I became Tottenham legend after winning them their last European trophy – then did everything wrong after that
TONY PARKS’ penalty save against Anderlecht is an iconic Tottenham image.
Plunging to his right and haring off around White Hart Lane with both arms raised to be engulfed by Spurs team-mates.
Yet while he will always be associated with the 1984 Uefa Cup final shootout, he admits it was too much to soon.
Parks was just 21 when he denied Arnor Gudjohnsen – father of future Chelsea, Bolton and Spurs attacker Eidur – to win Tottenham’s third European trophy for Keith Burkinshaw’s side.
Their fourth can arrive 41 years on if Ange Postecoglou’s side manage to beat Manchester United in Bilbao on Wednesday.
Yet even if it goes to penalties again and Gugliemo Vicario repeats Parks’ heroics, it is hard to see it having the same impact.
Parks – only in the team with Ray Clemence deemed unfit – recalled: “I’d saved the first penalty, from Morten Olsen, and gone left on them all.
“Danny Thomas had the chance to win it for us but he missed. He was gutted but the whole crowd started singing his name. I’d never seen that before.
“When Gudjohnsen stepped up, I thought I had to do something different and dive the other way.
“He didn’t hit it very well, I made the save, I got up and just started running.
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“I knew my mum and dad were in the crowd and I ran towards where they were. If the gates had been open, I’d have been at Seven Sisters 20 minutes later.”
It should have been lift-off for Parks’ career. Instead, it was a turning point for all the wrong reasons.
Parks told The Spurs Show podcast: “The drama of it was amazing. I remember watching it back.
“But, for me, it was too much, too early. I thought that was it, that it was going to happen every year.
“That’s kind of how you think when you’re a kid, isn’t it? But I played the rebel a little bit.
“I did everything wrong that I could do wrong.”
Not that he could be blamed initially. Parks added: “Every pub I walked in for about six weeks was free beer.
“Honestly, I’d walk into any place and whatever I wanted was free.
“I remember going out for a meal. Rod Stewart was in the restaurant and apparently thought I’d only saved one penalty; his friends said it was two.
“So the waiter came over and said, ‘I’d like to know how many penalties you saved’.
“I said, ‘Two’ and he said, ‘Would you like a bottle of wine from Rod Stewart?’
“It was all amazing. But if you’re weak in the head, like I was, they tip you over the edge.
“You have to be stronger than that to be a professional athlete.
“Instead, I got arrested for drinking and driving, came back for pre-season with an injury.
“Ray made sure that when he came back, he was 100 per cent fit and focused, ready to go — while I’d lived the life of a kid.”
We’d be in the pub or down the snooker hall by 12. It was ‘win or lose, on the booze; if we draw, we’ll have some more’. It was crazy.
Tony Parks
Parks stayed on Spurs’ books for another four seasons but only made 19 more appearances before going to Brentford.
His career took him to a total of 14 clubs including West Ham and Falkirk in Scotland.
But he concedes it was never quite the same.
Parks recalled: “As a youth-team player getting into the first team, my contract was up at the end of that season.
“I actually didn’t get a new contract until after the game, so the money I was on wasn’t great.
“But if you’re in the first team, you’re getting appearance money, you’re getting bonuses and at 21 that was money to blow your brains out really.
“Nowadays players get to the training ground at 7am and are still there at 4pm or 5pm.
“But we’d be in the pub or down the snooker hall by 12. It was ‘win or lose, on the booze; if we draw, we’ll have some more’. It was absolutely crazy.
“It didn’t matter what age you were, it was, ‘You’re coming’. If Steve Perryman tells you you’re coming, you’re coming.
“Keith was a brilliant manager who gave young players a chance and if he had stayed it may have been different for me.
“But he’d had a big fall-out with the chairman, Irving Scholar, and was going at the end of the season.
“I didn’t really like working for David Pleat or Terry Venables after that. It wasn’t their fault — it was all my fault.
“Venables eventually got rid of me. It’s not until you leave a club like Tottenham you realise, ‘S*** — what have I done?’
“I get called a legend but I don’t see that, I really don’t.
“For me, goalkeeping legends of the football club are Pat Jennings and Ray Clemence. They’re my idols, my Tottenham legends.
“Looking back to the final, it was a magical night, brilliant.
“When we got the trophy, a Uefa guy gave me a replica of the trophy. I thought it was the man-of-the-match prize and put it in my bag in the dressing room.
“But Irving Scholar came in, sat in a wheelchair as he’d broken his leg. No one wanted him there, he was firing our boss.
“But he wanted to know where the trophy was and took it out of my bag – that was the replica the club could keep!
“We stayed for hours celebrating and stood on the roof next to the car park. There were still thousands of fans there waiting for us. I will never forget that.”