Tottenham Hotspur Football Club

Friday, 30 October 2009 - administrator

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club is an English football club from London playing in the Premier league. The club founded in 1882. The club is usually called ‘the Spurs’. The home stadium of the club is White Hart Lane and is located in the northern part of London – Hurringay.

Tottenham Hotspur was the first who in the 20th century made the Golden Double having won the Premier League and the FA Cup in the 1960-61 season. In 1963 the Spurs became the first English club that won the European Cup. In the 1980s the Spurs won several trophies: the FA Cup (twice), FA Community Shield, the UEFA Cup (in the 1983-84 season). In 2008 the club won the Football League Cup having beaten Chelsea in the final match with the score 2:1 in the added time. Thus, Tottenham Hotspur has been winning at least one title in the decade for the last 60 years as well as Manchester United.

History

The history of Tottenham Hotspur started on September 5, 1882. Several pupils from local schools decided to open their own football team. they were the members of the cricket club but the cricket season was coming to an end and they wanted to go on playing something. At first the team was called Hotspur in honor of Sir Henry Percy who was nicknamed ’Hotspur’ for his hasty temper. In 1884 the club obtained its present name so as not to mix up with the other team – London Hotspur.

1887—1919
The first officially registered match of Tottenham Hotspur was held against the club Dial Square – the ancestor of Arsenal. The game didn’t finish because of dusk but at the moment of the end of the game the score was 2:1 in favour of Tottenham Hotspur. The first official match was at the FA Cup on September 24 1892. Polytechnic was beaten with the score 2:1. In 1899 the Spurs moved to High Road. Later this place was called White Hart Lane. В 1900 the team won the South league Cup which allowed them to play in the FA Cup. And the Spurs managed to reach the final. Sheffield United were their opponents. The game ended in a draw and the referee awarded a replay. The replay took place in Bolton. Tottenham Hotspur won the game with the score 3:1. In the ecstasy of joy when the captain of the team was given the cup, the wife of the club’s director tied up several many-colored ribbons. Since that time it has become a tradition.

In 1908 Tottenham Hotspur got into the Second Division instead of Stock City and took the second place having entered the First Division. There the club took the 15th place (out of 20) but they beat the runner-up of the division – Liverpool – with the score 1:0 and the holder of the third place Blackberry - 4:0. Until 1919 the best place of Tottenham Hotspurа was the 12th place. But in 1915 Tottenham Hotspur took the last place and returned to the Second Division. Then the war started.

In 1919 the League was formed anew and it was decided to increase the number of its members to 22. It was quite natural to leave in the League two winners of the Second Division, too. But the place of the Spurs was given to Arsenal that was only the 5th in the Second Division. According to some rumors it happened because of the personal acquaintance of Arsenal’s owner with the FA Director. Tottenham Hotspur stayed in the Second Division.

1919—1948
The tournament in the Second Division Tottenham Hotspur won triumphally having cracked several records. In 1920 Tottenham Hotspur beat Wolverhampton Wandereres at the FA Cup for the second time, the goal was scored by Jimmy Dimmock. Next season the team ended on the 6th place and then – on the second. But in 1923 the club was only on the 12th place. Then the years of failure came.

In 1928 Tottenham Hotspur left the League. In 1933 the Spurs returned to the League for two years. In the first season they made a splash and took the third place. But in the next season the club was the last and returned to the second division.

By the year 1949 Arthur Rowe who was the manager of the club had developed the ‘push and run’ style of play. In the 1949-50 season Tottenham reached the top of the Second Division. In 1951 Tottenham became the winner of the the First Division, with Alf Ramsey, Ted Ditchburn, Len Duquemin and Sonny Walters being among the best players.

The next ten years were very difficult for the Spurs. The 1951–52 season was ended only on the tenth place. In 1954 the club signed the most celebrated player – Danny Blanchflower – for £30,000.

Arthur Rowe resigned in 1955 because of health problems. His place was taken by Bill Nicholson.

1960 - 1970
Bill Nicholson led Tottenham to its main success. In 1961 the club won the ‘double’, in 1962 – the FA and European Cups, and in 1963 - the Cup Winners’ Cup. Nicholson renewed the team with such famous players as Mike England, Terry Venables, Cyril Knowles and Alan Gilzean. This squad overplayed Chelsea in the FA Cup on 1967 and were the third in the League.

In 1971 and in 1973 Tottenham won the League Cup and in the 1971-72 season the UEFA Cup. After disgusting behavior of rioting fans in Rotterdam where the Spurs lost Nicholson resigned. The former Arsenal player Terry Neill was appointed to his post but he wasn’t popular with the players and fand so soon he left the club. His post was offered to Keith Burkinshaw.

In the 1976-77 Tottenham returned to the Second Division. But next year Burkinshaw signed two famous Argentinian football stars Osvaldo Ardiles and Ricardo Villa in the club.

The 1980s
Tottenham opened the 1980-81 season with the win over Manchester City in the FA Cup. Next season they were on the first place again. In 1984 the club leading by such players like Glenn Hoddle, Osvaldo Ardilesm Garth Crook and Steve Archibald as well as Steve Perryman won the UEFA trophy. After this season Burkinshaw resigned.

Peter Shreeves was appointed the new manager. Together with the owner of the club Irving Scholar they led the team to the third place in the 1984-85 season. This place was enough to take part in the UEFA competition. But after the tragedy on May 29, 1985 (39 spectators were killed by the crushing wall at the Heysel stadium) all English teams were forbidden to take part in European competitions for some years and Peter Shreeves decided to leave his position.

David Pleat replaced Peter Shreeves on the post of the manager of the club. Under his guidance the club won all domestic honors and titles in the season. But in the semi-final match of the League Cup the team lost to Arsenal. The same season the club sold Glenn Hoddle and the goal-keeper Ray Clemence left the club a year later.

In 1987 after some scandal concerning his private life Pleat resigned. His follower was the former player Terry Venables. Venables signed Paul Gascoigne (the midfielder from Newcastle United) for £2 mln in June 1988 and Paul Stewart (a forwarder from Manchester United) for £1.7 mln. The Spurs made a successful beginning of the 1988-89 season.

1990 – 2000
The 1990-91 season is considered one of the most chanceful in the history of the club. The club played well in the FA Cup and got to the final.
In 1991-92 Venables was appointed the chief executive. That year the Spurs reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup where they lost to Feyenoord.

The 1992-93 season Peter Shreeves, who had been assisting Venables in his work, was replaced by Doug Livermore and Ray Clemence. Tottenham were among those who founded the renewed Premier League that replaced the Football League First Division. The club bought Teddy Sheringham from Nottingham Forest, Neil Ruddock from Southampton and Darren Anderton from Portsmouth (a young but promising winger). In June 1993 Terry Venables was dismissed from the Tottenham.

After Venables’ departure Tottenham returned to a disputable two-tier structure. The first tema was headed by Ossie Ardiles who was going to make the Spurs succeed in the 1994-95 season. He started the season with signing Jurgen Klinsmann and Ilie Dumitrescu in order to strengthen the forward line that already had Teddy Sheringham, Darren Anderton and Nick Barmby. But the club failed to achieve any success and Ardiles was dimissed in 1994 in November.

Ardiles’ position was taken by Gerry Francis who managed to lead the team to the seventh place in the League. Francis bought Chris Armstrong, Ruel Fox and David Ginola. Francis resigned in November 1997 after Tottenham lost to Liverpool (4:0) and appeared on the 16th place in the Premier League.

The next manager was Christian Gross who failed to return success to the club and he was sacked. His post was given to George Graham. Fans didn’t like him as he had worked before with Arsenal but in spit of this under his guidance in the season the club won the League Cup. The Spurs also got to the semi-finals of the FA Cup but were overplayed by Newcastle in the added time.

2000 – till present
In April 2001 the management was awarded to Glenn Hoddle who took the team when it was on the 13th place in the table. In summer 2001 the club signed Sergei Rebrov for £11 mln from Dynamo Kiev. However, Rebrov failed at White Hart Lane, he managed to score only ten goals within the next four seasons.

In the 2001-02 season the Spurs ended on the ninth place and reached the League Cup finals but there they were beaten by Blackburn Rovers.
The 2002-2003 season started pretty good and Tottenham founded itself on the sixth place. But the ending of the season was disappointing – only the tenth place. The next season was also unsuccessful for the team and Hoddle was fired.
In 2004 Jacques Santini was appointed the team coach. But few months later Santini left the club in some bizarre circumstances. In June 2005 Damien Comolli became the club’s main coach.

In the 2005-06 season Tottenham were in the top four. They even reached the finals but there had to play in unfavorable circumstances (half of the team were suffering from Norovirus). As the result, they lost it. But in the 2006-2007 they ended on the fifth place.

In the 2007-08 after the appointment of Juande Ramos the Spurs won the Football League Cup and beat Chelsea in the finals in 2008 in February. However, the beginning of the 2008-09 season for Tottenham was not successful. It was the worst start to the season in the club’s history.
In the 2009-10 season Tottenham have already won the first four matches under the supervision of the manager Redknapp.

Crest and colors

Originally Tottenham Hotspur were playing in blue colors. From 1884 to 1886 the uniform was white-blue. In 1890 T-shirts became red. For some time T-shirts were chocolate and shorts were black. And only in 1896 the team finally decided on the colors – blue shorts and white T-shirts.
In 1882—1884 the symbol of the club was the letter ‘H’. In 1910 the cockerel with spurs garnished the stadium White Hart Lane and from 1920 it moved to red T-shirts.

In 1956 the crest was updated. Apart from the cockerel several more details appeared on the crest – the castle, the lions flanking the shield, seven elms and the ribbon with the Latin saying «Audere est facere». In 1983 the crest was simplified. Only the lions with the shield, the cockerel and the ribbon remained. In 2006 the crest was renewed again – now it is a cockerel on the ball with the words «TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR» under it.

Motto

Till 2006 the motto of the club had been «Audere est facere». Since 2006 this slogan has been translated into English and now it sounds «To dare is to do».

Titles

National

Football League First Division (Winners (2): 1951, 1961; Runners-up (4): 1922, 1952, 1957, 1963)
Football League Second Division (Champions (2): 1920, 1950; Runners-up (2): 1909, 1933)
FA Cup (Winners (8): 1901, 1921, 1961, 1962, 1967, 1981, 1982, 1991; Runners-up (1): 1987)
League Cup (Winners (4): 1971, 1973, 1999, 2008; Runners-up (3): 1982, 2002, 2009)
FA Charity Shield (Winners (7): 1921, 1952, 1962, 1963, 1968 (shared), 1982 (shared), 1992 (shared))

International

UEFA Cup (Winners (2): 1972, 1984; Runners-up (1): 1974)
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (Winners (1): 1963)

Current squad

1. Heurelho Gomes (goal-keeper)
2. Alan Hutton (defender)
3. Gareth Bale (defender)
4. David Bentley (midfielder)
5. Tom Huddlestone (midfielder)
6. Aaron Lennon (midfielder)
7. Jermaine Jenas (midfielder)
8. Roman Pavlyuchenko (forward)
9. Robbie Keane (team captain) (forward)
10. Wilson Palacios (midfielder)
11. Jimmy Walker (goal-keeper)
12. Luka Modrić (midfielder)
13. Peter Crouch (forward)
14. Kyle Naughton (defender)
15. Giovani dos Santos (midfielder)
16. Jermain Defoe (forward)
17. Sébastien Bassong (defender)
18. Michael Dawson (defender)
19. Niko Kranjčar (midfielder)
20. Vedran Ćorluka (defender)
21. Carlo Cudicini (goal-keeper)
22. Ledley King (club captain) (defender)
23. Ben Alnwick (goal-keeper)
24. Dorian Dervite (defender)
25. Benoît Assou-Ekotto (defender)
26. Jonathan Woodgate (defender)