Tottenham till I die - reprise
Monday, January 10, 2011 at 2:00PM Off the back of tehTrunk's article about the club, N17 and Stratford causing one or two ripples of fragmented opinion within the Lilywhite fanbase, someone reminded me of a prior blog that asked the simple question 'How did you come to support Tottenham?'.
That article and the comments shared is drenched in the type of nostalgia and history that a number of us wish to remain anchored to. We're a bit soft like that. So here's the article again, to hopefully stir up one or two new stories.
Original article and comments posted can be found here. Comments are really worth looking at.
Ta.
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A question was posed on a forum asking why you support who you support. Not highly original, I know, but it's always interesting to delve into the responses to see how other peoples allegiances were birthed.
Your answer ought to be geographically influenced, but commonly it's down to immediate family and on occasions, if you are devoid of having a dad (or mum) or siblings who are interested in the beautiful game you just pick whomever is top of the league. Which is why when I was a young lad everyone in London seemed to support Liverpool*.
*Two minutes silence for their current plight please people. Two minutes.
Of course, not everyone glory-hunts. And many live abroad and simply fall in love with the history or traditions of a club in another country, based on a game they've witnessed or a book they've read or the majesty of a shirt. I appreciate that not everyone is pre-selected.
I had the privilege (curse) of having a family of Spurs supporters around me. I was also born in Tottenham. Well actually, no I wasn't. A hospital on Tottenham Court Road. Well, actually the hospital was just a brisk walk from Tottenham Court Road. Nowhere near N17, but that's just a technicality. Tottenham Court Road, right? COYS.
My grandfather (God rest his soul) was a keen follower and frequenter of White Hart Lane during the 50's and 60's and my uncle, a fanatic during the 70's hardly missed a game. The latter, the one who influenced me and guided me into the light that is Lilywhite.
No rebellious I want to support someone else or I like their badge so I'm going to choose this lot instead - which wasn't uncommon, again, with people who had no given affiliations to a club when they were old enough to understand and make their selection. A successful team, usually defeating the local team as the winning option if they wished to fast-track themselves to the top tier. But plenty followed their hearts instead.
How some families managed to be split down the middle between two clubs always fascinated me. It's fragmentation that can never be resolved. My dad supports Spurs. My brother. My sister. My uncle's kids. We have no split. I did celebrate Trevor Brookings goal in the 1980 Cup final by running outside into the garden and attempting to head the ball into an imaginary net but that isn't confliction, it's a natural reaction. An acceptable lapse. A Newcastle supporting father and a Sunderland supporting son a story I remember hearing about. They hardly spoke, always fought. Football before family, always.
Reminds me of a bloke who stood in front of me in one of the East stand turnstiles back in the very early 90's. 1991 season I reckon, home to the scum. 0-0. Gooners waving their wallets at us from the Park Lane. Gazza almost scoring an own goal as I stood in the corner of the Shelf side in those cracking days of terraces. So this bloke in the queue had a Spurs and Arsenal badge on his jumper. A ridiculous paradox.
"I support both", he stated proudly.
The steward looked at me and I just blankly stared back. If you support two clubs, two rival clubs, then you've not quite grasped the concept, have you? It's like people who ask the question: Who's you favourite team? There is no place for favourite team in football. If you do it properly, you don't have a favourite team. You just have the one. A relationship for life. No break-up. Plenty of heartaches and headaches, and the two of you are together until your very last breath.
'Yeah, so, I really love Man U but I dig Real Madrid in their all white kit and also adore Wolves because they got a cool name. So Utd are my best, Madrid my second bestest and Wolves my third bestestest. If any of them play each other, I'd like a draw'
If you ever met someone who stated a resemblance of the above, I wouldn't look down on you if you smothered and buried him in a shallow grave in Epping forest. Favourite? There's no room for favouritism. Following the results of your local side, if you perhaps don't actually support your local side isn't betrayal. There are no affairs and no two-timing. 100% unequivocal commitment. You love your team, but you can have a soft spot for your local side. Bit like some Spurs fans I know who watch Barnet or Orient. They don't 'love' Barnet. They would practically (heavily metaphorically) die for Spurs.
However, every now and again we do get some Sol Campbells amongst us. Ooh.
My brother-in-law knew someone who, after a depressing Saturday at the Lane in a depressing season (I guess the mid-90's), and partly thanks to some peer-pressure from outside his group of friends, 'quit' supporting Spurs and not long after ended up an Arsenal fan. Quitting because your team lost? Spare a thought for supporters of clubs who never climb out of the lower tier divisions. The spirit of Benedict Arnold lives on with some.
I knew someone a few years back, a Hammers fan, who revealed he was a Spurs fan when he was a teenager but ended up following the Irons because his group of mates got involved with the ICF and he was more interested in the friendships and fighting than the football. It was, to him, more about being part of a group. A hooligan rather than standing on his own every Saturday at 3pm. Each to their own I guess.
My personal favourite (I'm using that word here because it's in context) has to be the story about these two blokes (in Leyton at the time), one of whom was completely disinterested in football and the other a West Ham fan. They both lusted after this one girl who was an Arsenal supporter. And both of them became gooners as a consequence to win her over. They both actually dated her, one after the other (she went out with one, dumped him then went out with the other one). The two blokes even had a punch up at one point outside the local pub. Heated stuff. The bloke who supported West Ham and defected for the sake of having her thighs wrapped round his back, paraded himself in a JVC shirt often without shame.
It's a bit like sh**ting yourself in public whilst wearing white trousers. You will never live it down. Nobody will forget the humiliation. The white trousers are bad enough, but the diarrhoea? It will define you forever. How could anyone look you in the eyes and take you seriously after something like that? You would automatically lose all credibility. For life. A few years later I spotted him back in a West Ham shirt. Pathetic.
You simply cannot disdain the fabric of football and the lack of its complexities relating to allegiances. It's quite simple. You choose your team and are bound to them for life. No get out clause. That's it.
As for me, I have an almost five (edit: almost eight now) month old baby daughter (I've managed to part name her after our beloved club - work it out yourselves) so getting her to follow the Spurs might be a difficult task if her mother pampers her with shopping trips, Jimmy Choos and Gucci handbags when she's old enough to succumb to the frivolous vanity driven past-times of womanhood. However, there is hope. When she was just two months old, she projectile vomited when Cesc Fabregas appeared on the tv during a Sky Sports News report. There's hope for my THFC family bloodline yet.
TTID.
Reader Comments (51)
UCLH Euston!
I grew up with no family allegiances to any club. Went to primary school with loads of gooners. C#nts. Spurs ever since. The fact that Hoddle, Villa and Ardiles were in our side was clearly a big factor too.
great writing
and 100% accurate
COYS
Born into a family of Chelsea supporters save for my old man who was Spurs in the face of the blue tide. I was never in any doubt though. The moment that I knew for certain was when my hero, Hoddle, turned the defender and chipped the keeper against Watford. That, for me, is what being a Spurs supporter is all about. We've never been prolific title contenders (in my lifetime) but those moments of magic (Gazza free kick against the scum, Bale scoring his third in the San Siro) bring out the goosbumps!
TTID. dont know why, dont wanna know why, it just makes sense.
spurs 2 manure 1
2011 year of the golden cockerel
I was born in Essex which, geographically, made me more likely to support Spurs or West Ham on that basis. However my grandfather had moved from Woolwich (long after Henry Norris had taken Arsenal north) and was essentially a Charlton fan. That said, in those days (forties, fifties) being a 'fan' was not what it is now - no replica shirts, few scarves even - just a few pence at the turnstile once a fortnight.
Anyhoot, he moved to Edmonton (where my Dad was born) and started visiting WHL to support his 'local club'. The rest is patchy, wonderful, tearstained, glorious, heartbreaking history.
We lived in Hereford for a while and I went along to games out of interest and a desire to see some league football, and I still look out for their results, but they're not my 'second team' or anything like it. It was something to do.
I live in Manchester now and I have never been more proud to be a Spurs fan. These threads about loyalty and allegiance are not really about football, they are about life and death, as Mr Shankly would have it.
Being Australian, Football isn't huge here (unless the world cup is on, bunch of copy cat prats who love football every four years), I had no ties to any football team through family. I chose tottenham through seeing them play. I've learnt ALOT about spurs, the history, the rivalry etc. I saw us hit rock bottom under Ramos and still loved them
I'm a good fan aren't I?
I started supporting spurs when klinsman came and my mate was a gooner and everyone else supported either utd of liverpool
I was brought up in South London, all my mates were Charlton and Millwall. I was always playing footie with older brothers mates and one of them was a Spurs fan. He was the good player so always got lumbered with the smallest kid (me).
When we played he would always say we were Spurs and we would choose names etc.
One day he said I layed so well for a nipper, he gave me a Spurs medal!
Still got it somewhere.
Born in Islington & lived between geographically in-between Spurs and Arsenal, but closer to Islington! Thanks to my youngest brother being born 2 years later, we out-grew the house and moved to Tottenham, causing me and all of my brothers to grow up Spurs fans! Thanks bruv, you saved me from possible gooner-doom! But you are right - as an 80s kid, I grew up with a lot of Liverpool fans. However 2 of the ones I still know have scouse dads, so that is fine. If you moved up north, you would try your hardest to make your kids yids too wouldn't you!
I was a Man utd band wagon hopper as per description above until I was 11 and I hated the fact that I had chosen a club for simply being to of the league, that everyone else followed. I had a chance to pick a team I guessed I would support for ever. I Chose tottenham for it's footballing values (lofty for an 11 yr old I know) and pure unpredictablity and entertainment. It was around the time we Signed Klinsmann and the two romanians and Ardilles was in charge 5-0-5 and all that, great times. Not until now have I been able to expect much from spurs and what a couple of seasons it has been. Long live Arry!!!
Nice article. In my school, it was either Spurs or Arsenal. But with Gazza and Lineker and Pauls Stewart, Allen and Walsh, I was always gonna support Spurs. That and there were too many red teams around (Man U, Liverpool & Arsenal) - and i don't like to wear red. COYS!!!
I live half way between Liverpool and Manchester and my first taste of pro football was my mate dragging me along to Maine road, to watch his beloved Man City. I had read quite a bit about the great Spurs side at the time (it would have benn around 1958 or 9) so was looking forward to seeing them live. We happened to stand at the end where Spurs were doing their warm -up and even that blew me away!! When the match started these guys gave an exhibition of pure football that I had only dreamed about. I had to pick my lower jaw up several times during the game! I've been a fan ever since needless to say.
Being from a small town in Yorkshire and at school in the 80's I choose Spurs to be differnet based soley on the fact that Hoddle was my favourite player. I would say 30% of kids supported local teams (including Leeds who were in the second division), another 30% supoported Liverpool (Glory seekers), 20% Man U (why!) and 10% others, that makes me an other.
I was born in Hackney and lived in Stepney till I was nine. All me cousins round there were west ham fans and I was taken to a couple of games. But then we moved to Stamford Hill and lived directly on the A10 and all the buses went to or past WHL (149, 243 etc.). So I asked me Mum if I could go to watch Spurs on me own and she let me and that was that. Its 44 years now and I have supported them through good times and lots of bad times. But life as a Spurs supporter is looking very good at the moment and I cant stop grinning when we have a win (its driving my missus potty).
COYS FOREVER
Living in Nairobi (where i've been most of my life) its rather difficult to even imagine a geographical explanation for my fanatical allegience to Tottenham Hotspur. The premiership is huge over here (globally to be honest) but its was'nt always so. Back in the early 90s we used to follow Italian football. I liked Napoli for a while because my 'favourite' player played there. I then switched to Juventus, because my new 'favourite' player now played there. Back at the playing field, we were all in agreement that other than Maradona and Roberto Baggio, the other 'bestest' players were Gary Lineker and Paul Gascoigne but they were playing in that other league. That was the first times I ever heard of 'Tottenham Hotspur'.
Jurgen Klinnsmans my new favourite player made his first move to the English league at a time when its following in Kenya had just overtaken that of the Italian and German leagues (Yes German league!) And guess what? He moved to that club...Tottenham Hotspur! "This must be where all great players play", I figured. David Ginola's move was later add to this conviction. Somehow, it was during the dark days of 1998 that I realised I had found my permanent 'home'. The thought of the end of Tottenham Hotspur, via the dreaded relagation, really freaked me out.
Though I knew nothing about the geographical area when I first started following the fortunes of the club - did'nt know it was a team in London, let alone North London - It somehow would'nt be the same club if it was'nt Tottenham Hotspur and was 'The Spurs' or 'Stratford Hotspur'.
I will do my pilgrimage(s) to the great White Hart Lane (hopefully starting this year) but I will not be visiting that Olympic place to watch any football. I might catch the Kenyan runners winning our usual dozen or so gold medals on the track games, and I might catch a concert if I happen to be in the area, but the new 'premiership' team that will play there will be alien to me. It might as well be Chelsea playing in their away white strip. I really won't give a damn about them. Unfortunately they will have ended a great team with a great legacy to acquire their licence to play in the premiership. The thieves... I already hate them more than I hate the....(I won't go there for now)
Hehe spooky , did i remind you of the trip down nostalgia lane there :)
As said on the previous item , became a Spurs fan in 89. First memory is going to Old Trafford with my dad and uncles for the 1989 (had to look it up) clash between Man U and Spurs , for them it was their first ever trip to the ground they love so much. They were in awe all day long , like little children at an amusement park. I was impressed by the ground but for some reason i found myself rooting for the adversary. And i did not know who Lineker and Gascoigne were at the time but after the marvelous goal from Lineker on a Gazza assit i was sold as a Spurs fan ...
Been a Cockerel for 43 years. The times we have won trophys have been great to see, but for me its all about the football. Spurs have always played with great style, and the current team are a joy to watch on the right day. Sure id like us to be winning competitions every season, and at last it looks like we are building for the future. With the move to Stratford into what will be the most recognised Stadium in the world after the 2012 Olympics, I am seeing a team that will become the best in Europe. Spurs are on the rise, and only the sky can stop them. And although I love the ground at WHL, it is definitely to move on, and out of that sh!tehole N17. Going to a game now is a fukkin epic adventure by car or underground!! And you never know whether you will get home before turning into a crack head with all the drug dealing sh!tcuts in the area....too many bongoboyz in da hood for ma liking mamma..
belgian spur - Yes mate.
:)
I was dragged to my first game when I was about eight in the year we were promoted back to the first division, when we had just signed ardiles and villa. I didn't understand much at the time and all I really remember was the smell of urine and stale cigarettes. As time passed, I began to understand that Spurs were not about winning. They were a concept made up of playing football the way it's supposed to be played. It's about keeping people on the edge of their seats. Creating a hush of expectation. I've seen goals that make the goosebumps come out for a party: Hoddle vs man utd and forest at home (pretty much identical goals), Ardiles at old trafford. 5-0 vs the goons. Johann Cruyff playing at the lane. Tony Parks v anderlecht.
After that what else matters? I remember the stupid scum thinking rix was as good as Hoddle or the scousers thinking barnes was as good as Waddle.
But there have been low points: remember when Hoddle wanted to leave every summer, and then did? Or when I was in Marbella and saw the headline that Waddle had left? What about Coventry in 1987?
But Spurs have a way of doing things. Remember Gazza? In my humble opinion the best English midfielder ever? Can any fan ask for more than the joy of Wembley 1991 (the semi final ;) )? The entertainers we have seen? Ardiles, Villa, Hoddle, Waddle, Gazza, Klinsmann, Ginola etc.
No. Once Tottenham, always Tottenham. Through thick and thin. And even in Stratford because our beloved lilywhites fly higher than mere bricks and mortar. We are needed to show the footballing world, especially now, what football is really about. It's about Gareth Bale making bacon of maicon. It's about footballers moving the ball about at great pace and frightening defenders to the point of incontinence. It's about Harry sticking up two fingers to the foreigners who think they control the game. It's about pissing on the European champions and those who espouse negativity in football (remember the man in the raincoats blue and white army?)
I also fell in love with trevor brooking and west ham after that cup final, but that's ok. It's gratitude to the local thug who took out the garbage.
Brilliant Read, I usually read your articles without commenting but this one made me laugh so much
Dad was a Tottenham supporter, he grew up in Waltham Abbey just north of london, his Dad took him to games, he did the same for me since I was 10 and here we are! first game saw us lose 2-1 to leicester. second game 2-1 to newcastle, third game 2-1 to someone or other.... My brother went through a rebellious phase at about 10 and went gooner for a year...sorted now though, since we got the dosage right.
Born in Hackney in the year Spurs won the double and moved to Stamford Hill aged 2. Moved to Stoke Newington aged 6 and Neighbour's dad took me to reserve matches. First match on my own was Spurs V Wolves UEFA Final where Alan Mullery scored the winner. For me it was proximity to White Hart Lane and the Spurs Community. Long live 'Tottenham' and say no to Stratford.
Have always liked watching football but living in the States with friends and family who don't care for the sport makes it hard to follow. However my one buddy was big into the PL and I asked him about it and his first comment was "If you are going to follow English footy, you have to follow Spurs." Being one of my best friends I agreed and my first full season was the 2005/06 lasagne campaign (yes, I realize I'm rather new). Seeing us not make the Champions League b/c of food problems only to lose it to that other club made me love Spurs even more. It felt like I was supporting an overseas Cleveland team....magical. Being a Croat and having 4 Croats on the team helps too.
good article and a good read , as for my reasons in the sixties at my school everyone seemed to support manu or for some reason villa but as i liked to be differant and didnt like conforming to the rule i chose to support tottenham hotspurs cus there was no other team with a name like that and the name just seemed to roll of the tongue and cus i was the only one who supported them at school i had to find out everything about them so i didnt look stupid when asked about them , over the years since i have grown to love them to the extent that everything has to take second place to my team , even my marriage went west as i refused to give up going to the lane although the fallout from that meant i couldnt afford the season ticket anymore thanks to the divorce settlement [so she sort of won ... cow] so now i only get to go when i can afford to buy a ticket and as my sons are also spurs fans they also have to come aswell which means 250 every trip but boy is it worth it , so until things get better i will put up with it luckily theres always sky lol . spurs till i die . COYS
Emigrated to England in the summer of 91 and not being able to understand a word of english. Turn on the TV to watch the football and my brother said to me I'll be with the team in the red so I said cool I'll be with the team in White ....spurs went on to beat the scum 3-1 and went to win the cup ..tottenham till I die.
Always read your blog and a great read at that, long may it continue. First time commenting tho.
My dad grew up in Islington with all arsenal mates as he tells me. Frequently went to see them play too despite being a spurs fan. People do some funny old things for friends aye. My mum was also born in Islington too. She supported the White side of north London too.
Once married they moved to barnet, stones throw from the underhill (Wooten grove?). Where my sister was born. She however was a bad egg. Started as a spurs fan before being turned at a young age by our nan and grandad (mums side) to a gooner.
They all moved to cornwall where I came in to the world. Moved back to London, finchley where we still live, when I was just about to start primary school. Don't really recall what age I properly followed football from but was always a spurs fan when asked, not that I wasn't.
I always remember however when we signed Ginola. Was in the frontroom with my old man. Up popped this bloke who I have never even heard of let alone seen before on tv because he was "worth it" apparently. When my dad turned to me and said "I would to see him play for spurs" to which I cooly replied "he will", and walked out of the room. To what seemed a few days later we signed this silky soft long haired bloke who could kick a ball too apparently. From then on I was a full on spurs watching football fan.
Living in the Netherlands after a long stint in France I'm originally from N W London (born in Chalk Farm) and I am a lifelong supporter. My dad was an Arsenal supporter but as a young kid I was enchanted by the name Tottenham Hotspur (this must be the best club name in the PL). My dad took me to a my first match in 1959 when I was 5. Spurs v Wolves. 59,000 at the Lane, a fantastic atmosphere. We won 5-1. I knew it then, this is my team and it will be a marriage for life, for richer or poorer, for better or worse. Like all of you supporters Spurs runs through my veins. It's ridiculous when you consider it but nevertheless it is one of the pillars on which my lifestyle is constructed. My two sons, one born in France, the other in Holland are also bitten by the bug. We would desparately love to come over regularly to watch matches at the lane but the 36000 capacity makes it impossible as every match is a sellout. We're looking forward with great anticipation to the new stadium which will give more scope to get seats and I hope that Levy & Co do not move our hallowed ground to Stratford.
Never will I attempted to post a comment using my iphone.
**Corrections**
My mum was also born in Islington.
When my dad turned to me and said "I would love to see him play for spurs" to which I cooly replied "he will", and walked out of the room.
Never been to the lane sadly tho. Have the displeasure of going to both Highbury and Emmirates tho with my sister as she gets free tickets from McMillan nurses. On the plus side I got watch Barca beat Arsenal.
Never followed football too much as a little-un, till I took an interest in it when I was about 10 in '91. Only really knew 2 players from the odd England game and both played for Spurs, Gazza and Lineker! Of course that season we went on THAT cup run and the rest is history. My Dad never liked football much (having played Rugby League when he was younger) but it turned out my Grandad (god rest his soul) on my Mum's side was a Spurs fan and encouraged me, telling me all about the Double team and stories from when he visited the Lane.
It took me another 11 years before I got to go myself, and sadly never got to take him with me, but even though I'm not from the area going to Spurs is a big part of the family identity for me. Selfishly it's one of the reasons I don't want to us to move away from the area, When I have kids I want to at least be able to say to them 'That's where the old stadium was' and (lest we forget) 'THIS is where, in 1882, some lads got together and decided to form a football club...'
@ "Camel with the hump", do you have this name because you went to the best school in Norf London, HACKNEY DOWNS formerly The Grocers Company Grammer School? Like wot i did :)
Ok, I'll play this time. Really enjoyed it when you originally ran it.
I'm american, grew up playing baseball and american football. Sometime in the mid 80s, when I was about 10 years old, one of our cable channels showed a weekly match from whatever the Premier League was called back then. I thought it was much better than american professional football, which is too stop and go, kind of boring really.
So then I played "soccer" for our high school, then a sunday league in college. I didn't own a TV for about 14 years 1993 to 2007, and only lived in a house with a TV for maybe two of those years so didn't watch anything. Then in 07, I moved in with 3 expats, two english (scouse and manure ) and an irish (scum). After watching a full season of premier league in 08/09, and I mean a FULL season, literally every televised match (my housemates were "soccer" coaches). I just loved the way Spurs played. Who doesn't love attacking football? Not quite a "bandwagoner" they were bottom half of the table when I jumped on. And you'll never hear "Harry OUT" from me, he was a significant part of why I like Spurs aside from the style of play, just seemed like a quality character, especially compared to pinched face douchebags like Arsene and that smarmy prick Ferguson.
Not being from london probably gives me a different perspective........
My father is a Spurs fan thanks to Blanchflower, White and Greaves.
For me its Hoddle, Ardiles etc
For this generation its Modric, Bale and Van der Vaart.
Spurs have always had an indefineable style of their own, a certain coolness, something I enjoy being linked with more than merely winning stuff (although that would be nice).
White Hart Lane is part of this legacy and must be kept.
What happened to the 2010 awards? Instead of regurgitating old posts! :)
Spurs are my team, but as Barnet are the most local football league team (not for long) I'll always have a soft spot for them. Is it dual alliances or just an affinity for the neighbourhood, i dont know and dont care, not like I'm changing any time soon.
My entire family are Spurs, although my brother (Spurs season ticket holder) did spend 5 years supporting the Mancs and will never live it down.
If you don't like long-winded comments, find another one to read because this one may appear as a novel!!!
Ok, thank you for reading on. Please read carefully so that you can take it all in!
I would only have ever been a Spurs fan or a Gooner. My grandmother [MUM'S side] lived between The Lane and the now demolished Highbury when she was younger but used to go to watch Arsenal. She now has an Arsenal wallet! My OTHER grandmother [DAD'S side] used to go to Spurs on a Saturday with her dad when she was younger. Plus, most of the distant relatives/cousins who I only see once every blue moon are Spurs fans, so I was always in a sea of light rose pink rather than white or red.
BUT, strangely, two things have been made apparent:
1) Neither my mum or dad like football particularly; my dad did go to one of Manchester United's FA Cup finals as a 13th birthday present and so he jokily attaches himself to Man United to annoy me.
2) Each of my parents has two brothers:
MUM - ONE brother is a SPURS fan and the OTHER ONE isn't into football but just declares himself a GOONER.
DAD - ONE brother is a SPURS fan; the OTHER ONE is a GOONER and now lives in FRANCE (how surprising).
His wife is French and they moved to France due to her job out there.
I first watched football when I moved to Loughton at age 5. At primary school, the usual distant Mancs were there, but there were a fair few Hammers there too. Seeing as the Champions League was on standard terrestrial TV, Liverpool and Man United were the teams I watched often. I chose United, as any impressionable kid who doesn't know any better would do.
BUT THEN......
Jump forward three years to the 1999/2000 season.
The Spurs fan on my MUM's side, my uncle, whisked me away to White Hart Lane to watch Spurs v Watford in the South Upper Stand, right up next to the Watford fans. I sadly didn't appreciate the wonder of Spurs as much as I should've done, even though I was only young and didn't quite understand what it was all about.
BUT I managed to lift my nose out of my bag of Doritos (don't ask) for long enough to see one David Ginola run rings around several Watford players and whack it into the left side of the net. 4-0!
Then I went through a phase of not being too much into football as TV didn't show much anyway (thank you pedantic IMG Media copyright laws).
Soon after that season, we moved house again and got Sky TV WOOP WOOP!
Enter Sky Sports with Premiership Plus. Premier League football comes to town!
Now was my chance to choose a team and watch more games.
Hmmmm....which team should I choose...?
LUCKILY that magic memory of Ginola stuck in my mind and was the only memory I had of the game. It spurred me *BDOOM TSSSH* to choose Spurs. Didn't take notice of the Premier League table (thank god!); just wanted to watch Spurs play football.
I haven't looked back for a single moment. Got to see Spurs lift the League Cup. OK, so it's a lager-marketing ploy and I was in the prawn-sandwich section, but at the time, it was a very special day watching Keane, King and Dawson, etc. raising a trophy rather than their arms at the referee over an offside decision.
And even when we took a nose-dive into the relegation zone and were the laughing stock of the league, as much as it must've tempted everybody to jump ship, I didn't. One of my Spurs-supporting mates is a quarter Irish and therefore had Celtic to jump to when times got tough. When they got tough, he switched over to Celtic and his liking for football fizzled out too.
Still, I always tried to watch the games whenever they're on and keeping the faith paid off massively when Mr. Two-points-eight-games himself took over. Harry ''Messiah'' Redknapp rocketed us up the League into Europe AND gave Spurs a chance to defend the League Cup against Manchester United.
NOOWWW, we have even bigger fish to fry with the last 16 of the Champions League to drool over!
Spurs have grown on me over the years and it's the only infection which I wouldn't want to 'cure'.
COME ON YOU SPURS!!!!
fuckin hell Dave you werent kidding son....! Well my Grandad was born in Hackney and lived there through his formative years....He could of followed West Ham, or even 'they who shall not be named', but he wasnt a cunt. He loves his football 'played the right way', so there was only one choice, the mighty Spurs.
After the war he came back to his old house to find that his parents had moved and completely shafted him, no forwarding address, and no fucking mobile !! He sorted himself out married my nan, and had the sprogs, one of which was my old man. They moved out of London and settled in the countryside....Slough.....He still thinks its the countryside now bless him. Anyways the point is this got passed down to me and my bro, and what do you know theres also a shit load of other third generation yids in Slough ! Only problem is the Chelsea cunts and theres a fucking load of them ....but makes for a good scrap !....errr sorry, meant discussion.
All the best gentlemen.......COYS
My mum supported spurs because my grandad was a gooner. Fuckin love my mum! coys!
Fuck Stratford!
My first game was that Hoddle volley against Forest in what must have been 1979? My family is split down the middle but I've never liked Arsenal. Even as a child I remember clearly not liking them at all. I still fail to see the attraction.
My Father taught me in the ways of Tottenham. The only thing he has passed on actually. He's a good man but he never thought to teach or show me anything he knew except Spurs.
I lost interest in the 90's. In fact I walked away from the 87 cup final defeat at Wembley and began to drift away from football entirely until probably the late 90's. I replaced it with drugs and guitars and artistic endeavour, and of course, naturally lost track of who I was.
I drifted back through the early noughties and ended up working on WHL in 2004 at the same time my son was born. It was a cosmic coming together of everything I had been as a child and would now be as a man.
Spurs is a holy spirit working deep inside my heart and I love them dearly.
i shagged a gooner once...mid job i said, ''first time spurs been on top of arsenal for a while...get used to it''...HA ahe laughed, but not sure that was because of my little prick. hmm
@Smiffy:
LOL.
I'm sure you also mentioned Spurs getting more balls into Arsenal's net this time ;)
Dave - fucking needed a net when i fell outa that one mate.....
My uncle took me to see Spurs v Coventry on boxing day 1989. on the way to WHL he told me a bit about the club, the players, the history and the gooners. He was so excited he was like a kid at Xmas.
I remember it like it was yesterday. I went with a vague idea that I quite liked spurs and came home completely addicted, decked out in hat, scarf, rosette and a couple of pendants. I remember the first time I went up the steps and the sharp intake of breath that accompanied my first glimpse of the pitch. Still get the same feeling every single time I go.
The game was 0-0 and Lineker missed a penalty. Biggest cheer of the day was when Gazza jogged out of the tunnel for the pre-match warm up. I loved every minute and my life-long passion was born.
I've seen replays of all the games from the glory glory nights of old and feel like I've waiting for this season all my life. I now have a 2 year old son and baby no two is due next week. I can't wait to take them to see the spurs and tell them stories of the games gone by. I really hope it's in Tottenham... but if OS then so be it. I'll still go and their memories will be a bit different to mine, but hopefully just as treasured.
im a gooner
Born in North Middlesex Hospital & raised in N9 there was only 1 team for me. I remember the first game in the 70's that i went to - we beat Burnley 4-1 ! I think we got relegated the following year, but that didn't deter me or my mates at the time - Kids could get in for about 50p I recall & once you were inside, you could walk round virtually the whole stadium before picking your place to stand. The 80's & early 90's were happy memories, Wed. evening games were my favourite as the atmosphere was always different for those games somehow. I moved away from London in the mid-90's but still try to go the Lane a couple of times a season at least & always try to watch on TV or via a stream whenever possible. TTID. COYS !
6pm press conference called by the club!!!!
Hi, all. Very keen reader of this site. Been wanting to add to my very few compliments to it, but I'm scared to death that the quality would drop - the author(s) would rest. Or worse; grow out of his own site! But I have been following for quite a while, and feel comfortable that the scource is truly remarkable, genuine and very passionate. I dare now do what I think is deserved: praise and thank Spooky and all of his DearmrLevy.com compatriots!
Thank you very much!
I am very confused about what was my first meeting with Tottenham. I mean, I have thought about it many times - long before I started reading here. And I think I know what it was, but it seems so ... random - although I KNOW it isn't!
I'm from a place called Madla in Stavanger, Norway. Some of you may recognize these names. When I was a kid we didn't have much tv-channels. Actually, we only had 1, the public national channel or whatever (NRK), until I was about 10. Common in Norway those days. It showed one english top-match a week, saturdays at 3 (4, norwegian time). But I don't think I'd ever seen a game there yet.
But that all changed when we got cable. Think we got some 10 channels, but nevermind those: WE GOT TELETEXT! After a while, me and my kid brother had picked teams, AS I REMEMBER IT, just off the 1st division's table menu! He picked Liverpool (whom I suspect was leading at the time), but for myself there never really was alternatives. AS I REMEMBER IT it was like Tottenham was the only team written in CapsLock out of all 20. Think we were 6th or 7th at the time. Not that it mattered most. And I think this was -87 or -88. Had to call mom to check, and she finally agreed to my arguments. Haha.
I very rarely got to see us play, but I saw both the semifinal and final of the FA-cup of 1991. From those moments Tottenham became what DearmrLevy now has become; accepted. In the meaning: "I don't EXPECT anything more from you. You are all right for what you have given me. Period." And "Thank you," I guess.
After nagging all the way to Christmas, I got the FA-cup final VHS. Saw it maany times.
A couple of years after that, some guy called Thorstvedt was coming to an "open day" at Madla IL (almost as in FC) and it was told that we got to try to score goal at him. He was taller than the goal itself, and the only sensible thing to do was to pass the ball into the bottom corner. I scored at him and refused to go again. Thank you too, Erik, for all you have done for Spurs and are now doing in norwegian studio of Premier League Matchday!
Couple of years later, after the usual row with my kid brother, I caught him cutting the tape of my most precious VCR. Never have forgiven him that. Couple of years after that, he painted his walls in his room red. Never have forgiven that either.
My biggest rival, as you maybe can see, is Liverpool. I share almost automatically all the other preferences to teams as most of you, except Liverpool is top on my list.
I've been to one game at White Hart Lane in my life. Almost a year ago, vs Fulham. Bale's first win he started in. And I'm coming back again March, vs West Ham. And now I see ALMOST every game, thanks to tv and internet.
Sorry the length. I had this in my head this whole day, I just had to get it written.
Keep up the good work!
What's the daughter's name??
you know whats great about reading all these comments on this site, (other than some of them being f***king hilarious) is all the foreign support that we have, i thought it all came from our euro cup winning days but some of the stories about it written here are brilliant! "only team in CAPSLOCK out of 20" what a lucky pick aye viking! =)