Welcome to the Soccer Tavern, where we’re discussing the history, culture, and philosophy of the beautiful game. My name is Dave and in this video, we’re talking about Tottenham Hotspur Football Club’s history. Pull up a seat and let’s start the discussion.
Tottenham is located in the northern part of the city of London. London is located in the southern-central part of England in the United Kingdom. The club currently play in the Premier League and its home ground for this season (video was recorded in March 2018) is Wembley Stadium, which holds about 90,000 people. Tottenham is currently building an upgraded stadium on the same grounds as its old stadium, White Hart Lane. The club played at the old White Hart Lane from 1899 to 2017 and it held about 36,000 people. The new White Hart Lane is scheduled to open for the 2018-19 season and has a capacity of about 62,000 people.
Origin
In September 1882, the Hotspur Football Club was formed as an offshoot of the Hotspur Cricket Club. The Cricket Club was founded 2 years earlier and the football club was started as an activity for the cricket members to perform during the winter.
Most of the founding members of the football club were local schoolboys from St John’s Presbyterian School and Tottenham Grammar School. In 1884, the club received some letters intended for a different Hotspur FC also based in London, so a choice was made to attach the local neighborhood of Tottenham to the club’s name to avoid confusion with their neighbors in West London. Since 1884, the club has been known as Tottenham Hotspur FC.
Nicknames
Tottenham has 2 nicknames – Spurs and the Lilywhites.
The Spurs nickname obviously comes from the club’s name of Hotspur but what does that actually mean? Hotspur comes from a 14th century knight named Sir Henry Percy who fought valiantly in battle while leading troops during the Middle Ages. He was fearless and often charged into battle wearing spurs.
Sir Percy’s behavior on the battlefield earned him the nickname of Hotspur. Additionally, Sir Percy’s family owned large amounts of land in the area of London that would become Tottenham. When founding members of the cricket club met to decide on a name, Hotspur was suggested in admiration of the local knight, Sir Percy, and in the hopes that the team would emulate his characteristics while playing. So that’s where the name comes from.
The club’s other nickname is the lilywhites. This simply comes from the white color of Tottenham’s kit, which is considered Lilywhite.
Crest
Tottenham’s present crest is a bird on top of an old looking soccer ball. This appears a bit odd at first glance, but once you understand the back story, it makes more sense.
In 1909, former Spurs player W.J. Scott commissioned a copper statue to be built with this image to celebrate Tottenham’s first ever promotion to the top flight. The club placed this statue on top of the West Stand of their home ground.
The bird is a cockerel, also known as a rooster. Fighting cockerels wear spurs on their feet and are fearsome looking, hence the association between the club and this image. The ball is a depiction of the soccer ball that would have been used around 1909. Though this was built in 1909, the club didn’t use this image as their crest until 1966.
Since then, the club has used differing crests, but they’ve all more or less included this image. In 2006, the club unveiled the current crest used today, which is simply a cleaner, more modern looking version of the statue from 1909 and crest first used in 1966.
Important Events
Now let’s talk about 4 important events in the club’s history.
On April 28, 1951, Tottenham beat Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 at home in the second to last match of the season. The goal was scored by Len Duquemin and sealed Tottenham’s first ever top flight title.
About a decade later, Tottenham won the First division title and FA Cup, in the 1960-1961 season. Ten years after that first title, the club played Sheffield Wednesday yet again at home on April 17, 1961. Spurs won 2-1 to secure their second and most recent first division. One month later, the club played Leicester City at Wembley in the final of the FA Cup on May 6. Tottenham won 2-0 with second half goals from Bobby Smith and Terry Dyson. Tottenham were the first English club to win the Double (FA Cup and 1st division in the same season) in the 20th century. This historic season is easily the greatest in club history.
Our third event happened on May 15, 1963 when Spurs accomplished another historic feat. On this date, the club beat Atletico Madrid 5-1 in the final of the European Cup Winner’s Cup to become the first British club to win a European trophy.
And the last event I want to highlight is not related to a match, but is still important in the club’s modern history. In 1991, with Tottenham £20M in debt, then manager Terry Venables and a man named Alan Sugar teamed up to buy the club. Venables was a former player and very familiar with the soccer world. Sugar had no experience with soccer and proceeded to upset and alienate fans. The next 10 years were rocky between ownership and fans with Sugar firing Venables shortly after taking over the club. By 2001, Sugar sold a majority stake to current Tottenham owners before fully divesting his ownership in 2007. Although the relationship was rocky, Sugar did rescue the club from a rough financial position and this time period was incredibly important in the club’s history.
Supporters
Tottenham fans are probably most well-known for the song of “Oh When the Spurs Go Marching In”. The song is a slow build and seemingly the entire stadium gets involved, which makes for an epic experience. Other clubs and fans have versions of the song, but due to Tottenham’s recent rise in performance and popularity, the song is most often associated with Spurs these days.
Noteworthy Players
Jimmy Greaves was one of the greatest goalscorers in British soccer history. He is Tottenham’s all-time leading goalscorer and was was signed from AC Milan after beginning his career at Chelsea. While with Spurs, Greaves won two FA Cups, the European Cup Winners’ Cup and 42 England caps. He left in 1970 as the club’s all-time record goalscorer, which he remains as to this day.
Paul Gascoigne only had a brief couple of seasons with the club but his talent was unquestionable. He joined in 1988 for a then record British-transfer fee of £2.3M. He was on the Tottenham roster for the famous 1990 World Cup where his performances earned him the love of the nation. Shortly after, Gascoigne moved to Lazio and his career unfortunately fell off the rails, but his time with Tottenham was arguably the high point.
David Ginola was exceptionally talented and won the 1999 player of the year award from both the English Premier League Players Union and the Writers Union. He was the first player from a club that finished outside the top 6 to win the award.
Gareth Bale joined Tottenham in 2007 as an unproven left back. He struggled early in his Tottenham career, but his physical tools forced him into more attacking positions for the club and he absolutely thrived. He was dominant and scored many goals for Tottenham, with plenty of them being wonder strikes from outside the box. His 42 goals in 146 appearances for the club attracted Real Madrid, who bid £85M for him in 2013, then a world-record transfer.
Also, the current crop of Tottenham players are very talented. They’re led by Harry Kane who was born 5 miles from White Hart Lane and has been with Tottenham since he was 11 years old.
Noteworthy Managers
Arthur Rowe took over as manager in 1949, while the club was in the 2nd division. He implemented a push and run tactics approach to the game with his players passing and moving, that proved incredibly effective. Tottenham won promotion that season and followed it up with a First division title in his second season. Although he didn’t follow it up with any other major trophies and was gone by 1955, he deserves mention here.
Unquestionably, the greatest manager in Tottenham’s history was Bill Nicholson. He was a fantastic servant to the club as a player, making over 300 appearances for Spurs before joining as an assistant manager in 1955. He became full time manager in 1958 and led the club until 1974. Nicholson managed a club record 832 matches and won 8 major trophies including the 1961 Double and the 1963 Cup Winners’ Cup we’ve already discussed. He managed during the most successful time in the club’s history and is an absolute legend for the club.
Keith Burkinshaw is the second most successful manager in the club’s history. He managed from 1976 to 1984, winning 2 FA Cups and a UEFA Cup. All told, Burkinshaw managed 431 matches for the club and went out on top after winning the 1984 UEFA Cup.
And finally, Mauricio Pochettino deserves mention here. He is the club’s current manager and has proven to be one of the most talented and sought after young managers in the world. Still without a major title at time of recording, if Pochettino stays at Tottenham and continues building the squad, he could be considered one of the greatest managers in Tottenham history.
Rivals
Spurs 2 main rivals nowadays are Arsenal & Chelsea.
The North London Derby rivalry began when Arsenal moved to Highbury in 1910. Highbury was only about 5 miles from where Tottenham played at White Hart Lane. The rivalry escalated when Arsenal were infamously voted into the First Division in 1919 at the expense of Tottenham. Years of animosity between the clubs and important matches played only a few miles apart have helped this rivalry grow into one of the most intense in the Premier League today.
The rivalry between Tottenham & Chelsea can be traced back to the 1967 FA Cup final. That was the first FA Cup final to be contested by 2 clubs from London. Spurs won the match 2-1 with 2 former Chelsea players, which helped ignite animosity. In the 1974-75 season, the two clubs were battling to avoid relegation from the first division and met in a late season match, which Spurs won 2-0 and effectively relegated Chelsea.
Chelsea turned the rivalry around in the 90s, not losing a match for 16 years from 1990 to 2006. Since then, both clubs have built themselves into trophy contenders annually and matches between the clubs are always physical battles. The most memorable recent match was “The Battle At the Bridge.” Tottenham was chasing Leicester City for the league title in 2016 and needed to win at Stamford Bridge to keep its title hopes alive. In an incredibly physical match that ended 2-2 and should have seen multiple players sent off, but inexplicably weren’t, Chelsea ended Tottenham’s championship hopes that season, which has helped intensify this rivalry.
Stats & Records
The stats and records we’re about to discuss are as of March 2018 when we are recording this video.
Tottenham have spent 83 seasons in the top flight in their history.
The club has 17 major trophies including:
- 8 FA Cups
- 4 League Cups
- 2 first division titles
- 2 UEFA Cups (Europa League’s predecessor)
- 1 European Cup Winners’ Cup
The club’s record first team league appearance holder is Steve Perryman with 655 appearances.
The club’s record goal scorer is Jimmy Greaves with 266 goals.
Spurs’ record transfer purchase was Davinson Sanchez from Ajax in the Netherlands on August 18, 2017 for about £42M.
And the club’s record transfer sale was Gareth Bale to Real Madrid in Spain on September 1, 2013 for about £85M.
One last interesting fact about the club: Tottenham are the only non-league side to have won the FA Cup after the formation of the Football League in 1888. They won it in 1901 after competing in the Southern League that season.
So there you have it… a bit of history on Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. Let’s continue the discussion in the comments section below this video.
Thanks for stopping by the Soccer Tavern. Hope to see you again sometime soon. Cheers.
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