Just One More Goal

David Pleat has lived a life at the heart of football. From his debut as an England Schoolboy international in 1960 to his time as a scout for Tottenham Hotspur up to 2024, his is a story that touches every facet of the professional game. At Luton Town, he is perhaps best remembered for dancing on the pitch after a win over Manchester City secured the club’s top-flight survival in 1983. However, his fifteen years at Kenilworth Road were about much more than that.

In 1986, Pleat was given his shot at the big-time at Tottenham. But for a fabricated tabloid scandal, his sole season as manager, which featured a third-placed finish, an FA Cup final and a League Cup semi-final, might have been the start of a transformation at White Hart Lane. After spells at Leicester City and Sheffield Wednesday, Pleat twice returned to Tottenham. Here, he gives his frank assessment of his chairmen, Alan Sugar and Daniel Levy, and an insider’s account of the rise and fall of managers from Glenn Hoddle to José Mourinho.

However, Just One More Goal is not just an account of one man’s lifelong obsession with football. It is the story of an evolving game, one that moved away from instinct and spontaneity towards something colder and more technical. David Pleat’s memoir is the perfect answer to the question of how modern football became what it is today.