Profile of David Pleat on Famous Like Me

David Pleat (born January 15, 1945 in Nottingham) is an English football manager and former player.

He has managed Luton Town F.C., Tottenham Hotspur F.C. and Sheffield Wednesday F.C. He is currently a consultant at Portsmouth F.C., but his appointment is on a short-term basis.

Luton Town (1978-1986)

David Pleat moved into management in 1978 at the age of 33, taking charge of Second Division strugglers Luton Town. In his fourth season as manager, 1981-82, Luton won promotion to the First Division and remained there for the next ten years. An impressive Luton side, including 1984 PFA Young Player of the Year Paul Walsh, were soon a match for most other English teams. In 1988, two years following Pleat's departure, they beat Arsenal to win the League Cup under the management of Ray Harford. This is the club's only major honour to date. Although the success was achieved under Ray Harford, David Pleat contributed to the success because most of the cup-winning players had been signed by Pleat.

Tottenham Hotspur (1986-1987)

David Pleat's second managerial job was with Tottenham Hotspur, commencing in the summer of 1986 when he left Luton Town after eight years in charge and moved to White Hart Lane to replace Peter Shreeves.

1986-87 was a good season for Tottenham. They finished third in the First Division and reached the FA Cup final, where they faced Coventry City. Tottenham had won all seven of their previous finals, and Coventry had never appeared in a final before, so they were hot favourites to win. But a 3-2 defeat meant that Tottenham ended the season trophyless. Pleat left the following October after rumours began to circulate that he had been involved in a vice ring.

Leicester City (1988-1991)

David Pleat's third managerial job, at Leicester City, was perhaps his least eventful. They were an unremarkable Second Division side when he became manager in the summer of 1988, and by the time he was sacked in January 1991 they were fighting against relegation from the Second Division for the first time - although this battle was eventually won under his successor Gordon Lee.

Luton Town (1991-1995)

In May 1991, David Pleat was named as Luton Town manager for the second time. Their fortunes had slipped dramatically in the previous three seasons, when relegation had been avoided on the very last day of each season. Pleat seemed like the man to secure Luton a place clear of relegation, but instead they were relegated on the last day of the season after ten years in the First Division, missed out on a place in the new FA Premier League and have not been in the top division since. They did reach the FA Cup semi finals in 1994, but failed to make an impact in Division One and Pleat left the club in June 1995 to take charge of Sheffield Wednesday.

Sheffield Wednesday (1995-97)

David Pleat's first season as Sheffield Wednesday manager was frustrating. He had hoped to mount a challenge for a UEFA Cup place, but instead they were involved in a relegation battle right up to the very last day of the season and finished 15th in the Premiership. Not even the addition of expensive foreign players like Regi Blinker, Orlando Trustfull and Dejan Stefanovic could halt Wednesday's decline.

1996-97 was better. Wednesday were top of the Premiership table after winning their first four fixtures of the 1996-97 season, and Pleat was named Premiership Manager of the Month for August 1996. But they were unable to mount a serious title challenge and finish seventh in the final table, not even enough for a UEFA Cup place. Pleat was sacked in October 1997 with Wednesday battling relegation once again.

Tottenham Hotspur (1998-2004)

David Pleat returned to Tottenham Hotspur as Director of Football in 1998, and was put in charge of first-team affairs for most of the 2003-04 season following Glenn Hoddle's dismissal. Tottenham secured a 14th place finish, but there was never any question of Pleat getting his old job back on a permanent basis and he was ousted by new sporting director Frank Arnesen in May 2004.

Portsmouth (2005-present)

David Pleat is currently back in football, working for Portsmouth in a temporary consultancy role under new manager Alain Perrin.

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