Saturday, July 11, 2009

ARDILES IN MALTA
Tottenham Hotspur Malta are proud to announce that World Cup winner, and Argentina and Tottenham Hotspur legend Osvaldo Ardiles will be in Malta in August.

On the initiative of Ms Carly Barnes and Tottenham Hotspur Malta, and with the support of Air Malta, Ramla Bay Hotel, Herbies, Jewellery and Wembley’s Car Hire Service Ardiles will be in Malta between the 3rd and 10th of August.
Ossie, as he is affectionately known by Spurs fans worldwide, won the 1978 World Cup with Argentina and became a cult hero in England, along with Glenn Hoddle and compatriot Ricardo Villa with Tottenham Hotspur.

As a youngster, Ardiles played football in the streets and was given the nickname "Pitón" (python) by his brother because of his snake-like dribbling skills. He began his professional career in Argentina with Instituto de Córdoba, playing also for Club Atlético Belgrano and Huracán.

After the 1978 World Cup he joined Tottenham where he spent four seasons.
He helped Spurs win the FA Cup in his third season (1980-81) and collaborated with pop duo Chas and Dave as well as the rest of the Tottenham players for a song - "Ossie's Dream" - in which he famously pronounced Tottenham as "Tottingham".

He played a big part in another FA Cup triumph the following year, but did not play in the final. He also helped Tottenham win the UEFA Cup in 1984, leaving shortly afterwards to sign for Paris Saint Germain in France

After just one season in Paris, he returned to Tottenham, where he stayed until 1988. In the autumn of 1987, he was caretaker manager of Tottenham between the resignation of David Pleat and the appointment of Terry Venables He then played for Blackburn Rovers, Queens Park Rangers and Swindon Town, before being appointed as manager of Swindon Town in July 1989.

He returned to Spurs as manager between 1993 and 1994 where he famously played several matches utilizing a formation that had five forwards, a formation that hadn't been used in English football since the 1950’s.

On 7 February 2008 Ossie Ardiles, along with his fellow countryman Ricky Villa, was inducted into the Tottenham Hotspur Hall of Fame

Tottenham Hotspur Malta will be organising a number of activities for the Spurs supporters and football followers. A bar-b-q is planned for Friday 7th August at Ramla Bay Hotel while a visit to Gozo is scheduled for Saturday 8th August. On Sunday 9th August Ardiles will visit the premises of Tottenham Hotspur Malta in St. Frederick Street, Valletta to meet the Members and supporters.

A charity event will take place on Thursday 6th August. The former Spurs hero will attend the screening of the epic movie “Escape to Victory” in which he stars along with other football icons such as Pele and Bobby Moore.

All proceeds will go to Inspire Foundation

A short interview and a presentation will precede the screening. This event is being made possible through the help of KRS and Warner Brothers, Embassy Cinema Complex, Tottenham Hotspur Malta and Kick Off.

More details about the Ossie Ardiles’ visit to Malta will be published next month.