We need it
Saturday, January 7, 2012 at 10:08AM One of my earliest memories of the FA Cup is not a Tottenham one (that came the year after and again the year after that). The first Wembley showcase I can recall is the one between West Ham United and Arsenal. 1980. It's a memory I'm staggered to have to be honest. But still, it's there.
I'm sitting on the floor in my grandparents living room, tv on, and I watch the moment Brooking nods in to make it 1-0. I guess the preconditioning from my family already had the 'hate the ones in red' set to moderate, easing the dislike gently in as I half-heartedly celebrated by looking at my uncles reaction (one of delight). I then proceeded to leave the room, pick up a football and attempt to recreate the goal in the garden between two flower pots.
81 and 82 followed. Almost all the cup finals of that era were memorable. I actually forgot how last seasons final played out. Had to be reminded of the Stoke/City affair. That memorable and that important. You could once go back ten years and run through the scores of every game played between the twin towers. Why? Because each one of them was an occasion.
Then the competition started to lose some of its magic. Football began to evolve into a beast. Sky Sports. The Champions League. Uniteds rejection. The Cup was time-shared between the same group of teams for an age (no irony lost it was the same clubs dominating the top four). Then it birthed indirect (and direct) disinterest from many that still resonates now, what with clubs preferring to rest players and prioritise continental ambitions as a more viable target to bolster stature via financial gain. The usual suspect still got to finals.
Having the semis at Wembley also doesn't help. It meant something to win it. It was almost as important as the league. You can hardly even contemplate saying that now.
Let's not pretend it's the same competition it once was. It isn't. Much like the League Cup has long ceased to be anything more than an afterthought and day out for most. Regardless of what team we put out on Saturday in the 3rd round against Cheltenham I hope that when the opposition require us to field a strong side, we will.
I'm not about to dive back into the depths of the silverware v Champions League argument. Okay, perhaps just dip my toe in. If we finished 5th this season we'd be devastated thanks to the consequences it would have - a by product of modern day expectations. Although deep down you'd still wear your heart on your sleeve and sing for your team. But its undeniable, the buzz that comes with being a very good side is better than the one that falls asleep in mid-table.
5th and the FA Cup would still give us a migraine across the summer of 2012 attempting to hold onto our key players. Silverware does mean you get that never to be forgotten footnote in history entered into the record books. You'll hardly find the same accolade stating 'x years of CL qualification' achieved by the side of 'Finished 4th'.
So what are we left with? You might cite the need for momentum and that continued growth of mental strength and belief. Because if you combine a CL place with a cup, then at the very least it equates to a tangible honour that rewards a team for its effort, desire and history. There's still something to be said for Glory. And Glory is in the eye of the beholder because lets face it, who cares what anyone else thinks when all that matters is the team you support and the days out you have with them.
You still have to win something to be a winner. We're aspiring to do so. Which is why its important to give it everything. Which is why the league will take priority. But it shouldn't be about priorities. We should always look to win every game we play. We should always believe we can win every game.
We've not won the FA Cup for a while. We've not challenged at the top end of the top division for even longer. There's no escape from it. Football has changed and so have we. Gone are the days when a headed goal from an unlikely source or a mazzy run into the box are history defining moments never to be forgotten, more important than a mere 4th or 3rd spot in the table.
Don't want to patronise this grand old competition. Don't think we'll be doing so if we rest several players for the 3rd round. But we've suffered before by doing just that in the past. We still need to show it the respect it's lost, the respect it deserves. The FA Cup was synonymous with Tottenham once upon a time. We've won it eight times. Of course it means something to us.
We've had a fair few semi-final defeats in the past couple of decades. It's been too long. Regardless of the cup not having the same glamour it once had, its best to remember that glamour is created by players and the teams in the games played. Those magical moments of movement, touch and vision. The great goals and comebacks. Its in those moments that it becomes something more than ribbons on a piece of fancy silver.
I went to all the cup games in 1991 when Gascoigne almost single-handling dragged us into the final. That was a defining season in the clubs history. We needed to win the Cup with Death looking down at us with sickle in hand. We won it. Every game in that run to Wembley becomes more than just 90 minutes of football, long to be forgotten. It's never forgotten. Like a novel unravelling from one chapter to the next, ending with epic emotion and then forever being able to pick it up and read through it again reliving the joy of its concluding pages.
Football is about these moments.
The only way we can go all the way is if we want to go all the way. It's that simple. Rotation, fixture congestion and the league will always run parallel to the FA Cup. None of that should be used as an excuse. Got to hope we change, that I change and that clubs change. You should always look to win the FA Cup regardless of what else is going on. It's a knock-out competition, anything can happen. As for choosing between it and the Champions League, its a moot point. You'll never have the option to choose. We either qualify for the CL or we don't. We either get to Wembley or we don't. The clue is in our club motto.
I hope when my daughter is old enough and if she choices to ruin her life with football, I hope her earliest memories include Lilywhite and silver and perhaps an iconic moment or two. I was lucky enough to see a bloke with a beard score a goal that will never be forgotten in the history of both Spurs and the FA Cup. It was a bit more special than Brooking's the year before. These are the moments that can never be take away from us.
We need more of these moments in our lives.
Reader Comments (26)
moot point, not mute point.
On a footballing note, Harry loves the cup so I'm pretty sure we'll be trying to win it. Got to be the kids today though as they're more than capable of beating Cheltenham and the Everton game is massive.
The pressure of that 'game in hand' significance and how the boys handle it will really tell us if they have the mental strength for the run-in.
I don't think it will be the kids. We've half the first team ready for a game and just as many injured players coming back. Expect 9 'first' teamers and a couple of 'kids'.
Spooky, you talk about glory and how we should give the cup the respect it deserves. Totally agreed. I was there when we lost to Portsmouth. That is looking more and more like a huge loss. One that should be rectified. But if you want to talk about glory let's talk about glory. Stop talking about Champions League or the cup. If we beat Everton on Wednesday we're 3 points off the top team and then we go to the top team at the end of the month. Glory? How about winning the league when we were considered outsiders for 4th? Let's try and win the cup sure, but how are the players supposed to believe if they've got fans who don't? We beat City away when it mattered last, and both teams have improved since then. We beat them with Peter Crouch up top last time. Let's beat them with Bale 2.0, Modric playing for a big contract elsewhere, VDV (who I'm pretty sure now bleeds navy and white,) Scotty Parker, King Ledley and the Raging Kaboul.
To dare is to do? Alright let's dare. Let's go for the cup by all means. But let's start giving our team the faith that they deserve.
GrammarNazi:
I think Spooky got it right. CL vs FAC - the point is "mute" (ie silent - not worth discussing) rather than "moot" (worthy of argument/discussion). Irony and wit are wonderful when compared to pedantry.
Go to the back of the queue!
I admire your efforts czyrko but there's no such expression as 'mute' point. It's moot.
Fine post, Spooky.
Equally good work from David.
All in all, lovely. Just lovely.
I agree with all you're saying but don't you think history is made in the league as well?
I for one will never forget Kaboul's bundle down the line to cross for Crouch for him to nod it past Hart and for the monotony of the Sky Four to be broken up, hopefully forever by MY club. I still have the newspaper from the day after because you can't deny that that night at Eastlands wasn't history...
wfrf
"Irony and wit..."?
COYFS
It's moot.
It's a typo.
I agree with all you're saying but don't you think history is made in the league as well?
I for one will never forget Kaboul's bundle down the line to cross for Crouch for him to nod it past Hart and for the monotony of the Sky Four to be broken up, hopefully forever by MY club. I still have the newspaper from the day after because you can't deny that that night at Eastlands wasn't history...
Jan 7, 2012 at 11:25 AM | AnonymousSpur
For sure. There are turning points, moments where progress shines through. Winning 1-0 to qualify for the CL was one of them as we always endeavoured to do so. Mocked for so long for aspiring to get there, mostly during an era when it was nigh impossible to challenge for it. But we kept at it, and for that we deserve the glory we got from it as it was a personal goal achieved by all at the club.
czyrko - you know me too well. Sometimes I do actually mean it, this time though...speed typing was at fault :)
David, love what you say. Love it. There is no glory in finishing in the top 4. Glory comes from winning things that matter. Let's aim for the league AND the cup! Let's be honest about this, we ain't real Madrid, we ain't even man u. We probably won't have a team like the current one for a generation.
I don't think we'll be signing any big names thus window but there is a promising youngster we should be signing right now. Gentlemen, I give you Jordan Rhodes. The no brainer signing of the window. £3m should do it
czyrko-
Not currencies I deal in, I'm afraid... :)
Surely we dont need to debate this against Cheltenham as any side Harry puts out should be capable of winning, without needing to call on the likes of Ade, Bale and Parker. The team will almost certainly include two regular first teamers (Daws/Lennon) and a few former regulars (Krank, Corluka, Bass, Gomes, Pav, etc) - if we cant win with those in the side, we really do have a problem.
It will be more interesting if we draw a top team in the next round - then we will see what Harry's attitude to the cup really is.
Lifting a trophy would be glorious, but not as glorious as the PL, and both the Mancs are looking a bit more vulnerable than before.
In any case, I'll have the memory of the ten wins and a draw in eleven games run, only to be broken by a travesty at Stoke and it might be a while before we see that again.
Leo, don't underestimate Cheltenham. Sounds daft I know, but they are going very well indeed. As spooky like to say, momentum is a wonderful thing. They're way better than shamrock, way better. And that wasn't a stroll in the park at home. Want ,ore context? They're neck and neck with the Crawley side who outplayed Utd at OT last season (and who have strengthened substantially since).
I've laid spurs for this game. Unfit side, not used to playing together, against a fully fit xi that have played the whole season together and are used to winning. I could easily see a draw. And of course theyll be roared on by a huge, very noisy following, contrasting with virtual silence from the home fans (as always against lower league opposition).
Spurs remain massive favourites of course, and I expect to lose my bet (as reflected in the odds), but don't think it'll be the shock of the century if this goes to a replay.
“Moot” is a very old word related to “meeting,” specifically a meeting where serious matters are discussed. Oddly enough, a moot point can be a point worth discussing at a meeting (or in court)—an unresolved question—or it can be the opposite: a point already settled and not worth discussing further. At any rate, “mute point” is simply wrong, as is the less common “mood point.” see "common errors in english usage"
Didn't Crouch nod past ex-Spur Martin Fulop? Seem to remember that Hart was on loan at the time (Birmingham?) and City made a special request to get Fulop into their side. Anyway, hardly a moot point, especially as I was totally off my tits at the time...
'The clue is in our club motto' did you mean grotto?
Sozz couldn't resist
haha
SPURS STARTING XI: Cudicini; Livermore, Bassong, Dawson, Rose; Lennon, Kranjcar, Pienaar, Giovani; Defoe, Pavlyuchenko.
Subs: Gomes, Kaboul, Bostock, Carroll, Falque, Parrett, van der Vaart.
Anyone care to point out our defensive mid for today?
any live stream today?
Don't care.
I bet you do care...even if just a little.
So much for needing a DM. Sounds like a walk in the part. Niko with all the time in the world. Still, 3 division difference, you'd expect that.
Good post Spooky. I started following Spurs in the early 1970's. They won 3 trophies in the first 3 years that I supported them. It's tough for an old git like me to get used to Spurs as a title-chasing team as in my mind we were always a cup side. The dilemma, as you point out, has come about because of the fact that cups don't get you anywhere nowadays. In olden times, there were 3 knock-out European competitions which were all regarded highly, even if the European Cup was considered the ultimate prize.
Winning anything was a big deal. Spurs kept the Scum out of the UEFA Cup in 1973 by winning the League Cup. Even though the gooners came second in the league, in them days only one team from a city was allowed to play in the UEFA cup (this was a throw-back to its previous incarnation as the Fairs Cup). Winning the LC was considered better than being runners-up in the league. How times have changed.
"Didn't Crouch nod past ex-Spur Martin Fulop? Seem to remember that Hart was on loan at the time (Birmingham?) and City made a special request to get Fulop into their side.
Jan 7, 2012 at 1:33 PM | Big Fish
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You are correct, Big Fish; it was fucking Fulop and not Hart. IMO, this kid had a MOTM performance on that game, and is the sole reason for my nasty heartburn that day.
Too bad there was no way to see this game via the Internet, but according to the Live Commentary on the official Spurs site it seems that Kranky was "Modders" in this game. I know that some will try to play it down by claiming our opponents were 3 divisions lower ranks, but I don’t buy it. You either have it in you (imagination, pitch-vision and touch) or you don’t, regardless of the opponents.