Martin Peters

by John Harding

Player Profile

Martin Peters was born in November 1943, in Plaistow, East London. He signed
as an apprentice with West Ham in 1959 and made his debut at home
against Cardiff City in 1962. He went on to play in every position for
the Hammers, including one appearance in goal! But it was as an
attacking, creative midfielder that Martin truly made his mark on the
English game. Tall, lean and blessed with great timing, Martin would
often ‘ghost’ unmarked into forward positions to get on the end of
crosses. The complete midfielder, he passed the ball well with either
foot, was good in the air and difficult to mark because of his
excellent movement.

He soon became a regular in the West Ham first team making 302 league
appearances and scoring 81 league goals winning a European Cup Winners'
Cup medal in 1965. He joined Tottenham Hotspur in March 1970 for
£220,000, winning two League Cups and one UEFA Cup. Between 1970 and
1975 he would make 287 League and Cup appearances for Spurs before
joining Norwich City for £50,000. In five years from March 1975 to
August 1980, Martin played 232 games for the Canaries, scoring fifty
times. His career total is 882 games and 220 goals.

An essential part of the 1966 World Cup winning squad, he won 67 England caps and was awarded the MBE in 1978.
One of the underated Spurs players in my opinion but he was a true legend. I loved watching him play. He had superb timing when it came to getting goals. A truly great player and one of my all time favourites.Baz

Martin Chivers came through Southampton's youth system and signed as a professional footballer in September 1962, at the age of 17. He played an integral role in the club's promotion to the top flight in 1967, starring up front alongside the great Welsh striker Ron Davies.
After scoring 97 league goals in only five seasons, Tottenham Hotspur manager Bill Nicholson signed Chivers for a club record fee of £125,000, with 24-year-old Frank Saul moving from White Hart Lane to the Hampshire coast.


He scored on his Spurs debut against Sheffield Wednesday in January 1968 but the initial stages of his White Hart Lane career were relatively unsuccessful with Spurs legends Jimmy Greaves and Alan Gilzean still considered to be the preferred attacking partnership. Chivers remained a fixture of the England Under-23 squad and eventually became the most important goalscorer at Tottenham, following the sale of Greaves to West Ham United in 1970.
Chivers was often seen as a lethargic and lazy player but his pace and natural strength established 'Big Chiv' as a star of the Spurs side and England throughout the early 1970s. During this period of his career, he helped Spurs to League Cup triumphs in 1971 and 1973 and UEFA Cup success in 1972, as well as a runners up medal in the same European competition in 1974. He famously scored both goals in the first League Cup victory against Aston Villa in February 1971 and a thirty-yard wonder goal against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the club's memorable UEFA Cup campaign.

Chivers was also a regular goalscorer in the First Division, tallying 92 league goals between 1969 and 1974.
In his eight and a half year Spurs career, Chivers scored a total of 174 goals in 367 first-team appearances and remains the leading Tottenham goalscorer in European competition to this day. He was capped 24 times for the England, scoring 13 goals.


First Division: 278 matches, 118 goals
FA Cup: 24 matches, 11 goals
League Cup: 33 matches, 23 goals
Europe: 32 matches, 22 goals
TOTAL: 367 matches, 174 goals

Martin is Spurs third highest ever goalscorer.

Martin still works at Spurs as a matchday host at White Hart Lane.