EXCLUSIVE: Micky Hazard Previews Europa League Final - 'It's a Day for Heroes but a Night for Legends!'
Joshua Kerr 
Tottenham legend Micky Hazard knows what it takes to etch their name into club folklore — and as Spurs prepare for their Europa League final showdown, he believes Ange Postecoglou’s men stand on the edge of history.
Speaking exclusively to the team at Freebets.com, the 1984 UEFA Cup winner opened up about the enduring legacy of European glory, the rollercoaster ride of the current season, and why, trophy or not, Postecoglou has already made his mark on the culture of the club. Here's what he had to say:
A Day for Heroes but a Night for Legends
First things first, do you back Spurs to end their trophy drought and get the job done on Wednesday night?
They've beaten Manchester United three times this season. That worries me, it sort of sets itself up for the pundits who call us ‘Spursy’ — you win three games out of three against them and then all of a sudden you're in a cup final and you lose.
It would be typical. Do I back them to win? Do I think they're better? I think they're a better team than Manchester United. But often in cup finals, the best team doesn't always win.
What I will say is that it's a day for heroes, but it's a night for legends. And these guys have before them the opportunity to become immortal. In the history of this football club, they will be forever written about, forever talked about as the UEFA Cup winners of 2025. That's worth fighting for.
I know from experience that today, 41 years later, people still talk to me about the 1984 UEFA Cup final. And it's absolutely wonderful, it really is, that they can remember so far back — in detail as well.
So these players today, they have got a chance to become immortal and legendary in this football club forevermore. The fans will sing their name. They will let them off when things are not going as well, because they've achieved the things that the fans want to achieve.
So if you can't motivate yourself to go and win a game like this, then you shouldn't be in the game. Because I remember when I played, my only thought was, “I'm not losing this game.”
You have to overcome lots of hurdles. For instance, there's a fear about playing in big games like this, but you have to look fear in the face and you have to stand up to it and you have to say to fear, “Are you brave enough?” Say it to fear as you're looking him in the face: “Not today. This is my day. This is my time.” And that's how you have to stand up to the hurdles that you have to overcome to win this trophy.
Is there any player in the current squad who would get into your UEFA Cup-winning team? Your FA Cup and UEFA Cup-winning team?
Sonny, at his best, possibly. We had a fantastic team. We had proper, proper, proper great footballers. Talented, skilful, creative, born in the traditions and philosophies of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.
They played that way, they played that style, they preached it that way. Possibly Son. Micky van de Ven. Maybe Romero. Maybe. But we’re all in our 70s, so... Yeah, I don't think too many. No. But those three certainly would challenge.
On the manager, obviously it's been a very rollercoaster of a season, but if he's able to pull this off [win the Europa League], where would he rank in terms of Tottenham managers for yourself?
Well, irrelevant of where he would rank statistically or anything else, he’d have to rank as one of our greatest managers. Simple as that. You know, how many managers have won a trophy for Tottenham? Even right up there — he's won a trophy. And it doesn't mean that he's a great or he's a bad man. He’s won a trophy for a football club.
In 1987, I thought we had one of the best sides. But it’s rarely talked about as a great side because it didn’t win a trophy. And consequently, David Pleat is not talked about as one of our greatest managers, which is a tragedy for him and for that team because they were a sensational bunch. Forevermore, this cup final win and Ange has been instrumental in that, so he will get revered in the same way.
And just to add on to that, if he is able to pull this off, and even if he doesn't, have you seen enough from Ange to feel like he should still be the Tottenham manager come next season?
Well, that’s a difficult question because, you know, if you look at the season and some of the performances,winning 4–0 at Manchester City some of the scintillating, attacking, flowing football that we played at times was unbelievable.
But when you look at the overall season, and analyse it a bit deeper than that, which is the right thing to do, you can’t just make an assessment on “Well, we finished 17th or 16th,” or whatever it is. Well, we’ve won a trophy as well now.
But also, if you go through the injury crisis that we’ve had throughout the course of the season, and if you were to analyse exactly what teams have won and what teams have lost games — and if you look at, and just analyze on the basis of our back five, for instance: Vicario, Porro, Udogie, Romero, and Micky van de Ven — and how many times when those five have played together, what have the scorelines been? What’s the win-to-loss ratio? I think then we would get a better indication of where, as a team, we are at, and where, as a manager, Ange is at.
But if we’re just going to take the amount of losses and where we finished in the league, then of course it’s going to be a negative. But I think there’s lots that’s happened through the course of this season that have influenced the way we’ve played.
'My Greatest Memory in Football was Conquering Europe'
To bring it back to that UEFA Cup win. I know you spoke about the wider impact it’s had — in terms of people still talking about it to this day. Would you — in terms of your best days in football — where does that win sort of rank for you personally?
For me personally? My dream was to win an FA Cup final. I wasn’t so much aware of Europe then, so I achieved that dream. But if you ask me, “Where did the UEFA Cup win rank?”
I would say it was my greatest memory in football to conquer Europe.
And at a time when second, third, fourth, and fifth played in the competition, we had to knock out Bayern Munich during the course of that. In the three or four seasons it took to win it, we played Real Madrid and Barcelona in the semi-finals.
We were playing against the very, very top of European football. I would say it ranks as my number one memory, my number one achievement.
And when I sit back or lie back on my bed and reflect, I look back at that game. I look back at the magic of it, the feelings that I had. I look at the fans, the way the fans responded to the Danny Thomas penalty miss. There are so many magical moments that rest in my mind.
I hope and pray that this group of players on Wednesday night can experience the same magic, the same feelings, the same immortality that I feel I’ve got as a consequence of my 1984 UEFA Cup win.
Would you rather celebrate finishing second or walking down Wembley Way with a trophy?
If Tottenham can lift the Europa League and return to the Champions League, will they have had a better season than trophyless Arsenal?
Well, there’s two things. Are we a better team than Arsenal? No. Not at this moment in time. If we win a trophy and qualify for the Champions League, have we had a better season than Arsenal? Yes. It’s not a question of doubt in my mind.
As I’ve already stated once, the game’s about glory. And let me ask you this question. Would you rather celebrate finishing second and losing the semi-finals, or walking down Wembley Way with a trophy? Which one would you choose? And you get the Champions League? I know which I’d prefer.
There’s been a lot of claims from Mikel Arteta about ‘being the best side in the Champions League’ etc., but he still has not delivered a title or silverware. Ange put his neck on the line early and said he always delivers a trophy in his second season. If he secures the cup, which of the two managers should come out with the most credit this year?
Ange. Not a question of doubt. I mean, I think it’s staggering that someone can, at the start of a season, actually predict that, “In my second season I always win a trophy” and then pull it off. And then you’ve got another manager... You know, I don’t — I didn’t like what he said after the PSG defeat.
I felt like you’d lost over two legs. And as a manager, you have to be magnanimous in defeat. You have to congratulate the team going into the next round and wish them well. I felt he left himself open a little bit and so did Ange. Ange left himself very open. I mean, if he gets knocked out in the semis, “Where’s your cup?”
But here we are in the final, getting a chance of fulfilling his prediction. And if he achieves that? Wow. I mean, that is... has there ever been a manager, at the start of a season, saying, “In my second season I always win a trophy,” and then does? I don’t think it’s ever happened. Does it?
Making the difference and Final Predictions
Who do you think will be key, Micky? Who do you think will make the difference for Spurs in the game?
Well, I think the difference is our back five. When our back five are performing, our record throughout the course of the season is so far, so much greater than when they're not playing together.
So I see our back five as key to this game. They're very good players individually, but also as a unit. I think if we can stay solid and compact and sort of stifle Man U, then we've got enough ammo — particularly if Sonny's fit — to cause them lots of problems.
Because their problem has been conceding goals as well. So yeah, I see the back five players as the key to us winning on Wednesday.
Have you got a prediction for the game? What do you think will happen?
I think it's going to be a great game, number one. We've got two of the most creative, entertaining sides in the Premier League — not just this year, but throughout history.
Tottenham vs Man United has always held a special tag to it. Whenever those games happen, there's a high expectancy of creative, flair football. It's a great game, there's going to be goals. I think it could be a 3–2 or a 4–3.
I don't want to tempt fate and I don't want to risk karma, but I think that Spurs at their best have just got the edge. I think we're going to win.
