Nachrichten

The 79-year-old, who made 79 appearances and scored 10 goals for the Hatters during a playing career in which he also featured for Nottingham Forest, Shrewsbury Town, Exeter City and Peterborough United, returned to Kenilworth Road as manager back in 1978. Widely regarded as one of the best to ever take charge of Town, Pleat led Luton to Division One, then the top tier of English football, in 1982, and kept them up for a number of years afterwards, most memorably with a final day 1-0 victory at Manchester City in 1983.

Having left for Spurs in 1986, leading the club to third in Division One and the FA Cup final too, Pleat then came back for a second spell as manager at Luton in 1991, staying for four seasons until his departure in 1995 to take over at Sheffield Wednesday. In January 1998, he was back at White Hart Lane as the club’s first Director of Football, having three spells as caretaker manager until his exit in May 2004.

Pleat was back at Spurs six years later as part of the scouting department, a role he carried out for almost 15 years, while he still makes time to attend Luton matches whenever possible too. Speaking to the north London club's official website, Pleat said: “Football is my life and continues to be. Spurs has been a huge part of that. However the game and its methods change and it’s time for me to now step back from my scouting role. I look forward to watching the club have great success in the coming years. I hope to continue my association with the game.”

Meanwhile, chairman Daniel Levy added: “I would like to thank David for his contribution over so many years and in so many ways. He had, and continues to have, an encyclopaedic knowledge of the game and players. I know he will continue to enjoy watching our games at all levels.”