Most football supporters of a certain age will remember the name Martin Chivers, but the majority will recall him for his time at Tottenham Hotspur and also playing International football for England, but he was born in Southampton and played a big part in Saints rise in the 1960's.

Southampton supporters of a past generation will be mourning the passing of Martin Chivers who died today 7th January 2026

Before I start this article I must give much of the credit for this article to Southampton FC historian Duncan Holley and his excellent Saints website saintsplayers.co.uk without Duncan's work over the past 40 years in documenting the history of this club and it's players, the names of Martin Chivers and other great players who have graced the famous Red & White Stripes at both The Dell & now St Mary's would be lost to the younger generations.

I would urge every Saints supporter to pay a visit to the site, it is a mine of information about this football club and it's players.

saintsplayers.co.uk tell us that Martin was born in Southampton on 27th April 1945 to a German mother who arrived in the City after World War 1 and a father who worked in the Docks, you can't get much more Southampton roots than having a Dad who was a docker.

He went to School at Richard Taunton's, then a grammar school and wrote to Saints for a trial.

He impressed in the trial and in games for the club's nursery side and signed as a professional in September 1962, making his debut in that same month aged just 17 against Charlton Athletic at the Dell in a game won 1-0, although he was not on the scoresheet that day.

His impact however would not be instantaneous, he would play just 3 games that season in the old Second Division and it would be April 1963 before he would get his first goal for the club, the consolation goal in a 4-1 defeat at St James Park to Newcastle.

But if his first season was slow, his second would be his breakthrough, in 1963/64 he after breaking into the side in November he would end the season with 28 appearances yielding 21 goals, no one scored more and only Terry Paine equalled that total.

Saints were now building a side to win promotion to the First Division under Ted Bates, in 1964/65 they finished 4th with Martin playing 39 games and scoring 19 times,

But it would be 1965/66 that would see him and Saints have their finest hour so far with Chivers 30 goals in 39 games firing Saints to that long sort after promotion to the top flight of English football for the first time.

For 1966/67 Saints had signed Ron Davies who took much of the plaudits scoring 37 goals in his first season for Saints, but Martin had adjusted his game and was an ever present, turning provider more than scorer with 14 goals.

With the emerging Mike Channon breathing down his neck and with the big clubs starting to take an interest, Martin would play 28 games in the League and score 13 goals, before he was sold to Tottenham Hotspur for what would be classed as a British transfer record at the time, a fee judged to be £125,000 (Frank Saul in part-exchange, plus £45,000)

Such was the way that players were bought and sold by clubs on a whim, rather than the player dictating the transfer destination, when he was questioned at half-time during the New Year’s Day fixture 2020 he recalled the first he knew he was leaving The Dell when he was walking through Southampton High St and he saw the billboard outside the Echo office saying “Chivers to Spurs”.

His final stats for his hometown club read

174(1 sub) League appearances - 96 goals
7 FA Cup Appearances - 4 goals
8 League Cup Appearances - 4 goals

Total 189(1) appearances - 106 goals.

However it would be at Spurs where he really shone, scoring around 200 goals in 400 odd appearances in all competitions.

He also played for England 24 times and scored 13 goals, no mean feat given that in his time in the squad in 1971-73 it was hard to get a cap under Alf Ramsey.

He left Spurs in 1976 having just turned 31, joining Servette (Switzerland) in the july of that year, he joined Norwich in Jul 1978, ironically making his debut at Carrow Road on the opening day of the season against none other than Saints and he rubbed it in by scoring the 3rd goal in our 3-1 defeat.

He did not last long at Carrow Road, joining Brighton in March 1979, helping then to promotion before drifting into non League football in 1980.

For a while he owned a hotel in Hertfordshire and topped up his income with media work, mainly concerning Spurs but occasionally Southampton.

Sadly his time at the Dell does not seem to be mentioned in footballing circles, sadly he never really talked much about Southampton after his departure, even when being interviewed on the pitch prior to a game against Spurs in 2020, he was brutally honest, saying that he was very much a Tottenham man.

Perhaps because he rarely returned to his home City, at least not in a public capacity, he may well have visited relatives in the area, his name is largely forgotten by those Saints fans who are under the age of 60, whilst the names of Mike Channon, Ron Davies and Terry Paine, contemporaries in the 1960's are remembered and revered by a younger generation, Martin Chivers will be remembered mainly by supporters of Tottenham Hotspur today.

That is a little sad for Southampton Football Club, as between 1962 & 1968 he was an idol to many at the Dell.

All Photos Via Reuters