On the occasion of Spurs’ trip to Old Trafford, I ask you to charge your glasses to the team from the Lane…
Tottenham Hotspur FC, the famous football team from London N17. They only ever win things when the year ends in ‘1’: the FA Cup in 1901 and 1921, the First Division in 1951 and, in 1961, the first team in the 20th century to win the pair. Continuing tradition, they took the FA Cup in both 1981 and 1991, making them one of the most celebrated teams in the English game.
The man who took them to that First Division title back in 1951 was Arthur Rowe, who is praised in Jonathan Wilson’s history of football tactics, Inverting The Pyramid. Wilson admires ‘the creation and manipulation of space’.
Rowe was one of many coaches to be swept up in the new Hungarian style, eschewing the long ball in favour of 15- or 20-yard passes which made them unique in English football. Famously, the man deputed to start any attack from right-back was Alf Ramsey. One of Rowe’s centre-backs? Bill Nicholson.
Wilson praises the tactics of the Tottenham team, which brought them promotion from the Second Division in 1950. Nicholson soon took over as first assistant manager then first-team manager, and was blessed with a great group of players. With Bobby Smith leading the line and the ever-present Danny Blanchflower wearing the captain’s armband, they scored 115 goals across the league season and led the table for all but the opening weekend.
The title, and the accompanying European qualification, was followed by the signing of Jimmy Greaves, whose goals helped the team to the European Cup semi-final where Eusébio and Benfica knocked them out at the penultimate stage of the competition despite Spurs winning 2-1 at White Hart Lane. A year later, Spurs did go all the way to win the Cup Winners’ Cup, adding the 1967 FA Cup and two League Cups in the early 1970s. The newly-created UEFA Cup was theirs in 1972, in an all-English final against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The man known as ‘Bill Nick’ vacated the dugout in 1974, and he proved a tough act to follow. It took the signings of two Argentineans, Ossie Ardiles and Ricky Villa, for the team to succeed again; the pair helped Spurs to back-to-back FA Cup wins in 1981 and 1982. Tony Parks’ display in the second leg of the UEFA Cup final shoot-out in 1984 brought another cup to White Hart Lane, by which time Steve Perryman was about to make the last of his 866 appearances for the club over 17 seasons.
The rollcall of famous Lilywhites is astonishing. As well as the 1961 double-winners, which included Cliff Jones, the late John White and the Scarborough-born winger Terry Dyson, playmaker Glenn Hoddle became the ‘King of White Hart Lane’ thanks to his prodigious talent. Paul Gascoigne was soon signed to replace Hoddle and Ardiles, scoring a famous FA Cup semi-final free-kick against Arsenal then breaking his leg in his last appearance for the club.
By 1991, as well as floating on the London stock market, Spurs were keen to break away from the First Division. Chairman Alan Sugar is often said to be one of the key cheerleaders for Sky Sports when they outbid ITV to host live Premier League football. Spurs are (at time of writing) one of six clubs to have never been relegated from that new division, although in 1994 they were struggling under the management of Ossie Ardiles whose cavalier, ultra-attacking approach brought entertainment but not results.
The ‘famous five’ included England internationals Teddy Sheringham, Darren Anderton and Nicky Barmby, along with Romanian Ilie Dumitrescu and German striker Jürgen Klinsmann. The last of these was signed when he met Sugar in Monaco on his yacht. He brought his infamous celebratory dive to English football.
As the 1990s ended, Spurs won the League Cup again but never troubled the upper quartile of the Premier League. Sugar sold the club to Daniel Levy’s ENIC in 2001, then club captain Sol Campbell used the Bosman ruling to move across North London to Arsenal. Although young Ledley King replaced Campbell at the back, Spurs were a mid-table side who plodded along even as Hoddle returned to the club as manager.
Wretchedly, players suffered a bout of food poisoning as they sought to secure fourth place in the 2005/06 season but a final-day defeat at West Ham gave the last Champions League spot to Arsenal. The goals of Jermain Defoe, Robbie Keane and cult hero Mido were useful, as was the strong English spine of goalkeeper Paul Robinson, defenders King and Michael Dawson, and midfielders Michael Carrick and Jermaine Jenas.
In 2006/07 Spurs reached the quarter-finals of three competitions and repeated their fifth-place finish, with the mercurial Dimitar Berbatov joining the strike force. A League Cup win in 2008 followed thanks to an extra-time winner from former Real Madrid defender Jonathan Woodgate, while the European adventure ended against PSV Eindhoven in the round of 16. Spurs were so impressed by PSV goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes that they signed him as Robinson’s replacement a few months later. Gomes moved to Watford to help the Hornets gain promotion to the Premier League in 2015.
Spurs rebooted their squad before the 2008/09 season, bringing in Luka Modrić and David Bentley while losing Keane and Berbatov. New manager Harry Redknapp also brought Defoe back to White Hart Lane as Spurs reached the League Cup final which they lost on penalties to Manchester United, their opponents on March 12 2022. The Reds now had both Carrick and Berbatov in their squad. Spurs knew their place in the order of things.
They spent the 2010s playing entertaining football under Redknapp and Mauricio Pochettino, regularly finishing in the top six of the Premier League. Thanks to the emergence of Gareth Bale, Spurs famously reached the Champions League quarter-final after knocking out both Milan sides but came unstuck and lost 4-0 to Real Madrid at the Bernabeu. It was Real who signed Bale and Modrić, which allowed Spurs to sign Christian Eriksen, Erik Lamela, Paulinho, Etienne Capoue and Roberto Soldado, while Defoe, Scott Parker and Rafael van der Vaart all departed.
Pochettino was hired in 2014 and was blessed with a fine British contingent including Kyle Walker, Danny Rose, Eric Dier, Ryan Mason, Andros Townsend and Harry Kane. Teenage prodigy Dele Alli was convinced to sign for them over Liverpool, and his new team were in the hunt for their first Premier League title in the 2015/16 season. Spurs fell away near the end of the season and finished third; the following season was their last at the old White Hart Lane and they finished second thanks to Kane hitting form alongside South Korean striker Son Heung-Min.
After famous wins against Manchester City and Ajax, Spurs reached the final of the 2019 Champions League but a Moussa Sissoko handball in the match’s very first phase of play put them behind against Liverpool that day. For the last three seasons, pandemic permitting, they have welcomed fans to the new White Hart Lane, where Kane and Son are still dovetailing and a succession of big-money signings have come and gone.
Ladies and gentlemen, please charge your glasses in praise of Super Tottenham from the Lane.