History

Articles about the history of the club and past memories

The Things We Keep

The Colin Lee programme hints at something I think is important about memorabilia. It matters if there is a personal connection. You can buy all sorts of items that have been signed by players, or that have historical significance. But it was me who handed Lee what was my programme from that memorable day. That item represents my personal history and its connection with the club.

4 days ago4 min read

God, Pratt and an Old Trafford Classic

Like the charity shield match that preceded it by 13 years, and also taking place at Old Trafford, the match I would like to take you back to was in part notable because of the goalkeeping position.

Oct 104 min read

Those Glory, Glory Nights

As we have no European football to look forward to this season, I thought this would be a great opportunity to look back on my first European match under the lights at the Lane.

Oct 75 min read

A Historian’s Guide to Spurs Starting Badly and Turning Out Fine

There’s a strange comfort in recognising a bad start, not because it feels good, not because it feels manageable, but because after forty years of watching Spurs stumble, stagger, misfire and misjudge their way through August and September, you begin to realise that this isn’t new, and it isn’t unique, and it isn’t even particularly alarming - it’s just another entry in a long historical pattern of Spurs starting badly and somehow ending up, in the broadest possible sense of

Oct 35 min read

1987: Paradise Lost

That the 1986-7 campaign ended without silverware and in an excruciatingly embarrassing tabloid scandal - precipitating Pleat's departure - will forever be a true Tottenham tragedy.

Sep 125 min read

The Gravity of Football: Why Spurs Shouldn’t Be This Bad

When your club’s recent results resemble the worst three‑year period in Wolves’ history - a period defined by three straight relegations - you’re not just “out of form”. You’re in a collapse that probably feels terminal. And that’s why the emotional experience of supporting Spurs right now feels so disproportionate. Because it is disproportionate. It’s historically abnormal. It’s the kind of downturn that distorts your memory of everything that came before it.

Sep 56 min read

Those 90's "Salad Days"

You don’t need me to tell you that in less than 12 months we’ve gone from the euphoria of Bilbao to at best a face-to-face encounter with the grim reaper of the EFL Championship or, depending on when you read this, the realisation that for the first time in 49 years Tottenham Hotspur will no longer be competing in the top flight of English football.

Apr 183 min read

A Letter from Buenos Aires: Spurs Argentine Legacy

Argentina sits third in the list of non-UK countries that have provided first team players for Tottenham Hotspur, behind France and Brazil. Whilst it is not top in terms of numbers, it surely is in terms of the cultural influence on the club.

Mar 285 min read