Terry Dyson, only Spurs player to score north London derby hat-trick, dies at 91

Tottenham’s 1961 Double-winner Terry Dyson has died at the age of 91. The Premier League club confirmed Dyson’s death on Thursday and paid tribute to their former winger, who made 209 appearances and scored 55 goals for Spurs in a 10-year spell.

Dyson was part of Bill Nicholson’s 1960-61 side, the first English team in the 20th century to achieve a First Division and FA Cup Double, but one of his finest moments occurred two years later when he scored twice a 5-1 victory over Atlético Madrid to secure the European Cup Winners’ Cup.

Terry Dyson shows off the Cup Winners’ Cup at a civic reception in May 1963. Photograph: Mirrorpix/Getty Images

“The club is extremely saddened to learn of the passing of our former player Terry Dyson at the age of 91,” Spurs said. “Terry was a key part of our Double-winning side in 1961, scoring in the FA Cup Final. Our deepest condolences are with Terry’s family and friends at this incredibly sad time.”

Dyson played for Fulham, Colchester and Guildford after a distinguished spell at Spurs. Yorkshire-born Dyson remains the only Tottenham player to score a hat-trick against Arsenal, which he achieved at the start of the 1961-62 campaign. In 2020, Dyson admitted: “One of them hit my hand. It bounced up, hit my hand and I lashed it in and the Arsenal players went mad.

“They ran after the referee, but he never saw it. I didn’t do it deliberately, but it hit my hand and I just lashed it in. To get a hat-trick was brilliant and nobody has done it since. There was a header, a left foot and a right foot. It was perfect.”

Dyson received a small amount of praise from Nicholson, who was well known to be a perfectionist. “He didn’t throw it out willy-nilly, but he said ‘well done’ and I was like: ‘Oh thanks Bill.’ We went out that night and had a few drinks.

“It is amazing, you don’t think of it at the time, but it has gone down in history.”