David John Pleat was born on 15 January 1945 and is an English football player turned manager, and sports commentator.
18 Facts About David Pleat
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David Pleat had two spells as manager of Luton Town, and four as manager of Tottenham Hotspur.
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David Pleat was born in Nottingham, England, and is of Jewish descent.
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David Pleat began his playing career with his hometown club Nottingham Forest.
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David Pleat's first coaching position was for Southern League team Nuneaton Borough in 1971, where he was appointed as player-manager on the recommendation of Peter Taylor, who worked alongside Brian Clough at Derby County and Nottingham Forest, and stayed there for two-and-a-half seasons.
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In May 1986, David Pleat was appointed manager of Tottenham Hotspur.
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David Pleat received the 'Manager of the Month' awards in both January and February 1987.
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David Pleat made a quick return to management just two months later with Leicester City, who had just been relegated from the First Division, initially taking them from the lower regions of the Second Division into the top six thanks to 34 points from 17 games.
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David Pleat stayed at Filbert Street for more than three years but, hampered by financial constraints and the sale of key players such as Mike Newell, Gary McAllister and Russell Osman, was unable to help them achieve promotion and returned to Luton Town in June 1991 for a second spell as manager of the club.
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David Pleat left Luton after being offered the chance to manage Premier League side Sheffield Wednesday in the summer of 1995.
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Pleat was tasked by the board with moving on a number of star players deemed to be past their peak during this period with the likes of John Sheridan, Chris Woods, Chris Waddle and Mark Bright all departing permanently or on loan throughout 1996, with striker David Hirst following soon after in 1997 as his injury problems continued.
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That summer saw David Pleat add another Italian in Paolo Di Canio, who would go on to make a significant contribution in the Premier League, but after a poor start the following season, David Pleat was sacked in November 1997.
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David Pleat left Tottenham in 2004 and took up advisory roles with Portsmouth, West Bromwich Albion and Nottingham Forest before returning to Spurs again in 2010 as a consultant scout where he still remains active and has been instrumental in the signings of Dele Alli, Jan Vertonghen and Ben Davies.
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David Pleat has worked for the Premier League as an analyst for youth games and advising on academies.
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David Pleat is the longest serving member of the League Managers Association Board and management committee, having joined in 1978, and, in 2012, he was inducted into the LMA Hall of Fame, which now includes the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson, Fabio Capello, Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho and Jurgen Klopp.
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David Pleat has served on a number of FA panels concerning discipline, transfer tribunals and permits for overseas players.
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David Pleat has written a regular column for The Guardian newspaper since 2004, primarily exploring the tactical side of recent matches, and has contributed articles to the Daily Mail, The Independent and Daily Telegraph.
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David Pleat has covered a number of Champions League finals and several European Championship tournaments.