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The former Tottenham, Southampton and England striker Martin Chivers has died at the age of 80. Chivers, a League Cup and Uefa Cup winner with Spurs, won 24 caps from 1971 to 1973, scoring 13 goals.
“It is with immense sadness that we announce the passing of our legendary former striker Martin Chivers,” Spurs said. “We extend our deepest sympathies to Martin’s family, friends and former teammates at this incredibly sad time. Our players will wear black armbands during this evening’s fixture against AFC Bournemouth. Rest in peace, Martin. One of the all-time greats.”
Chivers started his career with his home-city club Southampton, making his debut in 1962, and joined Spurs in 1968. After a long, successful spell there he moved to Switzerland to play for Servette, where he won further honours, before returning to England to play for clubs including Norwich and Brighton.
Southampton said they were “deeply saddened” by the death of Chivers, who made 189 appearances for the club, scoring 108 goals. He scored 174 times in 367 competitive games for Spurs, including both goals to beat Aston Villa in the 1971 League Cup final and two to help defeat Wolves in the two-leg 1972 Uefa Cup final. He won a second League Cup in 1973 was inducted into the Spurs hall of fame in 2007.
The former Spurs striker Steve Archibald was among those to pay tribute. “Watched the great Martin Chivers before I became a pro, was an amazing watch,” he wrote on X. “He was like Rolls Royce, so smooth in his movement, excellent in the air and a great finisher, but on top of all of that he was a really nice guy.”
Chivers was given his England debut against Malta and scored seven times in his first eight appearances. His final international game was against Poland at Wembley when a 1-1 draw meant England failed to qualify for the 1974 World Cup.
Chivers told Tottenham’s magazine in 2009: “In my day tackles from behind were commonplace, the pitches were muddy and uneven, the ball was heavy and we did not have dietitians and psychologists. Today, players are faster because they play on the top of the ground and they’re fitter. But I do think that my style of play would have suited today’s game.”
In the final years of his career Chivers made appearances in non-league for Dorchester and Barnet, and played in Australia for Frankston City and in Norway for Vard Haugesund.
