Terry Venables, the former England player who led the national team to the European Championship semi-finals as a coach and won titles at club level with Barcelona and Tottenham, has died. He was 80 years old.
The family confirmed the death in a statement released to the British press on Sunday. He reported that Venables died on Saturday after a long illness.
The English football federation and Tottenham, one of the clubs he managed, praised Venables’ figure. English legend Gary Lineker praised him as “the best and most innovative coach I had the privilege of playing with.”
Charismatic and well-liked, Venables, who was born just outside London, played for Chelsea, Tottenham, Queens Park Rangers and Crystal Palace — all clubs in the capital — in a 16-year playing career that included two call-ups to the national team. England.
Palace and QPR were the first teams he managed before moving to Barcelona for a spell between 1984-87, leading a Barça team with Lineker to the Spanish League title in 1985 — their first since 1974.
He also led the Spanish club to the European Cup final in 1986, losing to Steaua Bucharest on penalties. During his spell with Barça, Venables was in charge when Diego Maradona was sold to Napoli.
As Tottenham manager between 1987-91, he managed to win the FA Cup in what ended up being his last season. He became the club’s chief executive until his relationship with then-president Alan Sugar deteriorated and he was eventually sacked. Then in 1993, the BBC’s Panorama program revealed mismanagement involving Venables’ businesses, and he responded by threatening to sue for defamation.
Venables returned to the dugout to manage England between 1994-96. His big moment came at Euro 1996 at home in charge of the talented team that included the wayward Paul Gascoigne and Alan Shearer that lost to Germany on penalties in the semi-finals.
He also coached Australia to the 1998 World Cup, but they lost a playoff against Iran.
His last spells as a manager at club level were with Palace, Middlesbrough and Leeds.
Gareth Southgate, the current coach of the English team, highlighted Venables as an “excellent strategist” and “for his ability to manage everyone in the squad, from the youngest to the biggest star.”
“He was someone with an open mind, he lived to the fullest and forged a brilliant atmosphere in the team that allowed all the players to excel and have some of the most memorable tournaments in English history,” said Southgate, who missed a penalty for England in the penalty shootout against England.
Tottenham held a minute of applause before the home game against Aston Villa. Players from both teams wore black headbands.
Gascoigne, who had Venables as coach at Tottenham and the national team, wrote a short message on social media.
“A very sad day, cheers boss xxxx,” Gascoigne wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. He included a photo in which the former coach is smiling and raising a glass of tea.
2023-11-27 00:08:20
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