history.
To aid their top-flight debut season Ted Bates splashed out on Welsh international centre forward Ron Davies to partner Chivers up front and the pair formed a formidable double act.
With England international winger Terry Paine and John Sydenham providing the ammo from the wings the pair struck a superb 51 goals. Davies topped the 1st Division charts with 37 and although Martin’s goals tally fell to 14 he was the perfect foil for his strike partner.
While the duo enjoyed a fabulous campaign the Saints defence struggled to keep goals out conceding a division-high 92 times as the team finished their maiden top flight campaign in 19th, just four points away from relegation.
On the run
There were also rumblings of discontent from Martin. 17 England Under-23 appearances had not led to a full national cap and, despite both Paine and Davies proving that playing on the south coast was no bar to full international honours, the striker felt that his chances of recognition would be greater at a bigger club.
Midway through the 1967-68 season Chivers told manager Bates that he wanted to move on. Davies again topped the scoring charts for the campaign (this time jointly with George Best on 28) whilst Martin managed 13 in 24 – and then he was gone.
Bates knew he had to strengthen his squad elsewhere and with promising youngster Mike Channon pushing for a regular first team place he decided to cash in on his big asset.
Stoke City were the first to bid for the forward’s services but that was turned down. But in early January and with the big man having just been picked for the England squad for a training get-together Bill Nicholson moved in. The Spurs boss agreed Southampton’s demands, paying £80,000 plus £45,000-rated Frank Saul and setting a new British transfer record in the process to bring the forward to White Hart Lane. Martin would later admit that the first he knew of the deal was when he was walking through Southampton city centre and saw a billboard outside the office of local paper ‘The Echo’ which read ‘Chivers to Spurs’.
Chivers on the way out – Beal on the way in.
But the deal wasn’t finalised straight away. Nicholson and Chivers met at Waterloo Station. The Spurs boss made an offer, the player countered with a deal of his own and Nicholson said he’d need to discuss the demands with his directors.
The board agreed, the contract signed at a Winchester hotel on 10 January 1968 and Chivers, along with wife Carol, was on his way to London. The fee was something that the big striker said wouldn’t affect him. “Being the highest priced player in Britain doesn’t bother me in the least’, he said shortly after putting pen to paper on the six-year pact.
Running out at White Hart Lane
Meanwhile boss Nicholson had wise words about the cost of his new man. “As far as the money goes” the Spurs boss said, “you have to pay the current market price whether you like it or not.
“The value of a player is in what he can do for you, not what he costs”.
Men about town: Rodney Marsh, Bobby Moore, Martin Peters and Martin Chivers
Chivers had to wait a few days for his debut after the match at Sheffield Wednesday was postponed due to snow on the Saturday after he signed. However the match went ahead five days later and after a relatively anonymous 86 minutes he thundered in an 87th minute winner to make it a dream start.
Martin again showed a flair for the dramatic ten days after his debut when he smashed in a last-minute equaliser – his second goal of the match – in a 2-2 FA Cup 3rd round draw at Manchester United. He would go on to find the net a total of ten times for his new team in his first half season as they finished 7th in the top flight.
The 1968-69 season started with Bill Nicholson still looking to solve the problem of trying to fit Jimmy Greaves, Alan Gilzean and Chivers into his starting line-up. When Martin was signed it was initially thought that Scotsman Gilzean would be the one to make way but he had instead proved effective on the left-wing although we would often come inside. Eventually it was Greaves who would move on – but not for some time.
The problem was initially solved for Nicholson on the 21st of September 1968 – but certainly not in the way he would have wanted. A seemingly innocuous tackle from Nottingham Forest centre-half Bob McKinlay left Chivers in a heap. Teammate Greaves said to him; “get up big fella. Your leg can’t go just like that”, but it quickly became clear that it had and Martin was stretchered off – and later reported to have broken his kneecap.
Martin in hospital after his operation
In fact the ligament behind his left knee was completely severed in an incident which manager Nicholson declared was; ‘a complete accident’. An operation was performed hours after the injury and it was immediately reported that Chivers would require 10 days in hospital. He was told it would take six months to mend. In fact it took nearly ten.
When Martin first returned it was clear he wasn’t yet the same player. A couple of goals in the first eight games of the 1969-70 season did little to ease the fears that, whilst the physical problems were over, the mental scars remained.
In a number of those early games Nicholson substituted his big-money striker, often even putting a defender up front in his place and finally the boss lost patience, dropping him for the match against West Ham and telling him to sit in the Directors Box and watch Geoff Hurst, “Because that’s how I want you to play for us”.
Later in life, Chivers would say that the move might have been useful – but at the time he was hurt.
The first real step on the road to recovery came in a reserve match in the modest settings of Northampton Town. Chivers bagged five goals – and the comeback was on.
The next major move in the redemption of Martin came with the March 1970 departure of Jimmy Greaves – which also saw Martin Peters arrive at White Hart Lane.
Martin with Spurs teammates Martin Peters, Roger Morgan and Ralph Coates
Greaves leaving left Chivers as the focal point of the Spurs attack whilst the arrival of Peters alongside the development of Steve Perryman gave him players whose own playing styles complemented his.
After the disappointment of 1969-70 (11 goals in 31 matches), the next season saw a ‘new’ Chivers unleashed. Five goals in pre-season got things going. Then 21 strikes in 42 league matches won him the Golden Boot and helped Spurs finish third while there was a brace at Wembley as Aston Villa were beaten 2-0 in the League Cup final to earn Martin his first major honours.
Spurs with the League Cup in 1971
All of this finally silenced the doubters who had emerged since the injury – and also finally brought a long awaited England debut.
Martin in action on his England debut in Malta
After 17 starts for the Under-23s over five years Chivers was one of four players (alongside Roy McFarland, Joe Royle and Colin Harvey) to make his first full start in the 1-0 European Championship qualifier win on a sand-covered pitch in Malta.
Chivers would go on to earn a fine record of 13 goals in 24 starts for his country before his national team run came to a premature end when he lost his place after England’s failure to qualify for the 1974 World Cup.
At Spurs it is probably fair to say that the 1971-72 season was the best of Martin’s career.
In the summer, Nicholson had delved back into the transfer market to add Burnley’s industrious Ralph Coates to his line up and the winger became another excellent provider of goals for the striker
in full flow
Martin started the season with a goal in the opening match and they kept on coming. A second successive Golden Boot was achieved with 25 league strikes but it was in the cups where he, and his team really shone.
Early in the campaign Spurs took on Torino over two legs in the European League Cup Winners Cup and they emerged victorious, taking the trophy 3-0 on aggregate with Martin finding the net in both legs.
Valiant efforts in both the FA Cup, and in defence of the League Cup saw them reach the quarter-final of the first and the last four of the latter with Martin adding another ten to his tally. The disappointments there would be eased in the UEFA Cup.
Wins over Keflavik, Nantes, Rapid Bucharest, UT Arad and AC Milan – with Martin netting six times in total – saw Spurs progress to the first-ever All-English final and a two-legged battle with Wolves.
The trip to Molineux for the first leg saw Chivers find the net twice, the second a stunning long-range piledriver, in a 2-1 win and then a 1-1 draw in the return at White Hart Lane saw the North Londoners claim their second-ever major European trophy. Chivers bagged a superb 44 goals across all competitions for his club during the campaign.
UEFA Cup winners
The 1972-73 campaign saw Martin add more silverware to his haul as Spurs returned to Wembley and took the League Cup again, this time a single Ralph Coates goal proving enough to beat Norwich City in the final.
Unsurprisingly the Chivers goal haul dropped a little but he still managed to find the net a healthy 33 times across all competitions.
Martin and first wife Carol with their daughters
1973 also saw the end of Martin’s first marriage as he was divorced from Carol with whom he had two daughters, Andrea and Melanie. Two years later he would marry Julia and they had two sons, Nicholas and Luke.
In England colours
In 1973-74 Martin and his team suffered surprise early defeats in both domestic cup competitions but made a valiant effort at achieving more European glory, reaching the final of the UEFA Cup before losing out to Feyenoord. 17 league goals and six more during the European run were in keeping with the team’s gradual decline.
The summer of 1974 brought turmoil to White Hart Lane with manager Nicholson pondering retirement and Chivers asking for a move away and even going so far as to say he would never play for Spurs again after the club refused to meet new contract demands.
He was banished to the reserves and missed the first three league matches of the season (all losses). Chivers relented and returned to the line-up, scoring four times in three matches.
After that awful start to the new campaign manager Nicholson, who had clearly become even more disillusioned announced in late August that he was ending his 16-year reign at the helm.
Nicholson stayed on until a new man came in and said that he would like a say in his successor but Chairman Syd Wale took the decision out of his hands and – in a surprise move – appointed former Arsenal player Terry Neill.
Not much improved under Neill and the arrival of John Duncan saw playing time for Chivers lessening with the club making it clear that both he and Martin Peters were available for sale if the right offer came in.
Defeat in the North London derby at Highbury in their penultimate match left Spurs in the relegation zone and with one match left to save their season, at home to European Cup finalists Leeds United.
In a desperate last throw of the dice Neill restored out-of-favour Chivers to the line up for the first time since February.
Against under strength opponents Spurs rampaged to a 4-2 win in front of a raucous crowd with Chivers making his mark when scoring a crucial second as the club retained their top-flight status.
Martin surprisingly remained at White Hart Lane for another season and it was a much better one for the team with 9th-place in the league and a semi-final appearance in the League Cup. He scored a total of nine goals in all competitions and even went on the 1976 summer tour of Australia and New Zealand.
In Switzerland
In June 1976 Spurs agreed a deal to sell the now-31-year-old forward to Swiss club Servette for £50,000 but the deal was put on hold after Terry Neill quit the club. The player had said that the manager was the reason he wanted to leave but, after giving the matter some thought, he decided to go ahead with the move to Switzerland, leaving White Hart Lane with an impressive record of 174 goals in 367 matches.
Swiss Cup winner
Martin, who spoke fluent French and German, settled well in Switzerland and in his two seasons in Geneva scored 33 goals, helping his team take the Swiss Cup and League Cup whilst also capturing the award for ‘Best Foreign Player’.
He then returned to England and after a spell with Norwich City where he managed four goals in 11 starts he headed back to the south coast, and one final moment of glory.
As the 1978-79 season was coming to a close Brighton, managed by Martin’s former Spurs teammate Alan Mullery and pushing for promotion to the First Division, suffered a blow when star striker Teddy Maybank was suspended for two matches.
Mullery called for Chivers and although he managed only one goal in his brief time at the Goldstone, a majestic header in a 3-3 draw at Leyton Orient, his presence both on and off the pitch was a key factor as the Seagulls reached the top flight.
When the season ended so did Martin’s time in league football. He had a spell as player-manager with Dorchester Town then took the same role at Norwegian club Vard, then there was a final fling at Barnet before he finally hung up his boots during the 1982-83 season.
Mine host at the Brooklands Park Hotel
In 1981 Martin and Julia had taken over the Brookmans Park Hotel and Pub in Hertfordshire and he would now devote most of his time to that before being lured back to football as a matchday host at Spurs and taking an active role in the club’s Former Players Association as well as organising veterans matches for charity.
Martin with grandson Dylan at Spurs (photo taken from Martin’s X account)
During one of his last visits to Spurs he proudly took grandson Dylan to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium dressed in a replica Spurs shirt with the number 9 and ‘Chivers’ on the back.
It is a fitting last memory of a player who, although he was born on the south coast, clearly became ‘Tottenham through and through’.