Cult Heroes

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Graham Roberts. Tough as nails and always gave 100%.

Here he is introducing himself to Charlie Nicholas in the NLD.

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Graham Roberts tackles Charlie Nicholas in the 1986 North London derby.


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Charlie Nicholas is helped back onto the pitch after a tackle by Graham Roberts.
 
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Terry Naylor. Proper Londoner, knew the apple with what occurred off pitch. Reputation as a hard man (which he was) but was actually a better player then he was given credit for. As seen recently, can still get 200 old school Yids to make the trip to Tottenham on a non-match day.
 
Just noting down a few here (no, this is not a complete list of Spurs' "cult heroes"):
Pat Jennings - was not just a quality goalie but was a classy person/gentleman as well.
Stever Perryman - always gave 100 %. One of the best-ever (English) players never to play for England (well, he did get 1 cap but that was in a "consolation" game).
Cyril Knowles - no-nonsense left-back
Dave MacKay - you all know him
Glenn Hoddle - another quality Spurs player who was largely overlooked by England because he was considered a "luxury player.
Osvaldo Ardiles - tiny player packed with world-class talent (he run Argentina's midfield when they won the WC in 1978). Was said to be too small and fragile for English footy - but proved the doubters wrong
Paul Gascoigne - crazy talent and a crazy person
David Ginola - French flair and arrogance and turned the ladies on

Most of those are actual heroes not merely 'cult heroes'.
 
A lot of posters don't seem to understand what a 'cult' hero is.

Hoddle, Ardiles etc are not 'cult', they were great players admired by all. 'Cult' heroes are usually players that give everything, have a special relationship with the fans through how they might not be the most the most gifted or admired by the media/other fans, they seem to love the club and know what it means to the fans when we win.
 
In my time, those not mentioned so far (and other names will crop up during the day, I'm sure):
Gilzean
Cyril
Stevie (well, I would say that!)
Erik the Viking
 
Eric Lamela stands out as a recent example. Perhaps even the biggest cult hero for his antics and mercurial types of goals.

Heurelho Gomes was one for me. Could be abysmal or a genius. He won us the NLD in 2008 with those finger tip saves and burst into tears when he threw one in against Fulham. He must still be getting around the wives of Middlesex as we speak.
 
Benoît Assou-Ekotto

Scored a couple of memorable long range goals against Liverpool and Everton. Would get the tube to work. Went to local barbers. Said he'd never heard of Paulinho when we signed him.

 
I've never understood the adulation towards Steffen Freund.

Incredibly limited player, came on the hard man to Roy Keane then shat his thong and ran away when the latter faced up to him...

Is it because he never scored for us?
 
Ozzie's a 100% star, mate.
I know.

It was more in relation to how quick he became a cult hero, more or less from his first performance, if I remember correctly.

On a different note, the player that became a cult hero for me was Ricky Villa, and not for the reason you'd think.

Back when I was a youngster, I was one of those autograph hunters that would hang around outside the players entrance after a game. One match, can't remember which one, we waited outside to get some autographs and got blown off by both Hoddle and Ardiles. Villa followed them out and spent at least 10 minutes with us kids chatting about the game, what our aspirations were, all sorts of things.

Fantastic fella who will always hold a special place in my Spurs heart for THAT goal, but mostly because he was just a bloody lovely fella who took the time to engage with a bunch of starstruck kids rather than ignoring us.
 
A lot of posters don't seem to understand what a 'cult' hero is.

Hoddle, Ardiles etc are not 'cult', they were great players admired by all. 'Cult' heroes are usually players that give everything, have a special relationship with the fans through how they might not be the most the most gifted or admired by the media/other fans, they seem to love the club and know what it means to the fans when we win.
Yeah you're right. Only reason i said Archibald is because he was quickly a fan favourite and seems a bit overlooked now, even back then to extent but he was a great player so a bit borderline if he was cult. The best mentions are Naylor, Roberts, Ekotto and maybe Nayim but it took him 2 or 3 years to become a cult hero.
 
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