Those 90's "Salad Days"

I’ve always been intrigued by the phrase ‘Salad Days’ – I picked it up from the opening lines

of Spandau Ballet’s ‘Gold’ without ever knowing what it meant so have finally looked it up.

Its first cited in Shakespear’s Antony and Cleopatra but the more contemporary meaning is a

description of a ‘heyday associated with carefree innocence, idealism and pleasure

associated with youth’.

For seasoned Spurs followers of a certain vintage the 1990s are something of an

afterthought – as the brilliant Dame Julie Welch reflected when I worked with her on my

book about Spurs in the 90s – it is ‘the eye roll decade’ – it followed the trophy laden years

of the 80s when Spurs seemed relevant as a force at the very top of English football – but

preceded, eventually, a period of steady progress in the 21 st century that under Martin Jol,

Harry Redkanpp and subsequently Mauricio Pochettino (though there others less successful

in between) almost saw the League Title and Champions League come to N17.

Football narrative, as the ongoing soap drama embellished by 24-hour rolling sports news,

social media and over 120 weekly Spurs podcasts or youtube broadcasts, continues to move

at pace. 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.

For many the 90s is a proxy for the nadir of Spurs’ mediocrity but also a reminder of the

trauma of relegation battles, some truly uninspiring football, bizarre managerial

appointments and a collection of players whose names live on in infamy owing to their

ineptitude – Jason Cundy, Andy Gray, Kevin Scott…and keep going.

However, looking through the prism of 2026 Spurs what would we give for the 90s again?

Collectively it was a decade bookended by two Wembley cup wins plus four near misses in

semi-finals (in three of which we were extremely unlucky). Our league form, was, most of

the time, mediocre, but we knew that was a sacrifice worth making to genuinely being a cup

team.

This is also reflected through the composition of our team. There was (barring injury)

ALWAYS a superstar who would be worth coming to watch even if we ended up losing the

game: Gascoigne and Lineker, Sheringham and Anderton, then Ginola. The latter was the

most mercurial.

As ever, it’s easy to apply nostalgia laced lenses to a period which, when you were living

through, wasn’t as enjoyable as I’m making out now, and one contained large elements of

jeopardy in ’94 and ’98 not forgetting the club’s existential crisis in 1991 when things were

so bad Robert Maxwell seemed the best option!

But, we had an identity, perhaps one we settled for rather than aspired to – a cup team,

who entertained with at least one mercurial entertainer.

I suspect that ever since the new stadium was opened in 2019 we have suffered, from the

very top to the bottom, a painful identity crisis. What are we? A huge behemoth club

playing in the world’s most watched league and conveniently based in one of the world’s

largest cities that is capable of generating huge revenue every year without a single ball

being kicked.

Or, should we stay true to our business plan of ENIC from 2001 – 2018 that I’d argue was a

great success of becoming the ‘challenger club’ that with the right strategic decisions (I’d

make the point that for that 17-year period it was roughly three steps forward for every one

backward) could run shoulders with the traditional forces of English football and the vulgar

nouveau riches.

I’m perhaps guilty of comparing two different things here. By no means was the 90s an

example of brilliant strategic thinking and execution…but the fact that it wasn’t has helped

create a nostalgic vision of charm.

Learn more about Spurs’ 90s journey through my book, and podcast, both titled Is

Gascoigne Going To Have a Crack?

https://90sspursbook.square.site/

https://podfollow.com/is-gascoigne-going-to-have-a-crack-the-spurs-nostalgia-podcast