Archie Gray captains Tottenham to make club history | OneFootball

The versatile midfielder beats Steve Perryman’s record, which has stood for more than 50 years

Archie Gray has become the youngest player to captain Tottenham in a competitive match, aged 20 years and 163 days.

The versatile midfielder wears the captain’s armband for Spurs’ season opener at Brentford on Saturday.

Gray beats Steve Perryman’s record, of 20 years and 260 days, which has stood for more than 50 years.

Roberto De Zerbi announced on Friday that Micky van de Ven had been named captain for the upcoming season, with Pedro Porro named vice-captain.

Ben Davies and James Maddison were named third and fourth choice, respectively, with Gray the fifth in line to take the captaincy as part of a new-look leadership group.

With Van de Ven and Porro both left out of the matchday squad against Brentford, and Davies and Maddison named on the bench, De Zerbi has handed the armband to Gray.

Gray has been named captain throughout pre-season, impressing De Zerbi with his leadership and versatility.

Starting at right-back in a makeshift backline, Gray will be tasked with leading Spurs into a new era under De Zerbi tonight.

Gray has previous experience of being in a leadership position, having captained England at Under-16 and Under-17 level. He has, though, never done so in a competitive senior game.

The young midfielder’s rise was predicted by former Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp.

He exclusively told Standard Sport earlier this year: "I think Archie Gray would be one of the people that you look to build your team around.

“He looks a fantastic young pro, good player, and over the last two years, he’s probably been their best player, I think.

“He is, I assume, a captain of the club in the not-too-distant future. Even next year, if I was there, I wouldn’t hesitate to make him captain, even though he’s only a young kid.

“He could be like Ray Wilkins, who became captain of Chelsea when he was very young. He’s good enough to do that.”