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Much was expected from Alan Brazil when the striker joined Tottenham
Hotspur in March 1983. An integral part of the Ipswich Town side that
achieved UEFA Cup success in 1981 and consecutive league runners-up
spots, the speedy Scottish international was considered to be one of the
league's most fluent finishers when he made the £450, 000 move to White
Hart Lane. Brazil could scarcely have found a better way of getting off
the mark for his new club when, in his fourth appearance, he scored the
third in a famous 5-0 win over Arsenal that April. In an early purple
patch, another three strikes followed in the next two games, one in a
2-2 draw at Nottingham Forest (the photo above is during the game)
and two in a 3-1 home win against his former teammates from Portman
Road. In all, he contributed the more than useful return of six goals in
twelve games at the back end of the season.
However, whether he
was burdened by expectation following his high-profile move, Brazil
never seemed to settle at Spurs and goals were far harder to come by
during the 1983-84 campaign. In a season badly affected by injuries and
loss of confidence, Alan's only three goals in 19 league appearances
came in 4-2 scorelines - one in a defeat at Manchester United in
December and two in a win at Coventry City in March. Though he
contributed four goals in the club's victorious UEFA Cup run - two
against the minnows of Drogheda in an 8-0 thrashing and one in either
leg of the quarter-final against Austria Vienna - Alan played no part in
the final against Anderlecht and missed out on a second UEFA Cup
winner's medal. It proved to be his first and last full campaign as a
Tottenham player.
Having never recaptured the form he showed at
Ipswich, Brazil found it difficult to displace Mark Falco and the
prolific Steve Archibald for a starting position. After barely more than
a year at White Hart Lane, he was transferred to Manchester United in
June 1984 for £625, 000. The days he'd enjoyed at Portman Road would
prove to be his best and the fee that Tottenham received proved to be an
excellent piece of business with a handsome profit on a player who had
not produced his best during his spell in North London. After a brief
Old Trafford career and even shorter spells at Coventry and Queens Park
Rangers, a serious back injury forced Alan to retire aged just 27. (Alex Voskou)
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