(sang to the tune of S-A, T-U-R, D-A-Y NIGHT!) T-O,T-T-E, N-H-A-M SPURS! T-O, T-T-E, N-H-A-M SPURS! The next club up in my historical tour of the Premiership is Tottenham Hotspur. They are also known as Spurs, but not Hotspurs, Tottenham Spurs, or any other combination. Either Tottenham, Spurs, or Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs hail from North London, and are an interesting story in the history of top flight football. I'm reading a book right now titled, The Ball is Round, and in it the writer discusses how clubs from London were slower to form than clubs spread in some of the more industrial parts of the country. The writer, David Goldblatt, credits the phenomenon to the location of certain boarding schools, and different types of industry, as well as the distribution of money. Either way, clubs from London were slower to come into fruition than clubs in other areas, like Everton or Blackburn for example. Tottenham Hotspur Football Club was created in 1882, but didn't start playing top flight football until 1910.
From the beginning, Tottenham cemented their fame as being a "Cup Team." For some reason, this tag has followed the team throughout its history, but has also lent some mystique to their big cup matches. Despite not making it to the First Division until 1910, they won the FA Cup in 1901 from the lowly Southern Division of English Football. Still, to this day Spurs are the only non-league club to win the FA Cup. (The League encompasses the four major divisions, but smaller clubs from smaller leagues are also invited to compete in the FA Cup. Imagine a CBA team winning the NBA Finals.) A funny little side fact about that FA Cup match; the wife of the club owner tied the club's ribbons to the trophy, a tradition that has carried on ever since. Since that famous date, Spurs have reached a few other notable achievements. They were the first team in the 20th century to win the Double (The league championship as well as the FA Cup). Considering that it has been done a number of times since, this achievement is particularly noteworthy. Unfortunately for Spurs, they haven't won the League since that 1960 season. What they have done however, is win the FA Cup on 8 occasions. Again, considering, the fact that they have only won the league twice, it says something about the demeanor of a team to still win the Cup competition 8 times. They've also won the League Cup 4 times, including last season's upset over my beloved Chelsea FC.
As I said earlier, Spurs play their football in North London. This also happens to be the home of Arsenal FC. The two clubs are extremely close to one another as far as proximity, and it has proved to be a vicious rivalry over the years. Spurs play their football out of White Hart Lane. The Lane was built in 1899, and is one of my favorite parks to watch football in. Something about the design gives it a nice feel over the match. I think it's the two cool jumbotrons on either side of the stadium.
Now the beef between Arsenal and Tottenham is a really good one. Not only do they hate each other because they are so close, but the two clubs have actually done things in order to harm one another. The real feud starts up in 1919, just after the conclusion of World War I. With the Football League looking to expand from 20 to 22 clubs in a year Chelsea and Tottenham were going to be relegated, the League decided to keep only Chelsea. Instead of keeping Tottenham, and just adding the top two clubs from the Second Division, the League went a different way. They accepted a bid from Arsenal FC, sixth place in the Second Division, and allowed them to move into the top flight over Spurs. Since that travesty of justice, the fight has never stopped.
My personal first experience of the North London Derby, happened in 2006. Going into the last day of the season Spurs were leading Arsenal by 1 point, for fourth place and the last Champions League spot. Spurs were set to play against West Ham, who were struggling to stay afloat, and Arsenal were set to play against Wigan Athletic. The night before the West Ham match, the entire Spurs side came down with crippling food poisoning. The league considered calling the match, but insisted they play on. Spurs lost, Arsenal won, and Spurs are still waiting to play Champions League football. Ten of the 11 starters for Spurs came down with the sickness, and since the incident, it has been alleged that some of the cooks may have been big Arsenal supporters. I think I can say without question that this is my favorite of the derbies in England. It's always high scoring, high tempo, quality football between the two clubs. Not to mention, it's usually pretty violent, and that's always a good thing.
You can make an argument that Spurs never really recovered from that incident. Martin Jol, former manager of the club, was supposed to continue moving that team forward, and a lot of people thought they'd soon be able to compete for a title. However, Spurs got into the habit of making slow starts, first in 2007, where they still finished 5th overall at the end of the season. Again in 2008, Spurs came out to a slow start to the season, costing Martin Jol his job. They hired Spaniard Juande Ramos in his stead, who has completely reformed the club. Since Ramos's appointment, Spurs won the League Cup ove Chelsea last season, and have spent an exorbitant amount of cash to improve the team. Ramos came from Sevilla FC where he won back to back UEFA Cups, and helped Sevilla make it into the Champions League last season. He's signed Luka Modric, Giovanni Dos Santos, and David Bentley since arriving, all world-class International players. This is the team to follow in English football. For anybody looking to get into the game now, the big four is really close to becoming the big five, and that is purely because of Tottenham. Yes, they are historically a little smaller than some of the other clubs, but they are also one of the biggest clubs in London and that accounts for a good amount.
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