Gary Mabbutt - An Ambassador For The Game

This article was generously provided to ClubFootball by the British Council, which operates in China as the Cultural and Education Section of the British Embassy.

As a player, Gary Mabbutt was the epitome of professionalism and sportsmanship. His lengthy career saw him win major honours whilst battling the affects of diabetes and serious injuries. Gary has easily earned the honour of being described as a true ambassador for the game.
 
Now no longer playing, Gary continues to work as a footballing ambassador. We spoke to him about his career and his continuing work with developing the game in Southern Africa.
 
Fond memories…
 
Gary's England career started back in 1982 in a game he still remembers very well, "It was in a World Cup qualifier against West Germany at Wembley. On that occasion we lost 2-1. It was a great game to play in, though a very tough game. West Germany had just played in a World Cup final and were very good. It was certainly one of the highlights of my playing career."
 
As well as playing for England, Gary is best remembered for his legendary career at Tottenham Hotspur. "I think I played about 630 games for Spurs over a 16 year period from 1982. I was also lucky to be captain from 1987 to 1998."
 
Gary's career at Spurs saw him win the UEFA cup in 1984 and, as club captain, pick up the FA Cup in 1991. Gary recalls this as his proudest moment;
 
"Walking up the steps at Wembley in 1991 was the highlight of my career. To pick up the cup and turn round and hold it up to the fans was incredible because as a youngster I used to watch that on TV every year. It was a great occasion and one that will stay with me forever."
 
Hanging up your boots…
 
Gary hung up his boots at the end of the 1997-98 season but his involvement in the game didn't end there. He is now involved in working as an ambassador for the game through the English FA and from his personal connections with South Africa.
 
"My wife is from South Africa, she was born in Johannesburg and lived there all of her life until we got together about seven years ago. We go back to South Africa very often.
 
"During my first visit there I learnt of a scheme called the "Streetwise Children" which was sponsored by a major TV satellite company. The scheme helped children who for one reason or another could no longer live at home. It offered them a place to live and used sport to inspire them to work hard and build a future.
 
I got involved with them at that stage and every time I went back after that I was going and helping out with coaching, and seeing these youngsters."
 
The power of the game…
 
Gary's work in using the power of the game to bring about social good has continued ever since, particularly through the English FA. Gary is now visiting South Africa to play in an exhibition match to raise funds for the families of the people affected by the Ellis Park tragedy back in April where 43 people died.
 
As Gary says "The FA here in England thought that it would be a great idea to take a team out to South Africa to play a game and it's an England Masters Team, which basically means it's an England over-35's team. You've got the likes of Ian Wright, Terry Butcher, Chris Waddle, Peter Beardsley, Viv Anderson, Alvin Martin, so we've got a very strong side. We're playing a South African over-35's team and all the proceeds from that game will be going to the families of the people who died in that tragedy."
 
"I will also be visiting some townships to do some coaching in Durban as well going to other various functions. This will include the South African Football Association's 10th Anniversary official dinner and the staging of the British Council's Football Nation exhibition in Johannesburg. So, it's hopefully going to be a very enjoyable trip and hopefully it is going to be a very successful one."
 
This is by no means a new area of work for the FA. They have been working in Southern Africa for some time as part of a UEFA project, as Gary explains
 
"The FA in this country have been working for a number of years under a UEFA umbrella called the Meridian Project. Under this project England have been given three countries in Southern Africa - Lesotho, Malawi and Botswana. For a number of years now the FA has been going out to these countries and doing a lot of work to help these countries develop in the football area. There is a lot of expertise in this country and it's great to be able to use that to help them, to develop the football and hopefully develop the standards. "
 
"In fact, prior to the visit to South Africa I'm flying out to Lesotho where the English FA are conducting a training course for Lesotho referees. I'm going down there to do some coaching for the Lesotho Under-14s National team and then I'll go on to do the presentations to the referees following their course. I think the FA is doing a lot to help with coaching, refereeing and the basic infrastructure of the game."
 
"Hopefully in the coming years we can see a big improvement in the development of the game in those countries. And as it's a part of the world that's very close to me I will hopefully be able to stay involved."

June 2001