Tottenham Spurs Quotes

I last visited White Hart Lane in early February 2016, and as I took my seat, after a few pints in the (TV-less) concourse, in the upper tier of the South-West corner I couldn’t help but notice the tumbleweed rolling around the ground. The stony silence from areas of the ground where I would normally expect the home fans to be sitting was deafening, and the whole ground was reminiscent of a ghost town. Whenever the magnificent Watford support ceased singing for a brief second or two I could hear the hollow, dry wind, and I found the desolate, dry and humourless atmosphere all rather eerie. But here’s the weird thing. If I squinted my eyes it almost appeared as if 36,000 people were sitting in seats around the ground, and the only conclusion I could draw was that it just one guy and that it was all done with mirrors.

In fact, Mackay had mixed feelings about the whole trip. ‘As a tour it was neither an education nor an adventure, but as a special occasion it was a tremendous success and in Kiev, Moscow and other parts behind the Iron Curtain, I shall always believe we laid the foundation of the team spirit and genuine friendship which has since played a notable part in the success of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.

He liked Tottenham’s traditions and style of football and there was a strange appeal in their name. (The Hotspur part came from a Shakespeare character called Harry Hotspur.) He was convinced their style of play was more in keeping with the future than Arsenal’s.

Spurs were well supported and it was claimed they were the wealthiest club in the country. Blanchflower thought that perhaps their past thriftiness had set them solid foundations to face the future. And perhaps the mood of the club was changing to face the new demands of a changing football world. Tottenham had never been known for spending big on players, but here they were in a bidding war for Blanchflower.

The Tottenham directors soon discovered that Blanchflower was no ordinary footballer. He’d written a weekly column in the Birmingham Argus and had agreed to write a similar column for a Fleet Street paper. He had a feel for words and was a good writer.

On 19th November, 1886, Spurs played their first fixture against a newly-formed South London club called Woolwich Arsenal. It was a friendly abandoned due to poor light after 75 minutes, by which time Spurs were 2-1 up.

I know that being ridiculed for being a Spurs fan is part of the deal and that this team will tear my heart out more times than it will make me leap for joy, but I have made my choice. I can’t wait for the glory, glory nights yet to come.

On Trial – Spurs are giving a month’s trial to an amateur, Wm. E. Nicholson, an inside-right of Scarborough Working Men’s Club. He recently celebrated his 17th birthday. His height is 5ft 8in and weight 10st 12lb.

Spurs became the first football club to have a listing on the Stock Exchange. The flotation, which raised £3.8 million, was over-subscribed by three-and-a-half times.

Harris had taken a phone call from a Dutch journalist friend who told him that Bergkamp was unhappy at Inter Milan and wanted to try his luck in England. As Bergkamp had always been a Spurs fan because of his boyhood hero worship of Glenn Hoddle, he wanted to know if Spurs would be interested. Informed of Bergkamp’s availability, Alan Sugar passed on the enquiry to Francis. Seeing Bergkamp as more of a midfield playmaker than the out-and-out striker he was looking for, Francis turned him down.

For impartial observers, there was only one conclusion. And it was a depressing one. Spurs might have been one of the six most beautiful teams. But they just didn’t have the bottle.

His smoking habit followed in the footsteps of Tottenham’s great inside forward Tommy Harmer. Nicholson didn’t allow the players to smoke in the dressing-room before a match so they’d go to the washroom. ‘There were only two toilets,’ recalls Maurice Norman. ‘They were the old-fashioned ones and Tommy Harmer was always in there smoking. The only way to get him out was to light a piece of paper and shove it under the door.’ Harmer was so addicted he’d even slip away for a cigarette at half-time.

Tottenham were one of the first clubs, possibly the first, to put a marker on an opponent taking a throw-in.

Tottenham were also one of the first clubs to send their centre-backs up into the penalty area for corners. And when they conceded a corner Nicholson insisted his two full-backs stood about two yards in from either post so the keeper could see the ball if it was coming straight at him. If it was a short corner the defender could move out quickly to challenge; if it was long, he was able to get back and cover his keeper.