The myth of momentum: what one trophy won’t do

For me, the win in Bilbao last May was all about the relief of finally ending a ridiculous 17-year wait for a trophy, and with it the trite memes about empty trophy cabinets. No doubt this online phenomenon that crept into wider football banter lexicon was perpetuated by a social media age that, ironically, didn’t really exist beyond its infancy in 2008, when we won our most recent piece of silverware. 

I wasn’t in Bilbao for various family and work logistical reasons but was at the stadium for the beam back, and I did attend the parade two days later. For weeks I found myself singing out loud “Johnson Again, Ole Ole” and our version of ‘Waka Waka’. Having not physically been there I still don’t feel the same sort of emotional connection to the Final as I do the Cup Final’s we’ve won that I did attend – all at Wembley – in 1991, 1999 and 2008 (more on them to follow). 

The common discourse is that, not only does winning a major trophy provide the sort of euphoric memory that you carry with you for a lifetime (and I’m sure this is just as true for the players as it is for supporters), but that it creates momentum, acting as a catalyst for brighter days ahead. An upwards trajectory seems somehow inevitable. 

But how likely is it that one trophy success will lead to more?

Among the many sentiments you’ll read and hear about now – the big disappointment for many this season – is missing the opportunity to build on the joy of Bilbao. 

As a Spurs ‘historian’, I don’t find it surprising. I see a familiar pattern of a trophy success failing to become a springboard for further success. In my lifetime at least.

I was alive in 1981 when Ricky Villa’s iconic goal won us the FA Cup – our first FA Cup success in 14 years and the first for most of a generation. Many who remember that moment vividly will justifiably then point to subsequent successes in 1982 and 1984. A similar pattern is true of the early 60s and indeed the 70s. Since then, however, our trophy wins have existed in an abyss of mediocrity. 

In 1991 we needed to win the FA Cup to secure our own existence. The game itself, and its aftermath, were shrouded in a bittersweet symphony. It was well known that Gazza, our talisman, would be sold. Lineker, our master goalscorer, was closing in on retirement and the chronic lack of funds meant that we simply couldn’t kick on financially, just as the Premier League and its riches were close on the horizon.

Winning the FA Cup did ensure we returned to European football for the first time since English clubs were banned in 1985 and our run to the Cup Winners Cup Quarter Final in 1992 was the highlight of a mediocre season. Without Gascoigne we lacked star power. Bizarrely, Terry Venables ‘moved upstairs’ depriving the squad of his coaching innovations and we finished 15^th in the league.

We waited eight years for our next trophy when the much derided League Cup came back to White Hart Lane in 1999. George Graham was our manager, the antithesis of everything Spurs should be about, although he did lead us to unspectacular success at Wembley. 

One of the most controversial appointments in the club’s history, Graham supposedly guaranteed success (albeit secured through dour, defensive football) and the League Cup appeared early vindication of Alan Sugar’s choice to appoint him. We ended that 98/99 season in 10^th place, having won just two of our final 12 games after beating Leicester at Wembley. However, we had qualified for the UEFA Cup for 99/00 and that gave us three opportunities to record back-to-back trophies. Would this trophy lead on to further success?

Between Sugar, Graham and David Pleat (Director of Football at the time) the only additions to a largely mediocre squad in summer 1999 were to bring in Chris Perry from Wimbledon and Leeds’ Dutch triallist Willem Korsten (the latter then proceeded to break down with a career defining injury).

Fans were prepared to stomach George Graham whilst we were winning (particularly as we won so infrequently under Graham’s predecessor Christian Gross!), and in the hunt for trophies, but we managed to get knocked out of all three cup competitions by Christmas 1999. (The FA Cup 3^rd round was bizarrely scheduled for December for one season only!) It was another midtable league finish and the fans became increasingly restless. Ginola, the only real bright light and source of entertainment, was sold. Spurs had once again taken an almighty two steps backwards and failed to capitalise on a trophy. It was Sugar’s final season as Chairman. 

The football landscape changed dramatically with the development of the Champions League in 1998. Qualification, by finishing in the Top 4 places, was now objectively a bigger ambition and reward than winning a domestic cup. 

Spurs had gradually got a toe-hold under the stewardship of Daniel Levy and ENIC and were reaping the benefits of a long-term strategy to team building through the acquisition of several gifted young players led by the charismatic Martin Jol. A couple of near-misses in the league (including the infamous Lasagnegate incident in 2006) demonstrated that Spurs were a team on the rise. 

Jol was controversially sacked in October 2007 and replaced by the impressive Juande Ramos. The Spaniard took on a team led by the strike pairing of Berbatov and Keane and with the pace and creativity of Lennon to supply the front line. The 2007/08 season was a mixed one. The league form was iffy – to such an extent that significant money was spent to bring in Hutton and Woodgate to shore up the defence – but in the cup competitions Spurs thrived. Despite going down to 10-men early on, Spurs won 2-0 at Man City, then proceeded to thump Arsenal 5-1 on an historic night at the semi-final stage to meet familiar foes Chelsea in the final. 

At Wembley, Ramos’ team refused to be beaten. Woodgate’s winning goal owed something to fortune but Spurs were good value for the win against an undoubtedly superior opponent.

In Europe, Spurs fell to Huerelho Gomes inspired PSV in a Quarter Final penalty shoot out. But with the League Cup win and mid-table league position all but guaranteed there was a sense of resignation and the rest of the season descended into mediocrity. Spurs would be in Europe for a third successive season at least, and there was hope that Ramos was now the man to elevate Spurs to more trophy success. 

Alas not. That mediocre end to the league season appeared to draw Spurs into a downward spiral. A highly frustrating summer saw not just Berbatov, but also Robbie Keane insist on being allowed to leave, for Manchester United and Liverpool respectively. They were replaced, initially, by Roman Pavlyuchenko – an erratic and comically inconsistent forward – and Frasier Campbell on loan from Old Trafford. In fairness Daniel Levy (or perhaps his latest Director of Football Damien Commoli) did bring in the highly rated Luka Modric that summer. He would prove to be one of world football’s best midfield players of a generation. 

The following season started abysmally. Ramos was sacked exactly a year after joining after infamously collecting just two points from eight games, to be replaced by Harry Redknapp. The rest of the season was a salvage job though Spurs did scrape back into the League Cup Final where they were beaten on penalties (again) by Manchester United.

While much of the football landscape has changed dramatically since the early 80s one thing that is constant is that Spurs winning a trophy has never resulted in an upturn in fortunes and the genesis of a golden era. 

It’s not just Spurs, either. 

Other teams to have won a trophy between 2000 - 2023 include: Blackburn (League Cup 2002), Middlesbrough (League Cup 2004), Portsmouth (FA Cup 2008), Birmingham (League Cup 2011), Swansea (League Cup 2013), Wigan (FA Cup 2013), Leicester (Premier League 2016, FA Cup 2021).

What do all those clubs have in common? Yes, they’ve all been relegated – and in most cases never returned. Perhaps our lot is not so bad after all.

So what of Spurs’ situation and our journey since May? History suggests that the Europa League trophy will more likely be an isolated success than the start of a new trophy laden era. Perhaps not surprising, when we see the opportunities that have been missed and abysmal decisions that have been made since returning from Bilbao. 

Whether the supporters in Bilbao felt the same relief that I did in years gone by, winning cup finals is not something to be taken for granted, and our recent history shows that when they do come around they should be enjoyed for the euphoric moments they create, not the promise of what might follow. 

It may take away from the romance of what being a football fan should be about, but steady progress in the league (perhaps at the expense of cup successes) is sadly the only true precursor of improvement.

Gareth Dace is the author of "Hot Shot Tottenham" and "Is Gascoigne Going To Have a Crack?"