Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club is a North London football club. They are also known as Spurs, The Spurs and Tottenham, while their own fans also call them the Lilywhites because of their traditional white shirts. Tottenham's home ground is White Hart Lane in Tottenham. The club motto is Audere est Facere (lit: "To dare is to do").

History

Early years

In 1882 the Hotspur Football Club was formed by young men and teenagers from a local grammar school and Hotspur cricket club. It is thought that the name Hotspur was associated with Sir Henry Percy (Sir Harry Hotspur) who lived locally in the 14th Century. The team later became Tottenham Hotspur to distinguish itself from another team called London Hotspur.

Related Topics:
1882 - Cricket - Henry Percy - 14th Century

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At first Hotspur played in navy blue shirts. The club colours then varied from light blue and white halved jerseys (as a tribute to the then classy Blackburn Rovers), to red shirts and blue shorts, through chocolate brown and old gold and then, in the 1899-1900 season, to white shirts and navy blue shorts as a tribute to Preston, the most successful team of the time.

Related Topics:
Blackburn Rovers - Preston

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In 1888 Tottenham's moved their home games from the Lee marshes to Northumberland Park where the club was able to charge for spectator admission. By 1896 Tottenham Hotspur had been admitted to the Southern League and was attracting crowds of nearing 15,000 spectators. Charles Roberts became Chairman from 1898 to 1943.

Related Topics:
1888 - Lee - 1896 - Southern League - Charles Roberts - 1898 - 1943

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In 1899 Spurs made their final ground move to a former market garden behind a public house in nearby High Road, Tottenham. In time the ground adopted the name of a local thoroughfare, "White Hart Lane". The move proved successful as in 1900, Tottenham won the Southern League title and crowned this achievement the next year by winning the FA Cup and by becoming the only non-League club to do so since the formation of the Football League in 1888. A crowd of 114,815 saw a 2-2 draw against Sheffield United at Crystal Palace, but just 20,740 watched as Spurs won the replay 3-1 at Burnden Park.

Related Topics:
1899 - 1900 - FA Cup - The Football League - 1888 - Sheffield United - Crystal Palace - Burnden Park

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And so began a strange coincidence that saw Tottenham Hotspur do well in years ending with the number "one"... (see below).

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Tottenham Hotspur joins the Football League

Despite the FA Cup success, Tottenham performed unexceptionally in the following seasons. The Southern League's fixture list offered too little potential to guarantee financial security. This was especially so as Tottenham had formed itself into a limited liability company (a step towards professionalism) back in 1898. Eventually, Spurs achieved election to the Second Division of the Football League for the 1908-09 season, immediately winning promotion as runners-up to the First Division. Their record between 1910 and the Great War was poor and when football was suspended at the end of the 1914-15 season, Tottenham (which had lost many players to the armed forces) were bottom.

Related Topics:
Limited liability company - 1898 - First Division - 1910 - The Great War

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After the Great War

There were alleged shenanigans in 1919 which saw Arsenal - who finished 6th in Division 2 the previous last season - elected to the First Division in Spurs' place. It is this event that is supposed to have triggered the derision most Spurs fans feel for the "Gooners". But Tottenham were convincing Division Two Champions in 1919-20. They built on a team that had begun coalescing before 1914 and in the following year, 1921, Spurs went all the way to their second FA Cup Final victory beating Wolves 1-0 at Stamford Bridge.

Related Topics:
1919 - Division Two - 1914 - 1921 - Wolves - Stamford Bridge

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The Twenties and Thirties

Spurs' 1921 Cup triumph was followed by almost 30 years of under-achievement and disappointment. After running-up to Liverpool in the league in 1922, the Spurs experienced a steady decline, culminating in 1928's relegation. The FA Cup was no better; Spurs could do no better than the quarterfinals, getting that far three years running 1935-1938. Despite enjoying the talents of Arthur Grimsdell, Fanny Walden, Tommy Clay and Taffy O'Callaghan, this era saw Spurs playing "second fiddle" in North London to the Arsenal. However, 1930s football was a tremendously popular sport, and despite Spurs' relative mediocrity, 75,038 souls (and bodies) squeezed into White Hart Lane in March of 1938 to see them lose 0-1 to Sunderland in the FA Cup.

Related Topics:
Liverpool - 1922 - 1935 - 1938 - Arthur Grimsdell - Fanny Walden - Tommy Clay - Taffy O'Callaghan - March - Sunderland

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On September 3, 1939, as Chamberlain declared war, Spurs were seventh in the Second Division. League Football was abandoned for the "duration".

Related Topics:
September 3 - 1939 - Chamberlain

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Post-war Push-and-Run

Like Britain as a whole, Spurs were lack-lustre immediately after the war. They finished no higher than fifth in the Second Division and made just one disappointing FA Cup semifinal appearance.

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However, by 1949 Arthur Rowe, who had spent his entire life as a player with the Spurs, was manager. He devised and developed the ?push-and-run? tactical style of play. This involved quickly laying the ball off to a teammate and running past the marking tackler to collect the return pass. It proved an effective way to move the ball at pace from goalkeeper to far goal net - players' positions and responsibility being totally fluid. For the first time Spurs won admirers because of their élan and panache; they played not just to win, but to entertain too.

Related Topics:
1949 - Arthur Rowe

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In Rowe?s first season, Spurs? speed and precision dazzled opponents and delighted supporters. Rising to the top of Division Two at the start of September 1949, Tottenham ran away with their first ever league title. In 1951 they found it harder, but still won Division One Championship and became the first side to win the Second and First Divisions in successive seasons.

Related Topics:
September - 1949 - 1951

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Playing heroes included Alf Ramsey (later even more famous as England's international manager), Bill Nicholson (whose glory days were also still in the future), captain Ronnie Burgess, Ted Ditchburn in goal, Len Duquemin and Sonny Walters.

Related Topics:
Alf Ramsey - England's international - Bill Nicholson - Ronnie Burgess - Ted Ditchburn - Len Duquemin - Sonny Walters

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Almost inevitably, opponents learned to negate the novel Spurs tactics, and in the years up to 1956 they dropped steadily down the league table. But for the rest of the 1950s new players came in and started making a difference. Arguably the most significant step was the appointment of Bill Nicholson as manager on October 11, 1958 when Spurs thumped a hapless Everton 10-4. It was a portent of things to come.

Related Topics:
1956 - 1950s - October 11 - 1958 - Everton

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Bill Nicholson's Glory, Glory era

Nicholson had joined Tottenham Hotspur as an apprentice in 1936. The following 68 years saw him serve the club in every capacity from boot room to president. He guided Tottenham to major trophy success three seasons in a row in the early 1960s: the League Championship/FA Cup double in 1961, the FA Cup in 1962, and the European Cup Winners Cup in 1963.

Related Topics:
1936 - 1960s - FA Cup - 1961 - 1962 - European Cup Winners Cup - 1963

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Key players in the first Nicholson Tottenham side included:

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• Danny Blanchflower was the club captain and together with Nicholson nurtured and developed Tottenham's articulate and exciting playing style and glory, glory ambitions.
• John White who in his short time with Spurs became known as the "Ghost", but was tragically killed by lightning while playing golf.
• David Mackay was the archetypal footballing hard man, who was immortalised in a press photograph squaring up to Billy Bremner of Leeds after receiving a thoughtless foul.
• Jimmy Greaves who (as of 2005) remains the club's record league goal scorer with 37 in the 1962-63 season and 220 in his 1961-70 Spurs career. He also scored 44 times for England (the third highest total ever).

After 1964, the Double side began to disintegrate because of age, injuries and transfers.

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Nicholson rebuilt a second successful team with canny imports like Alan Gilzean, Mike England, Alan Mullery, Terry Venables and the full back partnership of Joe Kinnear and Cyril Knowles. They were good enough to win the 1967 FA Cup while finishing third in the league.

Related Topics:
Alan Gilzean - Mike England - Alan Mullery - Terry Venables - Joe Kinnear - Cyril Knowles - 1967

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Nicholson added the League Cup and the UEFA Cup to Tottenham's illustrious history before he resigned at the start of the 1974-75 season after a poor start and having lost the 1974 UEFA Cup final with Tottenham fans rioting in Rotterdam. The Glory Glory Days were over.

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Keith Burkinshaw: the Quiet Man

Tottenham slipped out of the First Division at the end of the 1976-77 season, and the club's directors installed coach Keith Burkinshaw as manager in a bid to revitalise Tottenham's fortunes. They won promotion to the top flight in one season, and lifted the FA Cup in 1981 beating Manchester City in a replay, with Ricardo Villa scoring a solo goal that is still discussed. Spurs retained the trophy the following year, beating QPR. Key players in this successful Tottenham side included Steve Archibald, Garth Crooks, Glenn Hoddle, Osvaldo Ardiles, Villa and, local lad, Steve Perryman who, in seventeen seasons, played an unbeaten 655 league games for Spurs. These players inspired Tottenham to UEFA Cup glory in 1984, but Burkinshaw walked out on the club within days to be succeeded by Peter Shreeve.

Related Topics:
Keith Burkinshaw - 1981 - Manchester City - Ricardo Villa - QPR - Steve Archibald - Garth Crooks - Glenn Hoddle - Osvaldo Ardiles - Steve Perryman - UEFA Cup - 1984 - Peter Shreeve

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In 1982 the club was bought by Monte Carlo-based property tycoon Irving Scholar who was a White Hart Lane season ticket holder. His arrival was seen by most as a breath of fresh air in a boardroom which had been dominated by just one or two (very elderly) directors since 1943. The immediate challenge for Scholar was to reinstate financial stability after the construction of a massive new West Stand had almost bankrupted the club and its holding company.

Related Topics:
1982 - Monte Carlo - Irving Scholar - 1943

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Shreeve and Pleat: the Nearly Men

Peter Shreeve (often incorrectly named as "Shreeves") was in charge of Tottenham for two seasons, achieving a third place finish in his first season but losing his job after a slump in 1985-86. Luton Town manager David Pleat was appointed his successor, and for much of 1986-87 it looked as though it would be a very successful season for Spurs. They were in the hunt for the title until almost the end of the season, finishing third, and reached the FA Cup final where they took on Coventry City. Spurs had never before lost a major cup final while their opponent, Coventry, had never even reached a Cup Final before. Spurs were the favourites but suffered a shocking 3-2 defeat at the hands of John Sillett's team. Pleat quit the following October amid press rumours about his private life.

Related Topics:
Luton Town - David Pleat - Coventry City - John Sillett

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Hitting the headlines with El Tel

Spurs veteran and well-known wisecracker, Terry Venables was named Pleat's successor and began an eventful six-year reign at White Hart Lane during which Tottenham were rarely out of the headlines. After two disappointing league seasons, Venables guided the club to third place in 1989-90 and the following year they again won the FA Cup. The impressive new-look Tottenham team included two players who starred in England's run to the semifinals of the {{Wc|1990}} – Paul Gascoigne and Gary Lineker.

Related Topics:
Terry Venables - Paul Gascoigne - Gary Lineker

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Shortly after, Venables joined forces with businessman Alan Sugar to take over Tottenham Hotspur PLC and pay off its £20 million debts, part of which involved the lucrative sale of Gascoigne. Venables became chief executive, with Peter Shreeve taking charge of first-team duties. His second spell as team manager lasted just one season, before he was dismissed in favour of joint coaches Ray Clemence and Doug Livermore. The likes of Gascoigne and Lineker had gone, replaced by newer players like Teddy Sheringham and Gordon Durie. The club's league form was dogged by bad feeling over the Sugar-Venables legal dispute. Tottenham's first Premier League season ended with an unremarkable mid-table finish and Venables was soon removed from the club's board after a bitter legal dispute with Sugar.

Related Topics:
Alan Sugar - PLC - Ray Clemence - Doug Livermore - Teddy Sheringham - Gordon Durie

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Ossie Ardiles fails to deliver

Having just won the Division Two playoffs as manager of WBA, former star Ossie Ardiles became the club's next manager in 1993. He was renowned for pronouncing Tottenham as Tottingham as well as winning two FA Cups and a UEFA Cup.

Related Topics:
WBA - 1993

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Spurs finished in a disappointing fifteenth place - having an outside chance of relegation right up to the penultimate game of the season. Even worse, the club was linked with financial irregularities which involved illegal payments being made to players during the 1980s.

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During the 1994 close season, Tottenham was found guilty of making illegal payments to players and given the most severe punishment in English football history: 12 league points deducted for the 1994-95 Premier League season, a one year ban from FA Cup competition, and a £600,000 fine. Sugar protested against these penalties, on the grounds that the people involved were no longer at the club. The FA Cup ban and points deduction were both eventually quashed.

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Meanwhile, Ardiles and Sugar went on a spending spree and captured three expensive foreign players - German striker Jürgen Klinsmann and the Romanian midfielders Gheorghe Popescu and Ilie Dumitrescu.

Related Topics:
Jürgen Klinsmann - Gheorghe Popescu - Ilie Dumitrescu

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With stunning flamboyance and tactical ineptitude, Ardilles employed the Famous Five: Sheringham and Klinsmann up front, Barmby just behind the strikers, Anderton on the right and Dumitrescu on the left. There was little money spent on the defence.

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While Popescu and especially Dumitrescu never completely adapted to the English game, Klinsmann was a sensation alongside England star Sheringham, scoring freely and becoming a White Hart Lane favorite. Ultimately these expensive signings made little difference to Tottenham's unremarkable form and Ardiles was sacked in September 1994.

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Much Promise but Little Success

Ardiles was replaced by former QPR manager Gerry Francis. He turned around the club's fortunes dramatically - at least for the remainder of the 1994-95 season. Spurs took advantage of their reinstatement to the FA Cup and reached the semifinals, a mere 4-1 defeat against eventual winners Everton preventing them from reaching the final. Tottenham climbed to seventh place in the league. During this time key players were sold: Barmby (to Middlesbrough), Klinsmann (to Bayern Munich) and Popescu (to Barcelona).

Related Topics:
QPR - Gerry Francis - Everton - Barmby - Middlesbrough - Bayern Munich - Barcelona

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1996-97 saw Tottenham finish in a disappointing 10th place. A frustrated Sheringham requested a move and was sold to Manchester United in 1997, with Les Ferdinad's arrival making little difference to the team's fortunes. In November 1997, with Spurs second from bottom in the Premiership and in real danger of relegation, Francis was sacked. Christian Gross, head coach of Swiss champions Grasshoppers, was appointed. He re-signed legendary striker Jürgen Klinsmann, whose second spell proved a key factor in securing Tottenham's Premiership survival. But Gross was uninspiring, the team had no direction and he was sacked with the heroic Klinsmann finally retiring.

Related Topics:
Christian Gross - Grasshoppers

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George Graham, one-time manager of arch-rivals Arsenal, was tapped to lead the club prior to the 1998-99 season. Graham did comparatively well in his first season as Spurs manager as the club secured a mid-table finish and won the League Cup by defeating Leicester City at Wembley. However, yet another mediocre league performance followed in 1999-2000.

Related Topics:
George Graham - Leicester City - Wembley

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By the start of 2001, Sir Alan Sugar's irascible patience broke. His hard-nosed style sat awkwardly in a passionate and intuitive sport like football. The last straw for him were threats and insults from dissatisfied fans towards his family. Sugar eventually sold his controlling interest in Tottenham to ENIC Sports PLC, run by Daniel Levy (like Scholar, another lifelong Spurs fan) who has backing from Bahamas-based billionaire financier, Joseph Lewis.

Related Topics:
2001 - ENIC Sports PLC - Daniel Levy - Bahamas - Financier - Joseph Lewis

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Another dream fails: Hoddle and Pleat (again)

Many rate Glenn Hoddle as the best player ever to have worn a Tottenham shirt, but his time as manager was turbulent and ultimately disappointing. He took over the club in April 2001, with the team lying thirteenth in the FA Premier League table and with an ageing squad (nine players being aged 30 and over, by the end of 2001). His first match in charge was an FA Cup semifinal defeat to North London rivals Arsenal. A second humiliation followed to Arsenal in the summer, when club captain Sol Campbell defected to Arsenal on a 'Bosman' free transfer. Thus with limited funds to improve the squad, Hoddle turned towards more experienced and cheaper players in the shape of Teddy Sheringham, Gus Poyet and Christian Ziege for inspiration.

Related Topics:
Glenn Hoddle - April - 2001 - FA Premier League - Sol Campbell - Arsenal - Bosman - Teddy Sheringham - Gus Poyet - Christian Ziege

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The following season saw a promising improvement, as the Spurs finished in ninth place. However, a League Cup Final defeat to Blackburn Rovers and thus, failure to qualify for Europe, left Hoddle under pressure for the following campaign.

Related Topics:
League Cup - Blackburn Rovers

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Once again, only limited funds were available during the summer, with the only significant outlay being £7 million for Robbie Keane, who joined from Leeds United.

Related Topics:
Robbie Keane - Leeds United

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The 2002-03 season started well, with Tottenham leading the table after four games and remaining in the top six as late as early February. But with just seven points in the final ten games, the club was left with a disappointing tenth place.

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During season 2002-03, a number of players began to publicly criticise Hoddle's management style. Nearly all were players who had been frozen out of first team action expressed frustration at their manager's poor communication skills. Hoddle was later to claim that a lack of boardroom support, particularly from then director of football David Pleat, was unhelpful in this respect.

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Six games into the 2003-04 season, Hoddle was sacked. Director of Football David Pleat took over "temporarily" with bleak results and entertainment value. Daniel Levy's board of directors were said to be scouring Europe for the perfect replacement manager. Speculation was rife. Through the season Pleat's team's uninspired performance deepened unpopularity. Annoyingly for supporters of the club their local rivals Arsenal FC had, for some years, been one of the dominant forces in the Premiership and the fans' dissatisfaction with the club's form will not have been enhanced by their rival fans' concept of 'St. Totteringham's Day' which they define as the day on which it becomes mathematically impossible for Spurs to finish ahead of Arsenal. With 'St. Totteringham's Day' an annual event Chairman David Levy was under pressure to make some fundamental changes.

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Going Continental: Jol

In May 2004, after months of press and spectator speculation concerning a new manager, Tottenham surprised everyone with a massive revamp including Dane Frank Arnesen as Sporting Director, and French national coach Jacques Santini as head coach. This nominated "dream team" was strengthened when Dutchman Martin Jol, who had spent some of his playing career in England, was named Santini's assistant.

Related Topics:
May - 2004 - Frank Arnesen - Jacques Santini - Martin Jol

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Despite success with France, Santini soon appeared very uncomfortable in English football. The team played very defensively with little spirit - certainly not in "the Spurs way". Doubters were proved correct in November when Santini walked out on the club after less than five months in charge. This extraordinary departure saw Jol assume charge. Tottenham climbed the table and Jol was named Premiership Manager of the Month for December 2004. Their away form was poor though and the team eventually achieved a respectable ninth place.

Related Topics:
France - December - 2004

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At the end of the 2004-05 season, Frank Arnesen was "tapped up" by Chelsea who later paid damages said to be in the region of £8 million to Tottenham Hotspur. Jol achieved a coup by signing Edgar Davids from Inter Milan in August, 2005 on a free transfer. It was announced that former St. Etienne chief Damien Comolli would become the new Sporting Director of Tottenham Hotspur in September, 2005.

Related Topics:
Chelsea - Edgar Davids - Inter Milan - August - 2005 - St. Etienne - Damien Comolli - September

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