Mabbutt is best remembered for his 16-year spell at Tottenham Hotspur, where he played from 1982 until 1998, and was the club captain for 11 years from 1987 to 1998. He became one of the best known defenders in English football in the 1980s, playing initially for Bristol Rovers before joining the first division club Tottenham Hotspur, where he became captain and won 16 caps for England, scoring against Yugoslavia in 1986. With Spurs, he won the UEFA Cup in 1984 and the FA Cup in 1991. In the 1987 FA Cup Final against Coventry City, Mabbutt had an eventful game where he scored Spurs' second goal to put them 2–1 up but, after Coventry had equalised to force extra time, he scored an own goal to give Coventry a 3–2 win. This incident lead to him being held as something of a folk hero at Coventry City, with a fanzine being named Gary Mabbutt's Knee. Having sustained a fractured skull and eye socket in November 1993 from Wimbledon striker John Fashanu's elbow in an aerial challenge, an injury which required him to wear a protective mask on the pitch even after a three-month absence, he suffered a broken leg on the opening day of the 1996–97 season and did not return until the following campaign, at the end of which he retired from playing after 16 years at White Hart Lane. By this stage, he was the club's second longest-serving player. His final appearance for the club came against Southampton on the last day of the 1997–98 season.
Personal life
Mabbutt was born in Bristol. His father is Ray Mabbutt and his brother is Kevin Mabbutt. Mabbutt has type 1 diabetes, and became an icon for many children with the condition. He famously appeared on the BBC's children's television programmeBlue Peter where he demonstrated injecting insulin into an orange to show how he dealt with his condition on a daily basis. In 2013, Mabbutt had surgery to save his left leg, following a bout of peripheral arterial disease, brought on by his diabetes. Following the surgery, he can no longer run or kick a ball. Mabbutt was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 1994 New Year Honours for services to football. He served as an ambassador for the 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa. He is also working with the Deloitte Street Child World Cup, training and encouraging street children and ex-street children in football and for street children's rights in Durban, South Africa. This is run by the Amos Trust. He is currently an Ambassador for Tottenham Hotspur FC and the English Football Association, an Ambassador for the Prince's Trust and Patron of Diabetes UK. In 2018, Mabbutt had part of his foot eaten by a rat. While on holiday with his daughter in the Kruger National Park, in South Africa, Mabbutt, who has little feeling in his feet, awoke to find a rat had eaten part of his foot and had bitten one toe to the bone. He was forced to fly back to the UK for surgery and spent a week in hospital.
