‘One of the greats’: Spurs legend Chivers dies aged 80

8 Jan 2026 - The Guardian

Marcus Christenson

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 Tottenham 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.