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A small piece of football history was created when Spurs signed John
Lacy from Fulham in July 1978. It was the first time that an independent
transfer tribunal was used to set the price for a player and, at £200,
000, the Liverpool-born central defender made the move across London.
Lacy had been a student at the London school of Economics and whilst
representing London Universities had impressed their coach, ex-England
and Fulham star George Cohen. The 6 foot 3 inch defender's arrival at
White Hart Lane was overshadowed by the exciting captures of Argentine
World Cup heroes Osvaldo Ardiles and Ricardo Villa. All 3 of the new
signings made their debuts on the opening day of the 1978-79 season in a
creditable 1-1 draw at 1st Division Champions Nottingham Forest.
Playing alongside Steve Perryman, Lacy made 43 league and cup
appearances in his first season at White Hart Lane. John played in all 7
of the London club's FA Cup games, with Spurs going out 2-0 at
Manchester United in a quarter-final replay. Injuries restricted Lacy's
appearances to only 4 games throughout 1979-80. These 4 early season
games failed to yield a single point for Spurs and they could manage
only 14th position in the table. Spurs also failed again at the FA Cup
quarter-final stage, losing at home to Liverpool 1-0. The 1980-81
campaign proved to be a better one for the central defender but was,
ultimately, to end in disappointment on a personal level. He played in
the opening 31 league fixtures and early FA Cup games but failed to gain
a place for the latter stages, which culminated in his side winning the
trophy.
The emergence of Paul Miller limited Lacy to only 7 league
starts throughout 1981-82, where Spurs finished in 4th position.
Although the club played 23 cup games in their journey to the FA Cup
Final, League Cup Final and European Cup Winners semi-final, Lacy's role
was limited to just one appearance as a substitute. 1982-83 was John's
last season at Spurs and he made 32 appearances in all competitions. In
August 1983, after 132 games and 3 goals, Lacy joined Crystal Palace for
an undisclosed fee. (Tony Smith).
1970–1971 Kingstonian 19 (0)
1971–1978 Fulham 168 (7)
1978–1983 Tottenham Hotspur 104 (2)
1983–1984 Crystal Palace 27 (0)
After retiring John Lacy worked as double glazing sales manager in the St Albans area.
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