Maurice Norman, Norfolk-born Tottenham defender whose appearances for England included the 1962 World Cup – obituary

Maurice Norman, who has died aged 88, was the colossus at the heart of Tottenham Hotspur’s defence during their golden era of the early 1960s.

Well-built and more than 6 ft tall, Norman was dominant in the air and capable as well of sparking attacks when he brought the ball out from the back, having played up front as a youngster. Between 1960 and 1963, Spurs won the Double, the FA Cup a second time and the European Cup-Winners’ Cup; Norman started 149 of their 156 matches during that period.

Yet when he was bought in 1955 from lowly Norwich City, for whom he had made just 35 appearances, Norman doubted if he was good enough to wear the white shirt. He had hardly ever been to London, and never to White Hart Lane, when, having travelled up from Norfolk by train, he met his new teammates in the dressing room a few moments before making his debut for Spurs against Cardiff City.

Bill Nicholson was in the Tottenham side that day and Norman became a mainstay of it when Nicholson was appointed manager in 1958. Nicholson confirmed Norman’s recent move from right back to centre-half, using his aerial prowess to protect goalkeeper Bill Brown, who could be uncertain under crosses.

Norman played alongside Dave Mackay, and behind the likes of Danny Blanchflower, Cliff Jones and later Jimmy Greaves. At times, he was deployed as a battering ram at corners in the opposition box, although his disposition was mild and gentlemanly.

He claimed four goals in the 1960-61 league season, when Tottenham scored 115 times in 42 matches as they ran away with the championship. Famously, they then completed the first Double of the century by winning the FA Cup. They retained the trophy the following season.

That year, they also reached the semi-final of the European Cup before losing to Benfica. Spurs and Norman made up for that disappointment in 1963 by becoming the first British club to win a major European trophy as they thrashed Atletico Madrid 5-1 to lift the Cup-Winners’ Cup in Rotterdam. They were also runners-up in the league that year.

Norman was called into the 1958 World Cup squad by Walter Winterbottom but had to wait for his first cap until a friendly against Peru in 1962. That was the last match before that year’s World Cup, in which Norman played his next four matches for England until they were beaten by Brazil in the quarter-finals. Norman later said he particularly enjoyed the opportunities that international matches gave him for travel to then such exotic places as Red Square, in Moscow, and to Copacabana beach in Rio.

Together with Bobby Moore and Ray Wilson, Norman became a fixture at the back in Alf Ramsey’s national side. He had won 23 caps when, in November 1965, he suffered a double fracture of his right leg as he slipped while making a tackle for Spurs in a match against a Hungarian Select XI.

When the cast eventually came off, his leg was an inch and a half shorter than before. A consultant warned him that he risked paralysis unless it was rebroken and chips of bone from his pelvis inserted to make the limb good. The entire process lasted two years and, at 31, his career had been brought to an abrupt end.

He had made 411 appearances for Tottenham (scoring 19 goals) and was one of only 13 players to have been selected more than 400 times for the club. But for his injury, Norman might well have won a World Cup medal, too.

Maurice Norman was born on May 8 1934 at Mulbarton, south of Norwich. He grew up in a cottage and learnt his football on the large common. Tall for his age, he played as a forward for Norfolk Schools and was spotted by a Norwich scout scoring two goals for Wymondham Juniors in a local cup final on the village green.

He signed for Norwich in 1952. Norman was then working on a farm, and if he missed the last bus after training would walk the five miles home before feeding the pigs at midnight. Norwich sold him to Spurs for the Irish international Johnny Gavin and £18,000 as they needed to pay for floodlights. Norman’s rustic origins brought him the nickname “Swede” at Tottenham, where he was also known as “Monty”, for the composer of the James Bond theme.

After hanging up his boots, Norman ran a petrol station, a wool shop with his wife, and worked as a landscape gardener. He had been suffering from vascular dementia and latterly with cancer.

He married, in 1961, Jacqueline Knight, a nurse. She survives him together with their son and daughter.

Maurice Norman, born May 8 1934, died November 27 2022