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Tottenham Hotspur Football Club is a London football club. They play in the English Premier League. The club is also known as Spurs, The Spurs and Tottenham, while their own fans also often refer to them as the Lilywhites because of their traditional white shirts. Tottenham's home ground is White Hart Lane, Tottenham, in the borough of Haringey. The club motto is Audere est Facere (lit: "To dare is to do"). The club emblem is the Cock and ball, shown on the right.

Considered one of the biggest and best supported clubs in the UK, Spurs were the first club in the 20th century to achieve the league and cup Double, winning both competitions in the 1960-61 season. In 1963, Spurs became the first British club to win a European trophy - the European Cup Winners' Cup.

The club enjoys an intense, long-standing rivalry with near neighbours Arsenal. The teams play each other twice yearly in a fixture known as the North London derby.

History

Early years

In 1882 the Hotspur Football Club was formed by young men 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.

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

In 1888 Tottenham moved their home fixtures from the Lee marshes to Northumberland Park where the club was able to charge for spectator admission. They turned professional just before Christmas 1895 and by 1896 had been admitted to the Southern League and were attracting crowds sometimes nearing 15,000. Charles Roberts became Chairman from 1898 to 1943.

In 1899 Spurs made their final ground move to a former market garden 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 - becoming the only non-League club to do so since the formation of the Football League. On April 20, 1901, a crowd of 114,815 saw the 2-2 draw against Sheffield United at Crystal Palace *, but just 20,740 watched as Spurs won the replay 3-1 at Burnden Park, Bolton on April 27, where guest of honour was Boer War general, Redvers Buller

Joining 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 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 were bottom of the league.

After the Great War

There were alleged shenanigans in 1919 when Arsenal - which finished only 5th in Division 2 the previous last season - were elected to the First Division in Spurs' place. It is this event that is said to have triggered the derision most Spurs fans feel for the Gunners. 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, on April 23, 1921, Spurs went all the way to their second FA Cup Final victory beating Wolves 1-0 at Stamford Bridge.

The Twenties and Thirties

After finishing second to Liverpool in the league in 1922, Spurs experienced a steady decline, culminating in 1928's relegation. The FA Cup was no better; Spurs were unable to advance beyond the quarter finals, 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 Arsenal. However, 1930s football was a tremendously popular sport, and despite Spurs' relative mediocrity, 75,038 souls squeezed into White Hart Lane in March of 1938 to see them lose 0-1 to Sunderland in the FA Cup.

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

Post-war Push-and-Run

By 1949 Arthur Rowe was manager, and had devised and developed a “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 with 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. To many, "Push and run" was a precursor to Total Football.

Rising to the top of Division Two, Tottenham ran away with their first ever league title. In 1951 they won the Division One Championship and became the first side to win Second and First Divisions in successive seasons. Playing heroes included Alf Ramsey, Ronnie Burgess, Ted Ditchburn, Len Duquemin, Sonny Walters and Bill Nicholson.

Almost inevitably, opponents learned to negate the novel Spurs tactics, and in the years up to 1956 they dropped steadily down the 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.

Bill Nicholson's Glory, Glory era

Bill Nicholson 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 double in 1961, the FA Cup and European Cup Semi-final in 1962, and the Cup Winners' Cup in 1963. Key players included Danny Blanchflower, John White, Dave Mackay, Cliff Jones and Jimmy Greaves.

After 1964, the Double side began to disintegrate due to age, injuries and transfers. Nicholson rebuilt a second successful team with imports like Alan Gilzean, Mike England, Alan Mullery, Terry Venables, Joe Kinnear and Cyril Knowles. They won the 1967 FA Cup and finished third in the league.

Nicholson added the League Cup (1971 and 1973) and the UEFA Cup (1972) to Tottenham's illustrious history before he resigned at the start of the 1974-75 season due to both a poor start, and his disgust at seeing rioting fans in Rotterdam in a UEFA Cup final, which Spurs lost.

Keith Burkinshaw: the Quiet Man

Tottenham slipped out of the First Division at the end of the 1976-77 season, and the club installed Keith Burkinshaw as manager in a bid to revitalise their fortunes. They won promotion to the top flight and lifted the FA Cup in 1981 beating Manchester City in a replay, with Ricardo Villa scoring a memorable solo goal. 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, and Steve Perryman who, in seventeen seasons, played 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 Shreeves.

In 1982 the club was bought by Monte Carlo-based property tycoon Irving Scholar. He arrived in a boardroom which had seen just one or two directors since 1943. The 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.

Shreeves and Pleat: the Nearly Men

Peter Shreeves was in charge for two seasons, achieving a third place finish in his first but losing his job after a slump in 1985-86. Luton Town manager David Pleat was appointed the new manager, and for much of 1986-87 it looked as though it would be a very successful season.

Playing with a five man midfield (Hoddle, Ardiles, Hodge, Paul Allen, Waddle) supplying the prolific Clive Allen, Tottenham mounted a serious challenge on all fronts. At one point in March, if they had won their remaining 13 matches, they would have won all domestic honours. As it was, they were defeated in the League Cup semi final by bitter rivals Arsenal. After faltering at the final hurdle in the league, Spurs' hopes hinged on the FA Cup. Spurs had never before lost a domestic cup final while their opponents, Coventry, had never even reached a Cup Final before. Spurs were the favourites but suffered a 3-2 defeat at the hands of John Sillett's team. Pleat quit the following October following allegations that he had been caught kerb-crawling in a red light district.

Hitting the headlines with El Tel

Spurs veteran Terry Venables was named Pleat's successor and began an eventful six-year reign during which Tottenham were rarely out of the headlines. After two league seasons, Venables guided the club to third place in 1989-90 and the following year they again won the FA Cup. The new-look Tottenham team included two players who starred in England's run to the semi-finals of the 1990 FIFA World Cup – Paul Gascoigne and Gary Lineker.

Upon arriving from Barcelona, Venables, whose QPR side lost to Spurs in the 1982 FA Cup Final, signed England's top marksman, Gary Lineker. The club record signing of Paul Gascoigne, in a sense a belated replacement for Glenn Hoddle, inspired Spurs to a glorious FA Cup win in 1991. Gascoigne inspired Tottenham, Maradona style, to the FA Cup Final. In the final itself Gascoigne committed a reckless foul on Nottingham Forest's Gary Charles and injured himself - an event which was the beginning of the slow demise of a great talent. Tottenham and Paul Gascoigne would not rise to such heights again until the current regime, under Martin Jol's stewardship, began rekindling fans' hopes of success.

In 1990, a slump in the property market left chairman Irving Scholar on the verge of bankruptcy, leaving him with no option but to sell the club. For a few weeks, it looked almost certain that the club would be sold to Robert Maxwell, a move that virtually all Spurs fans were opposed to. Instead, Venables joined forces with businessman Alan Sugar to take over Tottenham Hotspur PLC (the corporate holding company) and pay off its £20 million debts, part of which involved the lucrative sale of Gascoigne. Venables became chief executive, with Peter Shreeves again 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 and the club's league form was dogged by bad feeling between Sugar and Venables. Tottenham's first Premier League season ended with a mid-table finish and Venables was soon removed from the club's board after an acrimonious legal dispute with Sugar. Several years later the High Court ruled Venables to be unfit to be concerned in any way with the management of a company, in part due to his dealings at Tottenham.

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 helping them win two FA Cups and a UEFA Cup as a player. Spurs finished in fifteenth place. Even worse, the club was linked with financial irregularities which involved illegal payments being made to players during the 1980s.

Ardiles went on a spending spree and captured three expensive players - German striker Jürgen Klinsmann and Romanian midfield duo Gheorghe Popescu and Ilie Dumitrescu. With stunning flamboyance and tactical ineptitude, Ardilles employed the Famous Five: Teddy Sheringham and Klinsmann up front, Nick Barmby just behind, Darren Anderton on the right and Dumitrescu on the left.

While the Romanians never completely adapted to the English game, Klinsmann was a sensation, scoring freely and becoming a fan favourite. Ultimately these expensive signings made little difference to Tottenham's form and Ardiles was sacked in September 1994.

During the 1994 close season, Tottenham was found guilty of making illegal payments to players and given one of the most severe punishments in English football history: 12 points deducted for the 1994-95 season, a one year ban from the FA Cup, 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.

Much Promise but Little Success

Ardiles was replaced by former QPR manager Gerry Francis. He turned around the club's fortunes dramatically. Spurs took advantage of their reinstatement to the FA Cup and reached the semi-finals, a 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).

1996-97 saw Tottenham finish in 10th place. A frustrated Sheringham requested a move and was sold to Manchester United. In November 1997, with Spurs second from bottom and in real danger of relegation, Francis was sacked. Christian Gross, coach of Swiss champions Grasshoppers, was appointed. He re-signed legendary striker Jürgen Klinsmann, whose second spell proved a key factor in securing Premiership survival. Gross was later sacked and the heroic Klinsmann retired.

George Graham was hired to lead the club before the 1998-99 season. In his first season as Spurs manager the club secured a mid-table finish and won the League Cup by defeating Leicester City at Wembley. However, another mid-table league finish followed in 1999-2000.

By the start of 2001, Sir Alan Sugar's patience broke. The last straw for him were threats and insults from dissatisfied fans towards his family. He eventually sold his controlling interest in Tottenham to ENIC Sports PLC, run by Daniel Levy who has backing from Bahamas-based billionaire financier, Joseph Lewis of Tavistock Group.

Another dream fails: Hoddle and Pleat (again)

Tottenham legend Glenn Hoddle took over the club in April 2001 with the team lying thirteenth in the table. His first match in charge was an FA Cup semi-final defeat to rivals Arsenal. Another humiliation followed 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 players in the shape of Teddy Sheringham, Gus Poyet and Christian Ziege for inspiration.

Season 2001-02 saw an improvement, as the Spurs finished in ninth place. However, a League Cup Final defeat to Blackburn Rovers left Hoddle under pressure for the following campaign. Once again, only limited funds were available, the only significant outlay being £7 million for Robbie Keane, who joined from Leeds United. 2002-03 started well, with Tottenham remaining in the top six as late as early February. But with just seven points in the final ten games, the club was left in tenth place. Players publicly criticised Hoddle's management style and communication skills. Hoddle later claimed lack of support from Director of Football David Pleat. Six games into the 2003-04 season, Hoddle was sacked and Pleat took over.

Going Continental: Jol

In May 2004, Tottenham announced a massive revamp, signing Frank Arnesen as Sporting Director with French national manager Jacques Santini as head coach and Martin Jol as his assistant. Santini quit the club after just 13 games in charge, citing "personal reasons", and was replaced by Jol, who managed to turn around his club's fortunes. He signed striker Mido from Roma on an 18 month loan, he was awarded an FA Manager of the Month award for December, and he guided the club to a 9th place finish. Arnesen was tapped up by Chelsea who subsequently paid compensation, thought to be in the region of £9 million. Damien Comolli was named the new Sporting Director in September 2005.

During the 2005-06 season Spurs reached first position once and never fell below sixth. They enjoyed good form at White Hart Lane, losing only two matches, and drawing five. They spent six months in fourth place, which they relinquished to arch-rivals Arsenal on the last day of the season. Despite the disappointment of missing out on Champions League qualification, the season was still a marked improvement and Sven Goran Eriksson selected four Tottenham players — Robinson, Jenas, Carrick and Lennon for the England 2006 World Cup squad as well as Defoe and Dawson in the five-man back-up group.

The summer of 2006 saw changes in the first team. Mido returned to Roma, although he wanted to stay and the club was attempting to sign him on a permanent deal. He was replaced by Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov from Bayer Leverkusen for a fee of £10.9m, which is close to a club record. May saw both the sponsors and the manufacturers of Spurs strip change, with internet casino company Mansion signing a 4-year contract worth £34m to sponsor the kits, which will be manufactured by Puma through to 2010. With Carrick's inclusion in the main England squad, rumours circulated regarding his possible departure. The allegations were denied by the Spurs front office, but the £8.2 million purchase of midfielder Didier Zokora from AS Saint-Étienne did nothing but exacerbate reports that Carrick was being pursued by clubs such as Manchester United and Real Madrid.

Supporters

Tottenham Hotspur has one of the largest fan bases in the UK, with the largest concentration of fans in Greater London, particularly the boroughs of Haringey, Waltham Forest, Hackney, Redbridge, Enfield and Barnet. There are also many supporters in Hertfordshire, Essex and Monmouthshire in South Wales. In other countries, there are groups of supporters in Omsk in Russia, Walvis Bay in Namibia, in Boise, Idaho, USA and Centerville, Ohio, USA. The team is also well supported in Germany, because of former player Jurgen Klinsmann.

Spurs fans rivals include London clubs Chelsea, West Ham and Arsenal; as well as Feyenoord due to numerous meetings in European competitions.

Honours

Club records

Records held by Tottenham

  • Most consecutive League victories from start of a top flight season: 11, 1960
  • Most points in Division 2 season (2 points for a win): 70, 1919-20
  • Seventh biggest shirt sponsorship deal with international gaming conglomerate Mansion * worth an estimated £34 million
  • Since the Football League was founded in September 1888, Tottenham Hotspur are the only team to have won the English FA Cup (1901) whilst being a non-league club.

Premiership record

Tottenham have been members of the Premier League since its creation in 1992-93. Their best finish occurred in 2006 when they finished 5th.

Position in the Premier League 1993-2006

Season Pos P W D L F A Pts
1992-93 8 42 15 11 15 60 66 59
1993-94 15 42 11 12 19 54 59 45
1994-95 7 42 16 14 12 66 58 62
1995-96 8 38 16 13 9 50 38 61
1996-97 10 38 13 7 18 44 51 46
1997-98 14 38 11 11 16 44 56 44
1998-99 11 38 11 14 13 47 50 47
1999-00 10 38 15 8 15 57 49 53
2000-01 12 38 13 10 15 47 54 49
2001-02 9 38 14 8 16 49 53 50
2002-03 10 38 14 8 16 51 62 50
2003-04 14 38 13 6 19 47 57 45
2004-05 9 38 14 10 14 47 41 52
2005-06 5 38 18 11 9 53 38 65

Pos = Position; P = Played; W = Won; D = Drawn; L = Lost; F = Goals For; A = Goals Against; Pts = Points

Current squad

Out on loan

Player transfers

Last 5 In
- £8.2m*

- £3.5m*

- £1m*

- £10.9m

- £1.5m (could rise to £3m)*
  Last 5 Out

- £500k*

- free

- free

- £750k (could rise to £1.25m)*

- loan return

*official sources indicate undisclosed fee

Club officials

Board of directors
  • Executive Chairman: Daniel Levy
  • Non-Executive Vice Chairman: Paul Kemsley
  • Executive Directors: Matthew Collecott, Paul Barber
  • Non-Executive Director: Mervyn Davies CBE
  • Associate Directors: Ray Fine, Darren Rockman

Staff

Backroom staff

  • Goalkeeping Consultant: Pat Jennings
  • Kit Manager: Roy Reyland
  • Chief Scout: Eddie Presland
  • UK Chief Scout: Mel Johnson

Medical staff

  • Head of Medical Services: Dr Charlotte Cowie
  • First Team Physiotherapist: Geoff Scott
  • Reserve Team Physiotherapist: Grant Plumbley
  • First Team Fitness Coach: Alex Court
  • Head of Massage Therapy: Amanda Lee
  • Academy Physiotherapists: Rory Brown, Henna Horth
  • Academy Fitness Coach: Sam Erith

Academy officials

  • Academy Manager: John McDermott
  • Head of Recruitment: Richard Allen
  • Under-18 Coach: Pat Holland
  • Academy Goalkeeping Coach: Perry Suckling
  • Head of Player Development: Chris Ramsey
  • Education and Welfare Officer: Gwyn Walters
  • Academy Recruitment: Ken Brooks

Managers

 

Past players of note

       

References

  • Tottenham Hotspur Official Handbook 2005-2006
  • Biographies

External links

1882 establishments | English football clubs | FA Premier League | Sport in London | Tottenham Hotspur F.C. | FA Premier League clubs

Тотнъм Хотспър | Tottenham Hotspur FC | Tottenham Hotspur | Tottenham Hotspur | Tottenham Hotspur Football Club | Tottenham Hotspur Football Club | Tottenham Hotspur F.C. | Tottenham Hotspur F.C. | טוטנהאם הוטספר | Tottenham Hotspur FC | トッテナム・ホットスパー | Tottenham Hotspur FC | Tottenham Hotspur | Tottenham Hotspur FC | Тоттенхем Хотспур | Tottenham Hotspur F.C. | Tottenham Hotspur FC | Tottenham Hotspur FC | สโมสรฟุตบอลทอตแนมฮ็อตสเปอร์ | Tottenham Hotspur F.C. | 托特纳姆热刺足球俱乐部

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Tottenham Hotspur F.C.".

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