68 years ago today … Len Duquemin's solo effort (and 14th goal of the season) v Sheffield Wednesday secures Spurs' first ever 1st Division title in 1951. It was Spurs second consecutive division title, having just been promoted the season before by winning the second division crown. Spurs 1-0 Sheffield Wednesday 28 April, 1951
"If you know your history …" Welcome, bigsoccer yiddos. Guess what! I've just stumbled across a 20-year-old copy of Spurs: Day-to-Day Life at White Hart Lane, a book that chronicles all of Spurs results, and significant occasions, in a calendar format. And I've decided to parlay that discovery into further riches … another quasi-moronic monument thread to THFC. In this one, I will be looking at a given date in history, and revealing occurrences of major (and minor) significance to our great club. Excited? No? Well, you don't have to read it. But why wouldn't you? Ok, don't answer that. But this will continue until I grow weary of it - which could range anywhere from tomorrow until perpetuity (but probably closer to the former). Will there be contributions every day, you ask? Probably not. Summer's right around the corner, and I can't imagine there'll be a wealth of info from which to mine in the off-season … so it'll probably die a quiet death in a few weeks' time. Meanwhile, enjoy. "... it's enough to make your heart go whooah!"
52 years ago today … Spurs squared off against Nottingham Forest in an FA Cup semifinal at Hillsborough. Forest, lying second in the table and pushing Man U for the league title, would likely have been favorites had their best player, Joe Baker, not been injured v Everton in the quarters. A Jimmy Greaves scorcher off the half-volley put Spurs up in the first half, and Frank Saul secured it for Spurs midway through the second half. A Terry Hennessey consolation goal halved the deficit, but it would be Spurs heading to Wembley to confront the winner of Chelsea v Leeds. Spurs 2-1 Forest 29 April, 1967
109 years ago today … In the final game of the season, Spurs hosted Chelsea at the Lane in the first division. The teams came into this game with 30 and 29 points, respectively, and whoever came out of it with the fewest would go down with Bolton into the second tier. Goals from the legendary Billy Minter and some bloke named Humphreys enabled 35k spectators to see Spurs avoid the drop and send Chelsea down. Spurs 2-1 Chelsea 30 April, 1910
* subscribes to thread * Good work Pook, I love a bit of club history. Sadly we already missed 31st March (2004), the glorious day Anthony Gardner became a full England international.
33 years ago today … kickoff was delayed to allow entrance for what was a massive turnout for Ossie Ardiles' testimonial. the popular midfielder had been injured, and only made a token playing appearance, but the appearance for Spurs of another Argentinian was enough to placate the fans. Diego Maradona turned out at the Lane to compensate for any South American flair left by Ossie's absence. Glenn Hoddle graciously left the number 10 to Diego and the two combined for some brilliant stuff as Spurs beat Inter Milan 2-1 on goals from Thread-of-Famers Mark Falco and Clive Allen. The 'hand of God' goal v England was still a couple months away, so the bumper crowd of Englishmen did not know to hate him … yet. Spurs 2-1 Inter Milan 1 May, 1986
21 years ago today … Spurs went to Selhurst Park to play Wimbledon in the penultimate game of the season, still not having secured top flight football for the upcoming year. Most would agree that the nadir of Spurs decade-plus of crap was 1998-98 - the Christian Gross year. And being down 2-1 a half-hour in, relegation seemed a real possibility. Cue the heroics of two of Spurs greatest talents of a barren era. David Ginola ran Wimbledon ragged and Jurgen Klinsmann netted four times to spare Spurs blushes and insure Premier League football in the year to come. Of course, another Spurs legend contributed to the victory. Legendary tw*t Ben Thatcher (then of Wimbledon) got sent off early in the second half, facilitating much of what would come. I still can't believe we actually signed him. Wimbledon 2-6 Spurs 2 May, 1998
The original, and comfortably worst of our three Mous(s)as. Moussa Saib, Algerian midfielder. Typifies the era - rubbish.
47 years ago today … Spurs in Europe. There's something glorious about it. And in 1972, Spurs had travelled the continent, leaving the vanquished in their wake in places like Iceland, France, Romania, and (in the semifinals against behemoths AC Milan) Italy, as they marched toward the UEFA Cup final. So imagine the excitement upon learning that the exotic destination for our first European final since 1963 would be … Wolverhampton. It was home & away aggregate in the final back then, and the first leg had us away at Molineux. My good mate (he gave me a wave at WHL in 2004) Martin Chivers had a brace (and it could've been more) including a 30-yard screamer that saw Spurs head home to the second leg with a 2-1 advantage. Have a look … This is truly a legendary side. Chivers, Peters, Gilzean, Jennings, Mullery, Perryman, Knowles … and if you're paying attention, you'll even get a glimpse of Ralph Coates' distinguished coiffure at 6:35 as he celebrates Chivers' second. This is the team and the season that Hunter Davies wrote about in his classic Glory Game, and these are names known to all real Spurs fans. And by 'real', I mean 'old'. Also take a moment to savor the old Waterloo Road stand, designed by Archibald Leitch back in the 20s. This is what English football looked like when I were a lad. Wolves 1-2 Spurs 3 May, 1972
Those were the days when it was an honour to be in one of the THREE European competitions (there was also the Cup Winners Cup). Nobody talked about fielding weakened sides and rotation. And we drew the 2nd leg at WHL to win our first of 2 Uefa Cups.
Bloody hell, I get chills seeing those old graphics. That was my era, though that particular game would have been well past my bedtime in 1972. Even some of that Wolves side I can well remember - Jim McCalliog, Derek Dougan, Kenny Hibbett. And the old Wolves stadium as you say pook. Think that was Joe Kinnear with the godawful tackle that earned him a booking... ie writing his name in the refs book, none of your ostentatious brandishing of colored cards. And what a screamer from Chiv for the winner.
56 years ago today … Spurs beat Sheffield United 4-2 in the League at the Lane. The significant part is that the our third was scored by Jimmy Greaves, and was his club record-setting 37th League goal of the season, surpassing Ted Harper's 36 scored in 1930-31. It's a record that's only been seriously challenged once - the very next season when he tallied 35. Spurs 4-2 Sheffield United 4 May, 1963
57 years ago today … Everyone remembers the glory of '60-61's double-winners, but occasionally forgotten is how close Spurs came to meeting - even exceeding - that glory the following season. Only a late season reversal against Ipswich prevented a double repeat, and (supposedly) dodgy refereeing versus (eventual champs) Benfica in the semis kept us from reaching the European Cup final. So when the lads awoke on 5 May in '62, FA Cup was the only trophy left to play for. If Spurs golden age was in the early 60s, the same might be said of Burnley, who won the League in '59-60, had a quarterfinal run in the '61 European Cup, and came 2nd in the League in '61-62. It was a side that boasted Burnley legendary Jimmys, McIlroy and Adamson, that Spurs lined up against at Wembley. In the end, goals from Greaves, Smith, and Blanchflower (P) were enough to see Spurs through to their second consecutive FA Cup. By the way, that was Ron Henry playing Jimmy Robson* (and all creation) onside for their goal. What was he thinking? Spurs 3-1 Burnley 5 May, 1962 *were all of Burnley's players named Jimmy?
58 years ago today … Spurs became the first team in the 20th century to capture the League & Cup double, finishing off Leicester City with goals from Bobby Smith and Terry Dyson. Leicester came out strong, but after fullback Len Chalmers went down 20 minutes in, they'd be up against it from then on out. He carried on, but was little more than a passenger, and Spurs took control against essentially 10 men. Bill Nicholson didn't hide his disappointment post-match, admitting that, even in winning, Spurs hadn't played as well as he would have liked. But the double had been achieved, and his side had etched it's place in history. Spurs 2-0 Leicester City 6 May, 1961
13 years ago today … May 7th, 2006 … a date that will live in infamy. [/FDR] Spurs would go into their final game of the season at Upton Park needing only to match arch-rivals Arsenal's result to finish in 4th, secure Champions League football, and finish above the neighbors for the first time in yonks. Things looked good, with recently injured key players Michael Carrick and Robbie Keane announced as being fit to play. Not long after midnight the night before, though, it had become apparent that all was not well. Keane and Carrick, as well as first-teamers Aaron Lennon, Edgar Davids, Michael Dawson, Teemu Tainio, had become violently ill, victimized by the infamous tray of lasagna at the Marriot West India Quay. When Daniel Levy called PL chief Richard Scudamore to inquire as to postponing the match, he was told that doing so would leave Spurs subject to a Premier League inquiry and possible points deduction. The match went on, with some of the afflicted putting in heroic efforts; but the effects of the virus (it wasn't sabotage, the conspiracy-minded amongst us would learn) were telling. Spurs flowing attack was nowhere to be seen, and they would succumb to a Yossi Benayoun winner 10 minutes from time. West Ham fans, in characteristic fashion, celebrated our pain as much as their own victory. Among the countless bitter pills that Spurs fans have had to swallow over the years, this one was among the bitterest. West Ham 2-1 Spurs 7 May, 2006
Well, if it's any consolation, they lost the FA Cup final a few days later in heartbreaking fashion when Stevie G scored a worldy equalizer as the game went to stoppage time.
If it hadn't been the last day of the season with simultaneous matches, there's no doubt we would have been allowed to postpone that match. The PL panicked and were reckless with that game. I'm pretty sure I remember at least one player being violently ill on the pitch - the health of those players was not given the proper consideration. There was a response to Spurs on that day that we could call up reserves and U21s if them lot weren't able to play, because it was in London, everyone was local. What if it had been Newcastle away at Bournemouth?
If I recall correctly, that day was also the last game at the old Highbury and Scudamore and Dein were palling it up on the sidelines. Nothing was going to spoil the narrative of them snatching 4th place.