Let’s pretend we scored a goal

Thanks to everyone that cited 1882 (blocks 15 and 16 allocated) when getting tickets for the NextGen game at the Lane against Barca on Thursday night. Around 600 or so like-minded supporters turned up, stood up and sang for 90 minutes. Great atmosphere before the game at the Bricklayers pub and relentless enthusiasm right up to the final whistle and beyond. Okay, so there were some issues with overzealous stewards during the first half including the Old Bill doing the rounds although to be fair to them they were only following club policy, something witnessed on any given match day at Spurs.

Although this is an U-19’s game its hardly the same category as a fully fledged league match. Lack of communication it would seem was the reason as the head steward was apologetic to one Spurs fan after a heated debate on the subject. They didn’t seem to know the club had arranged the blocks for us (supporters that wanted to sing – you try signing sitting down). Second half, they let us get on with it proving safe standing is exactly that. So thank you to Spurs and the stewards. I’m sure it will be slicker next time round.

If you missed this whole 1882 thing first time round, it involved us travelling to Charlton away last season for the FA Youth Cup. 250 turned up for it, singing for the entirety of the match. We lost, 1-0. We didn’t care much, we just sang about Spurs. Considering all the coverage over the current supporting landscape at the Lane and the nervous, fearful approach – the aim of Thursday evening was to bring back some of that upbeat, constant love for the shirt no matter what was going on around us. I think we did pretty well. Just over 8k turned up for the game which is amazing in itself. Barca won 2-0, not unexpected. Out of our lot Pritchard looks a gem. Samper is one to watch for Barca.

I guess the thing that sticks out most from the evening is that if this sort of unofficial standing area was not available on the night, if Spurs were not accommodating then there would not have been the atmosphere created because all the people that want to sing will have had tickets all over the West Stand leaving them fragmented. Stick them all in one place and you get what we got: Support, from start to finish. Then again, the fact we need a singing section to produce a far better experience than sitting there doing nothing is another example of modern football and that's why we started 1882. To draw people in.

Okay, so the pressure of youth football from a supporter’s perspective is not on the same level of expectancy than first team football. But considering the Park Lane lower was once known for its voice, seems a shame and a waste that if the hardcore stand there, they’re not producing the same vocals every other weekend that 600 produced for a NextGen game. It’s not even about 1882 and The Fighting Cock. It’s simply about recapturing that romantic notion of being proud of the badge on the shirt and not caring about anything other than being Tottenham Hotspur. Everyone at Spurs has a voice. It’s better to be heard singing that it is complaining.

The essence of supporter is to support. If that makes us a dying breed, so be it. We'll be part of it until the end.

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Great to meet a few more people off Twitter, although not enough of you it seems. Avatars on t-shirts like name tags next time? Missed out on a couple of handshakes and hugs. Pleasure to chat to Crackers who hosts the 'Ohh When the Spurs' podcast with Antony Costa. And big love to @eperons, @Teflon6 and also @THFCAlex from Norway with a better English accent than most English people - all of them travelled in from the continent to make the game. Not forgetting the God like CaseTFC (webmaster of The Fighting Cock website) who visited the Lane from Crewe.

The West Stand has never been so noisy. We'll be part of it until the end.

#1882tfc

Follow @lovetheshirt

Barca at the Lane

I think it's no surprise that The Fighting Cock finds the booing at the previous two home games embarrassing. But it makes the #1882tfc event at the Barca game all the more important. Modern football is making fans obsessed with success.

We want to remove the idea that supporting your club positively isn't wholly dependant on whether or not we're playing well. We want to sing for the shirt that the players are wearing purely for that reason...that they are wearing it.

If you're against the booing this game is a genuine opportunity to be a different supporter. One that supports because they love THFC. We're going to be there singing our hearts out for that beautiful glorious Lilywhite shirt, because, after all, that's what it's all about.

If you want to join #1882tfc movement everything you need to know is here:

thefightingcock.co.uk/tag/1882/

Ticket Info:

Tottenham Hotspur vs Barcelona in the NextGen Series. Thursday 13th September, KO 7pm.

Call the ticket office on 0844 844 0102, select option 2 and quote ’1882′. At the time of writing there's around 100 tickets left in blocks 15 and 16.

Meet before the game in the Bricklayers pub around 5pm.

Follow the hashtag #1882tfc on Twitter.

Love the Shirt

1882: Spurs v Barca, NextGen

Update.

Further to the announcement of the 1882 movement, The Fighting Cock are delighted to confirm that the club have allocated us two blocks (15-16) in the West Lower for the NextGen games against Barcelona. That’s about 600 seats. It would be amazing to sell them all, which would easily do the 250 we took to the Charlton youth game back in March.

For those that want to meet before the game we will be in the Bricklayers pub from about 5pm. They know we’re coming.

Ticket info:

This is the email we received from Spurs:

We have had an internal meeting and I can confirm that we have reserved off 2 blocks for the NextGen series fixture against Barcelona on Thursday 13th September.

The blocks that have been allocated to you are blocks 15 and 16 which are located in the West Lower. Tickets are priced at adults £5, One Hotspur adult members can purchase tickets at £3 and Junior and Senior Citizen tickets will be priced at £1.00.

To book tickets please contact the ticket office on 0844 844 0102 and select option 2. When booking tickets we ask that your members quote the name of your group ’1882′ as this way you will all be located together. All the staff in the ticket office have been made aware of your group and the reserved area for this fixture.

I have spoken to our safety officer who has informed me that banners and large flags are not permitted in the ground however standard sized flags are allowed and will not be confiscated.

Tottenham Hotspur vs Barcelona in the NextGen Series. Thursday 13th September, KO 7pm. Call the ticket office on 0844 844 0102 and quote ’1882′ Meet before the game in the Bricklayers pub around 5pm.

1882

On 13th September 2012, at 7pm, Tottenham Hotspur play Barcelona at White Hart Lane in the NextGen Series, the competition that sorts out the pecking order of the very best of the youth teams in Europe.

While on the pitch a game against one of Europe's best youth set ups will be a stern test, in the stands it will be a different matter:

Last season The Fighting Cock organised for 250 fans to travel down to the Valley to watch the Spurs youth team take on Charlton in the FA Youth Cup. We lost one nil. That didn't matter. The point of the night was to support our team, and the shirt they play in. To sing as loud and as long as our lungs would let us. And we didn't disappoint.

We wanted to hark back to the days before the Premier League, when how loud you sing and how passionate you became wasn't dependent on how well Tottenham were playing. Simply being there, and being Spurs was enough. Now we want to do it again at White Hart Lane.

Last year it was called 'The Ultras' but this created unwanted attention. From this point onwards it's '1882'.

We've been speaking with the club about ticketing arrangements, prices etc. so we'll keep you posted via the Fighting Cock podcast and additionally on the forum.