Tottenham Hotspur Football Club - A Not-So-Brief History
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to simply as Tottenham or Spurs, is an English football club located in Tottenham, Haringey, London that competes in the Premier League. The club's home for the 2017–18 season will be Wembley Stadium, as their former home of White Hart Lane is being dismantled to make way for a completely new rebuilt stadium on the same site. Their newly developed training ground is in Bulls Cross on the northern borders of the London Borough of Enfield.
Founded in 1882, Tottenham won the FA Cup for the first time in 1901, making them the only non-League club to do so since the formation of the Football League in 1888. Tottenham were the first club in the 20th century to achieve the League and FA Cup Double, winning both competitions in the 1960–61 season. After successfully defending the FA Cup in 1962, in 1963 they became the first British club to win a UEFA club competition – the European Cup Winners' Cup. In 1967, Spurs won the FA Cup for a third time in the 1960s. In the 1970s Tottenham won the League Cup on two occasions and were the inaugural winner of the UEFA Cup in 1972, becoming the first British club to win two different major European trophies. In the 1980s Spurs won several trophies: the FA Cup twice, FA Community Shield and the UEFA Cup in 1984. In the 1990s the club won the FA Cup and the League Cup. When they won the League Cup once more in 2008, it meant that they had won a major trophy in each of the last six decades – an achievement only matched by Manchester United.
The club's Latin motto is Audere est Facere ("To Dare Is to Do"), and its emblem is a cockerel standing upon a football. The club has a long-standing rivalry with nearby neighbours Arsenal, with head-to-head fixtures known as the North London derby.
Formation and early years (1882–1908)
The club was originally named Hotspur Football Club and it was formed on 5 September 1882 by a group of school boys led by Robert Buckle and two of his friends. They were members of the Hotspur Cricket Club, and the football club was formed so they may continue to play sports during the winter months. A year later the boys sought help with the club from John Ripsher, the Bible class teacher at All Hallows Church, who became the first president of the club and its treasurer. Ripsher helped and supported the boys through the club's formative years, reorganised and found premises for the club. In April 1884, due to mail from another club London Hotspur being misdirected to North London, the club was renamed Tottenham Hotspur Football Club to avoid any further confusion.
Initially, the boys played games between themselves and friendly matches against other local clubs. They team entered their first cup competition in the London Association Cup, and won their first competitive match on 17 October 1885. The matches of the club began to attract the interest of the local community and attendances at its matches increased. In 1892, they played for first time in a league, which is the short-lived Southern Alliance.
The club turned professional on 20 December 1895, and in the summer of 1896 they were admitted to the Division One of the Southern League. On 2 March 1898, the club also becomes a limited company, the Tottenham Hotspur Football and Athletic Company. Frank Brettell became the first ever manager of Spurs, and he signed John Cameron, who took over as player-manager when Brettell left a year later. Cameron would have a significant impact on Spurs, winning the club its first trophy, the Southern League title. The following year, on 27 April 1901, Spurs won the FA Cup after beating Sheffield United 3–1 in a replay of the 1901 Cup final, and became the only non-League club to have ever achieved such a feat since the formation of The Football League in 1888.
Early decades in Football League (1908–1958)
In 1908, the club was elected into the Football League Second Division, and won immediate promotion to the First Division when they finished runners-up in their first year in the league. In 1912, Peter McWilliam became manager; however, his records in the early years were unimpressive, and Tottenham were bottom of the league at the end of the 1914–15 season when football was suspended due to the First World War. Spurs were relegated to Division Two on the resumption of League football after the war, but quickly returned to Division One as Division Two champion of the 1919–20 season.
On 23 April 1921, McWilliam guided Spurs to their second FA Cup win, beating Wolverhampton Wanderers 1–0 in the Cup Final. In 1922, Spurs finished second to Liverpool in the League in 1922, but would finish mid-table in the next five seasons. Spurs was relegated in the 1927–28 season after McWilliam left. For most of the 30s and 40s, Spurs languished in the Second Division, apart from a brief return to the top flight in the 1933–34 and 1934–35 seasons.
Arthur Rowe, a former player for the club, became Spurs manager in 1949. Rowe developed a style of play, known as "push and run", that would prove successful in his early years as manager. He took the team back to the First Division after finishing top of the Second Division in 1949–50 season.[14] In his second season in charge, the team won Tottenham's first ever League Championship title when they finished top of the First Division of 1950–51 season. However, he resigned in April 1955 due to illness from the stress of managing the club. Nevertheless, before he left, he signed one of Spurs' most celebrated players, Danny Blanchflower, who would win the FWA Footballer of the Year twice while at Tottenham.
Bill Nicholson and the Glory Years (1958–1974)
Bill Nicholson took over as manager in October 1958. Nicholson would become the club's most successful manager, guiding the team to major trophy success three seasons in a row in the early 1960s: the double in 1961, the FA Cup in 1962 and the Cup Winners' Cup in 1963. Nicholson made three important signings – Dave Mackay and John White in 1959, two influential players of the Double-winning team, and Jimmy Greaves in 1961, the most prolific goalscorer in the history of the top tier of the Football League.
The 1960–61 season started with a run of 11 wins, at that time the best ever start by any club in the First Division. The title was won on 17 April 1961 when they beat the eventual runner-up Sheffield Wednesday at home 2–1, with three more games still to play. The Double was achieved when Spurs won 2–0 against Leicester in the final of the 1960–61 FA Cup. This is the first Double of the 20th century, and the first since Aston Villa achieved the feat in 1897. The next year Spurs won their consecutive FA Cup after beating Burnley in the 1962 FA Cup Final.
On 15 May 1963 Tottenham would also become the first British team to win a European trophy by winning the 1962–63 European Cup Winners' Cup when they beat Atlético Madrid 5–1 in the Cup Winners' Cup Final. Spurs added another European trophy when they won the 1971–72 UEFA Cup with a rebuilt team that included Martin Chivers, Pat Jennings, and Steve Perryman. They also won the FA Cup in 1967, and two League Cups (in 1971 and 1973). In total Nicholson won eight major trophies in his 16 years at the club.
Burkinshaw to Venables (1974–1992)
Spurs went into a period of decline after the successes of the early 70s, and Nicholson decided to resigned after a poor start to the 1974–75 season. The team was then relegated at the end of the 1976–77 season with Burkinshaw as manager. Burkinshaw however quickly returned the club to the top flight, built a team that included Glenn Hoddle as well as two Argentinians Osvaldo Ardiles and Ricardo Villa (their signings were very uncommon as foreign players in British football were rare at that time). The team that Burkinshaw rebuilt would win the FA Cup in 1981 and 1982, and the UEFA Cup in 1984.
The 1980s was a period of change that began with a new phase of redevelopment at White Hart Lane as well as a change of directors. Irving Scholar took over the club and moved it in a more commercial direction, the beginning of the transformation of English football clubs into commercial enterprises. Debt at the club, however, would again lead to a change in the boardroom, and Terry Venables teamed up with businessman Alan Sugar in June 1991 to take control of Tottenham Hotspur PLC. Venables, who became manager in 1987, signed players such as Paul Gascoigne and Gary Lineker. In 1991, Spurs again won the 1990–91 FA Cup, making them the first club to win eight FA Cups.
Premier League football (1992–present)
Spurs was one of the five clubs that pushed for the founding of Premier League, created with the approval of The Football Association as replacement for the Football League First Division as the highest division of English football. Despite a succession of managers and players such as Teddy Sheringham, Jürgen Klinsmann and David Ginola, for a long period in the Premier League until the late 2000s, Spurs finished mid-table most seasons with few trophies won. They won the League Cup in in 1999 under George Graham, and in 2008 under Juande Ramos. From the late 2000s onwards, Spurs have finished in the top 6.
In February 2001, Sugar sold his shareholding in Spurs to ENIC Sports PLC, run by Joe Lewis and Daniel Levy, and stepped down as chairman.[30] Lewis and Levy would eventually own 85% of the club, with Levy responsible for the running of the club. The current manager is Mauricio Pochettino who was appointed in May 2014.
Stadium
Early grounds
Spurs played their first matches on public land at the Park Lane end of Tottenham Marshes where they needed to mark out and prepare their own pitch. Occasionally fights may break out on the marshes in dispute with other teams over as to who may use the best ground. The first Spurs game reported by the local press took place on Tottenham Marshes on 6 October 1883 against Brownlow Rovers, which Spurs won 9–0. It was at this ground that in 1887 Spurs first played the team that would later become their arch rivals Arsenal (then known as Royal Arsenal), leading 2–1 until the match got called off due to poor light after the away team arrived late.
As they played on public parkland, the club could not charge admission fees for spectators, and while the number of spectators grew to a few thousands, it yielded no gate receipts. In 1888, the club rented a pitch at Asplins Farm next to the railway line at Northumberland Park at a cost of £17 per annum, where spectators may be charged 3d a game, raised to 6d for cup ties. The first match on the ground was on 13 October 1888, a reserve match that yielded gate receipts of 17 shillings. The first stand with just over 100 seats and changing rooms underneath was built on the ground for the 1894–95 season at a cost of £60, however, the stand was blown down a few weeks later and had to be repaired. In April 1898, 14,000 fans turned up to watch Spurs play Woolwich Arsenal. In the overcrowded ground, spectators climbed up onto the roof of the refreshment stand, which then collapsed causing a few injuries. As Northumberland Park can no longer cope with the larger crowds, Spurs were forced to look for a larger ground and moved to the White Hart Lane site in 1899.
White Hart Lane
First game at White Hart Lane, Spurs vs Notts County for the official opening on 4 September 1899
The White Hart Lane ground was originally a disused nursery owned by the brewery Charringtons and located behind a public house named White Hart on Tottenham High Road (the actual White Hart Lane road lies a few hundred yards north of the main entrance). The ground was initially leased from Charringtons, and the stands they used at Northumberland Park were moved here, giving shelter for 2,500 spectators. Notts County were the first visitors to 'the Lane' in a friendly watched by 5,000 people and provided in £115 in receipts; Spurs won 4–1. QPR became the first competitive visitors to the ground and 11,000 people saw them lose 1–0 to Tottenham. In 1905, Tottenham raised enough money to buy the freehold to the land as well as land at the northern (Paxton Road) end.
After Spurs was admitted to the Football League, the club started to rebuild the stadium, with new stands designed by Archibald Leitch being constructed over the next two and a half decades. The West Stand was added in 1909, the East stand was also covered this year and extended further two years later. The profits from the 1921 FA Cup win were used to build a covered terrace at the Paxton Road end and the Park Lane end was built at a cost of over £3,000 some two years later. This increased the ground's capacity to around 58,000 with room for 40,000 under cover. The East Stand (Worcester Avenue) stand was finished in 1934 and this increased capacity to around 80,000 spectators but cost £60,000.
Starting in the early 1980s, the stadium underwent another major phase of redevelopment. The West Stand was replaced by an expensive new structure in 1982, and the East Stand was renovated in 1988. In 1992, following the Taylor Report's recommendation that Premier League clubs eliminate standing areas, the lower terraces of the south and east stand were converted to seating, with the north stand becoming all-seater the following season. The south stand redevelopment was completed in March 1995 and included the first giant Sony Jumbotron TV screen for live game coverage and away match screenings. In 1997/98 season the Paxton Road stand had a new upper tier added which included the second Jumbotron screen. Minor amendments to the seating configuration were made in 2006 bringing the current capacity of the stadium to 36,310.
By the turn of the millennium, the capacity of White Hart Lane had fallen significantly behind compared to other major Premier League clubs. Talks began over the future of White Hart Lane with a number of schemes considered, such as increasing the stadium capacity by redevelopment of the current site or the use of the 2012 London Olympic Stadium in Stratford. Eventually the club settled on the Northumberland Development Project, whereby a new stadium would be built on a larger piece of land that incorporated the White Hart Lane site. In 2016, the northeast corner of White Hart Lane was removed to facilitate the construction of the new stadium. As this reduced the stadium capacity below that required for European games, Tottenham Hotspur played every European home game in 2016–17 at Wembley Stadium.[45] Domestic fixtures of the 2016–17 season continued to be played at the Lane, but demolition of the rest of the stadium started the day after the last game of the season,[46] and White Hart Lane was completely demolished by the end of July 2017.[47]
Northumberland Development Project
In October 2008, the club announced a plan to build a new stadium immediately to the north of the existing White Hart Lane stadium, with the southern half of the new stadium's pitch overlapping the northern part of the Lane. The club submitted a planning application in October 2009, but following critical reactions to the plan, it was withdrawn in favour of a substantially revised planning application for a larger stadium and other associated developments. The new plan was resubmitted and approved by the Haringey Council in September 2010, and an agreement for the Northumberland Development Project was signed 20 September 2011.
After a long delay over the compulsory purchase order of local businesses located on land to the north of the stadium and a legal challenge against the order, resolved in early 2015, planning application for another new design was approved by Haringey Council on 17 December 2015.[54] Construction of the new stadium started in 2016, and the stadium is scheduled to open for the start of the 2018/19 season. While the stadium is under construction, all Tottenham home games in the 2017–18 season would be played at Wembley Stadium. The new stadium is as yet unnamed.
Crest
Since the 1921 FA Cup final the Tottenham Hotspur crest has featured a cockerel. Harry Hotspur, after whom the club is named, was said to have been given the nickname Hotspur as he dug in his spurs to make his horse go faster as he charged in battles, and he was also said to be fond of fighting cocks fitted with spurs. The club used spurs as a symbol in 1900 which then evolved into a fighting cock. A former player named William James Scott made a bronze cast of a cockerel standing on a football at a cost of £35, and this 9 foot 6 inches emblem figure was then placed on top of the West Stand the end of the 1909–10 season. Since then the cockerel and ball emblem has become a part of the club's identity.
Between 1956 and 2006 Spurs used a faux heraldic shield featuring a number of local landmarks and associations. The lions flanking the shield came from the Northumberland family (of which Harry Hotspur was a member). The castle is Bruce Castle, 400 yards from the ground and the trees are the Seven Sisters. The arms featured the Latin motto Audere Est Facere (to dare is to do).
In 1983, to overcome unauthorized "pirate" merchandising, the club's badge was altered by adding the two red heraldic lions and the motto scroll. This device appeared on most Spurs' playing kits for the next 23 years.
In 2006 to rebrand and modernize the club's image, the club badge and coat of arms were dumped for a professionally designed logo/emblem. This revamp showed a leaner, fitter cockerel on an old-time football. The club claims that the rebranding kept much of the original meaning of the name, but emphasized its originality.
In November 2013, Tottenham forced non-league club Fleet Spurs to change their badge because its new design was "too similar" to the Tottenham crest.
Kit
The first Tottenham kit was in navy blue shirt with a letter H on a scarlet shield with on the left breast. In 1884 the club changed to a "quartered" kit similar in style to that of Blackburn Rovers after watching them win in the 1884 FA Cup Final. Shortly after moving to Northumberland Road, the kit changed again to red shirt and blue shorts. Five years later, after becoming a professional club, they switched to a chocolate and gold striped kit.
At the end of the 19th century the club switched colours yet again, to the white shirts and blue shorts which they are now well known for wearing, hence the nickname "Lilywhites". This colour choice is thought to be in homage to Preston North End who had recently done The Double. White and navy blue have remained as the club's basic colours ever since. Soon after the First World War, the cockerel badge was added to the shirt. In 1939 numbers first appeared on shirt backs, and in 1983 Holsten became the first commercial sponsor logo to appear on the shirt. The club were the first to wear long-cut shorts, an innovation at a time where football kits all featured shorts cut well above the knee.
When Thomson was chosen as kit sponsor in 2002 some Tottenham fans were unhappy as the shirt-front logo was red, the colour of their closest rivals, Arsenal. In 2006, Tottenham then succeeded in securing a record £34 million sponsorship deal with internet casino group Mansion.com.
In July 2010 Spurs announced a two-year shirt sponsorship contract with software infrastructure company Autonomy. It was said to be worth £20 million. A month later they unveiled a deal with leading specialist bank and asset management firm Investec as shirt sponsor for the Champions League and domestic cup competitions for the next two years. The deal was worth £5 million.
In March 2011, Under Armour announced a five-year deal to supply Spurs with shirts and other apparel from the start of 2012–13, but other deal terms were undisclosed. The kit was revealed on 12 July in London and two weeks later the third kit was revealed via the promotion of Electronic Arts' FIFA 13 video game.
Ownership
Tottenham Hotspur F.C. became a limited company, The Tottenham Hotspur Football and Athletic Company Ltd, on 2 March 1898 so as to raise funds for the club and limit the personal liability of its members. 8,000 shares were issued at £1 each, although only 1,558 shares were taken up in the first year. Members of the Wale family, who had association with the club since the 1930s and were chairmen of Tottenham Hotspur F.C. in the 1960s and 1970s, were once the largest shareholder of the club. In the early 1980s, cost overruns in the construction of a new West Stand together with the cost of rebuilding the team in previous years led to financial difficulties for the club. In November 1982, Irving Scholar bought 25% of the club for £600,000, and together with Paul Bobroff gained control of the club. Scholar floated Tottenham Hotspur plc, which wholly owns the football club, on the London Stock Exchange in 1983, the first European sports club to be listed in a stock market.[80] The share issue was successful with 3.8 million shares quickly sold. However, ill-judged financial decisions led to accumulating debts, and in June 1991 Terry Venables teamed up with businessman Alan Sugar in June 1991 to buy the club, initially as equal partner with each investing £3.25 million. Sugar however would increase his stake to £8 million by December 1991 and became the dominant partner with effective control of the club. In May 1993, Venables was sacked from the board after a dispute. By 2000, debts again prompted Sugar to consider selling the club, and in February 2001, Sugar sold the major part of his shareholding to ENIC International Ltd.
Between 2001 and 2011 shares in Tottenham Hotspur F.C. were listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM index). The majority shareholder, ENIC International Ltd, is an investment company established by the British billionaire Joe Lewis. Daniel Levy, Lewis's partner at ENIC, is Executive Chairman of the club. They had acquired 29.9% after buying 27% share of the club for £22 million from Sugar in 1991. Shareholding by ENIC increased over the decade through the purchase of the remaining 12% holding of Alan Sugar in 2007 for £25m, and the 9.9% stake belonging to Stelios Haji-Ioannou through Hodram Inc in 2009. On 21 August 2009 the club reported that they had issued a further 30 million shares to fund the initial development costs of the new stadium project, and that 27.8 million of these new shares had been purchased by ENIC.The Annual Report for 2010 indicated that ENIC had acquired 76% of all Ordinary Shares and also held 97% of all convertible redeemable preference shares, equivalent to a holding of 85% of share capital. Following an announcement at the 2011 AGM, in January 2012 the club confirmed that they had been transferred into the private ownership of ENIC.
Support
Tottenham have a large fan base in the United Kingdom, drawn largely from north London and the Home counties. Five times between 1946 and 1969, Tottenham had the highest average attendance in England. There are also Tottenham supporters' clubs located all over the world. Tottenham were 9th in average attendances for the 2008–09 Premier League season, and 11th for all Premier League seasons. Historical supporters of the club have included such figures as A.J. Ayer. Tottenham supporters have rivalries with several clubs, mainly within the London area. The fiercest of these is with north London rivals Arsenal. They also share notable rivalries with fellow London clubs Chelsea and West Ham United.
After Spurs completed the Double in 1960–61, the club entered the European Cup for the first time. Their first opponents were Górnik Zabrze the Polish champions and after a hard-fought match Spurs suffered a 4–2 reverse. Tottenham's tough-tackling prompted the Polish press to describe them as "they were no angels". These comments incensed a group of three fans and for the return match at White Hart Lane they dressed as angels wearing white sheets fashioned into togas, sandals, false beards and carrying placards bearing biblical-type slogans. The angels were allowed on the perimeter of the pitch and their fervour whipped up the home fans who responded with a rendition of "Glory Glory Hallelujah", which is still sung on terraces at White Hart Lane and other football grounds.
The Lilywhites also responded to the atmosphere to win the tie 8–1. Manager of Spurs, Bill Nicholson, wrote in his autobiography: “A new sound was heard in English football in the 1961–2 season. It was the hymn Glory, Glory Hallelujah being sung by 60,000 fans at White Hart Lane in our European Cup matches. I don't know how it started or who started it, but it took over the ground like a religious feeling.”— Bill Nicholson
Social Responsibility
The club through its Community Programme has, since 2006, been working with Haringey Council and the Metropolitan Housing Trust and the local community on developing sports facilities and social programmes which have also been financially supported by Barclays Spaces for Sport and the Football Foundation. The Tottenham Hotspur Foundation received high-level political support from the prime minister when it was launched at 10 Downing Street in February 2007.
In March 2007 the Club announced a partnership with the charity SOS Children's Villages UK. Player fines will go towards this charity's children's village in Rustenburg, South Africa with the funds being used to cover the running costs as well as in support of a variety of community development projects in and around Rustenburg. In the financial year 2006–07, Tottenham topped a league of Premier League charitable donations when viewed both in overall terms and as a percentage of turnover by giving £4,545,889, including a one-off contribution of £4.5 million over four years, to set up the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation. This compared to donations of £9,763 in 2005–06.
This commitment is an example of professional sport supporting the communities and people who support and enrich them through their attendance and other participation and support.
The football club is one of the highest profile participants in the 10:10 project which encourages individuals, businesses and organizations to take action on environmental issues. They joined in 2009 in a commitment to reducing their carbon footprint. To do this they upgraded their lights to more efficient models, they turned down their heating dials and took less short-haul flights among a host of other things. After working with 10:10 for one year, they reported that they had reduced their carbon emissions by an impressive 14%.
In contrast, they have successfully sought the reduction of section 106 planning obligations connected to the redevelopment of the stadium. Initially the development would incorporate 50% affordable housing (100 out of 200), but this was reduced to 0 out of 285 when Spurs suggested that the development was not financially viable with this obligation. In addition, a payment of £16m for community infrastructure was reduced to £0.5m. This is controversial in an area which has suffered high levels of deprivation as well as long-term planning blight as Spurs bought up property for the development, leaving it empty.
Major Honours
Domestic
League competitions
First Division/Premier League: Winners (2): 1950–51, 1960–61
Second Division/Championship:[116] Winners (2): 1919–20, 1949–50
Cup competitions
FA Cup: Winners (8): 1900–01, 1920–21, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1966–67, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1990–91
League Cup: Winners (4): 1970–71, 1972–73, 1998–99, 2007–08
FA Charity Shield/FA Community Shield: Winners (7): 1921, 1951, 1961, 1962, 1967*, 1981*, 1991* (*shared)
European
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: Winners (1): 1962–63
UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League: Winners (2): 1971–72, 1983–84
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to simply as Tottenham or Spurs, is an English football club located in Tottenham, Haringey, London that competes in the Premier League. The club's home for the 2017–18 season will be Wembley Stadium, as their former home of White Hart Lane is being dismantled to make way for a completely new rebuilt stadium on the same site. Their newly developed training ground is in Bulls Cross on the northern borders of the London Borough of Enfield.
Founded in 1882, Tottenham won the FA Cup for the first time in 1901, making them the only non-League club to do so since the formation of the Football League in 1888. Tottenham were the first club in the 20th century to achieve the League and FA Cup Double, winning both competitions in the 1960–61 season. After successfully defending the FA Cup in 1962, in 1963 they became the first British club to win a UEFA club competition – the European Cup Winners' Cup. In 1967, Spurs won the FA Cup for a third time in the 1960s. In the 1970s Tottenham won the League Cup on two occasions and were the inaugural winner of the UEFA Cup in 1972, becoming the first British club to win two different major European trophies. In the 1980s Spurs won several trophies: the FA Cup twice, FA Community Shield and the UEFA Cup in 1984. In the 1990s the club won the FA Cup and the League Cup. When they won the League Cup once more in 2008, it meant that they had won a major trophy in each of the last six decades – an achievement only matched by Manchester United.
The club's Latin motto is Audere est Facere ("To Dare Is to Do"), and its emblem is a cockerel standing upon a football. The club has a long-standing rivalry with nearby neighbours Arsenal, with head-to-head fixtures known as the North London derby.
Formation and early years (1882–1908)
The club was originally named Hotspur Football Club and it was formed on 5 September 1882 by a group of school boys led by Robert Buckle and two of his friends. They were members of the Hotspur Cricket Club, and the football club was formed so they may continue to play sports during the winter months. A year later the boys sought help with the club from John Ripsher, the Bible class teacher at All Hallows Church, who became the first president of the club and its treasurer. Ripsher helped and supported the boys through the club's formative years, reorganised and found premises for the club. In April 1884, due to mail from another club London Hotspur being misdirected to North London, the club was renamed Tottenham Hotspur Football Club to avoid any further confusion.
Initially, the boys played games between themselves and friendly matches against other local clubs. They team entered their first cup competition in the London Association Cup, and won their first competitive match on 17 October 1885. The matches of the club began to attract the interest of the local community and attendances at its matches increased. In 1892, they played for first time in a league, which is the short-lived Southern Alliance.
The club turned professional on 20 December 1895, and in the summer of 1896 they were admitted to the Division One of the Southern League. On 2 March 1898, the club also becomes a limited company, the Tottenham Hotspur Football and Athletic Company. Frank Brettell became the first ever manager of Spurs, and he signed John Cameron, who took over as player-manager when Brettell left a year later. Cameron would have a significant impact on Spurs, winning the club its first trophy, the Southern League title. The following year, on 27 April 1901, Spurs won the FA Cup after beating Sheffield United 3–1 in a replay of the 1901 Cup final, and became the only non-League club to have ever achieved such a feat since the formation of The Football League in 1888.
Early decades in Football League (1908–1958)
In 1908, the club was elected into the Football League Second Division, and won immediate promotion to the First Division when they finished runners-up in their first year in the league. In 1912, Peter McWilliam became manager; however, his records in the early years were unimpressive, and Tottenham were bottom of the league at the end of the 1914–15 season when football was suspended due to the First World War. Spurs were relegated to Division Two on the resumption of League football after the war, but quickly returned to Division One as Division Two champion of the 1919–20 season.
On 23 April 1921, McWilliam guided Spurs to their second FA Cup win, beating Wolverhampton Wanderers 1–0 in the Cup Final. In 1922, Spurs finished second to Liverpool in the League in 1922, but would finish mid-table in the next five seasons. Spurs was relegated in the 1927–28 season after McWilliam left. For most of the 30s and 40s, Spurs languished in the Second Division, apart from a brief return to the top flight in the 1933–34 and 1934–35 seasons.
Arthur Rowe, a former player for the club, became Spurs manager in 1949. Rowe developed a style of play, known as "push and run", that would prove successful in his early years as manager. He took the team back to the First Division after finishing top of the Second Division in 1949–50 season.[14] In his second season in charge, the team won Tottenham's first ever League Championship title when they finished top of the First Division of 1950–51 season. However, he resigned in April 1955 due to illness from the stress of managing the club. Nevertheless, before he left, he signed one of Spurs' most celebrated players, Danny Blanchflower, who would win the FWA Footballer of the Year twice while at Tottenham.
Bill Nicholson and the Glory Years (1958–1974)
Bill Nicholson took over as manager in October 1958. Nicholson would become the club's most successful manager, guiding the team to major trophy success three seasons in a row in the early 1960s: the double in 1961, the FA Cup in 1962 and the Cup Winners' Cup in 1963. Nicholson made three important signings – Dave Mackay and John White in 1959, two influential players of the Double-winning team, and Jimmy Greaves in 1961, the most prolific goalscorer in the history of the top tier of the Football League.
The 1960–61 season started with a run of 11 wins, at that time the best ever start by any club in the First Division. The title was won on 17 April 1961 when they beat the eventual runner-up Sheffield Wednesday at home 2–1, with three more games still to play. The Double was achieved when Spurs won 2–0 against Leicester in the final of the 1960–61 FA Cup. This is the first Double of the 20th century, and the first since Aston Villa achieved the feat in 1897. The next year Spurs won their consecutive FA Cup after beating Burnley in the 1962 FA Cup Final.
On 15 May 1963 Tottenham would also become the first British team to win a European trophy by winning the 1962–63 European Cup Winners' Cup when they beat Atlético Madrid 5–1 in the Cup Winners' Cup Final. Spurs added another European trophy when they won the 1971–72 UEFA Cup with a rebuilt team that included Martin Chivers, Pat Jennings, and Steve Perryman. They also won the FA Cup in 1967, and two League Cups (in 1971 and 1973). In total Nicholson won eight major trophies in his 16 years at the club.
Burkinshaw to Venables (1974–1992)
Spurs went into a period of decline after the successes of the early 70s, and Nicholson decided to resigned after a poor start to the 1974–75 season. The team was then relegated at the end of the 1976–77 season with Burkinshaw as manager. Burkinshaw however quickly returned the club to the top flight, built a team that included Glenn Hoddle as well as two Argentinians Osvaldo Ardiles and Ricardo Villa (their signings were very uncommon as foreign players in British football were rare at that time). The team that Burkinshaw rebuilt would win the FA Cup in 1981 and 1982, and the UEFA Cup in 1984.
The 1980s was a period of change that began with a new phase of redevelopment at White Hart Lane as well as a change of directors. Irving Scholar took over the club and moved it in a more commercial direction, the beginning of the transformation of English football clubs into commercial enterprises. Debt at the club, however, would again lead to a change in the boardroom, and Terry Venables teamed up with businessman Alan Sugar in June 1991 to take control of Tottenham Hotspur PLC. Venables, who became manager in 1987, signed players such as Paul Gascoigne and Gary Lineker. In 1991, Spurs again won the 1990–91 FA Cup, making them the first club to win eight FA Cups.
Premier League football (1992–present)
Spurs was one of the five clubs that pushed for the founding of Premier League, created with the approval of The Football Association as replacement for the Football League First Division as the highest division of English football. Despite a succession of managers and players such as Teddy Sheringham, Jürgen Klinsmann and David Ginola, for a long period in the Premier League until the late 2000s, Spurs finished mid-table most seasons with few trophies won. They won the League Cup in in 1999 under George Graham, and in 2008 under Juande Ramos. From the late 2000s onwards, Spurs have finished in the top 6.
In February 2001, Sugar sold his shareholding in Spurs to ENIC Sports PLC, run by Joe Lewis and Daniel Levy, and stepped down as chairman.[30] Lewis and Levy would eventually own 85% of the club, with Levy responsible for the running of the club. The current manager is Mauricio Pochettino who was appointed in May 2014.
Stadium
Early grounds
Spurs played their first matches on public land at the Park Lane end of Tottenham Marshes where they needed to mark out and prepare their own pitch. Occasionally fights may break out on the marshes in dispute with other teams over as to who may use the best ground. The first Spurs game reported by the local press took place on Tottenham Marshes on 6 October 1883 against Brownlow Rovers, which Spurs won 9–0. It was at this ground that in 1887 Spurs first played the team that would later become their arch rivals Arsenal (then known as Royal Arsenal), leading 2–1 until the match got called off due to poor light after the away team arrived late.
As they played on public parkland, the club could not charge admission fees for spectators, and while the number of spectators grew to a few thousands, it yielded no gate receipts. In 1888, the club rented a pitch at Asplins Farm next to the railway line at Northumberland Park at a cost of £17 per annum, where spectators may be charged 3d a game, raised to 6d for cup ties. The first match on the ground was on 13 October 1888, a reserve match that yielded gate receipts of 17 shillings. The first stand with just over 100 seats and changing rooms underneath was built on the ground for the 1894–95 season at a cost of £60, however, the stand was blown down a few weeks later and had to be repaired. In April 1898, 14,000 fans turned up to watch Spurs play Woolwich Arsenal. In the overcrowded ground, spectators climbed up onto the roof of the refreshment stand, which then collapsed causing a few injuries. As Northumberland Park can no longer cope with the larger crowds, Spurs were forced to look for a larger ground and moved to the White Hart Lane site in 1899.
White Hart Lane
First game at White Hart Lane, Spurs vs Notts County for the official opening on 4 September 1899
The White Hart Lane ground was originally a disused nursery owned by the brewery Charringtons and located behind a public house named White Hart on Tottenham High Road (the actual White Hart Lane road lies a few hundred yards north of the main entrance). The ground was initially leased from Charringtons, and the stands they used at Northumberland Park were moved here, giving shelter for 2,500 spectators. Notts County were the first visitors to 'the Lane' in a friendly watched by 5,000 people and provided in £115 in receipts; Spurs won 4–1. QPR became the first competitive visitors to the ground and 11,000 people saw them lose 1–0 to Tottenham. In 1905, Tottenham raised enough money to buy the freehold to the land as well as land at the northern (Paxton Road) end.
After Spurs was admitted to the Football League, the club started to rebuild the stadium, with new stands designed by Archibald Leitch being constructed over the next two and a half decades. The West Stand was added in 1909, the East stand was also covered this year and extended further two years later. The profits from the 1921 FA Cup win were used to build a covered terrace at the Paxton Road end and the Park Lane end was built at a cost of over £3,000 some two years later. This increased the ground's capacity to around 58,000 with room for 40,000 under cover. The East Stand (Worcester Avenue) stand was finished in 1934 and this increased capacity to around 80,000 spectators but cost £60,000.
Starting in the early 1980s, the stadium underwent another major phase of redevelopment. The West Stand was replaced by an expensive new structure in 1982, and the East Stand was renovated in 1988. In 1992, following the Taylor Report's recommendation that Premier League clubs eliminate standing areas, the lower terraces of the south and east stand were converted to seating, with the north stand becoming all-seater the following season. The south stand redevelopment was completed in March 1995 and included the first giant Sony Jumbotron TV screen for live game coverage and away match screenings. In 1997/98 season the Paxton Road stand had a new upper tier added which included the second Jumbotron screen. Minor amendments to the seating configuration were made in 2006 bringing the current capacity of the stadium to 36,310.
By the turn of the millennium, the capacity of White Hart Lane had fallen significantly behind compared to other major Premier League clubs. Talks began over the future of White Hart Lane with a number of schemes considered, such as increasing the stadium capacity by redevelopment of the current site or the use of the 2012 London Olympic Stadium in Stratford. Eventually the club settled on the Northumberland Development Project, whereby a new stadium would be built on a larger piece of land that incorporated the White Hart Lane site. In 2016, the northeast corner of White Hart Lane was removed to facilitate the construction of the new stadium. As this reduced the stadium capacity below that required for European games, Tottenham Hotspur played every European home game in 2016–17 at Wembley Stadium.[45] Domestic fixtures of the 2016–17 season continued to be played at the Lane, but demolition of the rest of the stadium started the day after the last game of the season,[46] and White Hart Lane was completely demolished by the end of July 2017.[47]
Northumberland Development Project
In October 2008, the club announced a plan to build a new stadium immediately to the north of the existing White Hart Lane stadium, with the southern half of the new stadium's pitch overlapping the northern part of the Lane. The club submitted a planning application in October 2009, but following critical reactions to the plan, it was withdrawn in favour of a substantially revised planning application for a larger stadium and other associated developments. The new plan was resubmitted and approved by the Haringey Council in September 2010, and an agreement for the Northumberland Development Project was signed 20 September 2011.
After a long delay over the compulsory purchase order of local businesses located on land to the north of the stadium and a legal challenge against the order, resolved in early 2015, planning application for another new design was approved by Haringey Council on 17 December 2015.[54] Construction of the new stadium started in 2016, and the stadium is scheduled to open for the start of the 2018/19 season. While the stadium is under construction, all Tottenham home games in the 2017–18 season would be played at Wembley Stadium. The new stadium is as yet unnamed.
Crest
Since the 1921 FA Cup final the Tottenham Hotspur crest has featured a cockerel. Harry Hotspur, after whom the club is named, was said to have been given the nickname Hotspur as he dug in his spurs to make his horse go faster as he charged in battles, and he was also said to be fond of fighting cocks fitted with spurs. The club used spurs as a symbol in 1900 which then evolved into a fighting cock. A former player named William James Scott made a bronze cast of a cockerel standing on a football at a cost of £35, and this 9 foot 6 inches emblem figure was then placed on top of the West Stand the end of the 1909–10 season. Since then the cockerel and ball emblem has become a part of the club's identity.
Between 1956 and 2006 Spurs used a faux heraldic shield featuring a number of local landmarks and associations. The lions flanking the shield came from the Northumberland family (of which Harry Hotspur was a member). The castle is Bruce Castle, 400 yards from the ground and the trees are the Seven Sisters. The arms featured the Latin motto Audere Est Facere (to dare is to do).
In 1983, to overcome unauthorized "pirate" merchandising, the club's badge was altered by adding the two red heraldic lions and the motto scroll. This device appeared on most Spurs' playing kits for the next 23 years.
In 2006 to rebrand and modernize the club's image, the club badge and coat of arms were dumped for a professionally designed logo/emblem. This revamp showed a leaner, fitter cockerel on an old-time football. The club claims that the rebranding kept much of the original meaning of the name, but emphasized its originality.
In November 2013, Tottenham forced non-league club Fleet Spurs to change their badge because its new design was "too similar" to the Tottenham crest.
Kit
The first Tottenham kit was in navy blue shirt with a letter H on a scarlet shield with on the left breast. In 1884 the club changed to a "quartered" kit similar in style to that of Blackburn Rovers after watching them win in the 1884 FA Cup Final. Shortly after moving to Northumberland Road, the kit changed again to red shirt and blue shorts. Five years later, after becoming a professional club, they switched to a chocolate and gold striped kit.
At the end of the 19th century the club switched colours yet again, to the white shirts and blue shorts which they are now well known for wearing, hence the nickname "Lilywhites". This colour choice is thought to be in homage to Preston North End who had recently done The Double. White and navy blue have remained as the club's basic colours ever since. Soon after the First World War, the cockerel badge was added to the shirt. In 1939 numbers first appeared on shirt backs, and in 1983 Holsten became the first commercial sponsor logo to appear on the shirt. The club were the first to wear long-cut shorts, an innovation at a time where football kits all featured shorts cut well above the knee.
When Thomson was chosen as kit sponsor in 2002 some Tottenham fans were unhappy as the shirt-front logo was red, the colour of their closest rivals, Arsenal. In 2006, Tottenham then succeeded in securing a record £34 million sponsorship deal with internet casino group Mansion.com.
In July 2010 Spurs announced a two-year shirt sponsorship contract with software infrastructure company Autonomy. It was said to be worth £20 million. A month later they unveiled a deal with leading specialist bank and asset management firm Investec as shirt sponsor for the Champions League and domestic cup competitions for the next two years. The deal was worth £5 million.
In March 2011, Under Armour announced a five-year deal to supply Spurs with shirts and other apparel from the start of 2012–13, but other deal terms were undisclosed. The kit was revealed on 12 July in London and two weeks later the third kit was revealed via the promotion of Electronic Arts' FIFA 13 video game.
Ownership
Tottenham Hotspur F.C. became a limited company, The Tottenham Hotspur Football and Athletic Company Ltd, on 2 March 1898 so as to raise funds for the club and limit the personal liability of its members. 8,000 shares were issued at £1 each, although only 1,558 shares were taken up in the first year. Members of the Wale family, who had association with the club since the 1930s and were chairmen of Tottenham Hotspur F.C. in the 1960s and 1970s, were once the largest shareholder of the club. In the early 1980s, cost overruns in the construction of a new West Stand together with the cost of rebuilding the team in previous years led to financial difficulties for the club. In November 1982, Irving Scholar bought 25% of the club for £600,000, and together with Paul Bobroff gained control of the club. Scholar floated Tottenham Hotspur plc, which wholly owns the football club, on the London Stock Exchange in 1983, the first European sports club to be listed in a stock market.[80] The share issue was successful with 3.8 million shares quickly sold. However, ill-judged financial decisions led to accumulating debts, and in June 1991 Terry Venables teamed up with businessman Alan Sugar in June 1991 to buy the club, initially as equal partner with each investing £3.25 million. Sugar however would increase his stake to £8 million by December 1991 and became the dominant partner with effective control of the club. In May 1993, Venables was sacked from the board after a dispute. By 2000, debts again prompted Sugar to consider selling the club, and in February 2001, Sugar sold the major part of his shareholding to ENIC International Ltd.
Between 2001 and 2011 shares in Tottenham Hotspur F.C. were listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM index). The majority shareholder, ENIC International Ltd, is an investment company established by the British billionaire Joe Lewis. Daniel Levy, Lewis's partner at ENIC, is Executive Chairman of the club. They had acquired 29.9% after buying 27% share of the club for £22 million from Sugar in 1991. Shareholding by ENIC increased over the decade through the purchase of the remaining 12% holding of Alan Sugar in 2007 for £25m, and the 9.9% stake belonging to Stelios Haji-Ioannou through Hodram Inc in 2009. On 21 August 2009 the club reported that they had issued a further 30 million shares to fund the initial development costs of the new stadium project, and that 27.8 million of these new shares had been purchased by ENIC.The Annual Report for 2010 indicated that ENIC had acquired 76% of all Ordinary Shares and also held 97% of all convertible redeemable preference shares, equivalent to a holding of 85% of share capital. Following an announcement at the 2011 AGM, in January 2012 the club confirmed that they had been transferred into the private ownership of ENIC.
Support
Tottenham have a large fan base in the United Kingdom, drawn largely from north London and the Home counties. Five times between 1946 and 1969, Tottenham had the highest average attendance in England. There are also Tottenham supporters' clubs located all over the world. Tottenham were 9th in average attendances for the 2008–09 Premier League season, and 11th for all Premier League seasons. Historical supporters of the club have included such figures as A.J. Ayer. Tottenham supporters have rivalries with several clubs, mainly within the London area. The fiercest of these is with north London rivals Arsenal. They also share notable rivalries with fellow London clubs Chelsea and West Ham United.
After Spurs completed the Double in 1960–61, the club entered the European Cup for the first time. Their first opponents were Górnik Zabrze the Polish champions and after a hard-fought match Spurs suffered a 4–2 reverse. Tottenham's tough-tackling prompted the Polish press to describe them as "they were no angels". These comments incensed a group of three fans and for the return match at White Hart Lane they dressed as angels wearing white sheets fashioned into togas, sandals, false beards and carrying placards bearing biblical-type slogans. The angels were allowed on the perimeter of the pitch and their fervour whipped up the home fans who responded with a rendition of "Glory Glory Hallelujah", which is still sung on terraces at White Hart Lane and other football grounds.
The Lilywhites also responded to the atmosphere to win the tie 8–1. Manager of Spurs, Bill Nicholson, wrote in his autobiography: “A new sound was heard in English football in the 1961–2 season. It was the hymn Glory, Glory Hallelujah being sung by 60,000 fans at White Hart Lane in our European Cup matches. I don't know how it started or who started it, but it took over the ground like a religious feeling.”— Bill Nicholson
Social Responsibility
The club through its Community Programme has, since 2006, been working with Haringey Council and the Metropolitan Housing Trust and the local community on developing sports facilities and social programmes which have also been financially supported by Barclays Spaces for Sport and the Football Foundation. The Tottenham Hotspur Foundation received high-level political support from the prime minister when it was launched at 10 Downing Street in February 2007.
In March 2007 the Club announced a partnership with the charity SOS Children's Villages UK. Player fines will go towards this charity's children's village in Rustenburg, South Africa with the funds being used to cover the running costs as well as in support of a variety of community development projects in and around Rustenburg. In the financial year 2006–07, Tottenham topped a league of Premier League charitable donations when viewed both in overall terms and as a percentage of turnover by giving £4,545,889, including a one-off contribution of £4.5 million over four years, to set up the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation. This compared to donations of £9,763 in 2005–06.
This commitment is an example of professional sport supporting the communities and people who support and enrich them through their attendance and other participation and support.
The football club is one of the highest profile participants in the 10:10 project which encourages individuals, businesses and organizations to take action on environmental issues. They joined in 2009 in a commitment to reducing their carbon footprint. To do this they upgraded their lights to more efficient models, they turned down their heating dials and took less short-haul flights among a host of other things. After working with 10:10 for one year, they reported that they had reduced their carbon emissions by an impressive 14%.
In contrast, they have successfully sought the reduction of section 106 planning obligations connected to the redevelopment of the stadium. Initially the development would incorporate 50% affordable housing (100 out of 200), but this was reduced to 0 out of 285 when Spurs suggested that the development was not financially viable with this obligation. In addition, a payment of £16m for community infrastructure was reduced to £0.5m. This is controversial in an area which has suffered high levels of deprivation as well as long-term planning blight as Spurs bought up property for the development, leaving it empty.
Major Honours
Domestic
League competitions
First Division/Premier League: Winners (2): 1950–51, 1960–61
Second Division/Championship:[116] Winners (2): 1919–20, 1949–50
Cup competitions
FA Cup: Winners (8): 1900–01, 1920–21, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1966–67, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1990–91
League Cup: Winners (4): 1970–71, 1972–73, 1998–99, 2007–08
FA Charity Shield/FA Community Shield: Winners (7): 1921, 1951, 1961, 1962, 1967*, 1981*, 1991* (*shared)
European
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: Winners (1): 1962–63
UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League: Winners (2): 1971–72, 1983–84