Gary
Mabbutt

Now 35, Mabbutt is in his 15th season with Tottenham and in spite of other teams keen to have him - Mabbutt insists that Spurs is the place he wants to be. He enjoys his football at White Hart Lane.

His career started with Bristol Rovers - the club where his father Ray played - and made his first appearance as an apprentice. His older brother, Kevin opted for Rovers' great rivals Bristol City and later played for Crystal Palace.

Mabbutt managed over 100 appearances for Rovers before Tottenham signed him for what is now a laughable low figure of �105,00 in August 1982.

That has so far bought them well over 400 League appearances and numerous Cup games on top of that. Mabbutt is the club captain and a fine ambassador for his sport.

But that is not the end of the story because he sufferes from diabetes but has managed to control the problem and perform at the very highest level on the pitch.

As skipper of Spurs he led them to the 1987 FA Cup Final against Coventry where he put his side 2-1 ahead but then suffered the misery of scoring an own goal which cost the north London side the cup.

It was the first time they had been beaten in a final although Mabbutt was later to set the record straight when he led them to the 1991 final where they beat Nottingham Forest.

By that stage in his career he already had a Uefa Cup winners' medal in his trophy cabinet yet the one prize to elude him, the one he hgankers after, is a League championship medal.

"In all my time at Spurs it has been my ambition to win the League Championship but we have never really come close to it," he says.

In fact his best chance of achieving that caame in 1987 when his Spurs conract expired and Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool along with Athletico Madrid and Lyon were keen to buy him.

Eventually he was left with the choice of going to Liverpool or resigning with Spurs and though he might have got that medal with Liverpool there was no contest.

"I have been so happy at White Hart Lane there was no reason to compromise that situation," he said.

Ironically it was against Liverpool that Mabbutt made his debut - in the Charity Shield of 1982 and throughout his Tottenham career he has beeen a virtual ever-present.

A tough centre back with 16 England caps to his credit, Mabbutt is also a brave player. When his cheekbone and eye sockets were smashed and cracked in a clash with John Fashanu, then at Wimbledon, Mabbutt picked himself up and was back on the field after three months - even though he had to wear a mask to protect his face.

There have bene plenty of upheavals during the years Mabbutt has been at Spurs but he has been a satisfying and comforting source of reliabilty for well over a decade - a commodity as priceless as the skills he brings to the field. Gary Mabbutt suffered a horrendous injury against Blackburn Rovers in August, and the snapped shin bone will keep him out of action for the majority of his testamonial season.