In all he spent nine long years with the north London side, making just short of 200 league appearances and scoring 11 goals.

In the 1990/91 season, a Paul Gascoigne-inspired Tottenham reached The FA Cup Final where they played Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest. After Gascoigne went off injured and and Forest captain Stuart Pearce rifled home a free kick, things didn't look good for Spurs.

However, in the second half, Paul Stewart equalised and then an unfortunate own goal by Des Walker gave Tottenham the Cup. Samways started the match and played his part in Terry Venables' side's victory before coming off for Paul Walsh midway through the second half.

After three more years at Tottenham, Everton splashed out £2.2 million to take Samways up north in the summer of 1994, though he failed to pay back such a hefty price tag during his spell at Goodison Park. He played only 23 league games in nearly three years for the Blues before a £700,000 switch to Spanish side Union Deportiva Las Palmas in May 1997.

The undoubted highlight whilst on Merseyside was his goal at Wembley in the 1995 FA Charity Shield, which saw the Toffeemen beat Premiership champions Blackburn Rovers 1-0. On a sunny day in north London, Samways scored past Tim Flowers to give Everton their second Wembley win in four months after they had beaten Manchester United in The FA Cup Final.

Samways' time in Spain saw the stocky midfielder quickly dubbed as the 'hard man of Spain' as he proceeded to pick up 38 yellow cards and eight reds in his first three seasons. Then of the Second Division, Las Palmas' management were astute enough to realise there was more to Samways' game than the occasional poorly timed tackle as he became a regular in the side.

In the 1999/00 season, Las Palmas won promotion into one of Europe's most high profile and glamorous leagues - the Primera Liga. Thankfully for both the player and his club, Samways managed to avoid the dreaded red card throughout the Canarian club's first season back in the big time and that was one of the factors that enabled Las Palmas to finish in eleventh place.

The following season - 2001/02 - again saw Samways play a regular part in los amarillos' campaign and also saw him score his only top flight goal in all his years in Spain, a scrambled effort in Las Palmas' 3-2 home win over fellow-strugglers Villareal in March 2002.

After a move to Sevilla did not really work, Samways decided to return to England after over six years out of the country. Walsall manager Colin Lee signed him up for free and he played in every one of the Saddlers' final 13 league games of the season as they finished in 17th place in Division One.

Though favouring a move back to Spain, Samways' relative success at the Bescot Stadium persuaded him to sign a new contract with the club which should see him stay in the West Midlands for at least one more season.

Vinny Samways Factfile

Nationality: English 
Date of Birth: 27 October 1968 
Place of Birth: Bethnal Green, London 
Height: 5' 08''
Weight: 11 10 
Clubs: Tottenham, Everton, Las Palmas, Sevilla, Walsall 
Position: Midfielder

Year

Club

Apps.

Goals

1986/87

Tottenham Hotspur

2

0

1987/88

Tottenham Hotspur

26

0

1988/89

Tottenham Hotspur

19

3

1989/90

Tottenham Hotspur

23

3

1990/91

Tottenham Hotspur

23

1

1991/92

Tottenham Hotspur

27

1

1992/93

Tottenham Hotspur

34

0

1993/94

Tottenham Hotspur

39

3

1994/95

Everton

19

1

1995/96

Everton

4

1

1995/96

Birmingham City

12

0

1995/96

Wolverhampton W

3

0

1996/97

Everton

0

0

1996/97

Las Palmas

14

0

1997/98

Las Palmas

32

2

1998/99

Las Palmas

35

1

1999/00

Las Palmas

38

2

2000/01

Las Palmas

31

0

2001/02

Las Palmas

33

1

2002/03

Sevilla

10

0

2002/03

Walsall

13

0